A very lightweight linux distro that could run on a Pentium
22 replies, posted
So I've got this comp from 1996 my aunt gave me. My dad needs a desktop computer where he could store a bunch of songs he recorded. Right now, it's running Windows 95 but I'll have to format it and I have no install CD or a valid key for that matter. Plus, I'll fit in a higher capacity hard drive and I don't want to have multiple FAT32 partitions and as far as I remember Windows 95 only supports FAT32 and Windows 98 and higher won't run on this machine.
Right now I'm looking at Puppy Linux but I'm not sure if it's simple enough for my dad.
I don't know the exact specs but from what I remember it's a Pentium I, a low-end one, and it has 32 Mb of RAM.
Typing this on a phone was very painful so I hope you guys can suggest me something.
DSL or Slittaz
Debian
[QUOTE=Ca5bah;27231986]DSL or Slittaz[/QUOTE]
30 mb distro?
Time to make me a livecd, I gotta see this.
If you install an extremely lightweight distro it'll run at proper "speed" but it will lack some features.
If you run a lightweight distro that is not extremely slim it'll run slow but you should have all the features of a modern OS.
Pick your poison...
slitaz is pretty great
I can vote for DSL, which should have any features a basic computer user needs.
I'd go with a minimal Debian install with fluxbox/openbox and Xvesa probably.
+1 for debian command line install with xorg + openbox + thunar + iceweasel.
slitaz has a loram flavor. runs on 16mb ram. i run slitaz, pm me if you have any issues. you can get it [url=http://www.slitaz.org/en/get/flavors.html]here[/url].
Will slitaz run okay on a machine that was top-of-the-line at the turn of the century?
Because my little brother just got some rig by dell and windows is laggier than ten fucks on it.
[QUOTE=Derpmeifter;27294297]Will slitaz run okay on a machine that was top-of-the-line at the turn of the century?
Because my little brother just got some rig by dell and windows is laggier than ten fucks on it.[/QUOTE]
yes
Arch Linux would be ideal, if you could set it up with openbox. LXDE might be a bit too hardcore for a Pentium I CPU.
I would say to not even choose a DE or WM and use the base Xorg WM.
Well SliTaz is pretty light-weight for the most part... but I think it requires 64MB of RAM. :/
the loram version requires 16 MB
[QUOTE=Pixel Heart;27295324]Arch Linux would be ideal, if you could set it up with openbox. LXDE might be a bit too hardcore for a Pentium I CPU.[/QUOTE]
Arch Linux is only for i686 and x86_64 where Pentium 1 is a i586.
[QUOTE=Pery;27299992]Arch Linux is only for i686 and x86_64 where Pentium 1 is a i586.[/QUOTE]
I thought all x86 processors could run anything marked i586 or i686... I've just been educated.
I had a 60MHz 486 DX in my old 468 machine, and upgraded it with a Pentium Overdrive chip @100MHz. The difference in playing games was night and day. Doom load-times were drastically cut. I also brought the RAM to 64MB maxed out. All 8 SIMM sockets were stuffed and tightly pack together.
I was even able to run some early 3D games like Carmageddon 1, Redneck Rampage, Doom I and II, Hexen, and Heretic. :)
yeah p5 series is a i586, pentium pro was the first i686
So the instruction sets changed? is that the only difference?
architecture changes mostly
Hmm well, there's a little change in plans. I finally got an old Pentium III rig to boot up and found a nice sound card to go with it so my dad will use this. So now I have 2 identical Pentium I rigs I can convert to file servers.
Both of them have 16 MB of RAM and a 133 Mhz Pentium, one of them has the turbo thing which boosts the clock to 180 Mhz. What kind of distro could I use as a file server such a low-end rig?
Generally, I'd try SliTaz on the Pentium III. However, you may want to bring the RAM up to 64MB if you can, SIMMs are generally free trash at computer graveyards, and PC100/133 DIMMs are hella cheap (some free) online if you know where to look... I'm just not sure what memory type you're using. Other than the RAM upgrade, you sound all set to go.
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