Attempt at "cheapest viable Facebook / browser build".

[cbn]

No comments on the primary storage?

My thoughts:

A 16GB SSD, is pretty small. You can install Win10 64-bit onto it, but it's ... not pretty. No room for anything else (less than 1GB free), and it runs pretty poorly. OTOH, with something like ChromiumOS / CloudReady, it's fine. (Most ChromeBooks only have 16GB primary storage, either eMMC or SSD, anyways.)

Linux, with 4GB RAM (.5GB used for video), on a 16GB SSD (3.5GB used for swap), is a mixed bag. It will install, and leaves around 4-5GB free, which is OK for normal usage, unless you "collect" files from the internet.

For those 16GB SSDs, if you want a bit more room perhaps try Xubuntu 16.04? This comes in at 3.6GB + swap.

Another option would be to use the Ubuntu Mini Iso and install something like Ubuntu Mate with the minimal desktop option. I'm running this right now and it comes in at 3.6GB + swap.

Ubuntu Mini iso link here and a video explaining the Ubuntu Mate minimal desktop here.

 

[cbn]

Virtual Larry (as a possible prediction of future Firefox performance) have you tried using Firefox Nightly with your FM1 dual core and Mint yet?

To install open terminal and type in the following commands which I found in this video:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox-trunk

Then go to "Web browser" "Internet" in the menu and Firefox Nightly will be one of the options available to launch.

I am currently testing with my Athlon x 4 860K (with one module disabled, making it a dual core).

 

[cbn]

Updated post #121 with instructions on how to format secondary storage.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks. I'm still waiting on delivery of a few (brand new in package) 30GB SSDs I order for ~$15 shipped ea. I decided that the 16GB SSDs were too small and too low-performing. (Maybe because they were well-used, and don't support Secure Erase?) The 16GB SSDs will work fine with CloudReady, but CloudReady doesn't support HDMI audio on my FM1 builds, so that's out.

Given that, I'm still trying to decide if I really need to install the 500GB HDDs too. I might save them for another project. Or paperweights, one of the two, I guess. Depends if they're packed well when they get here.

 

[Yuriman]

I suspect 30GB will be adequate. Is the Windows 10 32bit installation still much smaller than the 64?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ok, I got the 30GB BNIP Kingston SSDs, as well as a number of WD Green AV-GP 500GB HDDs, sold as "new". (Whether that simply means that the odometer was rolled back, I don't know. Ebay can be a sketchy place to buy drives from.)

So, I have a couple of choices of where to donate these. One is the local Food Pantry in my town, which has a small area to place items to give away. I haven't contacted the director to ask about distributing some PCs. Seems unlikely, but given the sometimes-craziness when they distribute the Thanksgiving turkeys, they may not want to throw PCs into that mix too.

If I go that route, I would install Linux on them, probably with the 30GB SSD, maybe with the 500GB HDD too, I'm a bit undecided.

The other place, is with an agency that deals primarily with mental health / behavioral health issues, and runs some housing. They have a small dept., run by a volunteer, that takes in PCs and refurbs them, and places them with people.

If I go that route, the last time I talked to the guy in charge of refurbishing, they pretty-much only use and support Windows, no Linux.

So I would probably install the 500GB HDD, and pre-install whatever flavor of Windows that they prefer to use, and get licenses for. That way the guy could just punch in the license code and go.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

My experience with giveaway PCs for low-income families says that half of them will end up sold to a pawn shop w/in 30 days.

But you were really just looking for an excuse, weren't you?

 

[Torn Mind]

The cost run up from having to acquire drives with more space. Really shooting yourself in the foot here, AGAIN. Your project is a good lesson of when going too cheap means suffering from "uggh, upgrade urge" for weeks or months.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

"uggh, upgrade urge"

That's VL's favorite uggh.

 

[Torn Mind]

That's VL's favorite uggh.

He's gonna wind up with a bunch of drives one way or the other. He should make a JBOD box from the those drives as reminder of the failure his original plan(and buy more hardware).

 

[VirtualLarry]

My experience with giveaway PCs for low-income families says that half of them will end up sold to a pawn shop w/in 30 days.

Yeah, that was one of my concerns, if I give them away at the food pantry.

The cost run up from having to acquire drives with more space. Really shooting yourself in the foot here, AGAIN. Your project is a good lesson of when going too cheap means suffering from "uggh, upgrade urge" for weeks or months.

C'mon man, that's a little unfair. I bought the 500GB HDDs because you guy said there wasn't enough storage space (for a stash) on those PCs.

 

[Torn Mind]

Yeah, that was one of my concerns, if I give them away at the food pantry.


C'mon man, that's a little unfair. I bought the 500GB HDDs because you guy said there wasn't enough storage space (for a stash) on those PCs.

I can admit persuading you, up to a point. But, I can easily throw up a couple questions.

You did experiment with alternatives to mitigate the small space on those drives. Whatever happened to the ChromeOS plan? You can't say you didn't try to make it work.

I vacated the conversation a half month ago and you decided to get some bigger SSDs today or just a few days ago. While I can admit some influencing on the HDD purchases, I can't say that my words pushed you to buy bigger SSDs.

Also, on a tangent, I just remembered "breaking" a university computer by basically filling up the drive with video files until no space was left. The network login system there simply needed some free space.

I will however, admit influencing you if you do decide to make a JBOD box from those 16GB drives.

 

[VirtualLarry]

ChromeOS wasn't a bad idea, with the 16GB SSDs (they were enough), but:

1) No HDMI audio
2) None of my Linux-compatible Wifi USB dongles would work

So I basically nixed that idea due to lack of proper functionality.

Mint 18 Mate 64-bit works really well, with updates, and dual-channel DDR3 RAM installed. Updates go kind of slow, due to the slow write speed on those 16GB SSDs (worn out, or always like that? I don't know, can't secure erase them). Leaves a little over 4GB free for user data and program installs after swap and the OS partition.

But that's not enough to copy a DVD with, so that limits functionality too.

So, I can put a 500GB Green drive in, which is going to suck to boot off of (maybe not so bad in Linux), but they could install Windows too if they wanted to, there would be enough room.

If I used a 30GB SSD, they could also install Windows, probably, but it would likely end up like Linux does on the 16GB - not much space left for user data. (I'm guessing, 10GB free?)

I dunno. There's also the logistical aspect of transport of the PCs, and whether or not installing just the HDD, would get damaged in transport.