Linux for an IBM 755CX

[Schadenfroh]

Currently running Windows 98SE, do not want to go online with it since security updates for it have ended. As such, I am in need of a modern OS. SCSI CD drive in the docking station is not recognized by Damn Small Linux when booted from its floppy disk. The GUI refuses to start when booted via "poorman's method" and I do not know where to begin with partitioning the hard drive when the OS install is on the only partition on the hard drive. The PCMCIA USB2.0 cards that I have are not recognized at all (must be a differing version?), so I cannot install it from that. It has a 1.44mb floppy drive, an 802.11b wireless Microsoft PCMCIA card and a 3com PCMICIA NIC. If possible, I would like a GUI.

 

[Praetor]

Will it boot off a CD at all? If it will, try sysrescuecd. It's gentoo based and will generally boot anything.

I just finished installing gentoo on a Pentium 133 dell cp again. While it's not a speed-demon, it lets me SSH into the network from some weird spots.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Praetor
Will it boot off a CD at all?

No, it will only boot from a 1.44mb floppy or the HDD. The SCSI CD Drive is recognized by the BIOS during POST, but when I boot off of the DSL startup floppy, it does not see the CD Drive. Gentoo's minimum ram requirements exceed the laptop's memory, as does the minimum HDD space. I will try to post the error that I get during the PoorMan's boot of DSL.

Error message during PoorMan's DSL install: modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module fb0

X10: fatal IO error 104 (Connection Reset by peer) on X server ":0.0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining. [/b]

 

[Fear No Evil]

I'd say spend like $25 on a used computer thats like 10x the speed.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
I'd say spend like $25 on a used computer thats like 10x the speed.

This is more of a side project than anything else, I like bringing it into a room and people going WTF when they see me boot 98 and state that it can connect to the wifi network.

I have a Toshiba notebook with an nVidia 7900 GS Go in it for actual work.

 

[Skeeedunt]

Have you tried starting with a minimal Debian net install? I have no idea if it supports those devices, but might be worth a shot. You'll need to install X and a light weight window manager (XFCE?) afterward to get a GUI though.

 

[Colt45]

X is gonna suck on 40MB RAM. If you must have it, try one of the real light WM's, black/open/fluxbox.

Can it netboot? I forget if antiques could or not...

 

[Praetor]

What I did on my first go around with my Dell CP was do a linux install in a chroot then just rsync it over to the old hard drive. Maybe that would help in your situation?

 

[SickBeast]

I'm pretty sure Puppy Linux would work on that system.