Exactly that ^. I just got this computer today, and its got a 100MB hdd, a 3.5 floppy, a 5 diskette (which the previous owner shoved cds into), and 640 or so KB of RAM. I'm not yet sure of the cpu speed. Anywho, I want to learn Linux. What dist is small enough to work with here?
What Linux dist for 14 year old comp
- Thread starter thatbox
- Start date
DannyBoy
Diamond Member
None that i know of, none that have any form of GUI anyway 
You could run a command line version of linux but even that would be pushing it with less than a meg of ram i would think :Q
Dan
You could run a command line version of linux but even that would be pushing it with less than a meg of ram i would think :Q
Dan
Ummmm, wow, what a....... historic item...... Dare I ask, what kinda cpu is in it.
BTW, do you like DOS
BTW, do you like DOS
If its a 286, it wont run on it.
That too.
Maybe HURD will run on it??
From Debian FAQ:
You must have at least 12MB of memory and 110MB of hard disk space. For a minimal console-based system (all standard packages), 250MB is required.
There MIGHT be a distro out there that requires less than 12 mb of ram, but I dont know the requirements of the linux kernel itself (4 or 8mb of ram is it??)
That too.
Maybe HURD will run on it??
From Debian FAQ:
You must have at least 12MB of memory and 110MB of hard disk space. For a minimal console-based system (all standard packages), 250MB is required.
There MIGHT be a distro out there that requires less than 12 mb of ram, but I dont know the requirements of the linux kernel itself (4 or 8mb of ram is it??)
With those specs, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the processor is a 286. Although the 286 has some form of protected mode (Windows 3.1 used it), it does not have the kind of protected mode that the 386 and higher processors have, and thus can not run a regular version of Linux (or Windows 9x or NT). At one time there was a project to get Linux running on 286 processors (some sort of embedded Linux, IIRC), but I don't know if that's even around any more.
Throw it out.
I reuse lots of old junk, but there are limits.
Like jliechty said, that sounds an awful lot like a 286, and you'll have a hard time finding a useful OS that can run on one of those.
I reuse lots of old junk, but there are limits.
Like jliechty said, that sounds an awful lot like a 286, and you'll have a hard time finding a useful OS that can run on one of those.
Yea, like I threw out my IBM PS/1 with a 10MHz 286 processor, 1MB of RAM, and a 30MB hard disk when the hard disk crashed. There was no sense in trying to fix it. FYI, it died in 1997, and was my primary system until then!
It sucked at Windows 3.1 stuff, but when I ran it in plain ol' MSDOS 6.22, it made an awesome QuickBasic development "workstation."
Originally posted by: jliechty
Yea, like I threw out my IBM PS/1 with a 10MHz 286 processor, 1MB of RAM, and a 30MB hard disk when the hard disk crashed. There was no sense in trying to fix it. FYI, it died in 1997, and was my primary system until then!
It sucked at Windows 3.1 stuff, but when I ran it in plain ol' MSDOS 6.22, it made an awesome QuickBasic development "workstation."
Wow...286 in 97...I thought my workstation at work sucked
I can't bring myself to throw any comp-related things out. I haven't had time to play with it any more, so no info on what the CPU actually is. Bummer. I knew it was a long shot when I asked; oh well. Thanks for the replies!
Nope: couldnt find any GNU/linux or Linus distro that would run on such ..um..vintage machines.
Edit: I think you might want to pay a visit to
This site.
Edit: I think you might want to pay a visit to
This site.
Do a little more investigation. If it has a 100 meg hard drive, chances are it is atleast a 386. You can probalby get more 30 pin memory and bump it up to like 16 or 20 megs of ram, then you won't have a bad linux machine... For a machine that old, I would use SLACKWARE
as you can install it virtually in like 60-70 megs of hard drive space min. Don't expect to install any useful crap like compilers.. etc.. but you can make it work. I used a 386/20 with 12 megs of ram and a 240 meg hard drive as a web server like 5 years ago. It worked pretty damn well.
foxkm
as you can install it virtually in like 60-70 megs of hard drive space min. Don't expect to install any useful crap like compilers.. etc.. but you can make it work. I used a 386/20 with 12 megs of ram and a 240 meg hard drive as a web server like 5 years ago. It worked pretty damn well.
foxkm
"muLinux is a minimalistic Linux distribution, suitable for old computers. X11, GCC, VNC, SSH, Samba, Netscape etc. are supported on additional addon floppies. It can be installed from DOS/Win9x or Linux, without repartitioning."<a href="http://mulinux.sunsite.dk/">
http://mulinux.sunsite.dk/</A>
http://mulinux.sunsite.dk/</A>
This won't help him if it is a 286, and I was under the impression that most 386s had more than 640k of RAM
If you can get it up to 8MB, 12MB, 16MB or so of ram you should be able to do something with it. Might wanna try NetBSD or OpenBSD too. What I would do is take the hard drive out, install on a fast machine, then put the drive back into the old machine.
THE absolute minimum computer that can run any form of x86 linux is a 386 with 4 megs of ram... The standard Linux kernel needs at least 8 Megs and 16 megs is nessecary to get X to work... Note these are the ABSOLUTE minimum, I have personally ran linux on a 8meg 486 laptop I had laying around. It was not fun, basicly DOS could do everything that that Linux installation could do...
The one usefull thing you can do with a machine that old is to install dos on it. Get kermit and learn how to set up a terminal using dos for your linux maching. Connect using a serial line (laplink is a accepted name for the specific type of null modem cable you'll need). Plug the serial line into back of the linux box and use it as a extra screen and keyboard. I did that and it was pretty neat when playing quake and stuff. I could start it up from there, then I would use it to control the cd player, volume, check download times, netstats, monitor cpu/mem usage and all that fun stuff using command line utilities. just like you would be on your main virtual "terminal" on your linux box if you were not running X.
Otherwise unless you fancy having a dos machine laying around to play old abandonware video games, gut it and turn it into a novelty hamster cage, use it to keep down tarps on your flower bed during a hailstorm, a nice wheel jam for parking cars on hills that have bad parking brakes, keep it on your passenger seat of your car to use it in a unique form of road rage, prop it up with a stick and a peice of cheese on a string and invent the better mouse trap, play a freindly game of "kick the computer" with your neighbors, try to invent a new strongman contest involving tossing it over your garage and other insudry objects, tie around the neck of a hyperactive dog (or child) to slow it down, practice your jedi skills on it, give it a nice paint job and add a couple neon lights and try to sell it to the idiot at work saying 286 realy means 2.86 mhz and cga graphics is the new hdtv/computer protocol(a steal at $500), use it as a lift kit for a garden gnome to keep it's head above the weeds, use it to fix the sagging porch steps out back, put it in the middle of the sidewalk and then drive a bolt thru the middle of it into the cement and secretly video tape people who try to steal it and sell the tape online as a comedy show, sell it on ebay as Elvis's personal computer, climb to the top of the empire state building and offer a crisp new 100 dollar bill to anyone willing to chuck it over the edge, use it start a wall-o-obsolete computers and try to get on tv 2 am news as being a wacky person, bash it with a hammer for couple hours and sell it as "extreme" art, bash it with a realy big wooden log on a stick and go on tour as a comedian for the super intellegent PBS-veiwer market, put it in someones else's mail box and write on big letters on the top "send this computer to twenty other people and you could get rich, don't send it and end up these poor souls etc etc....", or just toss it in the garbage and make a fishbowl out of the monitor.
The one usefull thing you can do with a machine that old is to install dos on it. Get kermit and learn how to set up a terminal using dos for your linux maching. Connect using a serial line (laplink is a accepted name for the specific type of null modem cable you'll need). Plug the serial line into back of the linux box and use it as a extra screen and keyboard. I did that and it was pretty neat when playing quake and stuff. I could start it up from there, then I would use it to control the cd player, volume, check download times, netstats, monitor cpu/mem usage and all that fun stuff using command line utilities. just like you would be on your main virtual "terminal" on your linux box if you were not running X.
Otherwise unless you fancy having a dos machine laying around to play old abandonware video games, gut it and turn it into a novelty hamster cage, use it to keep down tarps on your flower bed during a hailstorm, a nice wheel jam for parking cars on hills that have bad parking brakes, keep it on your passenger seat of your car to use it in a unique form of road rage, prop it up with a stick and a peice of cheese on a string and invent the better mouse trap, play a freindly game of "kick the computer" with your neighbors, try to invent a new strongman contest involving tossing it over your garage and other insudry objects, tie around the neck of a hyperactive dog (or child) to slow it down, practice your jedi skills on it, give it a nice paint job and add a couple neon lights and try to sell it to the idiot at work saying 286 realy means 2.86 mhz and cga graphics is the new hdtv/computer protocol(a steal at $500), use it as a lift kit for a garden gnome to keep it's head above the weeds, use it to fix the sagging porch steps out back, put it in the middle of the sidewalk and then drive a bolt thru the middle of it into the cement and secretly video tape people who try to steal it and sell the tape online as a comedy show, sell it on ebay as Elvis's personal computer, climb to the top of the empire state building and offer a crisp new 100 dollar bill to anyone willing to chuck it over the edge, use it start a wall-o-obsolete computers and try to get on tv 2 am news as being a wacky person, bash it with a hammer for couple hours and sell it as "extreme" art, bash it with a realy big wooden log on a stick and go on tour as a comedian for the super intellegent PBS-veiwer market, put it in someones else's mail box and write on big letters on the top "send this computer to twenty other people and you could get rich, don't send it and end up these poor souls etc etc....", or just toss it in the garbage and make a fishbowl out of the monitor.
Unless the computer is upgradable to about 32mb of ram than this would probably be the best usage for it.
Edit: Don't throw it out though, find out if its a 286 or a 386 first
That list of fun sh!t to do with old computers is freaking awesome, drag. I'm [select]ing, CTRL+C, CTRL+V in Notepad, and CTRL+S for a later time.
Originally posted by: jliechty
That list of fun sh!t to do with old computers is freaking awesome, drag. I'm [select]ing, CTRL+C, CTRL+V in Notepad, and CTRL+S for a later time.
I agree, drag that was a real classic. I'll have to add that to my collection. It isn't copyrighted is it
copyrightOriginally posted by: wizardLRU
I agree, drag that was a real classic. I'll have to add that to my collection. It isn't copyrighted is it
\Cop"y*right\, n. The right of an author or his assignee, under statute, to print and publish his literary or artistic work, exclusively of all other persons. This right may be had in maps, charts, engravings, plays, and musical compositions, as well as in books.
Thus, (in theory) anything written is "automatically" considered © the one who wrote it. This means that drag has certain rights regarding his lovely composition, though he can choose various ways to enforce them (MS EULA - god forbid - or GPL, or BSD, or other sorts of licenses). Which means that you also have these rights regarding your post, which I just quoted... oh sh!t...
...fortunately, there do exist things commonly known as fair use rights (though the RIAA and MPIA like to lie and say that they do not exist), which thus allow me to quote your post in such a manner as this. (whew, insert relieved smiley here)
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