What would be a good linux distro for a laptop with a 700MHz CPU and 128MB RAM?
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What would be a good linux distro for a laptop with a 700MHz CPU and 128MB RAM?
Hi,
The obvious candidates would be Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux.
Your problem will be the 128Mb RAM as most distros want a lot more if you are going to use their GUI installers.
What make/model of lappy is it?
The laptop is a Compaq EVO N150. Ram is expandable 320MB if that helps.
I second DSL. You can run it as a live cd, and I am pretty sure that 128MB will be plenty.
Quote:
Minimum Requirements for DSL with X-window
- 486dx or 100% compatible processor
- 16mb ram (24mb recommended)
- dual-speed CDROM (quad-speed or better recommended)
- 1.44mb floppy drive (for boot floppy, if needed)
- VGA monitor and video card
- a mouse (serial, ps/2, usb)
Recommended Specs
- Pentium 200MHz
- 64MB ram
- 8x CDROM
- 1.44mb floppy drive (for boot floppy, if needed)
- VGA monitor and video card capable of handling at least 16 bit color
- a mouse with a scroll wheel
Puppy Linux will work, and your processor is plenty fast enough.
I would suggest more RAM, particularly if you are going to use an office suite. Particularly as you are probably sharing memory with the video chipset ;)Quote:
Therefore, you should use the higher kernel number with newer PCs (but the reverse rule, using lower kernel number, does not apply to older PCs - you can use any Puppy version with older PCs, just make sure you have at least 128 MB memory/RAM to get the speed which Puppy wants to give you).
I would suggest that you take a look at both and pick the one you like. They will both run on a live CD.
I'm trying them both now. Looks like DSL isn't auto-detecting the NIC. I'll try Puppy before getting to heavy into config.
Hmmm,
I would hold fire on the RAM until you have tried them. Your video card is only taking 8Mb.
From what I can see your lappy has 64Mb of fixed RAM and a single expansion slot, that will support 256Mb. From what I have seen over here you might want to go for a 128 strip? (128 =GBP18, 256 = GBP75:eek:) Obviously that will mean having to remove the existing 64Mb strip. That would give you 192Mb, and I am sure that gore runs a box like that with a much slower processor?
I would be reluctant to try any of the heavyweight distros on less than 256Mb, and would prefer 384Mb.........or better:D.......and with their own video card.
I have that 433MHz Celeron with 192 MBs RAM and an 8 MB video card still running FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE. No lag issues or downtime. I ran Slackware on it too. Works good :)
@ gore,
Thanks mate, I remembered you had something along those lines from previous conversations.
What would you actually suggest here?
I guess that we have to consider 128Mb (-8) and maybe 192Mb?
I cannot believe i'm about to type this, but ubuntu netbook remix would be perfect for that spec laptop > http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook
once again i cannot believe i just did that.. :(
Actually, netbooks are not that low spec when compared to "old" equipment.
Ubuntu Desktop (GUI) Installation
- 1 GHz x86 processor
- 512 MiB of system memory (RAM)
- 5 GB of disk space (for OS files; consideration should be given to the (often very large) size of user files that will occupy the /home directory)
- Graphics card and monitor capable of 1024x768
- Cd/Dvd-drive
- Sound support, if you need sound.
- Internet access is helpful
And for the netbook version:
Ubuntu Netbook Edition
If you have a netbook and a supported graphics card, using Ubuntu Netbook Edition (formerly "Ubuntu Netbook Remix") is an interesting option. It has a nice interface adapted for smaller screens, and a selection of applications aimed at netbook users.
Ubuntu Netbook Remix is designed to run well on netbooks with typically minimal specs, i.e.:
- Intel Atom processor @ 1.6 GHz
- 512 MiB of system memory (RAM)
- 4 GB of disk space
- Screen of 1024x600 resolution
- Graphics chipset with support for visual effects
XUBUNTU might work?
If your system has less than 192 MB of system memory, use the Alternate Installation CD.
Note: If you have a low-specification computer, certain features may be automatically turned off to conserve system resources. For example, if you have a graphics card with only a small amount of video memory (VRAM), the boot-up screen may not be shown.
Follow this link for detailed instructions: Installation/LowMemorySystems.
Minimum system requirements for Xubuntu would fall roughly between Ubuntu Server and Desktop:
- 256 MiB of system memory (RAM)
- 2 GB of disk space
- Graphics card and monitor capable of 800x600 resolution
Regarding processors, a recent thread on the Ubuntu Forums describes a 500 MHz Xubuntu machine as being "too slow" and discusses alternatives: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1267443
The website is here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...20Requirements
Personally, Slackware, BSD, and "LinuxConsole" are good options for it. LinuxConsole I used recently and liked it, and it's good on older machines. There's also "Vector Linux" as well.
I'm assuming you mean run level 3 when talking about slackware? (I'm not sure about FreeBSD, probably should learn up more on BSD)Quote:
Originally Posted by gore
Actually I've had not only Enlightenment E-17 running on it fine, but I CAN use KDE if I'm willing to let it lag. I don't generally do that though. I usually use Enlightenment, or Window Maker on it.