Which distro for a notebook 133 MHz 16Mb Ram?

Xeratul · 04-02-2015, 05:10 AM

Hello,

Which distro would you advise for a notebook Pentium 133 MHz 16Mb Ram for a x11 minimal use (such as Damnsmalllinux with Siag-like office)?

Perfs:
800x600 monitor
133 MHz Pentium® processor
12.1 DSTN colour screen
16MB ram
1xUSB port

I have read that Slitaz could be nice: http://www.slitaz.org
What about damnsmalllinux?
Why not debian stable?

Thank you / Looking forward to reading you!

rokytnji · 04-02-2015, 09:19 AM

Have you checked the links at the bottom of the page in your thread?

Here is just another thread

And just a suggestion (though your ram will probably choke trying to load it up)

http://hondasid1984.angelfire.com/puplets.html

Xeratul · 04-02-2015, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Have you checked the links at the bottom of the page in your thread?

Here is just another thread

And just a suggestion (though your ram will probably choke trying to load it up)

http://hondasid1984.angelfire.com/puplets.html

many thanks.

Do you think that installing Debian Stable would be possible? sounds a bit too heavy for a 16Mb...

Head_on_a_Stick · 04-02-2015, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeratul

Do you think that installing Debian Stable would be possible?

Debian says no...
https://www.debian.org/releases/stab...h03s04.html.en

rokytnji · 04-02-2015, 10:29 AM

You are going to have a slight/major problem. Ram for sure. The other is CMOV.

You need a i486 distro. Not i686.

Debian net install should be OK (edit: my bad. Just read Head_on_a_Sticks post). My p66 12MB ram Kapok Nantan Clevo Notebook sits on the shelf
as a museum piece till it can buy me a worthy motorcycle part selling it.
I installed Blue Flops on it. I actually got links to run on a old wireless b type 1 pcmcia card
on open wireless networks. But it was a pain for my uneducated mind to run.

So I retired it.

DavidMcCann · 04-02-2015, 11:46 AM

The Damn Small Linux site lists the minimum requirement for a GUI as 24MB.

The Tiny Core Linux FAQ says "An absolute minimum of RAM is 46MB. TC won't boot with anything less, no matter how many terabytes of swap you have." Even the version with no GUI needs 28MB.

I'm afraid that a 16MB computer is only useful to a museum.

TobiSGD · 04-02-2015, 11:47 AM

You might be able to run NetBSD on it, but even then 16MB is way to small for running X.

colorpurple21859 · 04-02-2015, 12:16 PM

what you want to do with the computer: desktop, visit websites, server, other? The first two on the list not likely or so slow it will be unuseable. The last two depends on what your trying to accomplish.

Xeratul · 04-02-2015, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

what you want to do with the computer: desktop, visit websites, server, other? The first two on the list not likely or so slow it will be unuseable. The last two depends on what your trying to accomplish.

Well, X11 xfree or xorg for sure.
A pentium 1 with 16Mb is quite a lot.

I like KoloriusOS that was made in Assembler and could fit a floppy disk.

TobiSGD · 04-03-2015, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeratul

Well, X11 xfree or xorg for sure.
A pentium 1 with 16Mb is quite a lot.

I like KoloriusOS that was made in Assembler and could fit a floppy disk.

No, fo running a X server 16MB is not quite a lot, it is simply insufficient. It hardly is enough for or console based system. KolibriOS is that small because it is written completely in Assembler and because it doesn't provide a fully fledged Linux system (KolibriOS is not a UNIX like system).

DavidMcCann · 04-03-2015, 10:58 AM

We've established that no Linux, even in CLI mode, will run in 16MB. But if you're interested in seeing what you can do with an old computer, there are possibilities.

KolibriOS requires 8MB and a Pentium I (they recommend 16MB for watching videos). It offers a GUI, "word processor, image viewer, graphical editor, web browser and well over 30 exciting games".
http://kolibrios.org/en/
I tested it quite some time ago, but it seemed good.

DOS is still alive and will run in 2MB with a 386!
http://www.freedos.org/
Although a CLI system, you have the Arachne graphical web-browser: a bit slow but usable when I tried it.

John VV · 04-03-2015, 03:59 PM

that night be to old for even
"Plan 9 from bell labs"
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9/
hardware
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/wiki/plan..._instructions/

a terminal install of plan9 will work with 16 meg ram

Xeratul · 04-03-2015, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMcCann

We've established that no Linux, even in CLI mode, will run in 16MB. But if you're interested in seeing what you can do with an old computer, there are possibilities.

KolibriOS requires 8MB and a Pentium I (they recommend 16MB for watching videos). It offers a GUI, "word processor, image viewer, graphical editor, web browser and well over 30 exciting games".
http://kolibrios.org/en/
I tested it quite some time ago, but it seemed good.

DOS is still alive and will run in 2MB with a 386!
http://www.freedos.org/
Although a CLI system, you have the Arachne graphical web-browser: a bit slow but usable when I tried it.

How is it possible that KolibriOS is so light and so powerful?
there is nothing like linux with a kernel coded in assembler too?

Quote:

I quote:
"KolibriOS requires 8MB and a Pentium I (they recommend 16MB for watching videos). It offers a GUI, "word processor, image viewer, graphical editor, web browser and well over 30 exciting games".
http://kolibrios.org/en/
I tested it quite some time ago, but it seemed good.

colorpurple21859 · 04-03-2015, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

No, fo running a X server 16MB is not quite a lot, it is simply insufficient. It hardly is enough for or console based system. KolibriOS is that small because it is written completely in Assembler and because it doesn't provide a fully fledged Linux system (KolibriOS is not a UNIX like system).

This is why.

Xeratul · 04-03-2015, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

This is why.

maybe there is one tiny distro with x11:
http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Floppy/

I am really sure that it is possible to run debian with a tiny kernel on 16mb with X11.

There is definitely possible to run an X11 without an heavy kernel. Furthermore Debian can run x11 with 16MB.
http://yonggun.tistory.com/77

Maybe I should install windows 3.1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gevo-wCCYoo

Quote:

Actually Windows 3.1 is the most notable efficient OS for its low system requirements. It is capable on running on anything from a 16-bit 8086

Even today Windows 3.1 still stands next to Linux today's tiny distros.
Furthermore there is MS Office, which is far more advanced that whatever office suite that runs on Linux. a very Light, Fast and Efficient Office suite.
Bill did great softwares at that time. He rocks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idGaAiogUZ8

or ... this is maybe THE linux solution: http://micheleandreoli.org/public/So...linux/iso.html
- no, it requires 32mb

Or maybe this solution for i486:
https://www.plop.at/en/ploplinux/index.html
- no, too heavy...

so the best solution is probably the origin of Linux:
http://taper.alienbase.nl/mirrors/sl...lackware-1.01/
!!!

- Do you maybe know a slackware-2.3 iso live to test?

- installing debian hamm is easy and takes only 20 MB on minimal install. Can you imagine how tiny it could have been? instead of 450mb for the base of today, it was x20 times smaller.
mount /dev/hdc /cdrom and you can dpkg -i apt-get*.deb
and you get your apt-get.

For meetings, ... this computer in the meeting room would impress everyone for sure...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXfSjNNA3DU