[SOLVED] What Linux Distribution

85fiero · 03-22-2014, 01:21 PM

I have been using Linux for better than 10 years. I've used and tried almost every distro. I'm currently using Ubuntu 13.04. I've used this forum for years also but have now signed up under a different user name.

That said, I gave one of my old computers to a friend of who had no computer experience at all. The computer was an emachines T2341 that I had had for years not using but it worked good. It had XP on it. He had been using it for some time and it kept getting virus's . It had a very old harddrive so I put a new hdd in it and decided to move him away from Windows. First I tried Linux Mint and after boot up I had a screen of all colors and it wasn't installing. I then installed Linux Lite 1.0.8. While installing, Lite was complaining about video. "Out of range" and strange patterns and a 1/4 vertical gray bar on the left side. I got it installed and it was very quick with the new hdd so I let it install a lot of updates. That slowed it down quite a bit which was strange in that the hdd was 160 G. It was sticky too. But the main issue is that it won't play any videos, no youtube or embedded. A video will come on black for a second and then disappear.
I looked around for a video card that would fit it but it seems that this computer isn't friendly to anything other than on board video.
So, the video worked OK with XP so what Linux distro can I use that would work with this computers video?

DavidMcCann · 03-22-2014, 01:42 PM

We really need more details about the hardware. One site I've just found suggests you have a 32-bit AMD processor, another says a 64-bit. And how much RAM do you have? Don't forget that some of that will go for the integrated video...

As for the video driver, if the site I read has that right, a driver is available here
http://www.auspisoft.com/s/s3_graphics_prosavage8.html

John VV · 03-22-2014, 02:15 PM

with CentOS 5.10 being the last minor upgrade and only security updates

and you can install a LTS version of firefox

that and OpenOffice 3.6 should do them

but the hardware specs ARE NEEDED !!!!
a lot of old ( 2001-2006) XP computer hardware is no longer supported

also if they only have 512 mg of ram ????
well i know for a fact that CentOS 5.4 ran on 512 meg
i upgraded to 1 gig with centos 6

85fiero · 03-22-2014, 02:18 PM

It's 32 bit with a G of ram., AMD processor. Thank you for the replies. I'd really like to get this going for him.

gold_finger · 03-22-2014, 02:35 PM

Not sure if this was your post on the LL forums, but here is solution:

https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/i....msg797#msg797

85fiero · 03-22-2014, 10:51 PM

That box has a 2300+ Athalon Processor. That's what it acts like, a flashplayer problem. That is my post. I hadn't got back there yet. I hope that works. I can't remember how I posted that. I have no idea how to "reply" to post. Very strange lay-out on that forum. No "reply" to click anywhere.

gold_finger · 03-23-2014, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85fiero

That is my post. I hadn't got back there yet. I hope that works. I can't remember how I posted that. I have no idea how to "reply" to post. Very strange lay-out on that forum. No "reply" to click anywhere.

Yes, is a bit different -- forum buttons over there don't display unless you're logged in.

Solution should work for your Athlon 2300+.

onebuck · 03-23-2014, 08:18 AM

Hi,

One suggestion is to increase the RAM(memory) if possible. More is better.

You could try;

Quote:

Minimal/Optimized Gnu/Linux Distributions:
Minimal/Light Weight:

Puppy Linux <- 'Puppy really is small, the live-CD typically being 85MB, yet there really is a complete set of GUI applications. Being so small, Puppy usually loads completely into RAM, which accounts for the incredible speed.'

Simplicity Linux <- 'Simplicity Linux is a Puppy Linux derivative with LXDE as the default desktop environment. It comes in four editions: Obsidian, Netbook, Desktop and Media. The Netbook edition features cloud-based software, the Desktop flavour offers a collection of general-purpose software, and the Media variant is designed to provide "lounge" PC users with easy access to their media.

Linux Mint <- 'The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.'

antiX <- 'antiX is a fast, lightweight and easy to install linux live CD distribution based on Debian Testing for Intel-AMD x86 compatible systems. antiX offers users the "antiX Magic" in an environment suitable for old computers. So don't throw away that old computer yet! The goal of antiX is to provide a light, but fully functional and flexible free operating system for both newcomers and experienced users of Linux. It should run on most computers, ranging from 64MB old PII 266 systems with pre-configured 128MB swap to the latest powerful boxes. 128MB RAM is recommended minimum for antiX. The installer needs minimum 2.2GB hard disk size. antiX can also be used as a fast-booting rescue cd. At the moment antiX-13 "Luddite" comes as a full distro (c690MB), a base distro (c400MB) and a core-libre distro (c135MB) for 32 bit and 64 bit computers. For those who wish to have total control over the install, use antiX-core and build up. Present released antiX-13.2-full version, 05 November 2013: isos and md5sum files available 'Luddite'

Tiny Core Linux <- 'Tiny Core Linux is a 12 MB graphical Linux desktop. It is based on a recent Linux kernel, BusyBox, Tiny X, Fltk, and Flwm. The core runs entirely in memory and boots very quickly. The user has complete control over which applications and/or additional hardware to have supported, be it for a desktop, a nettop, an appliance or server; selectable from the project's online repository.'

VectorLinux <- 'VectorLinux is a small, fast, Intel based Linux operating system for PC style computers. The creators of VectorLinux had a single credo: keep it simple, keep it small and let the end user decide what their operating system is going to be. What has evolved from this concept is perhaps the best little Linux operating system available anywhere.' + 'VectorLinux 7.0 "Light'

Lubuntu <- 'Lubuntu is a fast, lightweight and energy-saving variant of Ubuntu using the LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) desktop. It is intended to have low-resource system requirements and is designed primarily for netbooks, mobile devices and older PCs.'

Damn Small Linux <- 'Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) live CD Linux distribution. Despite its minuscule size it strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop. Damn Small Linux has a nearly complete desktop, including XMMS (MP3, and MPEG), FTP client, links-hacked web browser, spreadsheet, email, spellcheck (US English), a word-processor, three editors (Nedit, nVi, Zile [emacs clone]), Xpdf, Worker (file manager), Naim (AIM, ICQ, IRC), VNCviwer, SSH/SCP server and client, DHCP client, PPP, PPPoE, a web server, calculator, Fluxbox window manager, system monitoring apps, USB support, and soon it will have PCMCIA support as well. If you like Damn Small Linux you can install it on your hard drive. Because all the applications are small and light it makes a very good choice for older hardware.'

CrunchBang Linux <- 'CrunchBang Linux is an Debian-based distribution featuring the light-weight Openbox window manager and GTK+ applications. The distribution has been built from a minimal Debian system and customized to offer a good balance of speed and functionality. CrunchBang Linux is currently available as a live CD; however, the best performance is achieved by installing it to a hard disk.'

ArchBang Linux <- 'ArchBang Linux is a lightweight distribution based on Arch Linux. Using the Openbox window manager, it is fast, up-to-date and suitable for both desktop and portable systems.'

CDlinux <- 'CDlinux is a compact Linux mini-distribution. It ships with an up-to-date version of the Linux kernel, X.Org, Xfce window manager, and many popular applications. It has good internationalization and locale support, and is highly user-configurable.' + 'Based on Slackware' + 'Older but still useful'

CRUX <- 'CRUX is a lightweight, i686-optimised Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users. The primary focus of this distribution is "keep it simple", which is reflected in a simple tar.gz-based package system, BSD-style initscripts, and a relatively small collection of trimmed packages. The secondary focus is utilization of new Linux features and recent tools and libraries.'

Linux Lite <- 'Linux Lite is a beginner-friendly Linux distribution based on Ubuntu LTS and featuring the Xfce desktop.'

Above links are from Slackware®-Links. More than just Slackware Links.

Hope this helps.

fogpipe · 03-23-2014, 09:46 AM

I have an emachine of an even earlier vintage (celeron 1.8ghz) running slackware 13.37 sitting on the floor next to my desk. For a long time it was my main desktop running vector linux or slackware. I would think vector linux would run very nicely on the specs you described and comes with all the multimedia libraries included.

DavidMcCann · 03-23-2014, 11:10 AM

Well, with 1GB you can run anything. But with motherboard video, you need to avoid Unity, Gnome, or KDE. I'd recommend the Mate or Xfce versions of Mint.

The video driver seems to be this:
http://www.auspisoft.com/s/s3_graphics_prosavage8.html

As for the Flash problem, here's the solution:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...us-4175420481/

85fiero · 03-23-2014, 02:01 PM

Thanks for all the replies. My friends computer usage is minimal. He has a big metal-fab shop and likes internet radio and cruzing the web. I have him hooked up to Shoutcast through VLC. It's just he keeps calling me whenever he has a problem so I'm trying to get something stable enough so I don't have to make so many house calls.
Out of all the above distros, which would be your pick for good internet streaming radio and video? And is one of them ready to go with FF and the capabilities I mentioned?

DavidMcCann · 03-24-2014, 11:25 AM

There are two radio players I know of: Radio Tray and Great Little Radio Player. I've used the second, when testing PCLinuxOS, and it seemed very good:
https://sites.google.com/site/glrpgr...=version-1-4-5
You see that it has a Mint version available.

85fiero · 03-24-2014, 02:20 PM

Thank you. Maybe I'll try Mint again. I've downloaded several of the above OS's. One of them should work.

enorbet · 03-24-2014, 07:40 PM

Greetings
I am rather fond of Porteus which grew out of Slax. It is available w/ KDE or Xfce desktops but the reason I mention it is that it has a fully featured LiveCD so that you can try it out. Unlike many full LiveCDs it is easy to convert to hard drive install should you enjoy it. It also has a convenient way to add on packages before you do the install but the default base LiveCD has Firefox and will play YouTube videos etc. right "out of the box".

85fiero · 03-24-2014, 11:49 PM

Thanks.