Hi all,

I'm fairly new to Linux but have been having issues trying to install DSL (Damn Small Linux) onto an old 1998 Panasonic laptop. I note that the specifications for it are as follows:

- 266 MHz PII MMX CPU
- 96 (approx.) MB RAM
- 4 GB HDD

Because of the age of the laptop and the low specs, I have been unable to find another suitable Linux OS. The main issue, however, is with the laptop's display, which seems to load glitched, regardless of which mode I boot it up in. I'm trying to pre-load DSL onto the laptop itself.

I've attached a photograph of the laptop's screen, showing this strange occurrence.

I would appreciate any assistance you could provide.

http://i60.tinypic.com/rrus9g.jpg

Sorry to say It looks almost like a hardware problem like I had on my Panasonic CF-48. I ended up changing the lcd screen cable that went from
the inverter to the plug on back of lcd screen.

My screen would go white like yours. I invested a lot of time and effort in rebuilding my CF-48. I bumped the cpu up from P3 to P4. New cpu paste.
I bumped the ram from 256MB to 1.2 Gig. Soldered a new input jack on the mobo for the a/c adapter plug (it was running hot). Plus the cable change.

Make sure you pick the vesa option for video driver. Not xorg.

Just another iso you might try is http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=tinycore to see if same graphics glitch shows.

It has been ages since I did a DSL notebook install.
http://yatsite.blogspot.com/2008/10/...on-compaq.html

Edit: if you have a external monitor. Plug it into the cf-27. See if the screen clears up. Old photo of mine in action.

http://i46.tinypic.com/ih08q1.jpg

I might be tempted to try slitaz also.

There might be some boot options too that may help. Pretty sure most of those would run in Vesa mode but as above, it may be time for a new system.