I am running Xandros OCE on my 2nd desktop. I have an old Toshiba 225cds laptop I would like to try LInux on. Thing is: I really don't know anything about installing Linux the way you hardcore guys (and gals) do. I need a CD to pop in and BAM! install begins with nice directions and graphics. (Hence...XANDROS- which I like ALOT)
Here is the rundown on the laptop:
• Model Toshiba 225CDS
• Manufacturer Toshiba
• Product Line Satellite
• Battery Type Lithium Ion
• Average Battery Life 3 H
• Input Device Keyboard, Trackpoint
• Weight 7.0546 Lb
• Processor Manufacturer Intel
• Processor Type Pentium
• Processor Speed 133 MHz
• Bus Speed 66 MHz
• Level 2 Cache 256 KB
• Hard Drive Capacity 1.4 GB
• Hard Drive Interface IDE / EIDE
• Installed Memory 16 MB
• RAM Type EDO DRAM
• Max Supported RAM 144 MB
• Drive Type CD-ROM
• Screen Type LCD Passive Matrix
• Video Memory 2 MB
• Max Resolution 1280 x 1024

I tried a few live ditros to see what would work. Quick list of those that did: none.

DSL, SuSe, Linspire, and I think I even tried Knoppix. Nothing would start.

Any ideas? Someone suggested VectorLinux, but I don't know what version to download, and on top of that, I don't know how to handle a b2z file. (or is it bz2?)

Burning ISOs are no problem....I just don't know what to do with the hardcore stuff...

Thanks,
Rob

What didn't work with the live distros? Did they not boot or did they boot and not run? Fedora and Mandrake may be usable alternatives, or Ubuntu - they all have easy to follow graphical installs.

Well you are using an old Pc indead!

You're BIOS is also pretty old, thats the reason why no cd boot up.
To fix that you should download a program called "SmartBoot" (I think thats the name) and put in a floppy. At each boot it will enable you to boot whatever you want, eaven cds.

I would personally discurrage you from installing Xandros or anyother nice looking distro on an old Pc.

It's not the fact that we are hardcore users that Linux is hard to install.
On the contrary! Linux has made big steps in providing user-friendly interfaces.

Anyway if you really really want to install Linux on it you should use distros that are made for old Pc like Vector Linux.

Since we live in a modern world (thank God!) I ask you to consider installing Xandros on a relatively new Pc to get the best out of Linux.

I was suggested Vector Linux by someone else, but I wasn't sure which version to download. I went to the DL site but wasn't sure what to do with a .bz2 (or .b2z) file....what is that???

Thanks,
Rob

bz2 is a compression format that any modern compression program can read.
It's one of the traditional formats that you will encounter on linux.

I looked at the official site of Vector Linux and I agree with you if you say it's confusing!

Anyway here is the most used one and easiest to install:

ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dist...linux-4.3/iso/

As you can see it's 4.3, and the iso file is ready and complete.
All you have to do now is download it and burn the image on cd and boot.

Ps: I hope you have some experience with Linux on command line since it's half interface!

Happy Computing!

You may want to check out Mepis too. It is a live cd that has amazing support and it is based on debian.

Slide on in to the good stuff....

Carroarmato0 Nice signature.

I will try your suggestions and let you know on this thread what happened!
By the way- Does MEPIS have a live distro so I can try it out w/o installing it?

Thanks again for your help-

Rob

maybe you can try DeLiLinux? Just google that word, and you'll find the right site to download. It's able to run on really minimal pc's, and is pretty easy to install I think

Or maybe Puppy Linux? http://www.goosee.com/puppy ?

The computer that I run DSL on has specks almost identical to yours. You won't be able to use a regular desktop on it (like KDE or GNOME) because they take too much resources -- Xandros uses a version of KDE by the way -- and most regular distributions provide programs that would overly tax your hardware.

Your hardware also probably can't handle DSL in its full graphical live-cd mode (mine couldn't, though the hard-drive install has excellent graphics). You probably will need to get your feet *slightly* wet to install something. I would, undoubtedly with some personal bias, recommend trying DSL again. In my experience, it works very well on hardware like yours, and doesn't suffer from out-datedness.

Try having it boot only into text mode (if I remember right, by typing the number 2 at the boot prompt) to see if it, in general, detects your hardware. You would have to do a command-line installation from text-mode but as they go, DSL's is pretty simple and automated. There are basic instructions for it [ here ].

Good luck!


EDIT: Oh, and to answer your other question, Mepis *is* a live-cd distribution, but it will definitely *NOT* work on the hardware you listed, even as a hard-drive install.