Anything about old PCs, their uses, related OSes and their users

rvijay · 07-23-2016, 04:06 PM

Compare all the vintage PCs mentioned in the recent posts under this thread to this more recent PC. It is mind boggling but perhaps may give some ideas about using older PCs better in harmony with the new:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...=HQR-300718482

rvijay · 07-23-2016, 07:58 PM

Computer Museums:
http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp
http://compustory.com/
http://www.computerhistory.org/
http://www.pcmuseum.ca/

Great to browse the sites above for getting a better insight into vintage computers. Now, the PCs we discussed in this thread feel like
they are brand new in comparison

)

rvijay · 07-24-2016, 07:40 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(software)

Reading above articles helps understand the importance of emulators to run mission critical older software that used to run on older hardware that are no longer supported well.

wpeckham · 07-25-2016, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvijay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(software)

FYI: your link does not open an article for me. It opens one of the wiki not found pages. Could you please check your URL?

rvijay · 07-25-2016, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

FYI: your link does not open an article for me. It opens one of the wiki not found pages. Could you please check your URL?

Thank you for the feedback.
Not sure why but a few others said that yesterday. The link works as it is for me.
Try this one:
http://tinyurl.com/hxt42yu

If the above doesn't work even, the best I can suggest is to google for wikipedia charon software and then click on the related result.

rvijay · 07-25-2016, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

There are linux and bsd based distributions that are NOT dropping 32-bit support.
There are also other OS options such as KolibriOS, FreeDOS, etc. that will continue to run on both current and historical/minimal hardware. The *buntu crowd are NOT Linux and they do not represent us, and are free to go their own way if they wish (they will anyway: good for them)!

There are many reasons to focus on 64-bit now, since nearly all new commodity hardware is now arriving 64-bit. Servers have been there for some time. Some distributions, however, are focused on supporting older hardware, or current hardware at greater (in some cases FAR greater) speed and using less resource. Virtualization drives some of it, since you can pack more thin 32-bit guests into a host and do more with them. I expect to see some modern desktop and server distros go 64-bit only, but most of the rest will continue to support a full range of processor and platform options.

Because that is what we DO!

Thanks for this helpful post. I looked up KolibriOS. What other similar FREE OSes are there for historical, minimal hardware ? Thanks in advance.

Edited to Add:
Specific search on the net produced these two links that suggest further similar OSes:
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/archive/i...p/t-13163.html
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cla...ou-never-used/

rvijay · 07-25-2016, 02:36 PM

https://peppermintos.com/guide/downloading/

Came across the OS above that is good for older PCs. 512Mb Ram at the min. is a must. 3.8Gb of HD space also.
Will be interesting to compare this with Damn Small Linux.

maples · 07-25-2016, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvijay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(software)

The closing parenthesis is not included in the URL; that's why it's not working:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(software)

rvijay · 07-25-2016, 07:51 PM

A contact advised me about KalibriOS that full FAT12/16/32 support is implemented, read-only support for NTFS, ISO9660 and Ext2/3/4
Drivers are written for popular sound, network and graphics cards.

Was advised by another contact that Peppermint OS is just another Ubuntu fork with different Desktop Environment.

Both the above don't see too positive. However, worth a try if one has an older PC.

rvijay · 07-26-2016, 06:18 PM

Today I got a wakeup call and advise, sharing it here for all. P4s are no longer being made, they are getting harder to find used and most are collecting dust in basement. So, if one is using a P4 and a part breaks, it will be harder to get a replacement part. Hence, if you find another P4 best to grab it and keep as a spare for parts. Same holds true for other older PCs also. This is quite a shock and warning for me today on how fast times are changing. P4 is my favorite, it can and still does soo much.

rvijay · 08-03-2016, 12:55 PM

Two days ago I found an IBM Netvista SFF Desktop PC, probably a P2 or P3 abandoned for recycling with power chord. It will not boot. No bad capacitors, so appears the PSU is out. Will keep it for parts and/or offer it to someone else locally.

Faulty Capacitor Info.:
http://www.pctools.com/security-news...apacitor-test/

enine · 08-03-2016, 03:48 PM

chord? Its a musical computer?

I picked up an Amiga 2000 this week, if I'm going to go retro I might as well do it right.

rvijay · 08-08-2016, 02:53 PM

Today's Dumpster Diving Finds: Books - Linux Bible, Turbo C++ and Java. Also got a few networks cards, memory and other different cards. Lastly got some bags and cables.

This is a good experience. One may get accessories etc., more often than a monitor, PC or laptop from Dumpster Diving.

rvijay · 08-08-2016, 07:23 PM

The sound blaster card from todays dumpster find installed well and the sound is now working on this old server.
Also lots of dust inside, all that was cleared also.

enine · 08-08-2016, 09:25 PM

We did turbo C when I was in college. They ran it on IBM PCXT's, I could run it under an IBM emulator on my Amiga and it was faster than the schools computers.