[SOLVED] Distro for really really old PC

aarsh · 05-31-2018, 02:56 PM

Hi, I have Pentium 4 with 128 MB RAM and 20 GB HDD. (I know, even Raspberry Pi had better specs, lol ...). Currently, it is running Windows XP. If it was for me, I'd have installed Gentoo or Slack (Yes I like to grow my beard - https://area31.net.br/wiki/images/5/...ard_ubuntu.jpg). I'm not sure if I can boot from USB, but I'm sure I have access to a functional CD ROM. The user is a novice computer user.

This computer would be used for point of sale terminal, not browsing and YouTube.

EDITs:

- I am doing the installation, the owner is just going to use it.
- The computer is currently running Windows XP.
- I am trying to make this computer work.

Which distro do you suggest? Minimum or no hardware change is preferred.

rokytnji · 05-31-2018, 03:32 PM

Might wanna bump the ram to 512MB 1st.

But that is just my druthers talking. Check into PLOP boot manager to boot from usb on it. I use it on my IBM T23 and Panasonic CF-48 to boot from usb since bios does not support usb boot.

Be prepared to watch paint dry on usb 1.1. Cuz it will be slow. AntiX cli installer is my suggestion for a install method.

Net or core isos in i386 should be OK.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/ant...al/antiX-17.1/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...9q3dFngWfb5b1M

Edit. If the clueless user is doing the install. I'd try the base i386 iso. I'd still use the cli installer option in the grub menu on a live run. It has fluxbox and a some basic tools.

Good luck.

rokytnji · 05-31-2018, 03:37 PM

Oh. Last time I used PLOP. I made my live usb with the dd command. AntiX isos are hybrid isos and can handle that.

DavidMcCann · 06-01-2018, 11:43 AM

AntiX would just about run on that computer, although they recommend more RAM for a graphical interface. If you don't have a dedicated video chip, but are using Northbridge, then that would definitely put paid to things. One POS program, UniCenta, claims to run on a Raspberry Pi but, as you said, that's bigger.

snowday · 06-01-2018, 12:25 PM

Considering that a hardware failure at the point of sale terminal will result in lost revenue for your organization, I would recommend to spend the $39 on a new, reliable Raspberry Pi. Especially considering the user is a computer novice and might not have the skill set to maintain aging hardware.