Linux in an old laptop?

javiersf · 05-16-2006, 08:51 PM

Hi, I am a fan of Mandriva linux and I have it already installed in my system of Pentium 4 (2.26Ghz) and 512 ram.

I also have an old laptop that nobody at home is using so I thought of install it Mandriva 2006 and make it work again, however I have had problems with the same cds I installed on my P4 computer.

My laptop is the following:
IBM ThinkPad
Pentium MMX 166 Mhz
80 MB ram
3 GB hard drive
24x cdrom drive
Xircom pcmcia network card

when I put the install cds, it can´t boot from them, I receive a message that says: ISOLINUX error checksum, though I did boot from them for my other computer without a problem.

I also tried the Mandriva One cd, but also received the same ISOLINUX checksum error.

When I tried with a floppy the setup process goes all the way to just after it formats my hard drive and creates the partitions, but as soon as its reaching for the available packages to install, it gives me lots of kernel error messages.

Any suggestions? I really love to put that computer back again with a powerful operating system like Linux.

Thanks for your support.

Javier.

Jerre Cope · 05-16-2006, 10:38 PM

I think this might be a job for Slackware. If I recall, some old bios' in that era would not boot from CD. Slackware has a variety of boot disks that fit on a floppy. Once, you've got Slack installed by booting from the floppy, but loading from CD, you can rebuild the kernel to whatever you like. At 166MHZ, that will take 40 days and 40 nights.

IvanJ · 05-17-2006, 04:08 AM

DamnSmall is the right system for that macnine. It is very small, but easy for extension. Check http://damnsmalllinux.org/

cayzar · 05-17-2006, 10:25 AM

Perhaps an older mandrake, but they were a little top heavy memory wise, maby a and older red hat?

Peanut and damn small are nice. Try ubuntu, it's one cd in size.

Go to Linux.org then click on distros, and you can look over just about every distro there is and sort them by a number of factors including size.

Knoppix could be a good one too...

onebuck · 05-18-2006, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by javiersf

Hi, I am a fan of Mandriva linux and I have it already installed in my system of Pentium 4 (2.26Ghz) and 512 ram.

I also have an old laptop that nobody at home is using so I thought of install it Mandriva 2006 and make it work again, however I have had problems with the same cds I installed on my P4 computer.

My laptop is the following:
IBM ThinkPad
Pentium MMX 166 Mhz
80 MB ram
3 GB hard drive
24x cdrom drive
Xircom pcmcia network card

when I put the install cds, it can´t boot from them, I receive a message that says: ISOLINUX error checksum, though I did boot from them for my other computer without a problem.

I also tried the Mandriva One cd, but also received the same ISOLINUX checksum error.

When I tried with a floppy the setup process goes all the way to just after it formats my hard drive and creates the partitions, but as soon as its reaching for the available packages to install, it gives me lots of kernel error messages.

Any suggestions? I really love to put that computer back again with a powerful operating system like Linux.

Thanks for your support.

Javier.

Hi,

What TP are you using? Is the cdrom internal or external?

If you are getting checksum error(s) then the problem could be the media. If the media checks out then you could have a device compliance problem.

If the problem is the boot then you could use the sbootmgr.dsk (smart boot manager) that is available with Slackware in the directory rootdisk of install cd1. This program would allow you to boot from floppy the desired device. You could use the program to boot whatever distro install cd you wish.

pda_h4x0r · 05-19-2006, 12:08 AM

...Or you could try using Debian. I've installed it in an Armada older and less powerful than that, and the package managers apt and uprmi work almost the same way if I'm not mistaken...

tribalmasters · 05-22-2006, 08:26 AM

You may also have a dirty optical drive. Try using a cleaning CD or a soft brush on the laser, my old Toshiba 300 and more recently, my Compaq 900MHz laptop had that problem

swi3zy · 05-23-2006, 09:41 AM

And if you want to rebuild the kernel, do it on your newer laptop

. I've got Slack running on P 266, 32 MB RAM, CPU is a bit better, but you got bigger ram, and that will speed your laptop up.
Try debian, or slack. Install realease versions (i have slackware 10.2), don't bother with older ones.

brsseb · 05-26-2006, 02:49 PM

Ubuntu might be ok, if you remove some non-essential stuff. Its Debian based and runs on all kinds of hardware.

lotusjps46 · 05-26-2006, 08:06 PM

I had the exact same problem installing to a old Dell. It turned out to be the cdrom media. Try burning new disks on a different make of disk. Burn at a slower speed, and verify the disk before you try and use it. Old CDROM's do not read new disks very well.

Good luck.

C

tribalmasters · 05-29-2006, 04:45 PM

The lasers become weaker with time/the drives were built before the 'green' media came out. Watch out for the drive constantly slowing down and maybe clicking, thats a good sign of a drive in big trouble!

I keep getting kernel panics before running the Ubuntu installer on my 300 but I think its just old, poor thing

wini_g · 05-29-2006, 05:03 PM

Damn it soo many already .. VECTORLINUX I tell ye ... based on Slack !!!!!!!!!!!

Emmanuel_uk · 05-30-2006, 02:28 AM

Quote:

I had the exact same problem installing to a old Dell. It turned out to be the cdrom media. Try burning new disks on a different make of disk. Burn at a slower speed, and verify the disk before you try and use it. Old CDROM's do not read new disks very well

I've seen this a few times, use a 4x burn if you can

Forget about any live cd on this laptop
You might be able to do a net install (of debian or whatever)
Can you increase the RAM?

Quote:

Mandriva 2006

If you install fluxbox and all the other light weight desktop managers, might be ok. Ram on the low side possibly. I can tell you Mandy 2006 is ok on a PII 300 MHz.

Consider puppy linux, DSL, vector (and so on)

theYinYeti · 05-30-2006, 03:51 AM