This is my first Linux experience....i have no idea what i am doing. I am trying to get my old Toshiba 420CDT working. In the end i want it to have wireless capabilities, and i want to be able to surf the web. Seeing as though I have never used Linux i have no preference to which Distro i use....can anyone help me...also the laptop is currently not able to boot from CD so if you can help me fix that it would be great....

Also as of now i have no operating system on the computer. The computer has a 100mhz processor an im pretty sure it has 40mb of ram.....


Nathan

Welcome to LinuxQuestions.

AFAIK the laptop BIOS does not have the capability to boot from CDROM and there isn't any way to make do so. slackware using a lightweight windows manager like fluxbox would be ok. You would boot from a floppy disk. Any big distribution like SuSE, Fedora or Mandriva would be way to bloated to work on this laptop. Getting wireless to work is not an easy task. Make sure the PCMCIA card you purchase is compatable with the laptop of that age.

michaelk is right about using a lightweight slackware. After burning your iso on cd1 you will find a folder called bootdisks. In there you will find a file named rawrite.exe and a readme for it. Use this to make your floppy boot disks.

does anyone have a suggestion for which version of slackware......and know where i can download it....thanks

The latest is 11.
http://www.slackware.com/

You should realize that Slackware, while an excellent OS is generally considered among the most difficult for new Linux users. That is certainly not to say you can't do it, but you had best be fairly computer knowledgeable, as well as willing to work and study at it.

You might want to consider a distro aimed more at new users for your first experience. If you can't boot from a cd, however, that does present problems. Normally that is accomplished by getting into your Bios setup. It usually involves striking some key (like [Delete], [F1], [F2], or something else) while the machine is booting. Try googling "Toshiba 420CDT" and see if you can't come up with a manual that specifies how your machine works.

There are lots of easy LiveCD distros that will give you a chance to test your system's Linux-friendliness. One such is BeaFanatIX.

This laptop has only 40MB RAM so running a liveCD isn't possible even if it could boot from CD.

True, slackware might not be the easiest but IMO I think it will run better then the other lightweight distributions. Damn Small Linux or Deli linux are also good. You will need to create floppy boot disks from the images on the ISO.

does slackware have a gui.......

What I am really looking for is a win 95 replacement......I don't need anything fancy, I just want to make use of this old laptop...And of course i need a GUI...i am a Linux beginner, and a beginning programmer...i just want something to mess around with....

Here's a suggestion. Mostly it's based on the idea of getting up and running as quickly as possible. Note that following this will wipe out whatever is presently installed. If you're not ready to do this look for another solution. I'm assuming you have a working network card other than wireless;
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/i...ans_Install%29

damnsmalllinux is a mini-distro and has some built-in limitations as an installed system. It's primarily designed to run as a live cd. However I do run it installed on a laptop of similar specs as do many others.

After getting you're feet wet with damnsmall, installing a full distro like Slackware should be less frightening. I'm a sometimes Slackware user and heartily recommend it. There is a learning curve attached but nothing that can't be overcome by following the instuctions. It's well documented and the Slack forum at this site is topnotch.

Yes, Slackware has a desktop if you want one. The gui is a seperate component in linux. With those specs you will need to run what linux users call a window manager. Damnsmall defaults to one called fluxbox.

edit/ This link is a bit dated but is still an excellent introduction to Slackware;
http://www.bitbenderforums.com/vb22/...?postid=311808
it includes a good explanation of the fdisk utility.

If you do decide to try damnsmall this thread might help;
http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin/fo...5;t=14925;st=0
JBHoren describes exactly how my install was done with 2 exceptions. Where he suggests /etc/mnt simply /mnt works. The other problem (with the loop command) is noted in another post in that same thread.

will i be able to get a wifi card for a computer with these specs......

and.....i cant use a live cd so i have to install DSL

ohh and the only other network card i have for that laptop is a 56k

i mean besides the wifi card...but idk if it will work for it..

Keep in mind that with only 40 MB of RAM your GUI options will be pretty limited. DSL might be a good choice (I have never used it personally). I prefer Slackware, but there will be a lot of hands on work required for you to get it installed and configured on a system that limited.

If you are looking for a Windows like GUI experience, that system will just not cut it at all IMO. Any of the live cd's, or Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, etc. simply need more computing resources to work satisfactorily than you are describing.

You might investigate Slackware with Fluxbox installing using a floppy boot disk.

Good luck!

Bob