Installing PClos on w98 machine

Divedive · 10-25-2007, 08:06 PM

I cannot boot from disk on my old system. I am trying to convert over to PCLinuxOS from W98 and cannot use the live cd. I read on another post that you can generate a boot disk on pup. Is there a similar option for PCLOS? My machine is a P3, 128mb ram, 12 gb hard drive.

AceofSpades19 · 10-25-2007, 08:34 PM

what do you mean by boot disk?
I would stay away from something like PCLOS with that hardware

Divedive · 10-25-2007, 10:23 PM

Should I try kubuntu? My issue is my wife and kids need to be able to use whatever I install. The kids will learn pretty fast but my wife is an old dog when it comes to computers. What would you suggest? The original problem still stands. I cannot seem to make the live cd work. My system does not give me the option to hit F12 (or any other F key) to change the boot order.

AceofSpades19 · 10-25-2007, 11:52 PM

kubuntu will run slow as hell on that machine, I would go with xubuntu
so there is no buttons it says to push at all on startup?

Divedive · 10-26-2007, 07:50 AM

No. I shut down and fired up several times and never saw any F key options. Never seen that before, but its true.

oskar · 10-26-2007, 08:22 AM

The del key is a pretty universal way to enter the bios. That or F3. You should be able to change the boot sequence there.

The real problem with your pc is the 128mb ram. This is very little even for xubuntu, but for the sake of keeping your frustration level tolerable, I wouldn't go with anything more lightweight. But you might want to add more ram if you can find some.

Divedive · 10-26-2007, 08:51 AM

I tried both the del and F3 and F12. I will try again tonight. Mainly, I want to try Linux on this old box before switching my new computer over. I figured that this old box would be perfect. This way, my boys can play their games and surf without my having to worry about spyware and viruses. I appreciate all of the input, I will try again tonight.

larkl · 10-26-2007, 05:37 PM

You might check out some lighter distros like Puppy or Damn Small Linux. Maybe Vector Standard.

Hooke · 10-26-2007, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divedive

I tried both the del and F3 and F12. I will try again tonight. Mainly, I want to try Linux on this old box before switching my new computer over. I figured that this old box would be perfect. This way, my boys can play their games and surf without my having to worry about spyware and viruses. I appreciate all of the input, I will try again tonight.

Try F1 as well. I'd say there must be a way to enter setup. What's the make and model of your motherboard? There are windows programs that can tell you about your hardware. For instance, aida: http://www.sofotex.com/downloads/d9326.html

BTW, if you have old hardware, try a linux distro with XFCE as a desktop environment. If you like PCLOS, it does have XFCE, but KDE is default. Maybe you should try SAM linux, which is a PCLOS derivative with XFCE by default.

Divedive · 10-29-2007, 08:14 AM

I finally got it to boot. I just held down the Del, F3 and F12 keys until I got a response. Now I just have to figure out why I kept getting an error message saying disk error unable to boot. I was able to live boot both Ubuntu and PCLOS so I know it will work. Thanks to everyone for their help. I will look into some of these other distros and find a suitable one. I am excited about making the switch. Thanks again for all of your help.

AceofSpades19 · 10-29-2007, 01:02 PM

Have you booted the disk on a different machine?