light weight distro for atom netbook
 

hi guys

i wanted to install debian 9 stretch on a lenovo 100s-11iby netbook as i need it for very basic tasks,windows 10 is too slow and uses up most of the 32gb msata card.

i downloaded the net install for debian 32bit (as this netbook only seems to support 32bit os's). I was going through the install and it didnt detect any wifi card but presented a list which after googling the model,my wifi card didnt appear on.

I can install the full debian os without connecting to the internet (im sure you aware of this) but will i be able to get the wifi going again after installation?

how can i check this? is there really certain network cards/hardware that distributions just dont suport/have drivers for?

im looking at manjaro xfce as an alternative. can anybody suggest a good distro thats light and will run on this minimal netbook

i just want to use it for internet and youtube and some note taking (libre office is fine) read pdfs and do a bit of java and python coding. (Nothing elaborate)
thanks for reading

Mint Mate, Mint Cinnamon, Kubuntu, Lubuntu. Nearly any 64-bit distribution desktop.

32G is plenty of disk space for Linux. Especially a normal desktop distribution.

I've heard Puppy is great for small systems, but honestly that system is not so limited.

I'd run a live boot using some various distributions and see what you like, and then proceed to install.

Memory helps, but I think the best the ATOM can take is 2G. Well, if the notebook only has 1G, see if you can add more memory.

That chip should support 64-bit. While it's only 2 GB ram (and soldered so not upgradable), it will support 64-bit OS. 32-bit will PROBABLY run slightly faster on it given the limitation of the memory however.

I don't suppose you happen to know what the wifi chipset is? That would help a lot in knowing if there was a distro that supported it out of the box. I'm guessing that it's probably broadcom, but better to be sure.

hey rtmistler

apparently its the bios

it wouldnt even see a windows 10 64bit boot off usb
32bit does work and it seems that way with all linux im trying to install

tim

apparently the card is a Realtek RTL8723BS (b/g/n)

So with a $.05 googling, it looks like that might be working in newer versions of the debian kernel. Which, unfortunately, cannot (easily) be accomplished without network connection.

A good L/W distro for netbooks is AntiX, (likely your wifi will be supported), you can run it 'live' to check your hardware is supported. http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

+1 for antiX 32 bit on that Lenovo which has W10 32 bit installed.

antiX should automatically recognise and enable your wifi, including most Broadcom wifi cards:

antiX:
https://antixlinux.com/

Download antiX-17.1_386-full.iso:
https://antixlinux.com/download/

To enable wifi in antiX 17.1 after installation:

Menu > Control Centre > Network > Network Interfaces (ceni) > wlan0 > follow wizard and give SSID/network name and wifi password.

thanks dudes!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh went through the whole installation but it doesnt boot after restarting...there was a warning regarding eufi and legacy bios that 32 wouldnt boot on eufi bios...unfortunately the bios only has eufi ...will check for an update

The system shouldn't install UEFI boot if the system won't work with that. Did you manually specify UEFI booting?

sigint-ninja,

You need to select Legacy mode in the BIOS, not UEFI.

https://download.lenovo.com/consumer..._en_201602.pdf

Page 2:

You access BIOS by powering up using the Novo button (7) instead of the power button.


Pages 16 & 17:
The BIOS setup utility is a ROM-based software.
It displays basic computer information and provides options for setting boot devices, security, hardware mode, and other preferences.

How can I start the BIOS setup utility?
To start the BIOS setup utility:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Press the Novo button and then select BIOS Setup.

How can I change the boot mode?
There are two boot modes:
UEFI and Legacy Support.

To change the boot mode, start the BIOS setup utility and set boot mode to UEFI or Legacy Support on the boot menu.


When do I need to change the boot mode?
The default boot mode for your computer is UEFI mode.

If you need to install a legacy operating system, such as Windows, Linux or Dos, etc. (that is, any operating system before Windows 8) on your computer, you must change the boot mode to Legacy Support.
The legacy operating system, such as Windows, Linux or Dos, etc. cannot be installed if you don't change the boot mode.

the problem beachboy is that the bios doesnt have anything in it regarding boot
only secure boot which i have turned off
i even upgraded the bios but no more options have appeared

its very strange to me because it seems like it only supports 32bit os's
but is running on a eufi bios?

but after installing antix 32bit it just says no operating system found

read this on the lenovo forum

Hi,

"I can't be 100% sure of this but I think the 100s has a 32-bit BIOS. It will be necessary to prepare 32-bit UEFI boot media.
MS makes it available but that last time I checked it will require some hand work to build a bootable Linux."

this seems to make sense and it is regarding the exact netbook i have

so is this possible?

how would i go about doing it? is it beyond the scope of the forum? (would it just take to long to explain how to do)
any info appreciated

sigint-ninja,

Have you also disabled Fast Boot?

https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/ht501793

The Lenovo 100S-11IBY has a 32-bit BIOS. This model requires 32-bit UEFI-bootable media.

You may find this MX Linux UEFI boot problem link useful (it gave the blogger similar problems to the ones you are experiencing):
https://mxlinux.org/uefi-boot-issues...settings-check

NB It appears that you need to use UEFI boot for this particular machine in this instance.

Instructions for installing MX Linux/antiX:
https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/uefi...20Installation

EDIT
Just found this which may be relevant:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/for...boot-from-usb/

EDIT #2:
UEFI boot 32 bit support is discussed here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/3927...i-boot-support

EDIT #3 (this should fix it):
https://medium.com/@realzedgoat/a-so...s-d39b1d1961ec

thanks for your help

i have read a lot of the stuff you given me

no fast boot option...its a real cheap limited bios

the problem is that the ssd is a 32gb msata so i dont know how to format it on another machine