[SOLVED] Looking for a distribution for low-spec PC
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Point taken about using Linux drivers whenever possible. On a different PC my internal network card works just fine with Ubuntu. No manual driver installation required (ie. all stock Linux drivers).
What has struck me about AntiX is that underneath the frontends/surface of the control center, there is quite a bit of incompleteness. That Windows Driver installer uses ndiswrapper, of course. After installing the driver, an error message complains about ndiswrapper not being installed.
The trouble is that I have yet to find a place where I can get some sort of synaptic package for ndiswrapper or something. Attempting to compile it from source causes an error about a missing #include library.
Point taken about using Linux drivers whenever possible. On a different PC my internal network card works just fine with Ubuntu. No manual driver installation required (ie. all stock Linux drivers).
What has struck me about AntiX is that underneath the frontends/surface of the control center, there is quite a bit of incompleteness. That Windows Driver installer uses ndiswrapper, of course. After installing the driver, an error message complains about ndiswrapper not being installed.
The trouble is that I have yet to find a place where I can get some sort of synaptic package for ndiswrapper or something. Attempting to compile it from source causes an error about a missing #include library.
Can anyone help?
I haven't used ndiswrapper in AntiX for awhile. My post below
What broadcom chip number does inxi -F in Antix show? For your older broadcom chip. AntiX should support it OK. Might take some tweaking a little though.
There might be some pentium/petium MMX machines that wont boot from CD/DVD, but I've never found one. I used to work doing refurbishing, and I've installed from CD/DVD on a lot of pentium machines.
You might have been caught out by windows 9X, it wouldnt install from CD/DVD to HDD if the CD/DVD was on a different IDE channel to the HDD.
Although not the point, and not to contredict you, but I mean Pentium 1, and I tried really everything: no point with that particular machine to boot directly from a CD. Things are different of course with Pentiums 3 and 4; no problems on that side. Still, it's not the point. My suggestion was a reasonnable answer to fit the requirements of a member asking for help, and installing with or without floppy does not really matter as long as installation is possible. Meanwhile I started up that old Pentium 1 to check what I suggested: Debian 4 does start, and surfing the Web is possible although not very fast and the version of Firefox 2 being a bit outdated. Maybe Opera may help, or there may be a way round to install a more recent Firefox version (or Iceweasel of course), but with only 64Mb of ram there will possibly be problems.
Now, I discovered that for such old machines as Pentiums 1, the most suitable operating system might still be... yes, sorry, it's sadly enough Windows 2000. This being admitted with some shame, I'm a real Linux fan ;o)
Last edited by colinetsegers; 04-06-2012 at 06:58 AM.
Although not the point, and not to contredict you, but I mean Pentium 1, and I tried really everything: no point with that particular machine to boot directly from a CD. Things are different of course with Pentiums 3 and 4; no problems on that side.
When I wrote 'pentium/petium MMX' I meant P5 pentiums (a.k.a. 'pentium I') If I meant PII/PIII/PIV machines I would have said that.
What pentium system/motherboard have you got that wont boot from CD/DVD?
Quote:
Originally Posted by colinetsegers
Still, it's not the point. My suggestion was a reasonnable answer to fit the requirements of a member asking for help, and installing with or without floppy does not really matter as long as installation is possible. Meanwhile I started up that old Pentium 1 to check what I suggested: Debian 4 does start, and surfing the Web is possible although not very fast and the version of Firefox 2 being a bit outdated. Maybe Opera may help, or there may be a way round to install a more recent Firefox version (or Iceweasel of course), but with only 64Mb of ram there will possibly be problems.
Fair enough, but my 'I wouldnt go hooking a out of support debian version up to the net' comment is also reasonable. Just because its linux doesnt mean it hasnt got security holes.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by colinetsegers
Now, I discovered that for such old machines as Pentiums 1, the most suitable operating system might still be... yes, sorry, it's sadly enough Windows 2000. This being admitted with some shame, I'm a real Linux fan ;o)
Another out of support OS. Far more risky to use on the net than debian 4.0 IMO.
When I wrote 'pentium/petium MMX' I meant P5 pentiums (a.k.a. 'pentium I') If I meant PII/PIII/PIV machines I would have said that.
What pentium system/motherboard have you got that wont boot from CD/DVD?
I meant really PI (not even PII ;o), but upgraded myself the processor to 225MHz with a MMX chip (socket 7), and some jumper settings, and no overlocking at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cascade9
Fair enough, but my 'I wouldnt go hooking a out of support debian version up to the net' comment is also reasonable. Just because its linux doesnt mean it hasnt got security holes.....
Being out of support does not mean out of order, and Debian 4 also comes with OpenOffice (one of the requirements). Now, the guy who wants his P1 or PII on the Web does surely not mean he's going to do risky stuff (credit cards payments and such); and you're of course right with possible security holes in Linux; still better than Windows, no?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cascade9
Another out of support OS. Far more risky to use on the net than debian 4.0 IMO.
Maybe true for Windows 2000, but that version was really designed for Pentiums, and there's a whole lot of stuff around (including the latest version of FireFox!), with lots of free GNU software like Gimp and OpenOffice. No problems either with newly installed cards, and Windows still runs faster on old P1 machines than Linux. Now, there are enough PIII's on the second hand market allowing the use of recent Linux versions to avoid being bothered by Windows and P1's.
Last edited by colinetsegers; 04-06-2012 at 07:49 AM.
Can you please explain exactly how I would do this on AntiX? I am a bit clueless here. From what little I can tell, I will need to somehow get this b43 driver loaded and extract some custom firmware from a Broadcom driver.
According to that link, the firmware part requires an alternative internet connection. This Broadcom card is the only network card this computer has; it was built before the day in which all computers had Ethernet ports. Perhaps this can be remedied by downloading the necessary components on my Ubuntu machine and transferring via USB thumbdrive?
No, it means that the OS has not get any security fix for more than two years. You should have at least mention that when recommending an out of support version.
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Now, the guy who wants his P1 or PII on the Web does surely not mean he's going to do risky stuff (credit cards payments and such
I can't see where the OP stated that and why it would be reasonable to think something like that.
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still better than Windows, no?
No, any OS out of support can be compromised, regardless if it is Linux or any other OS.
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Windows still runs faster on old P1 machines than Linux
No, it means that the OS has not get any security fix for more than two years. You should have at least mention that when recommending an out of support version.
Maybe, but once more this is not the point of the member who asked for help, and one should not be paranoid about security. Still, you're right about the mentioning of a possible security risk, and it's politically correct ;o)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TobiSGD
I can't see where the OP stated that and why it would be reasonable to think something like that.
Just take a look at the first post of this forum by linuxnoob2012 "Looking for a distribution for low-spec PC", and his wishlist. The old Pentium is probably not his main computer; and it's anyway up to him to make a choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TobiSGD
No, any OS out of support can be compromised, regardless if it is Linux or any other OS.
Yes and no. I guess the most used OS should logically be the first target for cyber attacks. Besides, some people in more or less developed parts of the world have no other choice than using old machines. This being said, security risks occur when surfing the Web or connecting infected disks. Firefox and Opera, even old versions, allow fairly safe surfing provided a correct configuration, and this is said according my own experience. Many things may depend on the way computers are used.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TobiSGD
Proof?
You should be at my place ;o) I just checked again. Win2k starts indeed faster and supports the most recent Firefox 11 version. Debian 4 starts let us say at a reasonable pace considering the old machine, but I did not find a way to install a more recent Firefox version; always something missing for version 3, and no reaction at all for more recent versions. Well, this is difficult to prove over the Web. It is part of my own experience, and I like trying out different operating systems on different kinds of computers. But this forum should not in any case be used to defend Windows. I only meant to be honest.
Last edited by colinetsegers; 04-06-2012 at 01:36 PM.
Just take a look at the first post of this forum by linuxnoob2012 "Looking for a distribution for low-spec PC", and his wishlist. The old Pentium is probably not his main computer; and it's anyway up to him to make a choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by linuxnoob2012
-networking and internet support
-a web browser
I fail to see:
1. Why is that implying that online banking should not be part of internet support
2. Why online banking should only be done on the OPs main system. I have 4 systems of different age and processing power. I use them all for all kind of things.
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Besides, some people in more or less developed parts of the world have no other choice than using old machines.
In which way does that mean that they have to use an OS without support and with known security wholes?
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Win2k starts indeed faster and supports the most recent Firefox 11 version. Debian 4 starts let us say at a reasonable pace considering the old machine
You are comparing the boot up speed (which is not related to the actual speed of working with that machine) of an OS released 2000 with an OS released 2007. To be fair you should compare Windows 2000 and Debian 2.2, or Debian 4 and Windows Vista.
But anyways, I still think that recommending an OS without support is a bad thing and may even be harmful if you don't make the OP aware of it. Especially when there are distros with support specifically aimed towards old hardware.
To be clear: I do not intend to use this computer for anything sensitive (banking, credit cards, online purchases, bill paying, primary email, etc.).
Sound is still not working (cannot identify/recognize my sound card) and I have a problem with shutting down. When I click AntiX, logout..., and then Shutdown, my mouse freezes on the shutdown button and the USB drive loses its power. But instad of shutting down, the system just hangs there. The computer will not respond to anything except the power button (or pulling out the battery and cord). No magicsysreq, no control+alt+backspace, nothing. What is going on here? I know that the HDD is not yet powered down because I can still hear it. On the next powerup (after cutting power with the power button), the computer insists on checking its disk with fseck.
I followed the instructions provided. The only problem is that nothing seems to have happened differently yet.
Does anyone know what utility I should use to configure my network and card? AntiX appears to have rutilt and wicd in the built in control center. Rutilt spits out a fatal error which complains that there are no network intefaces. When I try to use wicd, I cannot determine what network inteface to use (wlan0 lists no networks).
Last edited by linuxnoob2012; 04-06-2012 at 02:28 PM.
Reason: fixed typo
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