I need to install Linux on a Dell mini computer running at 1.33 Ghz and with 1 Gb memory and 152 GB disk. The processor is and Intel Atom 2520, and the graphics controller is Intel System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) graphics controller and it has a Broadcom 1397 wireless card.

I've installed Mint Linux but it doesn't recognize the graphics controller and has issues with the wifi card, so it is very slow and I have to jump through hoops to get the wireless connected.

I need a lightweight distribution that will use the graphics controller and accommodate the wifi chip with a reasonable amount of work. I'm not familiar with all the different distributions so I'm looking for recommendations.

I recommend two things:
#1 prepare a USB device for E2B (Easy 2 boot) so you can boot/load ISO files for testing several options quickly.
#2 drift over to https://distrowatch.com/ and examine a few dozen of the better options. Load the most likley onto yoour E2B device and give them a try.

What you want is not the choice that "I" prefer, you need the one that works best for YOU. For finding the best choice for YOU nothing beats actually trying a few and seeing how you like them.

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AntiX definitely. It specialises in "antiques" and is very lightweight. Desktops are based on simple window managers and most of the apps are lightweight choices.

It also handles old and eccentric hardware very well. I have a Samsung laptop with Via graphics and AntiX is the first distro I've run on it that doesn't screw up the display after resuming from sleep.

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as far lightweight is concerned: The graphical user interface, GUI; you choose makes a bigger difference than the distribution you use.
xfce is sure more lightweight than gnome or kde, window-managers are even more lightweight.
You can still remove "services" (like ssh) if not possible/not needed anyway, but again: on any distribution.
There are edge cases like puppy, slitaz, tiny core linux, but they differ quite a bit from "usual" distributions (might be worth a shot anyway, your choice).

So you might just as well stick to Mint, if you like it so far, and try to get the broadcom chip sorted (i myself sure have problems with broadcom in general, and was told it is well known to not work well on Debian).

There is antix, Debian based, which uses window-managers as default GUI. I for one can't see how it is more lean than Debian itself, assuming a window-manager is used on Debian. Good distro anyway, also a nice and helpful community (debian being picky when it comes to non-free, nothing you couldn't work around by adding non-free to your sources.list, but it still is extra work)
Salix, Slackware based, comes with xfce per default, and on my low-spec machines (i only got such) it served me very well. I wouldn't bet, but i had it on the laptop, and i think using broadcom worked well there (too long ago to be sure).

Getting a distro run on my low-spec machines is way easier than finding a good web-browser (which don't seem to work well on low-specs anymore). In general use netsurf, but ... it sure is not what you call a modern web-browser (right now i am using falkon, but it isn't much leaner than firefox or chromium).

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i would install openbsd, it is light on resources with xfce4.

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Welcome to the forums!

I recommend to donate or e-cycle your Dell Mini. Unfortunately it is obsolete hardware, and was never particularly Linux compatible. The "Poulsbo" chipset has always been problematic (use the forum Search feature if you don't believe me).

There was a special Dell-branded version of Ubuntu 8.04 designed specifically for the Dell Mini's, but it has been "end of life" and totally unsupported for over seven years.

Ask Santa to bring you a Chromebook. It will give you better performance, reliability, and user-friendliness than your old Dell Mini.

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Hey tmickeyd

Unless, as snowpine suggests, your computer is absolutely incompatible with linux, I would second the recommendations for AntiX and also recommend a specific version of Puppy Linux ... : the 2.14x "Classic Pup" series .. it was put together and maintained by a user going by the handle "ttuuxxx", specifically aimed at ancient hardware support and light-weightedness while not sacrificing functionality. I had success with it on a few 1997-era Pentium 2 laptops, with 400MHz CPU, 6GB hard drive and 192 MB RAM with a very finicky Crystal Semiconductor sound card ...

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=42553

Cheers and good luck !

Rick

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Arch has completely dropped support for GMA500 "Poulsbo" but you can call up their wiki's "view history" feature to see the archived old how-to information (for historical/educational purposes only):

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...0&oldid=495790

I wouldn't say GMA500 is "absolutely incompatible" with Linux, but it is not a beginner project, and even in the best case, there will never be any 3D acceleration, only buggy and slow 2D.

The reason is that GMA500 is not actually an Intel product (despite the branding) and therefore is not supported by the Intel open-source graphics drivers.

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Thanks to all for the suggestions. I'm going to check these out and maybe I'll come up with something that'll work. I've got several laptops and about 6 or 7 desktops that have been setting around for awhile and thought I would bring them all up to date and maybe donate them. The mini Dell is in excellent shape but just old so I thought I would revive it but I haven't done much with computers for awhile so I have a lot to catch up on. Again, thanks for the suggestions.

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That's noble, but please do check with your charity of choice before you get too deep into the project. A lot of charities these days have minimum hardware requirements for computer donations. If the computer is not capable of running the current version of Windows, then the organization gets stuck paying the recycling fee and ends up actually losing money on the deal. You may find that a few hours of your time as a volunteer is more valuable to the charity than your closet full of old junk. Happy holidays!

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