[SOLVED] Which distro works best with 1024x600 netbook?

pucko1 · 05-03-2015, 04:03 AM

Hi,

Since most Win OS (after WinXP) have problems working with my MSI U100, 1024x600 display, I'd like to know if anybody has some advice on which Linux distros are likely to scale properly on a netbook like this.

The drivers for Win7, 8, 10 etc only permits 1024x768.

It seems I made a mistake when bought this kind of laptop five years ago, but on the other hand it's quite sturdy and really QUIET (big fan), so I'd like to keep it as long as possible.

Thank's!

ardvark71 · 05-03-2015, 06:08 AM

Hi...

Welcome to the forum

With a laptop that old, your other consideration is finding a distribution that will be light enough so as to not bring it to a crawl. I would guess that MSI had special graphics drivers to support the resolution you were used to.

While I'm not sure if their video drivers will support the resolution you desire, you can give either Debian or Zorin OS 9 Lite a try.

Let us know how it goes...

Regards...

allend · 05-03-2015, 08:16 AM

I have an eMachines EM250 that has similar specs to your MSI U100 (N270 Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 1024x600 pixel screen).
I am happily running Slackware-current, but any distribution should be OK. A lightweight window manager (I use WindowMaker) will provide much snappier performance. Using panning and scaling options to xrandr, I can navigate through larger screen resolutions.

Quote:

It seems I made a mistake when bought this kind of laptop five years ago

I do not think so. My EM250 services my e-mail and web surfing needs on my weekday commute, as well as allowing remote access to high resolution displays.

maples · 05-03-2015, 08:32 AM

From what I've found (mostly on Wikipedia), the MSI U100 was made in response to (and has similar specs) to Asus's Eee PCs.

I have a Eee PC 901 and use Arch on it. It's slow, but not unusable. Usually I just start a VNC connection to my desktop. I use a window manager (awesome) instead of a full desktop environment, which seems to help. Light-weight programs seem to run reasonably, as long as you have a little patience (mostly when you first open them).

As for drivers, the Arch Wiki page for the netbook indicates that you shouldn't run into any major issues.

rokytnji · 05-03-2015, 09:22 AM

To add to the above posts

Code:

harry@antix1:~
$ inxi -G
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1024x600@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.3.2
harry@antix1:~
$ inxi -f
CPU:       Single core Intel Atom N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 1600 MHz 1: 1600 MHz 2: 1067 MHz
           CPU Flags: acpi aperfmperf apic arch_perfmon bts clflush cmov
           constant_tsc cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts est fpu fxsr ht
           lahf_lm mca mce mmx monitor movbe msr mtrr nx pae pat pbe pdcm pebs
           pge pni sep ss sse sse2 ssse3 tm tm2 tsc vme xtpr
harry@antix1:~
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=antiX
DISTRIB_RELEASE=15
DISTRIB_CODENAME=Killah_P
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="antiX 15"
harry@antix1:~
$ inxi -S
System:    Host: antix1 Kernel: 4.0.0-antix.1-486-smp i686 (32 bit)
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8+githubmod+20150412+960629d
           Distro: antiX-15-beta1-V_386-full Killah P 16 March 2015

taylorkh · 05-03-2015, 04:01 PM

I have an old Dell Latitude 2100. Atom processor, 2 GB RAM and a 60 GB SSD. It came with Ubuntu 9.04 which worked great. I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 when support for 9.04 ended and am currently running Ubuntu 12.04 with the Gnome 3 interface so it looks like a computer and not a smart phone. If I were going to update it I would probably go to Ubuntu Mate 14.04 which uses the Mate desktop which looks like the old Gnome 2 interface (sort of like XP). I like simple.

It works great and I have found that Ubuntu is smart enough to change the resolution automagically if I connect an external monitor. I plugged in my 22" monitor and it switched to 1680 x 1050. Certainly amazed me

Ken

273 · 05-03-2015, 04:37 PM

I would suggest researching, just a little, the difference between a Linux distribution and a desktop environment. Then I'd suggest Lubuntu, Xubuntu or Linux Mint with XFCE or LXDE and expect you to know what I mean by that.
Apologies for coming across like a smart-alec teacher but research really does help with the enjoyment of Linux.

ardvark71 · 05-04-2015, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 273

I would suggest researching, just a little, the difference between a Linux distribution and a desktop environment.

Hi...

I'm not sure most new users of Linux would find installing a new windows manager (or desktop environment) easy in all cases. I didn't suggest Lubuntu in this case because I feel it needs more than 1GB of memory for satisfactory usage in its default state.

Regards...

273 · 05-04-2015, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

Hi...

I'm not sure most new users of Linux would find installing a new windows manager (or desktop environment) easy in all cases. I didn't suggest Lubuntu in this case because I feel it needs more than 1GB of memory for satisfactory usage in its default state.

Regards...

With even the tiniest amount of research installing a new window manager is trivially easy. It's about as easy as installing iTunes in Windows. You're seriously suggesting that doing a google search for "install LXDE Ubuntu" then opening a terminal and typing a line is that difficult?
If installing a different desktop manager is difficult to you then I suggest carrying out the research I mentioned in my earlier post.
Why do you insist upon trying to make Linux seem more difficult to install and use than it is? There are many reasons why people can find Linux difficult to install and use but installing a desktop manager is not one of them.

ardvark71 · 05-04-2015, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 273

With even the tiniest amount of research installing a new window manager is trivially easy. It's about as easy as installing iTunes in Windows. You're seriously suggesting that doing a google search for "install LXDE Ubuntu" then opening a terminal and typing a line is that difficult?

For you and I and perhaps the OP it would be easy but I've worked with people who would have no clue what we're talking about. Years ago, I did install another desktop on a copy of Ubuntu 5.10, however bringing it up and getting it to work was not as straightforward or simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 273

Why do you insist upon trying to make Linux seem more difficult to install and use than it is? There are many reasons why people can find Linux difficult to install and use but installing a desktop manager is not one of them.

That's not my intention but I do try and be upfront and honest about the difficulties new users may face. In some ways, working with Linux is more difficult than Windows, especially when things go wrong. I feel Linux distributions could do more to make things user friendly.

Regards...

273 · 05-05-2015, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

For you and I and perhaps the OP it would be easy but I've worked with people who would have no clue what we're talking about. Years ago, I did install another desktop on a copy of Ubuntu 5.10, however bringing it up and getting it to work was not as straightforward or simple.

For those people simply installing anything on an OS would be difficult though -- I mentioned iTunes on Windows because almost everyone installs something like it at some point. To install a new DE is as simple as google, click, type, click, click.
For comparison as a child my mother used to type in BASIC programs for me as she could touch-type -- I didn't have all that much idea of what was going on yet my mother who knew less about computers than I did managed very well typing in those programs.
If reading and repeating is difficult to one then, as I've mentioned before, just pay somebody to do things for one or in other words, why waste time reading about things at all when Apple, for example, will do things for you.

ondoho · 05-06-2015, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pucko1

It seems I made a mistake when bought this kind of laptop five years ago

well i bought a similar machine just a week ago, and i feel it's not a mistake at all.

i took a little time to install arch linux and now i'm just uber-happy with it.
http://iki.fi/dt/minilaptop.html

fatmac · 05-08-2015, 01:17 PM

Another happy netbook user here.
The only problem I ever encountered was with a broadcom wifi, but that soon got solved.

I've run Antix, MX, SliTaz, TinyCore, PC-BSD, & OpenBSD on mine at various times, all with only 1Gb ram, screen resolution would sometimes come up as 800x600, but could be changed. (Distro was using VESA, not Xorg video drivers.)