I have the crappiest computer in the world.

Dell Latitude CPi A366XT with 128mb RAM, Intel Pentium II 92 MHz, 4 GB HD.

I've installed on it Feather Linux, i like it the most so far except for the fact that it OFTEN likes to hang so that i can't click on anything or use the keyboard - i can however move the mouse. and for some reason, Alt-F8 makes the screen flicker. but i can't do anything except reboot.

I've been trying to install GCC and G++ on this machine so I can compile the drivers for my TEW-424ub usb wireless adapter (v3.0), but when I try to install them they tell me I need kernel 2.6.

I've also tried to use ndiswrapper for these drivers. I got to the point that it says "driver installed, hardware found" but iwconfig does not find the wlan0 device.


So basically I need guidance. What do I need to do to get a fast linux distro that has the ability to compile source code, and works with my wireless drivers!??!?!

Thanks for any help... i'm getting really frustrated.

teagan

You could try Zenwalk:
http://www.zenwalk.org/

Or slackware.

Your weak link is going to be the computer hardware. Would it be possible to at least add some RAM?

Virtually all distros now have kernel 2.6.

Any distro can compile SW equally well, and most should have the compiler available using the package manager. I would look at Arch, Puppy, DSL---Go to distrowatch for some more ideas.

I have discovered something awesome! I went into my BIOS and saw "Intel Pentium II 366 MHz". so i was like what?! it always says 92 on boot!

So I cycled through the BIOS setup pages, and found Boot Speed - set to Compatible. I changed that to 366 MHz and now it seems like it's running much faster. Awesome eh?

Anyhow, I'm looking to add more RAM. But first I need to get a guarantee that this machine is going to work well.


I'm giving DSL-N a try, and running through a guide to install APT. It doesn't look like it'll be easier, as the dsl-dpkg.dsl is for DSL, not DSL-N, but people have claimed it can be made to work.

If DSL-N fails on this machine, like so many other distros have, then I'll try your suggestions. Thanks!

Old saying (USA): "you want a guarantee, go to Sears and buy a battery......"

Keep in mind that guarantees are written to protect the seller, not the buyer.

In your situation, there's only one plausible strategy: Try it.

You should try some multidistro's and play em until you find the one you want...

Cyanaether22,

You could try the brilliant micro OS SliTaz 2.0 which uses Linux Kernel 2.6.25.5. SliTaz takes up a massive 29mb!

http://www.slitaz.org/en/

gcc can be installed (as root) via:

tazpkg get-install gcc

Unfortunately g++ does not seem to be available.

SliTaz is very fast even with only 128mb of ram. I use it myself.
It saves the expense of buying more ram.
Try it and see what you think.

SliTaz Forum:

http://forum.slitaz.org/

Distrowatch:

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=slitaz

You could also try antiX (Mepis8):

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page

antiX has both gcc and g++.

Full list here:

http://mepis.gabston-howell.org/down...-installed.txt

Only to add that the latest antiX-M8 full list is here:

http://www.mepisimo.com/antix/installed-M8.txt

BrianL you are awesome!

Zenwalk was the perfect answer to all my questions. It was slow at first with XFCE, but then I installed Fluxbox and it's running quickly enough for me to be happy.

Plus, it comes with netpkg (which is AWESOME), pidgin, a sound recorder, and not to mention INSTANT SUPPORT for my wireless adapter without any configuration... unlike previous distros which i couldn't even get it working with despite hours of trying.

THANK YOU. ZENWALK ROCKS

Well...thanks.
I've always known that, but usually have trouble convincing other people.