Old PCs and Puppy

Message

LarryHenry · #1 Post by **LarryHenry** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 01:37

A friend has an old PC running Windows ME...that is all I know about it. She wants to let me see if i can "make it work". I'm thinking "Warry Puppy" or Damn Small Linux" depending on the RAM it has. I am finding these "light-weight" distros amazing...so many "poor folks" out there who think they can't afford a "working computer"...but you folks in Linux are rectifying that problem if folks just knew it.,,,SPREAD THE WORD...EVANGELIZE PEOPLE!

I would have loved to try DSL on my old Packard Bell PB-650CD (long gone) It had a 66mhz-DX-2 "overdrive" chip in it and 16MB of ram and a 740mb hard drive, floppy reader and a 2x CD reader,,,MS-DOS 6.20 and Win3.11.....9,500kbs modem..."America Online" on a floppy disk...(remember those?)

Dewbie · #2 Post by **Dewbie** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 15:52

Wary is now built with a single kernel, but a slightly older version, 5.1.1, gives you a choice of kernels:
(alternate iso sub-folder)
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... ns/quirky/
That's a nice option to have, as some boxes don't work well with certain kernels.

There's also Classic Pup 2.14x, which is continually updated by forum member ttuuxxx:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=42553
(Current version is at the very top.)
It's built with kernel 2.6.18.1, which is several years old.
Many forum members with older hardware report much success with it.

In all cases, I would suggest trying the latest versions first.

Damn Small Linux hasn't been updated since late 2008.
From what I understand, its main developer left and started Tiny Core Linux.

but you folks in Linux are rectifying that problem if folks just knew it.,,,SPREAD THE WORD...EVANGELIZE PEOPLE!

You have to be discreet.
They tend to write us off, unless they have open minds.
(which doesn't happen very often

)

LarryHenry · #3 Post by **LarryHenry** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 16:35

Thanks for the info Dewbie...downloading *iso and will make a CD,,don't know how old that Me PC is but i will "do semething" with it...Got a friend with an old Compaq with 512mb of ram...latest Puppy or Wary i think? Windows XP "hogs" on it...

Dewbie · #4 Post by **Dewbie** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 16:59

Windows XP "hogs" on it...

Try this first: See my third post here.
In your case, disregard the Spybot part at the end.
Spybot is a bit too heavy for 512MB RAM.
Avast! Free antivirus--which includes anti-spyware--would be your best bet.

LarryHenry · #5 Post by **LarryHenry** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 18:30

Dewbie I like the look and feel of the Light version of Puppy...a friend called me today asking what to do with an old Win-(8 Laptop...I told him about Puppy....is there a link to that light version (2.xx) anywhere besides the forum?

Colonel Panic · #6 Post by **Colonel Panic** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 18:58

Hi Larry,

With a machine that old (Windows ME vintage) I'd try either Puppy Turbo or Turbo Extreme. Both were for old PCs with limited memory.

Puppy PULP is quite good on old machines too.

Outside Puppy there's ConnochaetOS, a distro forked from the old Deli Linux project and which works well on machines about 10 years old (so yours should qualify), or (for really old PCs) Basic Linux, which is based on an old version of Slackware and is a remarkable piece of work.

Using my previous computer (100 MHZ Pentium 1 and 32 MB RAM), I've browsed the Web using an old version of Opera (5) running on Basic Linux with the Blackbox window manager. It can be done.

Dewbie · #7 Post by **Dewbie** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 19:24

is there a link to that light version (2.xx) anywhere besides the forum?

Here, but it's an older version (RC5), from Spring 2010.
That is also a good website for quickly locating 2.14x software, as it has indexed page links to the massive 2.14x forum thread (although it needs updating).

ttuuxxx has more 2.14x software here.
He's going to release an updated 2.14x version soon, so watch the top of that forum thread.

Colonel Panic · #8 Post by **Colonel Panic** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 20:14

A quick update; there are some other distros which run on old computers, such as Slitaz, but I don't have any real experience of them.

Dewbie · #9 Post by **Dewbie** » Sun 16 Oct 2011, 20:44

With a machine that old (Windows ME vintage) I'd try either Puppy Turbo or Turbo Extreme.

My box is PII/350 Windows 98/NT vintage (early 1999), and it runs Wary 5.1.1 (alternate .isos), and Puppy Linux 4.3.1/4.1.2 (all versions) just fine. I upped the RAM to 320MB, but that's it.

Just to clarify, 2.14x is not a "light" version; it's full-featured like other Puppies, but built with an older kernel that usually works better with older hardware.
(Oddly enough, I can't run 2.14x without really redlining the processor, while RAM usage is much lower. With the others, my processor barely breaks a sweat.)

A quick update; there are some other distros which run on old computers, such as Slitaz, but I don't have any real experience of them.

nooby did a thread on Slitaz here.

Colonel Panic · #10 Post by **Colonel Panic** » Thu 20 Oct 2011, 18:43

Dewbie wrote:
With a machine that old (Windows ME vintage) I'd try either Puppy Turbo or Turbo Extreme.
My box is PII/350 Windows 98/NT vintage (early 1999), and it runs Wary 5.1.1 (alternate .isos), and Puppy Linux 4.3.1/4.1.2 (all versions) just fine. I upped the RAM to 320MB, but that's it.

Just to clarify, 2.14x is not a "light" version; it's full-featured like other Puppies, but built with an older kernel that usually works better with older hardware.
(Oddly enough, I can't run 2.14x without really redlining the processor, while RAM usage is much lower. With the others, my processor barely breaks a sweat.)

I hadn't noticed that, but that might be true of my system as well. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

2.14x is one of my favourite Puppies btw, it can run both old and new software.

Frank Cox · #11 Post by **Frank Cox** » Fri 21 Oct 2011, 04:48

I have had no problems running Wary 5 even on a 450mx P3 w. 64 mg ram

The problem I am having with the box I am working on now

P4 Intel board 500 mgs ram

is the soundcard drivers , never happened before with puppy, sound always worked

thane · #12 Post by **thane** » Fri 21 Oct 2011, 07:16

FWIW, I was able to run "standard" Puppy (as it was 2 years ago anyway) on a Compaq Deskpro (Pentium III/512M) without any problems I can recall.

I had some hassle getting Tiny Core Linux to work right on that box because of a peculiarity in the soundcard (had to change the clock rate).

john biles · #13 Post by **john biles** » Fri 21 Oct 2011, 13:01

Hello LarryHenry,
If you want a great selection of Applications with good Multimedia support for that ME PC give Legacy OS 2 a go.

Find more info here! http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LegacyOS

Download from here! http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/O ... 1563.shtml

john biles · #14 Post by **john biles** » Fri 21 Oct 2011, 13:06

Hello LarryHenry,
If you want a great selection of Applications with good Multimedia support for that ME PC give Legacy OS 2 a go.

Find more info here! http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LegacyOS

Download from here! http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/O ... 1563.shtml

Dewbie · #15 Post by **Dewbie** » Sun 23 Oct 2011, 18:21

I wrote:

(Oddly enough, I can't run 2.14x without really redlining the processor, while RAM usage is much lower. With the others, my processor barely breaks a sweat.)

Colonel Panic wrote:

I hadn't noticed that, but that might be true of my system as well. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

It's fine when I'm offline, but as soon as I sign on, CPU is @100%...never drops till I'm offline again.
It's probably just some hardware-related quirk.

Sage · #16 Post by **Sage** » Sat 29 Oct 2011, 16:00

Is there any webcam application for/that works with Racy/Wary?

I already raised this, including 'Cheese'.
Apart from one kind soul, as usual, I was misunderstood, ignored and received the odd abusive response.
Look up nickbicker, Forum member and :
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... sb-webcams {that doesn't look quite right, may need editing, check source}

rcrsn51 · #17 Post by **rcrsn51** » Sat 29 Oct 2011, 16:22

Sage wrote:
Is there any webcam application for/that works with Racy/Wary?

Have you seen this yet?

Sage · #18 Post by **Sage** » Sat 29 Oct 2011, 17:01

Yes, thanks, I read it when you put it up yesterday. There are other ways to get a webcam picture, too, but my answer is the same as mavro's - I'd prefer to have a 'fully functioning' bespoke webcam utility like Cheese or Kamoso, whatever! Hey ho just a request, but it would complete the complement...

rcrsn51 · #19 Post by **rcrsn51** » Sat 29 Oct 2011, 17:58

mavrothal wrote:But I was thinking more along the lines of guvcview ....

@Sage: Sorry I can't help you. But maybe mavrothal's needs are simpler.

From here:

My search turned me to GUVCView and I can’t tell you how happy I have been with the results. Not only is this tool as easy to use as Cheese, it’s far more flexible, and renders much better video

Sage · #20 Post by **Sage** » Sat 29 Oct 2011, 19:33

Recommendations noted, ta. Working in other systems at present but will give it a spin tomorrow. Thanks for packaging.

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