Best distro for a PIII/128MB RAM

Chrisss · 18 Jul 2007 at 18:10

I have aquired an old PIII 600 Mhz laptop with 128 MB RAM from work, it only has a 12GB HDD, what is the best distro which will run quikly and ideally take up not very much room because I will probably use it to download torrents.

I've tried fedora and that seems ok, download ubuntu atm.

Thanks

BillytheImpaler · 18 Jul 2007 at 18:16

DSL would be good. If you want to go the *buntu route you should get Xubuntu. The Xfce windowing environment is more suited to low-resource machines than Gnome. Dig through the cupboards and look for more memory.

matja · 18 Jul 2007 at 18:49

I'm pretty sure I've read that Ubuntu feisty fawn requires 192MB to install, but it'll run in far less.

I'd recommend Debian myself - default install is very 'lite' and dpkg/apt are quick/efficient.

.walls · 19 Jul 2007 at 11:30

Arch - with enlightenment or fluxbox

Unlike most other distros - it's optimised for i686 architecture.

The package manager (pacman) is also excellent.

Subliminal Aura · 19 Jul 2007 at 11:46

Install a stripped down version of something lightweight like say ubuntu server then install torrentflux - do away with X completely (mind you I love fluxbox)

punky_munky · 19 Jul 2007 at 12:04

My brother uses Xubuntu on a very old iMac, probably lower spec than your PIII.

Rhys · 19 Jul 2007 at 16:40

Look at Puppy Linux. Im trying to install it on a P3 256mb ram at the moment but its proving to be difficult.

fumbles · 19 Jul 2007 at 16:47

=walls= said:
Arch - with enlightenment or fluxbox

Unlike most other distros - it's optimised for i686 architecture.

The package manager (pacman) is also excellent.

Arch Linux ***, I use Xfce instead, fluxbox is more light then you need.

My laptop is a Dell Latitude LS PIII 500Mhz (Coppermine), 128MB SDRAM, 10GB HDD (partitioned into two), 2.5MB NeoMagic256AV...

Arch Linux runs very well. Everything works, even the pcmcia wireless card I put in. pacman is a fast package manager. You will find that yum is not, especially on a slower computer.

.walls · 19 Jul 2007 at 17:02

fumbles said:
Arch Linux ***, I use Xfce instead, fluxbox is more light then you need.

My laptop is a Dell Latitude LS PIII 500Mhz (Coppermine), 128MB SDRAM, 10GB HDD (partitioned into two), 2.5MB NeoMagic256AV...

Arch Linux runs very well. Everything works, even the pcmcia wireless card I put in. pacman is a fast package manager. You will find that yum is not, especially on a slower computer.

Yip - I've got it on a pIII 650, 128MB ram. It flies.

As for fluxbox - depends on your preferences. I like minimal on laptops...

p.s. anyone know why the the acronym for "for the win" is censored?

Chrisss · 19 Jul 2007 at 18:05

I've got another one of these laptops from work with slightly better specs, although I can't get any distros of Linux to boot with it. (They are both Gateway laptops)

I've tried Fedora, Ubuntu and Xubuntu and when I boot off the disc they all say something like:

Kernel panic - out of sync (and then it just freezes)

Seeing as all of those discs work fine on a similar laptop with slightly lower spec, I guess this is likely to be a hardware issue?

Is there anything I could try before I throw it into the skip?

afraser2k · 19 Jul 2007 at 19:15

Try some of the other Linux LiveCDs like Knoppix? For the other laptop you could try something like Debian or Damn Small Linux.

fumbles · 20 Jul 2007 at 05:28

Chrisss said:
I've got another one of these laptops from work with slightly better specs, although I can't get any distros of Linux to boot with it. (They are both Gateway laptops)

I've tried Fedora, Ubuntu and Xubuntu and when I boot off the disc they all say something like:

Kernel panic - out of sync (and then it just freezes)

Seeing as all of those discs work fine on a similar laptop with slightly lower spec, I guess this is likely to be a hardware issue?

Is there anything I could try before I throw it into the skip?

Well since its a kernel issue, all the distros are going to have the same problem since its the same kernel. A Kernal panic is the Unix equivalent of a BSoD.

Wouldn't a clue what öut of sync means. Try an old version of Windows see if that works.

.walls · 20 Jul 2007 at 09:18

fumbles said:
Well since its a kernel issue, all the distros are going to have the same problem since its the same kernel. A Kernal panic is the Unix equivalent of a BSoD.

Wouldn't a clue what öut of sync means. Try an old version of Windows see if that works.

Not strictly true - there are lots of kernels out there (they're all similar, but not the same) - most distros these days use 2.6.x, whereas DSL uses 2.4.x - which is a lot older. Something with a 2.4.x kernel could well work a treat on this older hardware.

Try acpi=noacpi as a kernel argument when booting. May make a difference. if it doesn't, then try dsl or knoppix (older kernel).

matja · 20 Jul 2007 at 10:41

are you sure it didn't say 'not syncing' rather than 'out of sync'

that means that the kernel's internal state is so mashed up that it's not going to write dirty buffers to the disk, because it could corrupt the filesystem. and no, i have no idea what'd cause that on your system sorry

the noacpi trick is a good start, apm=off too

Angus-Higgins · 20 Jul 2007 at 12:03

I would suggest Puppy Linux, DSL, Fluxbuntu (an unofficial Ubuntu derived distribution using Fluxbox), or Xubuntu.

Hopefully I will be installing something like Xubuntu on an old computer in a little while.

Angus Higgins

Bigsy · 20 Jul 2007 at 17:26

Subliminal Aura said:
Install a stripped down version of something lightweight like say ubuntu server then install torrentflux - do away with X completely (mind you I love fluxbox)

Best Advice in the thread imo, although I do prefer http://tf-b4rt.berlios.de/

Subliminal Aura · 20 Jul 2007 at 17:38

Bigsy said:
Best Advice in the thread imo, although I do prefer http://tf-b4rt.berlios.de/

I got fed up with using a bloated client and found a web based client to be the way to go - Easy to access from werk also

Thanks for the linky I'll give it a whirl - I've only ever tried torrentflux myself.

Cheers.

fumbles · 20 Jul 2007 at 20:42

=walls= said:
Not strictly true - there are lots of kernels out there (they're all similar, but not the same) - most distros these days use 2.6.x, whereas DSL uses 2.4.x - which is a lot older. Something with a 2.4.x kernel could well work a treat on this older hardware.

Try acpi=noacpi as a kernel argument when booting. May make a difference. if it doesn't, then try dsl or knoppix (older kernel).

That is a good point. I also notice that Arch (the distro I use) has a newer kernel then even Ubuntu. So I stand corrected.

me said:
Arch Linux will not work on say a 486, DSL will. Why? Arch is optimised for slightly newer computers (i686). As in you will get a performance boost with Arch that you don't get with DSL and most other distros.

Everything you get is the newest, ie bleeding edge. Everything is kept simple, although most configuration is done through the command line.

Chrisss · 22 Jul 2007 at 10:26

=walls= said:
Not strictly true - there are lots of kernels out there (they're all similar, but not the same) - most distros these days use 2.6.x, whereas DSL uses 2.4.x - which is a lot older. Something with a 2.4.x kernel could well work a treat on this older hardware.

Try acpi=noacpi as a kernel argument when booting. May make a difference. if it doesn't, then try dsl or knoppix (older kernel).

How do I type in kernel arguments when booting?

gumbald · 22 Jul 2007 at 11:30

When you get the LiveCD boot screen, normally you'll press enter just to continue booting. However, there'll be a command prompt where you can type stuff in before you press enter

Best distro for a PIII/128MB RAM

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