Yet another what distro for this old computer thread

Format _C:

Format _C:

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 12, 2001
Messages
3,885
I came across an old Compaq Deskpro EN and I was wanting to try the whole linux thing out but I need to know which one to choose for an older machine
Specs
PIII 600E MHZ
384MB Of PC-100 SD-Ram
DVD-Rom
AGP 2X ATI Card 8MB
No hard drive but I have a spare 30GB laying around
NIC
Modem
and would a live CD run without a hard disk in the machine?
 
Last edited:
Xubuntu should work well on this machine. XFCE (the graphical environment in Xubuntu) is pretty nice and great for low-end machines. DSL is even lighter if you find that XFCE is too slow, but IMO it is not nearly as nice to use.
 
A livecCD will run, but be pretty slow with only 384MB of RAM, and I'm betting the DVD isn't particularly fast either. Some distros will let you save settings and programs on a thumbdrive when running a LiveCD.
 
OK so I came across another better computer (I think it's better if a 1GHZ AMD Duron is better then a PIII it should be as it has more ram)
Anyway it is a whitebox Tower
Asus A7V
1GHZ AMD Duron
640MB Of PC-133
12X Lite-On DVD-Rom
Generic CD-RW 48X
30GB HDD
Wireless NIC Netgear WG-311 (WIth a broken antenna though)
Wired 10/100 Intel NIC
Hauppauge PVR-150 (Which I will probably take out for another NTSC Cable Tuner in My HTPC as I don't need it for Linux)
Soundblaster 16 PCI

anyway I downloaded Xubuntu and I burned the ISO to a CD-R Now I just have to install it

I will try the Live CD first as the computer already has an install of XP on but the owner said I could wipe the HDD provided I backup his IE favorites (The person is not very Tech savy and only has like 15 Links so that was easy:D)
 
Even wireless should work out of the box. Should make a great box for basic use.
 
puppy linux 4.3.1

i love this distro, runs entirely on ram. boot from cd or usb.
 
Format _C: said:
OK so I came across another better computer (I think it's better if a 1GHZ AMD Duron is better then a PIII it should be as it has more ram)
Anyway it is a whitebox Tower
Asus A7V
1GHZ AMD Duron
640MB Of PC-133
16X Lite-On DVD-Rom
Generic CD-RW 52X
30GB HDD
Wireless NIC Netgear WG-311 (WIth a broken antenna though)
Wired 10/100 Intel NIC
Hauppauge PVR-150 (Which I will probably take out for another NTSC Cable Tuner in My HTPC as I don't need it for Linux)
Soundblaster 16 PCI

anyway I downloaded Xubuntu and I burned the ISO to a CD-R Now I just have to install it

I will try the Live CD first as the computer already has an install of XP on but the owner said I could wipe the HDD provided I backup his IE favorites (The person is not very Tech savy and only has like 15 Links so that was easy:D)
Click to expand...

OK I am now using the computer listed above but I want to leave the Haupauge PVR-150MCE as the owner wants it to watch TV, but not record it so I now need a driver or a new distro that will run the TV Tuner in watch only mode or one that will do both (If that is easier to find/use) but I will only use it to watch TV
I ran the live CD and I did not see any TV App
so I do not know what to do now :( I want a good distro to do the basic stuff that the owner of the computer wants
Basic Web Browsing,
Email
Light Emulator use (Nothing newer then N64 or SNES)
TV Watching
I am pretty sure the computer is capable of the above?? If not what can I do to make it work? I have plenty of sticks of SD-Ram PC-1XX (Not sure of the speed) and I also have a spare Socket A Athlon but I think it is dead so that is a moot point but what is the fastest processor that the A7V can support? The book is useless on that part as it just says "Socket 462 Support for Athlon/Duron Processors" it does not say the FSB or the anything else relating to that processor support and the ASUS site will not find this board as if it never existed (Typical Motherboard Manufacturers to make like old tech never exisited on their site)

Thanks for all of the help by helping out a linux noob
 
I don't know any good stand-alone TV watching programs, perhaps someone else will know. MythTV will let you watch live TV, as well as play emulators and surf the web, but is much more oriented to record TV and change your system into a media center PC.

It looks like your board is pretty much maxed as far as proc goes, 110MHz is the highest listed in one review I found for the board. The RAM is an OK amount for an installed to harddisk distro, which, since you need applications beyond what the liveCD has, is the recommended way to go.
 
I think the highest the A7V can support is a Athlon 1.3GHZ I looked this up on CPUworld and the highest 200FSB Athlon is 1.3GHZ so I can try to find one of those but I don't know if it worth it anymore
Anyway I tried XUbuntu and it works great so far so good
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top