Anybody use Linux? For old hardware, which distro?
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From: RayLopez99 on 3 Jun 2010 07:43 On Jun 3, 1:29 am, Mike Easter <Mi...(a)ster.invalid> wrote: > No matter what, there are potential problems with that modem and > possibly the USB mouse on the old hardware. > > The modem is probably an old winmodem that will be 'difficult' for > someone who isn't experienced with setting up a modem in linux. > > Going to a lot of trouble to make a winmodem work seems like paying a > lot for something worth very little. > Now you're talking sense, speaking as somebody who has built many a PC from scratch (all with Windows). This rings true. Modem will be the problem. OK, I forgive Puppy Linux. It probably was a coincidence the CD-ROM drive died. I have Puppy's distro CD--and I can burn the latest if need be. The question now: how to configure a modem from inside of Puppy? Is this still a problem? Tell me how (in general, not step by step) and I can experiment with this old PC where Puppy is installed (it also has a Pentium II) since I'm away from the Dell laptop at the moment. I'll feel better if I can get Puppy to recognize the internal dial-up modem. If not (if I can't get Puppy to recognize), I might just scrap going with a Hayes dial-up modem for this user and upgrade to a DSL modem for the laptop. I don't think this old Dell laptop has an ethernet card, and if it does not I guess I can get one of those cards and pop it in the slot, which it has. Comments please? You're one of the few here that seems to know what they are talking about. Rare for these NGs. RL
From: RayLopez99 on 3 Jun 2010 07:45 On Jun 3, 1:41 am, Baho Utot <baho-u...(a)invalid.com> wrote: > RayLopez99 wrote: > > Thinking of using on an old 1998 laptop PC that presently has a > > Pentium II, with a built in generic Dell modem, USB mouse, 512k RAM > > (!), DVD/CD, running Windows XP fine now (very slow), some distro of > > Linux. > > > In another thread I got into a debate about what's the best distro for > > a simple new Acer machine ($300) that uses the Atom uP from Intel. > > But in this thread I just want to know if *any* Linux distro will work > > on such *old* hardware. > > Thinking of using an old 1995 PC that presently has an 8086 cpu with built > in CGA graphics, 128k RAM upgraded from 64K, running Linux 2.6.18 kernel > with all the trimmings. Blender just flies. Will windows 7 work? I just > want to know if any current windows version will work on this *old* > hardware. > > Later dude. EXACTLY! LOL I could not have said it better myself. I am cross- posting this to COLA, where I hang out, and have often made the same point. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ARE INTIMATELY CONNECTED. Don't tell me how poor Windows 7 is, until you get the latest and greatest hardware to go with it! Later, Ray
From: Mike Easter on 3 Jun 2010 08:42 RayLopez99 wrote: > Mike Easter >> No matter what, there are potential problems with that modem and >> possibly the USB mouse on the old hardware. >> >> The modem is probably an old winmodem that will be 'difficult' for >> someone who isn't experienced with setting up a modem in linux. >> >> Going to a lot of trouble to make a winmodem work seems like paying a >> lot for something worth very little. >> > > Now you're talking sense, speaking as somebody who has built many a PC > from scratch (all with Windows). This rings true. Modem will be the > problem. OK, I forgive Puppy Linux. It probably was a coincidence > the CD-ROM drive died. I have Puppy's distro CD--and I can burn the > latest if need be. The question now: how to configure a modem from > inside of Puppy? I have little - or very little - personal experience with setting up modems in linux because I have been broadband connectivity since the 80s, but I 'glance at' the dialup tools in Puppy and others. At first glance I would say that the last Puppy I booted 4.2.1 is well configured to help with the modem problem. The newest puppy 5.0.1 is based on ubuntu instead of the way it has always been done before; so I don't know if that is good or bad for anything. > Is this still a problem? Tell me how (in general, > not step by step) and I can experiment with this old PC where Puppy is > installed (it also has a Pentium II) since I'm away from the Dell > laptop at the moment. I'll feel better if I can get Puppy to > recognize the internal dial-up modem. The first thing I would do is thoroughly examine all of the hardware with the XP tools, using System devices and whatever is your favorite hardware tool such as Belarc or SIW or Everest. I would also troubleshoot the modem functionality in XP and take notes. > If not (if I can't get Puppy to recognize), I might just scrap going > with a Hayes dial-up modem for this user and upgrade to a DSL modem > for the laptop. Naturally that would be day/night difference for connectivity. > I don't think this old Dell laptop has an ethernet > card, and if it does not I guess I can get one of those cards and pop > it in the slot, which it has. Ethernet would help you do a lot of things with setting up the LT. It is very awkward to experiment with troublesome hardware if you can't put it on a network with connectivity to work on it. You don't always have everything you need with some linux live CD installs; so they 'expect' to go online or get 'their stuff' from somewhere. > Comments please? You're one of the few here that seems to know what > they are talking about. Rare for these NGs. Sometimes you act as if you are 'sincerely' trying to do something with old hardware -- but most of your posting history for years looks more trollish than sincere. By that I mean that I consider most crossposting trollish (if not newbish); I also consider it to be trollish to ask questions in a way that stimulates responses and then which responses are used to belittle the system you don't like. IMO some old hardware would be better off with Win98se, not linux. The linux Xwindow system and graphical interfaces use more resources than W98. But, if you have enough ram for someone inexperienced to use linux graphically instead of an insecure and slow windows such as XP in this case, then linux is a good choice. Just behind me I have Puppy 4.2.1 running on a box on my LAN with 192meg ram and 500mhz AMD and it looks/acts quite frisky. -- Mike Easter
From: John Hasler on 3 Jun 2010 09:34 The Natural Philosopher writes: > If you want plug and play handholding and everything made easy for > you, Linux may not be waht you want. You have to get out of that whiny > I paid, make it work for me' mindset from Redmond. No he doesn't. Paid support is readily available. I think most people would charge double for him, though. He's probably better of sticking with Windows. Microsoft is used to dealing with dorks. -- John Hasler jhasler(a)newsguy.com Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI USA
From: RayLopez99 on 3 Jun 2010 10:17
On Jun 3, 3:42 pm, Mike Easter <Mi...(a)ster.invalid> wrote: > > > Now you're talking sense, speaking as somebody who has built many a PC > > from scratch (all with Windows). This rings true. Modem will be the > > problem. OK, I forgive Puppy Linux. It probably was a coincidence > > the CD-ROM drive died. I have Puppy's distro CD--and I can burn the > > latest if need be. The question now: how to configure a modem from > > inside of Puppy? > > I have little - or very little - personal experience with setting up > modems in linux because I have been broadband connectivity since the > 80s, but I 'glance at' the dialup tools in Puppy and others. Wow, you the man. Broadband since the 1980s!? I don't think we had that at the university I was at in the 1980s; maybe we did as an intranet. I thought I was a power user because I was using a console based client to chat via the internet in 1993. > > At first glance I would say that the last Puppy I booted 4.2.1 is well > configured to help with the modem problem. > > The newest puppy 5.0.1 is based on ubuntu instead of the way it has > always been done before; so I don't know if that is good or bad for > anything. OK, I'll check the Puppy I have--it was the latest version downloaded from 2008, so it might be OK. > > > Is this still a problem? Tell me how (in general, > > not step by step) and I can experiment with this old PC where Puppy is > > installed (it also has a Pentium II) since I'm away from the Dell > > laptop at the moment. I'll feel better if I can get Puppy to > > recognize the internal dial-up modem. > > The first thing I would do is thoroughly examine all of the hardware > with the XP tools, using System devices and whatever is your favorite > hardware tool such as Belarc or SIW or Everest. Right. I have Belarc. > > I would also troubleshoot the modem functionality in XP and take notes. > Well it works, is Haynes compatible, don't see what else there's to note. > > If not (if I can't get Puppy to recognize), I might just scrap going > > with a Hayes dial-up modem for this user and upgrade to a DSL modem > > for the laptop. > > Naturally that would be day/night difference for connectivity. Right. But this non-power user, a woman, is so cheap she doesn't want to spend anything beyond her local basic cable bill, where she watches Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Ms. Opray Winfrey during daytime TV. I did convince her however that her phone bill would be free (using Skype) under DSL, so maybe she might do that...I have no control over her decision and must assume the worse (which is dial-up modem). > > > I don't think this old Dell laptop has an ethernet > > card, and if it does not I guess I can get one of those cards and pop > > it in the slot, which it has. > > Ethernet would help you do a lot of things with setting up the LT. It > is very awkward to experiment with troublesome hardware if you can't put > it on a network with connectivity to work on it. > > You don't always have everything you need with some linux live CD > installs; so they 'expect' to go online or get 'their stuff' from > somewhere. Right. I notice that trend with Windows too--all the updates. > > > Comments please? You're one of the few here that seems to know what > > they are talking about. Rare for these NGs. > > Sometimes you act as if you are 'sincerely' trying to do something with > old hardware -- but most of your posting history for years looks more > trollish than sincere. I am a troll, but this time I'm sincere. You're smart enough to tell the difference. When I troll you know it. I'm too lazy to set up aliases so I use raylopez99 at all times when I'm in Google Groups (Usenet)--in fact, my old boss knows the real world person behind this alias and if he's motivated enough to check some of my sillier posts I guess I would be embarrassed...LOL. He's too busy to check what shiite I post anyway. > > IMO some old hardware would be better off with Win98se, not linux. The > linux Xwindow system and graphical interfaces use more resources than > W98. But, if you have enough ram for someone inexperienced to use linux > graphically instead of an insecure and slow windows such as XP in this > case, then linux is a good choice. Right. That's what I'm thinking. For this user, Linux just might work. For me (I code in Visual Studio using C#) it would not. > > Just behind me I have Puppy 4.2.1 running on a box on my LAN with 192meg > ram and 500mhz AMD and it looks/acts quite frisky. > Wow. That's what is motivating me here...Linux is perfect (in theory) for old hardware. RL |