What Linux can i install on Pentium 2/333mhz/384-mb
 

:Pengy: What Linux can i install on Pentium 2/333mhz/40 gb-hard drive = 2drives ,c,drive=30gb /d,drive=10gb /& 384 mb=memory .
what's the deal I tried suse,ubuntu,mepis,mandriva,zenwalk ,kubuntu,Xubuntu,
fedora 3,6 & 7 doesnot not work. / D.SMALL Linux works only so far .
Mepis works only when i added more memory .
I have to admit i want the good running & good looking linux like suse 10.2,Mandriva ,saboyan,Ubuntu etc to work on my system.


I tried Linux on a friends office pentium 2/533 mhz,10gb-hard drive/256 mb-memory . & Zenwalk , Suse 9.2 worked really well and looks fine.



Does anyone have any solutions


Thanks:Pengy:

don't run Gnome.

Go for a lightweight window manager to save on resources.

I don't know how much memory you had before, but most likely a computer of that era would have had only 32megs or 64megs of RAM--not enough for anything in that list other than Damn Small!

But 384 megs of RAM is plenty for any version of Linux. (Sounds like you absolutely maxed out the memory--3 slots with 128meg sticks of RAM.)

One thing--don't waste your time with older versions of Linux. Use a current distribution. Older ones will just have inferior hardware compatability and more limited software. 384megs of RAM is plenty for any version of Linux, but a 333Mhz Pentium II is going to be sluggish no matter what.

You should be able to install Ubuntu with no issues on that computer. It'll be slow and sluggish, but after you get a little familiar with Linux you can work on streamlining it to go faster. You'll have to make compromises between software features and speedy performance. For example, Firefox will be sluggish. The lightweight web browser Dillo will be fast, but it doesn't handle many essential web page features. The default Nautilus file browser will be slow. A lightweight file browser like XFE or Rox will be faster, but will lack features and eye candy.

One big thing which will have a significant impact on speed is font anti-aliasing. Turning off font anti-aliasing gives most applications a boost in speed, but you may find non-anti-aliased fonts ugly.

Slackware.
 

If you are already basically familiar with linux or don't mind learning how to do things manually might try slackware 11.0. I'm running it on my 400Mhz laptop with 192 megs ram and it runs great. I set it up with KDE, XFCE, and Fluxbox desktops and usually use XFCE.

Some of those distro's that you listed that you tried ... would be ones we recommend.

Example: Xubuntu ... uses XFCE as a window manager ...very light weight.

What exactly does not work ?

I Will try this

Thank you very much :study:

On this slackware it seems like you need 2 or 4 cd's set.Debian you need 4 & 14 cd's set, to set up (how do i do that?) .I know how to get the iso on one cd or dvd to make a new linux distro .Example suse & ubuntu.

I need help step by step on some of these distro's .
I had trouble with ubuntu,kubuntu & xubuntu on this pentium 2/333 .And other older pentium 2/533
IT seems Like when i try ubuntu on new computers everything is good.
The computers just freeze after 5 or 10 minutes .
And with Zenwalk the screen have the same repeated sentences for 30 minutes to 1 hour .
Maybe let it run for 2hours to 3hours .


Peace

Thanks Greatly appreciated I just download 3 distros of the 8 so called top distros by linux format maz. How is saboyan,Pclinuxos ? For my Pentium 2/333mhz/384mb .I HAVE UBUNTU ,fedora 7,suse ,mandriva,pclinuxos,saboyan . Others I have not on the top list (linux format maz. )Zenwalk,VECTOR LINUX,MEPIS ,:study:

This sounds like a hardware problem, maybe bad memory (which could explain why it's a problem for a memory intensive distribution like Ubuntu, but maybe not some others). I think you'll have to test your memory, and if one of the memory sticks is flakey you'll just have to live with 256megs of RAM.

As this is a general Linux question rather than one related to LFS, I have moved this to Linux-Distributions.

I'd gow with a Debian Etch Xfce Install.

You can't really expect a PC that old to run all the bells and whistles that new PC's can, just because its Linux.

IGF

I agree.
 

There are many distros out there that are light or can be made light. Once you get one that you think you might just stick with it and post problems on the forums and you might find they are easier to fix than you think because most distro's that I have tried are extremely flexible.

I think with debian you can do the internet install or just setup a base system, and use apt-get i think it is and build the system from ground up.

For slackware you are only going to need the first two cd's to get started, you can custom install or do a full install to play with all the extras and decide which ones you like best. This is my personal favorite because i'm used to it i guess.

For Ubuntu i would recommend trying kubuntu (its lighter) and would run a bit faster on your machine. Its probably just personal preference but I like debian better than ubuntu because its a bit easier for me to configure. ( My bad, not ubuntu's most likely ;)).

I believe all the arguments for the best distro are correct, just have to decide on the best one for you :).

Also does sound like you have a bad memory chip. Might try removing it and dusting it off and running memtests on it.

Kubuntu is lighter than Ubuntu?.. Wow, thats the first time I've ever read that.

The Buntus are fine, if you'd like Ubuntu, I'd go with Xubuntu. FWIW, Kubuntu crippled a 700mhz, 256mb Ram Laptop that I had. I now have a 1ghz Laptop with 768mb of Ram and it runs Ubuntu Gnome fine, but KDE locks up as soon as the GUI boots(both live cd and when after installing with the alt. install cd)

Fortunately, we all have a choice, and when that happens, we all have an opinion, so the OP just has to decipher what he thinks is best for him... Debian Etch is light, really has a lot of the ease of Ubuntu, and when setup with the Xfce desktop, should be fairly fast.

IGF

you can try kubuntu, im running it on a PC100 motherboard, 400mhz celeron and Nvidia 64mb Gforce mx200 video card and 40 gig HDD with 448mb ram, Beryl does not work on it, but you can run the other"eye candy"- Icon themes, transparent menus, and Ipod, also it recognizes my old Canon BJC210 printer, USB ports, and yamaha sound card :-)

Vector Linux
http://www.vectorlinux.com/

DSL
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux.org/user/viewpage.php?page_id=3

Slackware
http://www.slackware.com/

SLAX Live CD
http://www.slax.org/

BeaFanatIX
http://bea.cabarel.com/

Elive:
http://www.elivecd.org/

Luit Linux
http://luitlinux.sarovar.org/