Have Debian GNU/Linux, distribution version 3.0, system release 2.2.20-iodepci with a Processor type of i686 on a Dell L400 laptop.
Can this linux be updated?
Realizing this is mainly a "linux-learning" learning exercise, I am curious to see if it will work after so many years since it began - at least 16 years.

Other info: Laptop only runs with ac connection - battery dead.
Have both external floppy drive and cd-rw modules, as well as a IEEE1394 2-port card bus.
No current internet connection available through home network. Hard wire connection needed.

Thanks for any info or comments,
oleparamount cyclist

Hi:

Debian 3.0 "Woody" was released in 2002; so no you won't be able to update that os.

The current version of Debian in 8 "Jessie" A fresh installation is your best bet.
https://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/

Since a hard wired connection is needed you'll just need an ethernet cable that runs from your Dell to the router or modem.

Looks like the base L400 is a PIII, 128MB RAM and a 4.8GB hard drive. Not to many choices if you only have 128MB or RAM.

+1

Welcome to the forum, oleparamount

If you like Debian, you might want to stay with version 3.0. The only current distribution I know of that should easily work within those specs is Tiny Core, although there may be others.

Regards...

oleparamount, please, please do not even attempt to update it!
it will fail anyway.
don't even attempt to install new software (unless you can find the original packages for woody).
i'd disable apt completely just to make sure this gem is preserved.
it belongs in a museum, it's precious.

rather show us some screenshots instead.

1 members found this post helpful.

oleparamount,

Welcome to LQ.

You obviously like a challenge!

Have a look at some of these links for Dell L400 and Linux topics:

https://l400modblog.wordpress.com/20...-on-dell-l400/

http://ask.metafilter.com/44941/How-...th-no-CD-drive

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comme...nd_netbooting/

You could try Slitaz:

http://www.slitaz.org/en/about/

http://www.slitaz.org/en/

OR

antiX:

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

128MB RAM (updated to 256MB) is recommended minimum for antiX. The installer needs minimum 1.2GB hard disk size. antiX is a fast, lightweight and easy to install linux live CD distribution based on MEPIS and Debian Testing for Intel-AMD x86 compatible systems.

sorry but even that howto is 8 years old. you cannot apply that to current versions of the distros mentioned.

Hi beachboy2...

From what I see here, I wonder if there's a chance Slitaz might be too heavy.

Regards...

http://archive.debian.org/

You can point /etc/apt/sources.list to the archive copy of woody (and get the new signing keys) to get it up-to-date as of woody's end-of-life.

You can then upgrade release by release to the current Jessie.

Not at all suggesting that you should - just saying that it is (probably) possible

Hi ardvark71,

Even antiX has raised their bar from 128MB to 256MB.

I think Slitaz and antiX are both worth a shot despite the supposed restrictions.

It is up to the OP to decide whether to try descendant_command's suggestion or do something new.

He has said that this is a "Linux learning" exercise.

Add labels to your partitions, and expect problems.
That is a LOT of upgrades to process, and as I remember there will come a point where the partitions get renamed (udev) and your mounts will fail. This is why people started mounting using UUID or LABELS, because using the label or UUID in grub (or LILO) and fstab avoids having this brick your install.

I found a way back, but it was painful.

Better to either retain the system as-is, or find a distro that will thrive in that memory space and do a fresh install.

Actually, that is plenty of memory as long as you do not need a GUI. The xOrg/ XWindows takes a significant amount of memory. If you can find a distro with a very thin XWindows set, it might serve you well. (Tinycore runs fine in 48M ram. Puppy will run in 64M, but will run faster with 128. )

Avoid anything with GNOME or KDE. No matter what is under that level, the big desktop take big space, and that machine does not have it to give.

I think Tiny Core would be great to try out. It's just about the lightest Linux you can get these days. If you knew your own hardware, you could probably make a custom kernel and save even more space.

Similar to the process I used here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...roblem-525843/

It was fun - as an academic process.

ondoho,

Sorry, I did not realise quite how old that information was.

oleparamount:

Have you installed Linux on your Dell?

Have you tried a light weight distro like Tiny Core or Lubuntu?