Install LinuxMint4.0 on OLD computers(Case Reopened)

[Cariboo]

Hello All,
In connection with a project called "ReUsebe4ReCycle" I want to revitalize old computers and distribute them in our schools and make aware that there are alternatives to Windows.
My first OLDY, an ASUS-VX97, is probably some 8-10 years old and has the following specs ---

EXPERIMENT-01
LinuxMint OS on the following hardware:
Mother Board: ASUS VX97 Rev. 1.01 Pentium 54MX (200MHz, 128MB)
actual BIOS: 401A0-0202v <----------------------------> Updated
Details see:
http://artofhacking.com/th99/m/A-B/34533.htm
Network Card: SohoWare Fast Ethernet Card SFA110A
Video Card: PROLINK MVGA-CL54XXP (REV.D)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster AWE64
Modem: US Robotics 94VO (ISA slot) <--------------------------->Not identified
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar 33100 (3.1 GB) <--------------------------->Not enough
Floppy drive: 3.5" x 1.44MB
CD ROM drive: Panasonic (Matsushita Matshita) CR-585-B
Power Supply: 200W

BIOS Version:
Length Date Time Name
131072 10-26-98 10:32 TV5V0204.AWD <--------------------------> Too Old??

---On this I want to install LinuxMint.
It stared promising - see screenshots MintLoad01,02,04 and then the loading stopped with the message:

acpi=force is required to enable ACPI

Can any body tell me what that means and how I can get around it?
Attached Thumbnails

[MagnusB]

That one is a in a nutshell to old for Mint. Look at VectorLinux, easy to maintain slackware based distro optimized for maximum performance. If you really want Mint on it, try XFCE editions or Fluxbox edition. As for the ACPI troubles, use noacpi as a bootflag (press F6). I will also suggest to use safe graphics mode, and offtopic, I have Mint main edition running on a 3-4 year old box, it runs pretty OK. Hopefully you manage to revitalize it.

[Cariboo]

.....If you really want Mint on it, try XFCE editions or Fluxbox edition.

Hello MagnusB and thank you for your suggestions.
Yes, I would really like to stick to LinuxMint because it is Debian and Ubuntu based, which, I think, brings some advantages.

As for the ACPI troubles, use noacpi as a bootflag (press F6).

I changed the boot parameter pci=noapci, but it didn't help...
My next step will be to get Mint Fluxbox Edition...
I'll keep you posted.

[Wasda]

When your bios is from before 2000 you get this message.
You can look over here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootO ... 3Dforce%29
Even when you changed the kernel options you get this message.
With this computer you should try the fluxbox version of mint.
Then you have a mint version that will run on this computer.
The main version will be no fun on this I think.

[BakUp]

Look at VectorLinux

Very well done, I second that idea !

[Cariboo]

..........
With this computer you should try the fluxbox version of mint.
Then you have a mint version that will run on this computer.
The main version will be no fun on this I think.

Thanks Wasda
Yes, I got FluxBox and I tried to run it....but no luck. Same problem..it does not completely load.
Although I changed the boot parameter to acpi=force (as it is required for BIOS before 2000) I get

ACPI: BIOS age (1997) fails cutoff (2000). acpi=force is required to enable APCI

and a bit later, and this is different from earlier

Unable to load the System Description table.
Loading, please wait.

and it starts loading and it never finishes.
I'm about to give up the idea to try to get LinuxMint running on "that" old systems!?

[Fornhamfred]

I think your problem is caused by lack of Ram, you do not mention how much you have but I think Mint requires at least 256MB.

If you do not have any success why not try PcLinux Mini-Me and customise it to your requirements.

Good Luck.

[Wasda]

You could try puppy on it, perhaps that will run on it.

[Cariboo]

I think your problem is caused by lack of Ram, you do not mention how much you have but I think Mint requires at least 256MB.
Good Luck.

Sorry, but I did mention it

Mother Board: ASUS VX97 Rev. 1.01 Pentium 54MX (200MHz, 128MB)....see my first post.

.
On the other hand I couldn't find clear defined 'minimum requirements". The purpose of this project is to figure out for which hard ware I can get a decent working 'rebuilt computer' which would have been thrown away if you would like to keep it fairly up-to-date with Windows.
Anyway, thanks for mentioning this issue....it certainly can cause the trouble

[Cariboo]

You could try puppy on it, perhaps that will run on it.

Hello Wasda and thanks for the reply....
I followed MagnusB's advice and I just started to install 'VectorLinux' .....As I write this on my other computer, the loading of packages just started....It looks good so far and I keep you posted

[Cariboo]

Well, Vector Linux just finished installing the packages when I got the message

Something went wrong....but don't panic

and the Linux shell was at the screen, showing the available programs ( mc, cfdisk, fdisk and so on..) leaving me alone with this. How can I diagnose what went wrong?
Do I have to go to the Vector Forums or can somebody help me here?
I don't know how to fix the problem....
BTW:
I opened cfdisk and deleted the partitions and started over again with filesystem ext2 (instead of ext3 for the first try) and selected less packages. I have made 512MB Swap, 1600MB / and 1000MB /home partitions, thats all I can get from this 3.1GB hard drive. Now the install procedure is running again...will see what happens

[MagnusB]

I cruised the VL site and saw:

Question: How much harddrive space do I need to install VectorLinux?

Answer: This will vary with which edition of VL you choose, the extra programs you may want to install later, and by the amount of data (documents, multimedia files, etc.) you want to keep on your hard drive. The minimum base system requirements for the system alone are as follows:

* VL5.8 Standard: 2 GB
* VL5.8 SOHO: 3 G

3.1 GB harddrive is a bit small, try a minimal installation... Also, try a minimal home partition, I am guessing that computer will not need much of personal storage...

[MagnusB]

It has been a while since I installed Vector, but if I remember correctly you need at least 256 MB RAM to run live, even then it tends to be a bit buggy, no matter what distribution you are trying out. Doesn't the DVD offer a text/alternate installer?
I also remember a distribution specifically designed to run on old computers, also Slackware based, but I have no idea of how userfriendly it is, Slackware is more about performance, and marketed towards hard core users, rather than newbies..
Another note is that *BSD could run on a toaster....

[Cariboo]

Thanks MagnusB for your support...
For sure, on this hardware LinuxMint will not work (BIOS year 2000 cutoff), but there is some hope I can get VL running on it.
Right now, It seems I have two problems:
First I discovered 'Bad Clusters' on the 3.1GB HDD and
Second, I checked the required/vl.tlz files from the CD, which I burned from a downloaded *.iso file and got a message that "there is something wrong with the required files (error code = 1) and that I better should abort the installation".
As soon as I get another HDD and a correct VL-CD, I try it again

[MagnusB]

I would suggest going on a low key hdd, 40GB or something like that. And always check the MD5SUM of the iso before burning it:

Code: Select all

md5sum isoname.iso

in terminal!

[Cariboo]

Hello all Linux Enthusiasts....Help please....

UPDATE:
There is some light at the horizon........
I got an old 8GB hard drive ...
and I have Vector installed....
and I have the GUI up and running....
but the mouse pointer is not moving.....
In /etc/X11/xorg.conf the mouse is identified as a PS/2, mouse1, mouse.
It is a Logitech "MouseMan Serial Version" and
has a unusual old style connector (to fasten with two screws).
I know that the mouse works from using M. Kupchik's Emergency Boot CD and loading the mouse driver there.
HELP! Please! I'm so close to succeed.....

What can I do to figure out if the mouse is configured correctly?
Where can I find the right mouse driver?

Cariboo

[mintlover]

Hello Cariboo,

Please do not try Vector. It is also having lot of problems. I have a p3/256mb ram/80gb Thinkpad s30 and for learning, I tried to install all big ones. PClos2007, Mandriva 2008, Mint 40, Mepis 6.5 Sabayon latest, and PCBSD and desktop bsd. The bsd are in queue so will let you know later. But except mint all the the big distros installed and worked. Sabayon worked the best with very smooth install. It looks beautiful too. Mandriva 2008 and pclos too work well. I tried a less known distro called Wolvix and it is just fantastic. It runs like supercomputer on a p3. Of course it is not a surprise at it is from slackware stable where as the big ones I mentioned are someway connected to some other parentage.

I have read your problems with Mint. Somewhere in the help it says if you have a swap partition on the Harddisk it will use it. I think if 256mb ram is not sufficient it is best to have a swap of 1 gb and then try the mint cd. Since it is a live CD basically it must be loading a lot in the RAM and then failing due to limited resources. Try having a swap partition which will be detected by the Mint install processs automatically I suppose. Thanks

[Cariboo]

Hi mintlover and thanks for the reply....
It seems that Mint installer does not accept this old BIOS (1997) of my computer.
Even when I use the boot option "apci=force" it does not finish loading from the live CD.
My hard drive is partitioned like:
hda1 1 GB Swap
hda2 6 GB /
hda3 1 GB /home
On the other hand, I had no difficulty to install VectorLinux from a CD to the hard drive. GUI is running but the problem here is, that my USRobotics ISA modem is not recognized, I googled and found HERE that this is not an unusual case. I don't know the answer yet, I only know there is lots to learn about for me....

[Cariboo]

Hello All,
I'm back again with this old ASUS machine (see first post in this thread)....
I found out after a long series of RAM tests that my RAM was only properly working with 32 MB.
I think this can cause all kind of problems not having enough memory!
So, I try to get more RAM (max.128MB for this mobo) and then I'll try to start another installation of Linux Mint Fluxbox...
I certainly keep you posted...

[Caraibes]

Ok, as of old hardware, we have some choices, depending on what works...

The classic is to install Debian from this: http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/ and then install Fluxbox, Rox-Filer, Opera etc...

But nowadays, Absolute sounds good for old PC's : http://www.pcbypaul.com/absolute/index.html (it's Slackware, it's fast)

As well as AntiX, it's a live-cd based on Mepis: http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page

Of course, the good ol'classic DSL is a must , to test old stuff: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

But I enjoy having my Puppy CD, very efficient: http://www.puppylinux.com/