My oldest PC running Linux

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inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by inktitan »

JonM33 wrote:
inktitan wrote:This was during a nearly 2GB file transfer over USB 1 on that old PC. I like how that PC sits at less than a hundred megs of memory with the GUI disabled. I call everything up using either the terminal or alt F2
It's the 100% pegged CPU that concerns me the most.
Well it is only 300 MHz. But oddly enough it didn't seem to slow anything down. Firefox and Thunar ran just as fast as they usually do (I use the term fast loosely). The System Monitor came up almost as soon as I clicked run. Once programs open they run at normal speeds mostly. I only need big CPU resources for the initial starting of the program. But they all run much faster with the GUI off. That computer manages to use less resources than my other PCs with only a few adjustments. Really all I did was turn off the GUI, set it to automatically log in to bypass the Log-In screen and set the screen resolution to 832x624. File transfers typically use up a lot of resources to get the job done as fast as possible but the OS can reduce the drain based on the users actions. I don't know if Mint dose this automatically but the option must exist somewhere if Windows has it.

This is the PC in my signature. Same operation, uploading to USB drive. USB 2 instead of 1:
Image

The older PC took 20 min to move these files. This one took about a minute at nearly 10 times the CPU speed.Also My Dell uses Mint Debian and the HP(oldie) uses Mint 9 XFCE
JonM33

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by JonM33 »

inktitan wrote:The older PC took 20 min to move these files. This one took about a minute at nearly 10 times the CPU speed.Also My Dell uses Mint Debian and the HP(oldie) uses Mint 9 XFCE
USB 1.0 is limited to 1.5Mbps (not including protocol overhead)
USB 1.1 is limited to 12Mbps (not including protocol overhead)
USB 2.0 is limited to 480Mbps (not including protocol overhead)

You can figure why it took 20 minutes to move those files. :wink:
inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by inktitan »

JonM33 wrote:
inktitan wrote:The older PC took 20 min to move these files. This one took about a minute at nearly 10 times the CPU speed.Also My Dell uses Mint Debian and the HP(oldie) uses Mint 9 XFCE
USB 1.0 is limited to 1.5Mbps (not including protocol overhead)
USB 1.1 is limited to 12Mbps (not including protocol overhead)
USB 2.0 is limited to 480Mbps (not including protocol overhead)

You can figure why it took 20 minutes to move those files. :wink:
8)
willie42
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Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by willie42 »

dawgdoc wrote:You do not let go of anything do you: Quantum Fireball, ATI Rage. This looks like 1995 or 96, 97 at the latest.

Of course I still have a 4Gb Hdd hanging around.


I have two 485 mb drives around. Dont really have a use for them they still work :D
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dawgdoc

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by dawgdoc »

Two years ago I retrieved an old computer of my dad's from my mom's garage. It had two 5 1/4 drives, the hard drive was small but I forget the size. The CMOS battery arrangement had gone bad. The batteries had corroded and were leaking. It had three AA batteries in a bracket. This is the only time I have seen AA batteries inside a computer.
inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by inktitan »

dawgdoc wrote:Two years ago I retrieved an old computer of my dad's from my mom's garage. It had two 5 1/4 drives, the hard drive was small but I forget the size. The CMOS battery arrangement had gone bad. The batteries had corr
oded and were leaking. It had three AA batteries in a bracket. This is the only time I have seen AA batteries inside a computer.
Wow! Who made that PC? Any chance you could post pictures?
dawgdoc

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by dawgdoc »

inktitan wrote:Wow! Who made that PC? Any chance you could post pictures?
If I don't have it here, I will try to get some the next time I visit my mom.
inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by inktitan »

For any one who wants to get that old PC up and going. I found this distrowatch article:http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/52134
Theologian

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by Theologian »

inktitan wrote:For any one who wants to get that old PC up and going. I found this distrowatch article:http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/52134
Cool link, but they're all too bloated for my 32Bit 486/25mHz/32kB cache?/4MiB RAM/86MiB HDD - STATE OF THE ART!
It seems happy enough with DOS & FORTH.
inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by inktitan »

Theologian wrote:
inktitan wrote:For any one who wants to get that old PC up and going. I found this distrowatch article:http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/52134
Cool link, but they're all too bloated for my 32Bit 486/25mHz/32kB cache?/4MiB RAM/86MiB HDD - STATE OF THE ART!
It seems happy enough with DOS & FORTH.
That's cool. I actually switched that old PC over to Salix 13.1.1 and it (being Slackware) just runs so much better. The pointer blinks as it moves across the screen but it is more functional than DamnSmallLinux and I can use the GUI where Mint was just too much. My first Linux distro was actually Salix but I left due to unfriendly encounters at the forums. It is a great distro and I always wanted to go back but I fell for Mint Debian. I guess I should change the name of the topic now.
Theologian

Re: My oldest PC running Mint

Post by Theologian »

[quote="inktitan"][/quote]
If I can figure a way of increasing the RAM without killing the old engine (e.g.: if it is a case of plugging-in another module), & finding & fitting a higher capacity HDD (must be possible), I may be able to turn it into a Linux engine, although the 25MHz is going to be a limitation. I don't really want to gut the old beastie for the sake of it, & I don't want to spend loads on it either: it's in almost 'concourse' condition, even has the original bag; all I need is a power cell to make it complete.

I do however have this perverse idea of installing a *nix into one of those 'my first computer', supposedly educational toys: imagine something like an Oregon Scientific pink 'Barbie' laptop running BSD or a home-rolled Debian or Slackware! Now that would be a proper educational computer: "Actually, Daddy, it's much easier to do 'sudo apt-get install xyz' in terminal instead of messing around in Synaptic."!
inktitan

Re: My oldest PC running Linux

Post by inktitan »

:lol: Barbie. But that would be a fun project
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