Install Linux Mint on old Laptop...

[kelsinni]

Hi to all menbers...
i have an very old laptop and i wanted to install a light version or a old version of Linux Mint because as far as i could saw, the new versions cannot run with that hardware specs.
My laptop is a old Thosiba 7140 CT and the hardware of it is:

CPU Pentium III @ 500Mhz
64Mb ram PC100 SoDimm
Video card with 4mb
HDD 5729Mb

Can anybody tell me wich version of Linux mint can run with this hardware specs?
the versions 5 - Elyssa, 6 - Felicia or 7 - Gloria should do or just only the older versions 2, 3 or 4?

Thanks in advance for any help

[xenopeek]

Moved here by moderator

Why due respect, but with only 64 MB memory I don't think Linux Mint is the right choice for this laptop. Perhaps one of the older versions might work, but these are not supported anymore. Because of the age of those this not only means you won't get security updates and bug fixes for your installed programs, but it also means you will not be able to install additional programs through the repositories (as these are Ubuntu based, and Ubuntu has but for a few of the older releases kept the repositories online).

There are various topics here about distros that are more suitable to run on such older computers. Have a look here: viewtopic.php?f=61&p=528880#p528611. Especially also read the article I link from on that post.

[kelsinni]

Hi Vincent...
first of all thks for your quick reply.
In what concerns about RAM...im thinking put one more clip of 256Mb and it then it will be with a total of 320Mb of ram...
I was thinking about mint because its simplicity of install.
Im a really newbie in Linux and im getting my 1st steps with Linux Mint 13 - Maya that is installed on another laptop.

The objective of the OS in this old laptop was simply to use a Linux Plataform that runs a startup script to connect it to a server by a port rs232...i will not used it to nothing more.

I just dont have sure if any of the older versions can run with this low hardware specs.

The other versions of linux plataforms that you showed me in that topic are simple to install as Mint is?

Thks again

[The-Wizard]

its running out now but i think Mint 11LXDE may work, a better bet may be puppy or peppermint

wizard

[xenopeek]

With 320 MB of RAM you have some more options. Linux Mint 11 LXDE is an option, though this reaches end of support in October. You may give Lubuntu a try, it should work on 320 MB of RAM (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu#System_Requirements). Lubuntu is the LXDE based community edition of Ubuntu. Peppermint OS is also a good suggestion. It is based on Lubuntu, though lists some higher system requirements (http://peppermintos.com/guide/install/).

The distros listed on the link I shared are not Ubuntu based. Some may be somewhat harder to install than the above, others similar. I'd still go with one of these though, as they will leave more memory available to run applications. Puppy Linux is very friendly to install.

[kelsinni]

i have now downloaded three .iso files:
Lubuntu 12.04
Peppermint-3-20120722-i386
Lucid Puppy lupu-528.005.iso

As far as i could see, i think the lucid puppy is the one the run with less hardware specs...

im gonna try them and then reply...

Thk you very much again for your help

cheers

[nunol]

If you only have 64MB of RAM forget about Lubuntu or Peppermint. That Puppy version is not recommended for 64MB of RAM computers, it has to much of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid.

The biggest problem of that computer is lack of RAM. With 64MB of RAM your choice is limited and performance is not good. A light and fast distro is not enough, you also need good support for older hardware.

Puppy Wary 5.3 is a good balanced option but is probably to slow with only 64MB of RAM, make sure you have a SWAP partition and don't open more than one program at the same time and forget Firefox/Chromium and Libre/OpenOffice.

Another good distro for older computers is AntiX (and Debian 6 CLI or Fluxbox/Openbox). It's slower than Puppy Wary but it's a full size distro with all the software you need. Probably won't work well with 64MB of RAM unless in CLI mode or with a very light WM. If you use Debian start with a netinstall and build up. Don't know if the GUI installer of AntiX works with 64MB of RAM but is they have a text installer.

If both Puppy and AntiX are to slow try DSL (damn small linux). It's fast but obsolete and very limited.

I have a 64MB of RAM Duron 800MHz, don't use it in a while. I installed DSL 4.4.10, Puppy 4.3.1 and Debian 5 LXDE but used Puppy almost every time.

If you can upgrade the RAM, please do. With 320MB of RAM you can even install Mint 13 XFCE LTS 32bit but it's better to use something light with LXDE, Fluxbox or Openbox.

[kelsinni]

If you only have 64MB of RAM forget about Lubuntu or Peppermint. That Puppy version is not recommended for 64MB of RAM computers, it has to much of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid.

The biggest problem of that computer is lack of RAM. With 64MB of RAM your choice is limited and performance is not good. A light and fast distro is not enough, you also need good support for older hardware.

Puppy Wary 5.3 is a good balanced option but is probably to slow with only 64MB of RAM, make sure you have a SWAP partition and don't open more than one program at the same time and forget Firefox/Chromium and Libre/OpenOffice.

Another good distro for older computers is AntiX (and Debian 6 CLI or Fluxbox/Openbox). It's slower than Puppy Wary but it's a full size distro with all the software you need. Probably won't work well with 64MB of RAM unless in CLI mode or with a very light WM. If you use Debian start with a netinstall and build up. Don't know if the GUI installer of AntiX works with 64MB of RAM but is they have a text installer.

If both Puppy and AntiX are to slow try DSL (damn small linux). It's fast but obsolete and very limited.

I have a 64MB of RAM Duron 800MHz, don't use it in a while. I installed DSL 4.4.10, Puppy 4.3.1 and Debian 5 LXDE but used Puppy almost every time.

If you can upgrade the RAM, please do. With 320MB of RAM you can even install Mint 13 XFCE LTS 32bit but it's better to use something light with LXDE, Fluxbox or Openbox.

Hi nunol...tks for your reply to...
you were right. Lubuntu and Peppermint is to forget. I have tried both and no sucess with this hardware.
even before try to get some 256Mb of ram to put on it i will try Puppy Wary 5.3 as you said. does it is similar to linux mint...i mean, does the command lines are similiar to mint? (all the command lines that i write on mint console are the same for this puppy - that is because my newbie in linux )

thks

[xenopeek]

I thought you would add the 256 MB memory? Without that, indeed you won't be able to run Lubuntu, Peppermint OS or Lucid Puppy.

As for your question whether the command lines are similar to Linux Mint, the answer is it depends. It depends on what you actually mean by that The command line itself is nothing more than a command interpreter that accepts your commands and tries to do what you want. Some commands are built into the command interpreter. Most commands you run are actually small independent programs, such as cat, grep, sed, and such. The basic commands are installed on all Linux distributions.

If however you meant the commands to install applications, such as apt-get, those are only used on Linux distributions that are based on Debian (which Ubuntu is, and so which also Linux Mint is). If using apt-get is important to you, you might want to look for a lightweight Debian distribution. Perhaps Crunchbang is more lightweight than Lubuntu or Peppermint OS (both are Ubuntu based).

[kelsinni]

I thought you would add the 256 MB memory? Without that, indeed you won't be able to run Lubuntu, Peppermint OS or Lucid Puppy.

As for your question whether the command lines are similar to Linux Mint, the answer is it depends. It depends on what you actually mean by that The command line itself is nothing more than a command interpreter that accepts your commands and tries to do what you want. Some commands are built into the command interpreter. Most commands you run are actually small independent programs, such as cat, grep, sed, and such. The basic commands are installed on all Linux distributions.

If however you meant the commands to install applications, such as apt-get, those are only used on Linux distributions that are based on Debian (which Ubuntu is, and so which also Linux Mint is). If using apt-get is important to you, you might want to look for a lightweight Debian distribution. Perhaps Crunchbang is more lightweight than Lubuntu or Peppermint OS (both are Ubuntu based).

In fact now i just have only the 64mb of RAM...i mean exactly that: "...that are based on Debian (which Ubuntu is, and so which also Linux Mint is..."
I asked that because the only 0,01% of linux that i already know are based on Linux Mint and i think that the commands, location of the folders and other basic stuff is diferent from Debian (ubuntu as you said) and other linux based.

Im now downloading the latest Crunchbang .iso and i will try it too. When i get some results i will reply here again...

Thks

[nunol]

Puppy uses busybox instead of bash in Mint. Puppy is not based on Debian and has many custom apps (for less RAM/CPU usage) so it's not exactly the same but Puppy uses about 20-22MB of RAM after boot while Lubuntu and Crunchbang are closer to 80-90MB. Notice the difference?

This is for the OS alone, if you load Firefox and open a site like http://www.cnn.com or http://www.tomshardware.com that uses 150-200MB of RAM (for one tab in FF) it doesn't matter what OS you use, it's going to be really very slow and impractical to use. Make sure you use light and fast apps, check the Arch Forums, they have a thread like this every year: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=111878

If you only have have 64MB of RAM and want something based on Debian/Ubuntu then your best option is AntiX. Should work if all you need is to run a script.

Crunchbang is light and fast but was not made with old computers in mind and AntiX was. Crunchbang killed the i486 version, didn't update the i686 in favour of the i686-pae version and don't try to give more support for older hardware like Puppy and AntiX do. The i486 version will be back in the next version of Crunchbang but looks like they will drop the CD. Still my favourite Openbox distro but AntiX is lighter and better for very old computers.

Your computer supports i686-pae, all you need is more RAM and even Mint will work.

[kelsinni]

Hi again...
after trying Puppy Wary 5.3 and Crunchbang i faced some problems...
the 1st get ages to install it but after that it not booted (i dont know if the instalation went wrong or not...)
the 2nd i could not even install it..several messages of out of memory had appear when it was installing and stoped there...

the most probable situation is im getting one more clip of 256mb to get 320mb ram in total as i said but before the i will try antiX too as you advice.
P.S. what .iso should i get?
antiX-12-486.iso
antiX-12-core-libre-486.iso
antiX-12-base-486.iso

maybe if it woks for what i want i even dont need to get more ram indeed...

once again when i try it i will reply here tto

THKS for all support

[nunol]

the 1st get ages to install it but after that it not booted (i dont know if the instalation went wrong or not...)

Install the boot loader to the MBR! Use Grubconfig. Edit the Grub timeout manually (/boot/grub/menu.lst).

It took a while to install because you probably didn't install a SWAP partition. Don't forget to install and activate the SWAP partition.

AntiX base is lighter but has less programs, don't use core unless you know what you are doing because it's CLI only.

[kelsinni]

the 1st get ages to install it but after that it not booted (i dont know if the instalation went wrong or not...)

Install the boot loader to the MBR! Use Grubconfig. Edit the Grub timeout manually (/boot/grub/menu.lst).

It took a while to install because you probably didn't install a SWAP partition. Don't forget to install and activate the SWAP partition.

AntiX base is lighter but has less programs, don't use core unless you know what you are doing because it's CLI only.

Hi...
i have run the bootable .iso of antiX base. It tooke arroud 1h30m to load...
now in the desktop i cannot see any option to install it

how can install it on the HDD? i thought that it was like linux mint...boot from cd then in the desktop click install and go on with the settings...

Thks again

[nunol]

What version of AntiX are you using?

EDIT:
- If you are using the latest AntiX M12 use the low RAM mode available from the boot menu. The installer is in the main menu.
- Don't forget to setup a SWAP partition before installing AntiX. You can use Puppy (LiveCD) and Gparted for that.
- The installer is available from the menu and on the default option as an icon.
- The live boot and installation is a run once thing. After install should be faster.

[anticapitalista]

For such low RAM, use the cli-installer script. It appears as a choice in the boot menu.

BTW Don't expect miracles trying to run a modern OS on a box that is effectively 15 years old.