[SOLVED] Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM? [SOLVED]

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silverpuma

[SOLVED] Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM? [SOLVED]

Post by silverpuma »

Hi Folks, a Linux newbie here. I have an underpowered hp stream 14" laptop with 4g ram and 16.4 GB HD. I don't use the laptop for anything other than web browsing and learn Linux so I don't need any of the remaining 16GB of HD for storage.

I have never used a VM before but would like to try a handful of distros for fun and interest on a VM but keep Mint as my main system. Would my laptop be able to limp along with VMware or virtualbox or any other VM you would recommend? I added a screenshot that I read others say in a post it may be helpful when asking this type of question.

Any advice would be appreciated.............thanks
Screenshot from 2018-05-12 19-19-54.png
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catweazel
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by catweazel »

silverpuma wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 2:32 pm Hi Folks, a Linux newbie here. I have an underpowered hp stream 14" laptop with 4g ram and 16.4 GB HD. I don't use the laptop for anything other than web browsing and learn Linux so I don't need any of the remaining 16GB of HD for storage.
It's highly unlikely that it will even limp along.
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absque fenestris
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by absque fenestris »

You can try something like SLiTAZ (size approx. 50MB, runs completely in RAM). Or MINIX.
But just as soon as it is to be installed on the HD, it becomes very tight.
Larger SSD maybe?
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by catweazel »

absque fenestris wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 7:32 pm Larger SSD maybe?
It's more than likely a soldered-in-place eMMC, not an SSD.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by absque fenestris »

Soldered..??? OMG...

Okay. I didn't think something could do it under my Acer. It could.
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by jimallyn »

That's a rather puny laptop, that Stream. I probably would have installed XFCE on it rather than Cinnamon. That would leave more RAM and CPU available for other things. I would think that it might run some very lightweight distros in VirtualBox, especially if you remove Cinnamon and install XFCE instead. But it most certainly will not be a speed demon! Since you're doing this just for fun and learning, what could it hurt to try?
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silverpuma

Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by silverpuma »

catweazel wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 7:45 pm
absque fenestris wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 7:32 pm Larger SSD maybe?
It's more than likely a soldered-in-place eMMC, not an SSD.
Yes it is a emmc.....
silverpuma

Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by silverpuma »

jimallyn wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 9:35 pm That's a rather puny laptop, that Stream.


Can't argue with that :oops: The only good thing with this baby laptop was, once win10 started to load up with updates my laptop became so full even after a fresh install it was a snail so I was pushed to Linux. And that's been a really rewarding move. I think I'll stick with cinnamon (since it runs great right now with the 4g ram and 16gb hd) for a while just to get more familiar with things before maybe trying XFCE. But of course, as you said "it's for fun" so I'll give the VM it a try.

Thanks, folks for the advice :)
silverpuma

Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by silverpuma »

Help........ :oops: I have downloaded vmware 3 times (just in case the download was corrupted or something) from https://www.vmware.com/products/worksta ... ation.html and then I just double clicked on it. The following opens (see image below) but it just hangs and nothing happens? Any ideas what could be wrong? Sorry for being such a dunderhead!
Screenshot from 2018-05-13 14-43-27.png
silverpuma

Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by silverpuma »

Just a thought anyone used gnome boxes or qemu? I'm going to try virtualbox now as well but it does look a bit daunting for me.
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Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by Sir Charles »

silverpuma wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 10:49 am ... and then I just double clicked on it. The following opens (see image below) but it just hangs and nothing happens? Any ideas what could be wrong?
Hi silverpuma,
Have a look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMware/Player
Hope this helps.
silverpuma

Re: Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM?

Post by silverpuma »

Sucess!!!! I installed gnome boxes and it worked straight away. Tried it with with a few lightweight distros and the last one "Slitaz" see image below. All runs slow but with my horse and cart laptop its more than I could expect so very happy.
boxes.png
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Re: [SOLVED] Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM? [SOLVED]

Post by absque fenestris »

Hi silverpuma
Congratulations. Maybe Slitaz would even be the ideal operating system with only 16 GB of storage space.
silverpuma

Re: [SOLVED] Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM? [SOLVED]

Post by silverpuma »

absque fenestris wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 1:29 am Hi silverpuma
Congratulations. Maybe Slitaz would even be the ideal operating system with only 16 GB of storage space.
Thanks. It's not too bad as I have 16 GB left "after" I installed Linux Mint. And so far Mint is working great.
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absque fenestris
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Re: [SOLVED] Will my Hp Stream Laptop run a VM? [SOLVED]

Post by absque fenestris »

Yes, I've confused free space with total capacity...

Your device has an SD card slot - with a 32GB or 64GB SD card to store your personal documents, you'd have more room to experiment.
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