Recommended CPU

[borgward]

What is the recommended CPU capabilities to Install Mint 18.1 32bit? Is AMD Athlon XP 3200+ enough? 18.1 Mate 32bit will not finish installing. I noticed that at that point (near the end) the CPU is flat lining at 100% Does not seem to be throwing off much heat from clean cooling fan and heat exchanger. Any way to monitor CPU heat from the command line and save to USB stick?

[Pjotr]

Try the Xfce edition.

Note that RAM size is much more critical: is it currently less than 1 GB?

[borgward]

2 GB DDR 400

[absque fenestris]

I don't know exactly how an Atom processor compares to your AMD Athlon XP 3200+ - but just by looking at the many numbers I think your processor needs to be much, much stronger.
Maybe your processor is too clever - and my processor is stupid enough to run under mint 18.3 without any problems...

[Minty00]

I first ran Mint 19.1 Cinnamon on a Samunsung netbook... Atom N270, 2GB DDR533 and a 5400rpm HDD.
It ran OK! Opening the "Start" menu took a second but other than that it was no different than how XP ran it.

Your RAM is a bit slower and I think your CPU is only single thread but it's a good deal quicker. It certainly benchmarks quicker.
I would have thought you'd be able to install though.

I've since installed Mint Xfce and it's a little bit quicker but browsing the net is still painful. I think it's all the adverts, scripts, java etc. It was the same on XP regardless of which browser I used. The CPU struggles with that. Despite not having any graphics processing I was still able to install and play Wesnoth. Watching iPlayer is a no go though.

[borgward]

Not to be rude, but have heard Atom is not a lot. The Athlon is in the Intel P4 league. Not as fast, but more efficient. Will do much better than most of the P4's, except for maybe the most high end ones. What 18.3 are you running, Cinnamon, mate, etc. You're running 32bit? I was thinking maybe CPU not enough as it was running 100? a lot. What Atom are you using?

Athlon
Frequency ? 3200+ (rated)
2200 MHz (real)
Bus speed ? 400 MHz

Again, to all this is a 32bit machine

[Minty00]

Exactly. I had both the XP2000 (1.8ghz) and P4a 2000 and the AMD was much quicker. I think I had an XP2800 at some point too.

Your setup blows my netbook out of the water but even with Mint 19.1 Cinnamon the netbook was very much usable. I spent 2 weeks away from home over Christmas and I managed to do all my browsing, bookkeeping with Libre and even play the odd game without any problems.

The XP3200 benchmarks twice what my Atom N270 does and I doubt the RAM would make such a difference you can't install.

The Atom N270 is 32bit, single core, hyperthreading, 1.6ghz, 533mhz FSB and 512kb L2 cache

I think the AMD XP you have is what you stated and also has 512kb L2 cache.

I think your setup should install OK. But still, go with the Xfce version.

[absque fenestris]

Only on condition that we only have fun with our antiquated equipment:

Kernel: 4.15.0-33-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: MATE 1.18.0 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine: System: Acer (portable) product: Aspire one v: V1.25
Mobo: Acer model: Aspire one v: V1.25
Bios: Acer v: V1.25 date: 11/28/2009
CPU: Single core Intel Atom N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3192
clock speeds: max: 1600 MHz 1: 831 MHz 2: 876 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1024x600@60.08hz

[mrmajik45]

I heard PepperMINT is lighter. So you can still have a mint. It just isn't as full of flavor.

[borgward]

Can't get anything Mint to install. 13 Mate, 14 Mate 14 XFCE 16 XFCE 17 XFCE 17.1 Mate they get to almost done in some cases and either lockup, or go back unexpectedly to the live desktop. I verified MD5SUM of the older DVD's. Waiting for 18.1 XFCE to download. I am using new LiteOn SATA DVD burner with SATA X IDE ribbon cable adapter. Using 320 GB SATA HDD that Passes SMART (using SATA by IDE adapter) I will try the 18.1 XFCE. If that does not work, I am going to put Athlon XP 2000+ CPU back in the mobo to see if that makes a difference. I am able to install other distros like antix, etc. Could be IDE ribbon cables. Darn, I threw away a never used set of ASUS Ribbon cables a few months ago. XFCE did not like Matrox pci card, but worked w/ Radeon 7000 AGP card.

[mrmajik45]

I said PepperMINT. It's a different linux distro. It's lighter and still has the word mint in it.

[borgward]

sorry about the confusion will get around to trying it.

[borgward]

Installed 18.1 mate 32bit. Finally! Replaced Athlon 3200+ CPU w/ Athlon 2000+. Also DVD and HDD were connected to wrong port. ASUS user guide contradicts it's self. Connected HDD to primary IDE port, and optical drive to secondary port.

During attempt to install 13 Mate I got message 'not enough swap space'. installer set it at 2 GB. Wonder if the install requires more than 2GB swap space for installation reasons? If so I will partition the disk manually before installing.

On first boot to the install on the HDD, I am now getting 'video server shutdown...' like I did when I used modern laptop to install to HDD and then put in old box. Did not think that method had anything to do with the video problem.

Live session did not like Matrox card during install. Liked Radeon 7000. That's what I installed with. Will switch back to Matrox card to see what happens.

All this begs the question why does live session run everything, no problems, but install does not.

Will address video server shutdown with another post.

[jglen490]

The difference between the Matrox and Radeon video is likely a driver issue, rather than the cards, as such. if it's happy with the Radeon, and runs alright, just let it stay there!

[mrmajik45]

Yeah. You'll wear down the PCI slot

[borgward]

The install is not happy w/either. I am getting "Display Server Down..." Live session runs either well, but the install process only likes Radeon. If it is driver problem, why does live use the drivers, but the installed OS on my HDD not have them?

[borgward]

Try the Xfce edition.

Just installed 18.1 xfce. using the old box. Install went smoothly. Got "Display Server Down..." when I booted to the HDD. What's going on? The live session has no problem w/the display. Where does the live session get driver to run display? Where is the installed OS supposed to get it's display driver from?

Note that RAM size is much more critical: is it currently less than 1 GB?

I have 2 GB DDR 400. Is DDR400 fast enough? If not, how come it is fast enough to run live session, but not the OS after it is installed?

[Pjotr]

From the live session, post the output of inxi -Fxz.

[borgward]

From the live session, post the output of inxi -Fxz.

mint@mint ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: mint Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 5.4.0) Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.28)
Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: A7N8X-X v: REV 2.xx Bios: Phoenix v: ASUS A7N8X-X Rev 1006 date: 08/19/2003
CPU: Single core AMD Athlon (-UP-) cache: 256 KB flags: (pae sse) bmips: 2505 speed: 1250 MHz (max)
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV100 [Radeon 7000 / Radeon VE] bus-ID: 02:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1600x1200@75.00hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI R100 (RV100 5159) x86/MMX+/3DNow!+/SSE DRI2
GLX Version: 1.3 Mesa 11.2.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card NVIDIA nForce2 AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: b000 b400 bus-ID: 00:06.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-53-generic
Network: Card: NVIDIA nForce2 Ethernet Controller driver: forcedeth port: c400 bus-ID: 00:04.0
IF: enp0s4 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 324.0GB (0.6% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_HD320KJ size: 320.1GB temp: 20C
ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: USB_DISK_2.0 size: 3.9GB temp: 0C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 1008M used: 41M (5%) fs: overlay dev: N/A
ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.15GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info: Processes: 165 Uptime: 8 min Memory: 428.7/2014.1MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35
mint@mint ~ $

[Tomgin5]

Ordinarily I recommend Cinnamon with at least 1+ GB RAM and at least 64GB of HDD, even with 32 bit. If smaller I am going with XFCE either 18.3 or 19.1. This one works fine with oldies with dwarf oddball HDD.

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tomk9@tomk9-Inspiron-910:~$ inxi -Fxzd
System:
  Host: tomk9-Inspiron-910 Kernel: 4.15.0-43-generic i686 bits: 32 
  compiler: gcc v: 7.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Portable System: Dell product: Inspiron 910 v: A00 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: CN0J14 v: A00 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A00 
  date: 08/05/2008 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 35.5 Wh condition: 35.5/35.5 Wh (100%) model: DELL 
  status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Single Core model: Intel Atom N270 bits: 32 type: MT 
  arch: Bonnell rev: 2 L2 cache: 512 KiB 
  flags: nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 bogomips: 6383 
  Speed: 1099 MHz min/max: 800/1600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1050 2: 1051 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell 
  driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: intel 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1024x600~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.0.5 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Dell 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-43-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY driver: wl v: kernel 
  port: 18a0 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Dell RTL810xE driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 
  bus ID: 04:00.0 
  IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 14.22 GiB used: 6.32 GiB (44.5%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Super Talent model: STT FEM16GFDL size: 14.22 GiB 
  Message: No Optical or Floppy data was found. 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 12.95 GiB used: 6.32 GiB (48.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 
  ID-2: swap-1 size: 1016.0 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 165 Uptime: 47m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 547.4 MiB (27.3%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 
  inxi: 3.0.27 
tomk9@tomk9-Inspiron-910:~$ 

BTW Boot time is 40 seconds.
I just did another install onto an older machine.

Code: Select all

tom@tom-MS-1012:~$ inxi -Fxzd
System:
  Host: tom-MS-1012 Kernel: 4.15.0-43-generic i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Portable System: MICRO-STAR INTL product: MS-1012 v: 0121 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: N/A model: N/A serial: N/A BIOS: American Megatrends 
  v: A1012IMS VB.80 date: 06/24/2005 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 11.9 Wh condition: 36.4/65.1 Wh (56%) model: MS-1012 
  status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Single Core model: Intel Pentium M bits: 32 type: MCP 
  arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 1596 
  Speed: 798 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 798 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: intel 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~65Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.0.5 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW AC97 Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI 
  driver: snd_intel8x0 v: kernel bus ID: 00:1e.2 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-43-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: 8139too v: 0.9.28 port: e800 
  bus ID: 01:03.0 
  IF: enp1s3 state: unknown speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 6.25 GiB (4.2%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST9160821A size: 149.05 GiB 
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVD-RW GCA-4080N rev: 0A31 
  dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw 
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes 
  rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r state: running 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 144.69 GiB used: 6.21 GiB (4.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 
  ID-2: swap-1 size: 1012.0 MiB used: 41.3 MiB (4.1%) fs: swap 
  dev: /dev/dm-1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 156 Uptime: 46m Memory: 990.0 MiB used: 530.8 MiB (53.6%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 
  inxi: 3.0.27 
tom@tom-MS-1012:~$ 

This one is about the same speed and does everything quite well.
Boot time is about 75 seconds though.