Question for Linux (Ubuntu 8.04) Users (Help?)

[JLaw]

The smoke recently came out of my other "good" computer, the one I was running Ubuntu on. That leaves me with an old Gateway machine running Windows ME. I tried loading Ubuntu 8.04 on this machine earlier using the "test" version, the one that doesn't make any changes to your computer, to see if it would run on this machine.

Everything looks normal for a while, I get the option screen, click 'English' and the option to load without changing my computer, and get the Ubuntu startup screen, then the screen goes blank with the light tan colored screen, stays that way for 5-7 minutes, the cursor is slow-to-nonresponsive, and I finally loose patience and restart the machine.

Am I not giving Ubuntu time to load, or is Ubuntu not compatible with this machine?

What little I know about this machine is that it is a Gateway running Windows ME, has a Intel Pentium 4 CPU processor, 254 MB RAM, and a 9.3 GB hard drive.

Any ideas or comments?

JLaw

[Kalrog]

It has been a while since I did my install and I don't honestly remember, but that doesn't sound right. You are running quite old hardware, but that is really where Linux shines (although not as much with the fancy GUI that Ubuntu uses - it is still better than MS). And I went with the KUbuntu flavor.

I'm planning on doing a reload sometime soon and I'll keep an eye out. But I do have a question - are you running the live CD? As in nothing is installed at all and it just boots off of the CD? Or are you doing something different?

[pbwalker]

a live CD boot on 256mb of RAM will be slllloooowwww to say the least. I'd check out DSL (Damn Small Linux) and see if you like that. You can try it before you install it.

[JLaw]

But I do have a question - are you running the live CD? As in nothing is installed at all and it just boots off of the CD? Or are you doing something different?

Yes, was trying to run on the live CD.

JLaw

[JLaw]

a live CD boot on 256mb of RAM will be slllloooowwww to say the least. I'd check out DSL (darn Small Linux) and see if you like that. You can try it before you install it.

Okay, I appreciate the info. I'll start searching for DSL, have never heard of that one before. Thanks.

JLaw

[WarHawk-AVG]

DSL is a very very minuscule (50mb) distro..all its apps are very lightweight and tiny

Its a very niche OS...great if you need to get something running..but a booger to setup if you want a permanent desktop version..they have alot of apps but I will say you will be fiddling with DSL alot to get it just right...Ubuntu is a great plug and play OS...maybe some BIOS settings need to be tweaked...and yes 256MB on a modern version of Linux is going to run a wee bit sluggish, well until you get a swap partition activated, then your HD is gonna go crazy as it swaps back and forth like the dreaded M$ swap file!

[KinnyLee]

The recommended RAM using Ubuntu is 384mb and up. Having anything less than that will affect its performance. Try Xubuntu. It is made for less powerful PCs.

[KD5NRH]

I've also had better luck running plain Debian on older machines. Another possibility might be Slax, though it can get a bit more in-depth than DSL depending on exactly what you want to do.

[pedalman]

Puppy Linux will rock on an older box:

http://www.puppylinux.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JLaw]

Thanks to all for the advice. Dad is burning a Xubuntu disk for me, should get that this weekend. I'll give it a go, looks like my computer meets the minimum requirements for it. If not I may be looking into Puppy Linux or something like that, it's got to be user friendly since I'm an Ubuntu rookie (at best).

JLaw

[JLaw]

Update--

Got the Xubuntu disk from Dad, thought it was going to work out when installed, but it never installed. I'll try it again later. In the meantime I woke up early and downloaded ImageBurn and Puppy Linux, loaded it and am up and running for now. Will try to reload Xubuntu later on.

JLaw