Ancient Laptop - Which Linux?

[parcdulas]

I have a Toshiba satellite pro 4200 with 64 MB Ram and 5Gb hard disk 1 USB that will take my wireless network. It seems too good to through away so is there a Linux with GUI that I can install to the hard disk and still be workable in this small RAM? I have tried Puppy 5.4.1 and after a bit of hassle it installed and found my wireless dongle but it was so slow (10 minutes to load SeaMonkey) that it was unuseable.

Thanks

[oz]

hello and welcome!

puppy is one of the lighter distros out there, but if you need something lighter than that, take a look at some of the distros mentioned here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightw...x_distribution

maybe slitaz or tinyme would work for you, but many of lightweights will want at least 128mb of ram.

[parcdulas]

Thanks Oz, I tried SliTaz but it seemed to be only command line not GUI which I need as it will be for my Grandson. I'll try SliTaz again to see if I can get a GUI. TinyMe indicates that there is no stable version yet on their website

[rokytnji]

I have tried Puppy 5.4.1 and after a bit of hassle it installed and found my wireless dongle but it was so slow (10 minutes to load SeaMonkey) that it was unuseable.

Suprised it even booted. 64MB of ram is way to low for a running Desktop Enviorment and a modern full featured browser like even Seamonkey, Firefox, or Opera oe even Midori. Cli browsers are your best bet or Dillo or suck it up and bump up ram to 256MB at the least. Good luck with it.

I speak from experience. Really. I do.

[mizzle]

Maybe try an ancient release such as Debian Woody.
Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 For Intel x86 - System Requirements

Obviously, don't expect a modern experience

[parcdulas]

I have installed "Damn Small Linux" which seems to run well in the limited memory but it will not recognise the wireless network plugged in to the USB even though during boot up it says:
USB found - managed by HOTPLUG
Then it says:
FireWire found - managed by HOTPLUG

When I use the WLcardconfig routine to set up the wireless it returns with "No Wireles Network card found"
until I can get it to recognise my wireless card I cannot download the apps from "My DSL"

Any suggestions? The Toshiba Laptop does not have an ethernet connection so I cannot wire it straight in to my router

[rokytnji]

I have installed "Damn Small Linux" which seems to run well in the limited memory but it will not recognise the wireless network plugged in to the USB even though during boot up it says:
USB found - managed by HOTPLUG
Then it says:
FireWire found - managed by HOTPLUG

When I use the WLcardconfig routine to set up the wireless it returns with "No Wireles Network card found"
until I can get it to recognise my wireless card I cannot download the apps from "My DSL"

Any suggestions? The Toshiba Laptop does not have an ethernet connection so I cannot wire it straight in to my router

Your usb wireless chip is probably newer than the kernel that was made for Damn Small Linux. You might want to try Tiny Core Linux which comes with a newer kernel like Puppy 5.4.1 did. Or. Follow instructions here and post relevant info on your card in a new thread here. Damn Small Linux though is hardly used or supported in this forum though so I don't expect much help going that route though.

I reiterate though. 64MB of ram and a full blown browser will be slow as molasses though. Install Dillo in Tiny Core as a secondary Browser for a speedy browser experience. By the way. PCMCIA cards can be bought that work as ethernet modems since you said.

Any suggestions? The Toshiba Laptop does not have an ethernet connection so I cannot wire it straight in to my router

That ethernet card should just be plug and play in any recent Linux kernel during boot up when inserted before power on. Heck. It might be plug and play in Damn Small Linux even.

Try one like mine,

D-Link Express EtherNetwork DFE-690TXD 32-bit Notebook Adapter

Is a Pcmcia that work out of the box with DSL if your laptop have a 32-bit pcmcia,

Got this statement from: http://damnsmalllinux.org/static/act...754/st-15.html

[parcdulas]

Thanks for the help. I have installed CORE plus and the wifi was recognised straight away. now I'm looking to see what apps I can get to run on this little RAM. DSL used Dillo but I cant find it in the Tiny Core list. Firefox was far too unwieldy but opera seems just about usable. AbiWord seems OK too.

[rokytnji]

Look for

dillo2-doc.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.6K application/octet-stream
dillo2-doc.tcz.list 2011-Oct-12 21:04:46 0.1K application/octet-stream
dillo2-doc.tcz.md5.txt 2011-Oct-12 21:04:46 0K text/plain
dillo2-doc.tcz.tree 2011-Nov-10 11:50:37 0K application/octet-stream
dillo2-doc.tcz.zsync 2011-Oct-12 21:04:46 0.2K application/octet-stream
dillo2.tcz 2010-May-01 16:43:30 1.8M application/octet-stream
dillo2.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.5K application/octet-stream
dillo2.tcz.list 2010-May-01 16:43:31 0.6K application/octet-stream
dillo2.tcz.md5.txt 2010-May-01 16:43:31 0K text/plain
dillo2.tcz.tree 2011-Nov-10 11:50:37 0K application/octet-stream
dillo2.tcz.zsync 2010-May-23 01:46:59 5.7K application/octet-stream
dillo3-doc.tcz 2011-Dec-08 20:26:59 8K application/octet-stream
dillo3-doc.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.4K application/octet-stream
dillo3-doc.tcz.list 2011-Dec-08 20:26:59 0.1K application/octet-stream
dillo3-doc.tcz.md5.txt 2011-Dec-08 20:26:59 0K text/plain
dillo3-doc.tcz.tree 2011-Nov-10 11:50:37 0K application/octet-stream
dillo3-doc.tcz.zsync 2011-Dec-08 20:27:00 0.2K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz 2011-Dec-08 20:27:01 8K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.5K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz.list 2011-Dec-08 20:27:01 0.1K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz.md5.txt 2011-Dec-08 20:27:01 0.1K text/plain
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz.tree 2011-Nov-10 11:50:37 0K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl-doc.tcz.zsync 2011-Dec-08 20:27:02 0.2K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz 2011-Dec-08 20:27:52 824K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz.dep 2011-Dec-08 20:27:52 0K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.5K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz.list 2011-Dec-08 20:27:53 0.6K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz.md5.txt 2011-Dec-08 20:27:53 0K text/plain
dillo3-ssl.tcz.tree 2012-Jun-11 12:04:24 0.1K application/octet-stream
dillo3-ssl.tcz.zsync 2011-Dec-08 20:27:53 2.6K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz 2011-Dec-08 20:28:45 824K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz.dep 2011-Dec-08 20:28:45 0K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz.info 2012-Mar-01 23:09:28 0.4K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz.list 2011-Dec-08 20:28:46 0.6K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz.md5.txt 2011-Dec-08 20:28:46 0K text/plain
dillo3.tcz.tree 2012-Jun-11 12:04:24 0.1K application/octet-stream
dillo3.tcz.zsync

at

Index of /tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/

since you said:

DSL used Dillo but I cant find it in the Tiny Core list

Good luck with it. Might be cool if you wrote up what you are doing also like I did when I had old legacy hardware also.

[highlandham]

Try Tiny Core Linux ,it works well provided (with small HD) you select minimal size apps ,usually default
The OS loads completely in ´memory´ ,hence is fast