upgrading,installing and x apps questions.

[apemax]

I've install slackware 11.0 on my old computer and i was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade it and if so how? i can't burn any cd's because i don't have a cd burner hence i installed 11.0 (the cd was with a library book).

also when i try to start firefox or some of the other x apps they just don't start. i've tried it in fluxbox and blackbox. oh and when i try to start xfce it starts to load but the goes back to the command line.

one final thing when i try to do slackpkg install-new on every package it says it can't install it because the package is in the .txz format instead of the .tgz format. the uncommented mirror in the slackpkg mirrors file is the 13.0 version.

the specs of the computer:
IBM R40e 2684 L9G
2.4GHz Intel celeron processor
128MB ram
ATI radeon 330M 16MB integrated
30GB hard drive
DVD rom drive

[th1bill]

I've install slackware 11.0 on my old computer and i was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade it and if so how? i can't burn any cd's because i don't have a cd burner hence i installed 11.0 (the cd was with a library book).

also when i try to start firefox or some of the other x apps they just don't start. i've tried it in fluxbox and blackbox. oh and when i try to start xfce it starts to load but the goes back to the command line.

one final thing when i try to do slackpkg install-new on every package it says it can't install it because the package is in the .txz format instead of the .tgz format. the uncommented mirror in the slackpkg mirrors file is the 13.0 version.

the specs of the computer:
IBM R40e 2684 L9G
2.4GHz Intel celeron processor
128MB ram
ATI radeon 330M 16MB integrated
30GB hard drive
DVD rom drive

I'm not a qualified Linux Tech. but from the specs you published here I would advise the installation of Damn Small Linux or of my favored Lucid Puppy Linux. You do need to upgrade your memory to run most larger Linux distros. I recommenced at least 512 meg and no less than 256 meg. I have installed and tested Puppy on a 64 meg memory system and it ran like a puppy after it's first hot dog. I have not tested DSL because I am a Christian and choose not to ruin my witness since I am a Bible teacher.

Hope this answers your question.

[th1bill]

Oh yes, the memory. You did not give the year nor the type of memory but if you can't find it for your machine I have some "workimg when removed" memory from as far back as SD Memory. I'll watch this post if you need something.

Oh yeah, I'm cheap!

[rokytnji]

As far as things not starting. Did you make a swap partition of at least 512 mbs when you installed Slackware 11.

128 mb of ram by itself is not much for starting Firefox and xapps also.

You might need a lighter Browser like Kazahakase or Midori maybe.

[apemax]

I'm not a qualified Linux Tech. but from the specs you published here I would advise the installation of Damn Small Linux or of my favored Lucid Puppy Linux. You do need to upgrade your memory to run most larger Linux distros. I recommenced at least 512 meg and no less than 256 meg. I have installed and tested Puppy on a 64 meg memory system and it ran like a puppy after it's first hot dog. I have not tested DSL because I am a Christian and choose not to ruin my witness since I am a Bible teacher.

Hope this answers your question.

i already have DSL installed on this computer but some programs won't work on it because DSL is fairly old. hence install slackware. also i've had debian installed on this computer before and it ran fairly well with gnome and firefox.

Oh yes, the memory. You did not give the year nor the type of memory but if you can't find it for your machine I have some "workimg when removed" memory from as far back as SD Memory. I'll watch this post if you need something.

Oh yeah, I'm cheap!

well i don't exactly know what type of ram it i did have a look on crucial and found this:
Computer memory upgrades for IBM ThinkPad R40e Series (Type 2684) Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

As far as things not starting. Did you make a swap partition of at least 512 mbs when you installed Slackware 11.

128 mb of ram by itself is not much for starting Firefox and xapps also.

You might need a lighter Browser like Kazahakase or Midori maybe.

yes i made a swap partition but i only put it at about 300MB.

[rokytnji]

yes i made a swap partition but i only put it at about 300MB.

While I know the rule of general thumb is to make swap twice the size of installed ram. So 300mb is plenty according to that rule. If the hardrive is big enough. I usually go 3 times the size on low ram systems. Just a personal preference of mine (in case I need to compile a install of something). Does not mean I am right in doing this. 300mb should be fine.

Ok. So I broke out my IBM A22 since you have a R40. I don't run Slackware though. No experience with it either. I am a AntiX tribal member instead of a SubGenius Tribal Member.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2wg4yo6.jpg

On this Lappy I have 256mb of ram with 722mb swap partition. You can see from Conky running a Icewm Desktop idleing after a cold boot with all processes running that cpu use is at 7% and ram usage is 20% of 256mb. This is a lightweight setup. I run Iceape 2.0.4 with Chatzilla and Mail and Newsgroups Plugin. I also run Opera 10.6 on here also.

With Iceape open responding to your thread with 2 pages (not tabs) open. My cpu fluctuates between 45 to 20%. Ram is at 47% steady.

If I was you. I would pm th1bill and see if you and him can work out some way of installing a 256mb stick. I had a IBM 390E with a Pentium II 333mgz, upgraded from 64mb to 256 mb of ram. But I sold it with Antix 7.5 (Debian Lenny) running wireless so ram can be a big issue.

Yet Another Technology Site: Broken

Lastly. I hope some Slackware users will jomp in here and help you on getting things sorted. I don't want to ruffle any feathers. But if I was running Slackware 11 on a R40 with 128mb of ram.
I would probably join this Forum and start a thread there as that forum is chock full of Slackware users. Just my opinion though.

And Just in case you may be interested.

antiX-forum • View topic - antiX-core-486-a1.iso available for testing.

And for a complete Slackware distro that claims to run good on 128mb of ram

absolute linux home page

Sorry I can't be of more help. Happy Trails, Rok

[w3nd1go]

I have slack10 running on an old HP Vectra with a 200MHz cpu, 256MB RAM, with blackbox.
Been running fine since slack10 was current.
I don't use it as a full time desktop system though.

I have not tested DSL because I am a Christian and choose not to ruin my witness since I am a Bible teacher.

Huh??
What does DSL have to do with any of that?

[apemax]

While I know the rule of general thumb is to make swap twice the size of installed ram. So 300mb is plenty according to that rule. If the hardrive is big enough. I usually go 3 times the size on low ram systems. Just a personal preference of mine (in case I need to compile a install of something). Does not mean I am right in doing this. 300mb should be fine.

Ok. So I broke out my IBM A22 since you have a R40. I don't run Slackware though. No experience with it either. I am a AntiX tribal member instead of a SubGenius Tribal Member.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2wg4yo6.jpg

On this Lappy I have 256mb of ram with 722mb swap partition. You can see from Conky running a Icewm Desktop idleing after a cold boot with all processes running that cpu use is at 7% and ram usage is 20% of 256mb. This is a lightweight setup. I run Iceape 2.0.4 with Chatzilla and Mail and Newsgroups Plugin. I also run Opera 10.6 on here also.

With Iceape open responding to your thread with 2 pages (not tabs) open. My cpu fluctuates between 45 to 20%. Ram is at 47% steady.

If I was you. I would pm th1bill and see if you and him can work out some way of installing a 256mb stick. I had a IBM 390E with a Pentium II 333mgz, upgraded from 64mb to 256 mb of ram. But I sold it with Antix 7.5 (Debian Lenny) running wireless so ram can be a big issue.

Yet Another Technology Site: Broken

Lastly. I hope some Slackware users will jomp in here and help you on getting things sorted. I don't want to ruffle any feathers. But if I was running Slackware 11 on a R40 with 128mb of ram.
I would probably join this Forum and start a thread there as that forum is chock full of Slackware users. Just my opinion though.

And Just in case you may be interested.

antiX-forum • View topic - antiX-core-486-a1.iso available for testing.

And for a complete Slackware distro that claims to run good on 128mb of ram

absolute linux home page

Sorry I can't be of more help. Happy Trails, Rok

yeah i'll probably start a thread on the forum. i'll pm th1bill to see if he can help me. i'll have a look at antiX too. thanks.