Finding my computer specs and picking a new distro

[Nicholas482109]

I got an old laptop from my brother, it has ubuntu 6 on it right now. The computer is real old, complete with a windows 95 and pentium II sticker on it. I'd like to put a new install on this but first I would like to find out how to check the hardware specs like processor and ram so i can choose what to install. How can i do that?

[rokytnji]

Look for make and model number and google for specs is one way.

sudo lshw

is another using Ubuntu 6. It will be a long readout.

[Nicholas482109]

Thanks, I used the code to find the model number then looked it up through google. It has a 400MHz processor and 64mb of ram. I am looking for a distro that has quick start up, small size, and can play music and not really anything else. Is Xubuntu a good choice?

[valan]

In addition to lshw:

lspci
hwinfo
cat /proc/cpuinfo
free

are all useful commands to discover hardware info.

[HROAdmin26]

Let's read the Xubuntu page...

Minimum system requirements

You need 192 MB RAM to run the Live CD or 192 MB RAM to install. The Alternate Install CD only requires you to have 64 MB RAM at install time.

To install Xubuntu, you need 2.0 GB of free space on your hard disk.

Once installed, Xubuntu can run with starting from 192 (or even just 12 MB RAM, but it is strongly recommended to have at least 256 MB RAM.

No, 64MB doesn't sound good. Wikipedia has a good list of "mini Linuxes."

[Nicholas482109]

I actually have 128mb of ram, just found that out from the bios. Before I ask weather or not it would be worth running without 256mb I need to know if i can install it on the computer. I do not have a cd drive and i cannot boot from my usb port, is there anyway to get xubuntu installed?

[MASONTX]

Xubuntu requires more ram than lubuntu, I would try that first. I had an old P3 500 with 384 MB ram, and AntiX8.5, Puppy, and DSL were the best running distro's for that system. With 128 MB ram, you will be severly limited.

[PrinceSharma]

I'm sure Slitaz linux will get you somewhere close to what you are expecting, it's very small yet beautiful and feature rich.

[rokytnji]

+1 for Slitaz with your specs. It ran great on my IBM 390E on 128mb of ram before I sold it.

[coopstah13]

i'd recommend any small binary distro you build from the ground up such as arch, debian, or ubuntu server

if you can put the disk in another machine, you could install that way

also, debian 4 comes on floppy disks, which you could then upgrade to debian 5 using internet connection pretty easily