Best Linux/Unix based OS for an old laptop

[LOLZpersonok]

I have an old IBM ThinkPad from about 2000 (Its hardware seems older, but all the manufacturing dates on it state 2000) with pretty weak hardware, even for its time.

I'm looking for a Linux or Unix based distro for this old laptop. It needs to be lightweight. I tried Puppy Linux, but odd things happen. It does run quite quickly, but there are lines all over the screen. I think it's a driver issue but I don't know how to solve it.

These are the specifications of the laptop:

500MHz Celeron
5.5GB hard drive
192MB RAM (It can't be expanded any further)
Either Trident CyberBlade or SMI Lynx graphics (I think it may be SMI, but I'm not 100% sure)

The specific model I find is: IBM ThinkPad i Series 1171. It is either a 1200 or a 1300 (I'm not sure what that means but it's mentioned on the Lenovo website)

What is the best Linux distribution for this laptop? It does have USB ports but I do not believe that it supports booting from USB.

 

[Pinhedd]

Try OpenBSD, it has good support for older hardware

 

[USAFRet]

I have PuppyLinux running on a Dell 300Mhz P2, with no problems. Your issue, as said, would seem to be drivers.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Try OpenBSD, it has good support for older hardware

Thanks for the suggestion.

Right now, I'm having issues trying to download the OpenBSD 5.4 software. I don't know where or how to download it. Right now, I have a torrent going, but I don't know if it's what I need/want. I want to be able to install the system like you would any other operating system. I'm really confused

 

[USAFRet]

Try OpenBSD, it has good support for older hardware

Thanks for the suggestion.

Right now, I'm having issues trying to download the OpenBSD 5.4 software. I don't know where or how to download it. Right now, I have a torrent going, but I don't know if it's what I need/want. I want to be able to install the system like you would any other operating system. I'm really confused

HTTP and ftp downloads here:
http://www.openbsd.org/ftp.html#http

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Try OpenBSD, it has good support for older hardware

Okay, I've gotten it loaded onto a rewriteable disk, and I've booted the laptop to the disk, but this happens:

It will not respond to any input. It's been sitting here for like 20 minutes now, doing nothing.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

The graphics chip is going to be a problem. There are no working Trident CyberBlade drivers (Framebuffer or X). It appears that there is a Framebuffer device driver for the SMI Lynx.

 

[Pinhedd]

Make sure that you have the correct installation disk. OpenBSD is built for a huge number of different processor families.

Try this one

http://athena.caslab.queensu.ca/pub/OpenBSD/5.4/i386/install54.iso

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Try OpenBSD, it has good support for older hardware

Thanks for the suggestion.

Right now, I'm having issues trying to download the OpenBSD 5.4 software. I don't know where or how to download it. Right now, I have a torrent going, but I don't know if it's what I need/want. I want to be able to install the system like you would any other operating system. I'm really confused

HTTP and ftp downloads here:
http://www.openbsd.org/ftp.html#http

Okay, I've gotten it loaded onto a rewriteable disk, and I've booted the laptop to the disk, but this happens:

It will not respond to any input. It's been sitting here for like 20 minutes now, doing nothing.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

The graphics chip is going to be a problem. There are no working Trident CyberBlade drivers (Framebuffer or X). It appears that there is a Framebuffer device driver for the SMI Lynx.

I tried looking around for the Framebuffer device driver for SMI Lynx but I can't find any downloads.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Make sure that you have the correct installation disk. OpenBSD is built for a huge number of different processor families.

Try this one

http://athena.caslab.queensu.ca/pub/OpenBSD/5.4/i386/install54.iso

That ISO file didn't work. I get the same thing as last time.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I tried looking around for the Framebuffer device driver for SMI Lynx but I can't find any downloads.

You won't find it as a download (stop thinking in Windows terms), it's a kernel module. Any kernel built with genkernel will, if the module exists, load it automatically at boot.

Try Ubuntu 12.04LTS 32-bit

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I tried looking around for the Framebuffer device driver for SMI Lynx but I can't find any downloads.

You won't find it as a download (stop thinking in Windows terms), it's a kernel module. Any kernel built with genkernel will, if the module exists, load it automatically at boot.

Try Ubuntu 12.04LTS 32-bit

I can almost guarantee that Ubuntu will not run on this laptop. Almost.

Either way, is there a way to load the kernel (or even obtain the kernel with the lines for the SMI Lynx) into Puppy Linux? This is getting quite confusing and I'm getting tempted to just stop.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I can almost guarantee that Ubuntu will not run on this laptop. Almost.

I've seen very few machines that wouldn't run Ubuntu. They were VERY old.

Either way, is there a way to load the kernel (or even obtain the kernel with the lines for the SMI Lynx) into Puppy Linux? This is getting quite confusing and I'm getting tempted to just stop.

Well, yes, you'll have to compile a custom kernel if the desired module/s aren't included. However, most distributions are compiled with genkernel which compiles every available module for that arch. If nothing else the generic VGA framebuffer works on everything and is always included.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I can almost guarantee that Ubuntu will not run on this laptop. Almost.

I've seen very few machines that wouldn't run Ubuntu. They were VERY old.

Either way, is there a way to load the kernel (or even obtain the kernel with the lines for the SMI Lynx) into Puppy Linux? This is getting quite confusing and I'm getting tempted to just stop.

Well, yes, you'll have to compile a custom kernel if the desired module/s aren't included. However, most distributions are compiled with genkernel which compiles every available module for that arch. If nothing else the generic VGA framebuffer works on everything and is always included.

So Ubuntu 12.04 should run under 192MB of RAM and a 500MHz Celeron? I'm skeptical, until I try.

It seems very complicated to compile a custom kernel. I don't have that kind of knowledge, and I won't ask someone else to do it for me. So, I guess Puppy Linux is out of the question. My assumption is that Ubuntu does have the drivers or whatever for the SMI Lynx, I may have heard incorrectly.

If nothing works, I'll just forget about all this and put Windows 98, 2000 or ME, as they have all the required drivers.

Sorry if I'm sounding rude, I hope I'm not.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Try Ubuntu 12.04LTS 32-bit

I loaded Ubuntu 12.04 onto a DVD, which this laptop should be able to read. It did not boot. Probably due to the CD drive which may not read DVD discs.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

So Ubuntu 12.04 should run under 192MB of RAM and a 500MHz Celeron?....

Only way to find out is to try. Just make sure it's the 32-bit version. Linux needs much less in the way of resources than Windows. I've run Linux on a P2 300 with only 64MB RAM with no problems (just didn't try to compile anything on it ).

Sorry if I'm sounding rude, I hope I'm not.

Nope. You're trying to absorb a whole bunch in a short amount of time.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

So Ubuntu 12.04 should run under 192MB of RAM and a 500MHz Celeron?....

Only way to find out is to try. Just make sure it's the 32-bit version. Linux needs much less in the way of resources than Windows. I've run Linux on a P2 300 with only 64MB RAM with no problems (just didn't try to compile anything on it ).

I got Ubuntu loaded on a DVD but it didn't boot. I have a feeling it may be related to the CD drive which might not be able to read DVDs. When I chose to boot to the CD, it just displayed the blinking underscore in the top left part of the screen.[/quote]

Is there a slightly earlier version that does not require a DVD? The file is too large to fit on a conventional CD.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I loaded Ubuntu 12.04 onto a DVD, which this laptop should be able to read. It did not boot. Probably due to the CD drive which may not read DVD discs.

I know I could get Gentoo to run on it. However, just building the core system would probably take 3 or 4 days, and another 1 or 2 to build KDE or GNOME. And you don't even want to know how long to build Firefox or LibreOffice.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Here's a listing of distributions that should run off of a CD. At this point just pick one at random and see what happens.

http://www.linux.com/directory/Distributions/livecd

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Here's a listing of distributions that should run off of a CD. At this point just pick one at random and see what happens.

http://www.linux.com/directory/Distributions/livecd

I'm looking for a system that I can run as a permanent operating system from the hard drive. I can't install Ubuntu 12.04 on my IBM ThinkPad because the CD drive probably doesn't read DVDs.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

They can also be installed.

 

[Feel_Happy]

Have you tried Lubuntu? It's basically Ubuntu but it more lightweight.

http://lubuntu.net/

 

[moulderhere]

I use linux mint on my amd k6-2 500mhz