Re: Linux on older laptop

[Robert A Pfeiffer <jareth@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Guys,

As to installing RH6.2 or anything above RH6.0 the problem is in the lack of
memory.  I've tried ftp installs of Rh6.1 on a gateway with 16 megs.
Apparently, the new perl (or python can't remeber its been a while) requires a
min of 24 megs of memory to run the installer script now.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.  I struggled and until I buy more
memory, its Rh5.2 for the moment.

Regards

Tony Gettig wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I just acquired a Toshiba laptop, the specs of which are (as best as I can
> determine) P75, 8MB RAM, 500 MB HD. There's no CDROM. It currently has DOS
> 6.22 and WFW3.11 on it. I picked up a Linksys PCMCIA 10/100 NIC, which
> Linux seems to recognize fine. I'm trying to install RH 6.2 (BSWare).
>
> I've tried ftp install and nfs install, but to no avail. (BTW, where did
> the install over Samba go?). By ftp, I enter the IP address for the laptop,
> then the IP address and directory for the ftp server. It seems to find it
> but freezes on "second stage install" into RAM disk. I let it set for 20
> minutes, and there was no network activity. I could get to ther VC's
> though. By nfs, it seems to go a little further, then it says something to
> the effect of an unexpected error occurred and runs an orderly shutdown
> very quickly.
>
> Given the "RAM disk" hangup, my gut feeling is I don't have enough RAM to
> continue. Any thoughts? Can I create a swap partition just for
> installation? Will the install find it and use it? And is 8 MB enough to
> run a minimal gui (XFCE) and perhaps Star Office? TIA.
>
> Tony