Linux for a Pentium I (166 MHz)

Mike1 · #1 August 14th, 2006, 04:24 AM

Which distro would you recommend for a Pentium running at 166 MHz, 136 MB of RAM? I'd prefer one with a GUI. I've been looking around and the ones with GUIs have minimum hardware requirements that are too high. I've currently got Debian installed but it's just the prompt and I'm pretty new to Linux. Any ideas? Thanks.

**kage** · #2 August 14th, 2006, 07:00 AM

Slackware would most likely work the best, as it comes with a selection of window managers that have very low system requirements (fluxbox, blackbox, xfce, fvwm, ect.). It also comes with KDE, but I would suggest not using KDE on that system.

If Slackware seems too difficult, you might want to look into Vector Linux. This distro is based off of Slackware, but aims to be easy to use.

Finally, there is DSL (damn small linux). This is a live-cd (runs off a cd, no installation required) that has very low system requirements. While it is a live-cd, it can be installed to the hard drive. DSL is based off of debian and knoppix.

JoeC0180 · #3 August 14th, 2006, 03:43 PM

Since you already have debian installed, why not just try a light window manager before installing a different distro. Just apt-get install fluxbox, or apt-get install openbox.

add 'exec fluxbox' or 'exec openbox' (leave out the '') to your ~/.xinitrc file
put a '#' in front of all other lines in the file

you may need to install xorg first if not installed already

from the prompt then just type startx

Mike1 · #4 August 14th, 2006, 05:22 PM

Thanks a bunch guys. I'll try what Joe suggested with Debian first, and if that doesn't work out, I'll try the other distros.

nolbertkeene · #5 August 24th, 2006, 09:27 AM

Hey mike, you can as well try Ubuntu. It has low processor, ram and hand has live-Cd as well. So u will not need instalations. Just incase the DSL doesnt work tht much. Its also worth the try/ exploring all and finally settle on one?

**kage** · #6 August 24th, 2006, 08:51 PM

Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment, which will run extremely slow on a 166mhz processor. Xubuntu uses xfce4, and even that will not run very good on a 166mhz.

Mike1 · #7 August 24th, 2006, 10:00 PM

Just for an update, I couldn't get fluxbox or openbox to work on Debian, so I formatted and tried installing Vector Linux. Their website impressed me as the right distribution of Linux for me, but I had trouble installing it. The checksum was fine when I finished downloading the disc image, but my burner must have messed up when writing the iso because I think the installer mentioned bad installation media. I'll try it again though.

JoeC0180 · #8 August 25th, 2006, 12:05 AM

burn the ISO at a slow speed like 8x