MX Linux Forum

Hello, I am currently a Windows user but I wanted to try out Linux. I have tried out some of the Linux OSes using Virtualbox on my newer computer. One of the problems that I am facing is that I have this old computer that currently has Windows 7 at the moment. The computer was good for awhile but then the performance started hindering. It has gotten so slow and crippled it cannot even open Google Chrome. Now it will not even boot into Windows 7 anymore. This lead me to start doing some research on the Internet about possible solutions to revive that old thing. Now of course obviously I knew that I had to upgrade the hardware on it. This laptop is a Dell Latitude D630 with the following specs:
2GB of RAM (DDR2)
Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHZ Dual Core Single Thread)
80GB Hard Drive
Possibly 64 Bit? I did some research and seems like it is at least 64 bit Capable
The upgrades are that I would like to upgrade to at least an SSD and 4 GB of RAM, and possibly the processor to a quad core but I don't know if I can do that. Now I have read the Dell Forums and according to that I would be able to upgrade it to 8 GB of RAM if the BIOS was upgraded. I also wanted to Dual Boot Windows 10 and Linux for compartmentalization and compatibility purposes. My question for that is, if the BIOS can be upgraded how do you do that?
So my question is, alongside Windows 10, what would be the best recommended Linux OS for this use case scenario? The reason why I am asking this is because I am kind of still new to Linux even though I have played around with it a little bit on VirtualBox already. There are a lot of choices of distros and it can be overwhelming for someone like me. I am looking for something stable but still with relatively new software so I have been looking around the Debian and Ubuntu LTS based Distributions. I am not really sure what the differences are between the two and I have been really struggling which one to go with. I have been leaning towards MX Linux and Linux Mint but also I have been looking at some Linux OSes like Peppermint, Ubuntu LTS, Trisquel (FSF Approved Ubuntu-Based Distro), Debian Buster, and Pop_! OS. Do you have any suggestions? Would something like MX Linux and/or Linux Mint run just fine on it and be good for a new user like me?
Thanks,
I apologize for the long post.
TheLegit

You can test MX, create a live USB and see how it runs. with 4GB you shouldn't have any problem in my view and the CPU is fine, once installed SSD will also improve the situation. If you want something lighter you can use antiX but I would not recommend that in the first place for a Windows user because it's a bit less userfriendly in my view for new Linux users.

Live runs are great for getting your feet wet and finding if live kernel supports hardware.



Upgrading bios? Not for novices . I might be biased though, since fubaring a touchscreen laptop hard drive change over. So don't pay attention to me. Specs presently stated should suffice for a 64 bit MX install.

Edit. Just noticed this in " How To "
Wondering if it should be moved?

most likely, it would pay to use the current version of MX-18,
& also use the 64 bit version, as you may wish to install other software, like another Web Browser,
- - even though you machine is fairly low specc ..
and ditch the Windows System - completely.

With 2GB RAM, 64bit version is a waste of resources--32bit version typically uses about 100MB less RAM at idle. MX runs fine on a 2GB circa 2011 netbook, with a much more obsolescent cpu than yours.

Welcome to MX Forum.

I think MX would be a good choice. I have successfully used it on several dual boot systems with Windows. I would be more concerned with running Windows 10 on that machine. If I were you I would consider wiping the drive and installing Windows 7 fresh. With MX on the same machine that will be a nice setup.

MX 64-bit will work. It does take a little more Ram but if you can increase to 4GB Ram it will be fine. I run it in 2GB ram all the time. 32-bit will also be good. But if you want to run some modern software 64-bit may be a better choice.

Try the Live version of both the 32-bit and 64-bit setups. I run from a USB 32GB using USB 2.0 and it runs fine. I don't even notice I am not on the hard disk. Once you are ready you can put one or both versions on your new SSD. The live USB is a full featured MX system. It is not crippled in any way. Try it, I think you'll like it.

Seaken64

I'm running MX on a 2008 HP laptop with a Pentium dual core cpu and 3GB RAM. All I've done regarding hardware mods is upgrade the HDD to a hybrid HDD. MX 18 runs fine on it. I originally replaced Windows 7 with Linux Lite which also worked fine using the original HDD. Linux revived the sytem so it ran as good as or better than new running Vista. You'll especially notice the difference if you go with an SSD and 4GB RAM. Skip the cpu upgrade and 8GB RAM.

If you decided to use Mint, recommend you run the xfce version. Live testing is the best way to start out and see what works well with your hardware and which OS appeals to you for starters.

I've got a lappy with a core2 duo & 4gb ram that runs MX-18 just fine. It's more pleasant with an SSD but it's quite usable even with the original 5400 rpm drive.

2gb is sufficient if you don't run too many things at once, but if you're the type to have 2 dozen tabs open all the time you'll appreciate more. Just use UBlock or a similar extension on Firefox to keep its processes under control. Some websites can easily overwhelm FF run bare.

TheLegit wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:35 pm 2GB of RAM (DDR2)
Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHZ Dual Core Single Thread)
80GB Hard Drive

If the Latitude D630 is a laptop, and I think it is, you can't easily upgrade the CPU as you'd have to take the laptop apart to get to it. Also see this thread in Dell's forum:
https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops- ... -p/4403221
Basically you can only upgrade the CPU up to a Core Duo 2.6GHz as newer CPUs require a faster bus speed than your Lattitude supports. I don't know if it can run a quad-core or not. You'd probably need to take it to a computer shop and have the work done and I don't know that it would even be worth the money. You could probably buy a used Thinkpad on eBay for not much more than you'd spend on buying the CPU and having it installed. Unless of course you're already experienced and comfortable with working on laptop hardware, and can find that CPU at low cost.

Your current CPU should be adequate to run MX though. I agree with your choices of upping the RAM to at least 4GB (with the latest BIOS which as of 2014 was version A19 it can support up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM) and an SSD, particularly the latter as it will noticeably improve boot-up time and overall system performance. You could probably even run MX on that system as-is, with 2GB RAM and an 80GB HDD. Another possible solution would be antiX Linux which is even lighter-weight (and faster) than MX, though it doesn't have all of MX's GUI-based tools (it has some though, like snapshot, remaster and repo manager) and it's meant more for intermediate Linux users who don't mind doing some things using the command-line in a terminal window. I wouldn't really recommend it very highly for a beginning Linuxer. MX would be a better fit for you, I think.

I've used MX on an old 32-bit netbook with a 1.6GHz single-core Atom processor and 2GB of RAM. It's no speed-demon but it runs OK, and it's certainly better than running obsolete Windows XP on it or throwing the machine away. It's adequate as a spare computer just for some light web-surfing and similar everyday tasks. I currently have antiX installed on it due to its being faster than MX. There are other lightweight Linux distros, but I've tested several of them on the netbook (those that offer 32-bit versions) and found that none of them performed any better than MX, which is considered to be a medium-weight distro due to Xfce's overhead. Puppy Linux probably would have performed well but it runs everything with root privileges which I see as a security risk. Linux Lite stopped offering 32-bit versions two or three years ago but when I tried the last 32-bit one available on a live USB it was very slow to boot. Peppermint was also slow-booting and slow-performing. MX was actually faster than either of these so-called lightweight distros.

But as others have said, you can burn various distros' ISOs to a USB stick and test-drive them and see what you think, bearing in mind that running them over a USB2 bus is going to be slower than if they were installed on your hard disk.

You'll get more speedup for less pain if you switch it to an SSD, assuming it's easy to get to the hard drive.

There's a lady that came to the library with a budget 2016 Lenovo laptop that can't see its hard drive at all, so I burned MX 18.3 onto a flash drive for her so she can at least use it to get on the Net. Just to get a look at the HD requires removing the whole back, 17 tiny screws in all, and we haven't had time yet to do that. She is looking to get a $20 SSD to slide into it once we do, though.

Re BIOS updating:
Unfortunately, there's no rhyme or reason on how you update the BIOS, though. If you're lucky, your BIOS can be updated directly from the BIOS setup program using a USB stick (yay MSI!) without any OS at all. Less lucky people will need to create and boot a FreeDos or even a Win98 disk and update the BIOS from that.

The least fortunate will have to use a Windows-only program to update it. You'll have to do a little research for your particular model to find how your dice landed.

I've run Linux on hardware with somewhat similar specs, and it usually works out ok. I don't have much to add to what others here have already said.

MX would definitely be the FIRST distro I'd test on this hardware. But MX is my favorite for testing Linux on machines that come my way. You've landed in the right spot, in my opinion!

And I think your laptop would run better with something lighter than KDE or GNOME, so Xfce would be a nice choice. You might want to look at Xubuntu and Linux Mint, too. Heavy usage of the web browser will likely be what slows things down, unless you end up upgrading the RAM.

The main things that will be "choked" by the 2GHz 2-core CPU are: re-encoding videos, remastering a live persistent MX USB, and creating a snapshot of your MX system. These tasks normally use 100% of the CPU's capabilities so they would run a bit faster with a faster CPU or one with more cores. For normal, day-to-day computer use the CPU doesn't matter that much. I have Firefox open (one tab) as well as Thunar file manager and have my system info conky running as well as two panels and my CPU, which is a dual-core Athlon 2.6GHz, is only being utilized 15%. And under 1GB of the RAM is in use at the moment too.

I'm presently running MX on a dual 1GHz/2GB ram notebook & it's fine for normal stuff, a little bit slow starting up, loading large programs, & web browsing, but perfectly usable.

Edit: I did remaster it, it took about 40mins, if I remember.

Welcome TheLegit.

I have a number of Dell D630s as test machines for MX Linux, and it runs very well on them. 2GB RAM will be OK unless you browse the 'net with multiple tabs open. 4GB will be better for sure. I don't think you would gain enough by going to 8GB to justify the cost. One RAM slot is under a cover on the base, the other is under the keyboard. They are the easiest machines ever made to pull apart, and full service manuals are freely available from the Dell website.

Forget about CPU upgrades, The difference in performance between the slowest one that machine came with, and the fastest available, is negligible.

An SSD is the way to go for sure. Note that the D630 has a SATA II interface, and all current drives will be SATA III. It will work just the same, but not at its maximum speed. It will be much faster that a mechanical drive however.

I personally would not run Windows 10 on those machines. I have done it, but found it frustratingly slow.

Chris

chrispop99 wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2019 6:45 am An SSD is the way to go for sure. Note that the D630 has a SATA II interface, and all current drives will be SATA III. It will work just the same, but not at its maximum speed. It will be much faster that a mechanical drive however.

Yes, indeed! My desktop PC is SATA II and I installed an SSD a few months ago. While it's not as fast as it could be with a newer computer with a SATA III controller, it's FAST! Way faster than a spinner (regular hard drive.) From power on to my desktop in a few seconds, not including the time to it takes me to enter my encryption passphrase.

IMHO LinuxLite or Lubuntu would be a good substitute for MX; never failed installing & using them on an OLD laptop or Desktop... 32-bit is preferred.

viewtopic.php?f=97&t=51938

(With a single word)
_____________________________________

Tested and approved by the "Average Joe" :)

MX, being light-mid weight, would be an excellent choice. How to do it? Reinstall Windows first, because the latter Linux install will respect Windows, but the opposite is not true. From Windows it should be easy to upgrade the BIOS. For me 3GB is the threshold for a 64bit OS, otherwise I stick to 32bit. The SSD will transform the machine. I have used Win10 on machines worse than this with good results. At this hardware level Win7 will be a spunkier ride, but I think I would prefer the latter version, especially with Win7 off support now. Win10 can also be trimmed a bit for performance.

TheLegit wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:35 pmspecs:
2GB of RAM (DDR2)
Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHZ Dual Core Single Thread)
80GB Hard Drive...I have been leaning towards MX Linux and Linux Mint... Would something like MX Linux and/or Linux Mint run just fine on it and be good for a new user like me?

Hi TheLegit,

Welcome and you did very well beginning searching about Linux. I just wanted to say: This is almost the same with my scenario and you're on the right track. You already answered it correctly:

This old HP (32bit Pavilion from the end of 2005) has even lower specs:

2GB Ram DDR2 (same)
Intel Pentium M 1.73 GHz single core
60 GB Harddisk

And I have MX (and had Mint Cinnamon, that's heavier and Win 7) all at the same time (on different partitions) on the same machine, with no issues...

Also on another 64 bit HP pavilion dv6 (actually my sister's) I have again MX, Mint and Win10 . (Win 10 is just for her, not to force to give up ...) Again with no issues..

I'd like to say, just no need to look elsewhere, either MX and/or Mint.

So that, whenever I want to show and suggest Linux to my friends who knows nothing other than Windows, I cannot decide and always introduce the two together. MX is swift, light and handy both when using installed and as live-session, Mint is also out of the box and a bit more Windows-like (although Linux distros don't (and shouldn't) have such an aim). So, newcomers can feel at home I mean...

Shortly, if you're savvy about partitioning (first shrinking Win 10 from inside Win) or already have available ones, then I strongly suggest to install both MX and Mint (Cinnamon especially).

Once, when I was using Mint only, my neighbor who had an Asus Eee mini Laptop which had only 512 MB ram and 1Ghz cpu, asked for help when the XP was unusable , full of viruses, I installed Mint Cinnamon and with no issues, still happy. (If I met MX those days, I'd absolutely install both again)

And see the main reason I decided to change to Linux: Linux world is so gracious: You can even suggest other distros, they're all respected. So that in Linux sites you can see the answers in faqs like "how can I completely remove Linux or Grub and install Windows, I want my Windows back"... This is just "self-confidence".

TheLegit wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:35 pm Possibly 64 Bit? I did some research and seems like it is at least 64 bit Capable... upgrade it to 8 GB of RAM if the BIOS was upgraded.... My question for that is, if the BIOS can be upgraded how do you do that?

It's already 64 bit according to Intel:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... z-fsb.html

( Intel® Core™2 Duo T7250 )

Also : https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all- ... _en-us.pdf ( Pages 183, 184 ) :

Memory module capacities: 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB 4-GB capable
Memory type: DDR2 SODIMM
Minimum memory: 512 MB
Maximum memory: 4 GB/8 GB capable

______________

To update Bios, you just download the latest firmware regarding to that machine, from Dell support site and click on it like installing anything.. takes just a few seconds..

Flashing the BIOS From the Hard Drive
1.Ensure that the AC adapter is plugged in, the main battery is properly installed, and a network cable is attached. 2.Turn on the computer.

3.Locate the latest BIOS update file for your computer at support.dell.com.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en ... l=en&s=bsd

4.Click Download Now to download the file.
5.If the Export Compliance Disclaimer window appears, click Yes, I Accept this Agreement. The File Download window appears.
6.Click Save this program to disk and then click OK. The Save In window appears.
7.Click the down arrow to view the Save In menu, select Desktop, and then click Save. The file downloads to your desktop.
8.Click Close if the Download Complete window appears. The file icon appears on your desktop and is titled the same as the downloaded BIOS update file.

9.Double-click the file icon on the desktop and follow the instructions on the screen.

NOTE: If you use a BIOS-update program CD to flash the BIOS, set up the computer to boot from a CD before inserting the CD.

Here it is: (maybe your bios is already this version, just go to bios and have a see)

Version A19
Release date 16 Jul 2013
Last Updated 16 Jul 2013

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER015307 ... 30_A19.exe at:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en ... erid=1j8fx


Also https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude ... -p/6201809

... And they allow you to choose to have an SSD installed even if the system didn't originally come with one, which is an option I'd strongly recommend. If you've never used an SSD-equipped system, it makes the system easily 3x faster for everyday tasks. A 5-year-old system with an SSD will feel much faster for those tasks than a brand new system that has a spinning hard drive.

I had a couple of Dell D600 series laptops in the past. At the time I owned them I was only running 32-bit software and I cannot recall their specs. One of the least capable of the ones I used had only 512 MB RAM. With that particular unit I found excellent results with antiX, but my other systems that I used with the old Dell D600 series ran fine with Debian, MEPIS, MX, or antiX.

I no longer have any of these systems since they were quite old and aging, but in their time they were quite durable, though a bit thick and heavy.
For anyone who has one in good condition, I believe that either MX or antiX would still work reasonably well, better in fact than many other so-called "light" systems.

Yo guys thanks for the help. I'll see what I can do.

That's just to make them see and try for a while, then decide himself/herself. (It's just 1 sec to erase one.. isn't it? )

As explained above, one is lighter and one is for easy transition. After some time they can leave so or remove one...

Other than that, it's better to have the original DE with the system and one DE on a system generally.

This way, they can taste both Cinnamon and Xfce originally (both with the best implementers ) and out of the box, simply...

On the other hand, this is not a must of course. If someone says "I've seen/used them in live session and I liked this more", then that's it.