Old (2GB RAM) computer. Which MX Linux? Tips/tricks

[kobaian]

MX-Fluxbox will be the best choice. You can also consider using lightweight browsers instead of FIrefox, like Palemoon or Flashpeak-Slimjet.

[operadude]

@user101 :

I see from here: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... 0-ghz.html that the CPU is 64-bit.

Can you verify that the laptop/motherboard is also 64-bit? It might help to give the Brand and Model # of the Laptop.

If it's 32-bit only, then you have to stick to an OS that offers 32-bit versions (antiX, MX-Xfce, MX-Fluxbox 32-bit versions). Otherwise, you can go x64, and then choose which is the lightest and best OS/distro for you.

Usually, we want to see the QSI, but understandably, you may not have an OS installed on the laptop as of yet, and so can neither boot into the machine, nor go online and post the info. Anyway, please post the Brand and Model # of the laptop.

HTH

[Charlie Brown]

This one (mine) is also 2048 MiB Ram (DDR2) (was even 512MB originally), "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" sticker is still on :D ..

Pentium M , 32bit..

It starts with 89 MiB Ram (ok , the one in the attachment is with Fluxbox however it's not very different with Xfce: about 120 MiB)..

All you need to do is disable unnecessary software (those you won't use frequently) from startup, like smbd, nmbd etc...

(Though not a must: I also disabled (not removed) Pulseaudio and replaced Network Manager with ConnMan)

Ok, the below picture is from last year, but just have a look at Ram , also MX is just on a small partition: 8 GiB ... (Cpu is also mostly at 0-1, it shows 2 for I was taking a screenshot ... even with the most recent kernels, though 4.9 is a bit better (reached EOL))

Slimjet really makes a huge difference, the only con is that they stopped the 32bit version , so this is the 30.0.5 legacy release..


Edit: Corrected typo: GiB to MiB :)

[operadude]

A forum search for "Pentium P6100" found that Falcon has that processor, but it looks like he has 4GB of ram – at bottom of QSI>Info.
This may also help with any issues.
Maybe Fluxbox, Antix, and Slimjet browser per Charlie Brown, probably not in MXPI, maybe Dillo?

https://linux-hardware.org/ to search, or probe your computer.
HTH

@MXRobo : Thanks for the link

Hopefully, that can help the OP

[MXRobo]

@MXRobo : Thanks for the link

Certainly! - and thanks for that PBR grub posting! I learned something from that.
P.S. - And I typed the above before I saw your reply in my "Grub on multiboot - PBR vs EFI" post.

[user101]

Lots to think about. Thanks very much guys.

Can you verify that the laptop/motherboard is also 64-bit? It might help to give the Brand and Model # of the Laptop.

Lenovo G560
https://support.lenovo.com/au/en/soluti ... enovo-g560
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Le ... 492.0.html

[operadude]

@user101 :

Given your recent links, as well as some of my research (will provide links below), it appears that your laptop IS a 64-bit mainboard (CPU is 64-bit as well).

Additionally, from your link: https://support.lenovo.com/au/en/soluti ... enovo-g560, you can up the RAM to 2 × 4GB (DDR3 1066MHz), giving you a total of 8GB of RAM, which I would totally do, and you can probably find cheap DDR3 RAM on eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.

Here's what I found about your motherboard/chipset, which, if I read correctly, IS a 64-bit board, based on the info about the chipset:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/In ... gjDg%3D%3D

-- where you can open/download the datasheet for the chipset:

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/612/ ... 257622.pdf

---> See p.40:

PCI Bus Interface
— Supports PCI Rev 2.3 Specification at 33 MHz
— Four available PCI REQ/GNT pairs
— Support for 64-bit addressing on PCI using DAC
protoco

Anyway, you can always download an iso image of a 64-bit version of an MX or antiX distro, burn it to a USB (I prefer MX-LUM (Live USB Maker) ), and test it out on the laptop.

As you said, yeah, lots to think about!

But that's the beauty of the Live USB environments: you can simply try them all out, and decide which one is best for you, and then install it on your machine!

Or, if you are a familiar with Virtual Machines, install it on a VM, and give it a whirl

HTH