pleasant Linux for a 503+?

Kyle wrote

>Just for grins, try booting up a knoppix live Line CD on your 503+,
>you might just be thoroughly impressed. Google for knoppix and Linux
>
Can I imagine device drivers for Socket 7 era kit have been mostly
already been written? (ATI Rage Pro, ... er, that sort of thing)
--
Roger Hunt
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

"Roger Hunt" <nospam.RemoveThis@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:i3NNY7AHLXyGFwld@nospam.demon.co.uk...
| Kyle wrote
|
| >Just for grins, try booting up a knoppix live Line CD on your 503+,
| >you might just be thoroughly impressed. Google for knoppix and
Linux
| >
| Can I imagine device drivers for Socket 7 era kit have been mostly
| already been written? (ATI Rage Pro, ... er, that sort of thing)
| --
| Roger Hunt

ATI enjoyed early support on Linux, would imagine such drivers do
exist.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

"Kyle" <me RemoveThis @privacy.net> wrote in
news:cLKdnaC9K8z4hFTbnZ2dnUVZ_hWdnZ2d@comcast.com:

> Just for grins, try booting up a knoppix live Line CD on your 503+,
> you might just be thoroughly impressed. Google for knoppix and Linux
>


Kyle,

Thanks for the tip. I Googled Knoppix and found
https://www.getlinuxfast.com/
where I ordered Knoppix for 75 cents.

It was so cheap I got some more, running up a total, with shipping, of
$9.91 for this:

1 x Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop CD () = $0.75
1 x OpenSUSE 10.2 CD Set () = $5.50
1 x DamnSmallLinux 3.4 CD () = $1.10
1 x Knoppix 5.1.1 Live CD () = $0.75

Thanks again for your suggestion.

- Dave
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Boon wrote
>"Kyle" <me DeleteThis @privacy.net> wrote in
>news:cLKdnaC9K8z4hFTbnZ2dnUVZ_hWdnZ2d@comcast.com:
>
>> Just for grins, try booting up a knoppix live Line CD on your 503+,
>> you might just be thoroughly impressed. Google for knoppix and Linux
>
>Thanks for the tip. I Googled Knoppix and found
>https://www.getlinuxfast.com/
>where I ordered Knoppix for 75 cents.
>
>It was so cheap I got some more, running up a total, with shipping, of
>$9.91 for this:
>
>1 x Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop CD () = $0.75
>1 x OpenSUSE 10.2 CD Set () = $5.50
>1 x DamnSmallLinux 3.4 CD () = $1.10
>1 x Knoppix 5.1.1 Live CD () = $0.75
>
>Thanks again for your suggestion.
>
I know that all these distros will be available via download and/or
bitorrent, but for that kind of money it does look quite tempting, and
saves the hassle of burning a CD etc ...

<small rant>
However, I see that IE wants to talk to the website on https, port 443,
and won't let me in unless I allow secure communication.
I know there is nothing in this apart from preparing for a transaction,
but I prefer to have this kind of thing only initiated after I have been
able to browse the site, and not before I have decided to do business
with them.
Sorry, just a small personal niggle.
<rant finished>
--
Roger Hunt
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:10:33 +0000, Boon wrote:

> Any good experiences out there with a Linux distro on a 503+?
>
> I have a 503+ that's never been used, and I'm thinking about giving
> Linux a try, if it's not going to be too painful. I tried Linux years
> ago, and give up in frustration. Maybe Linux is now more pleasant.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts.

I am running Ipcop (http://ipcop.org) on mine, a powerful linux firewall
distribution. I've installed it for several newbies and they have had no
trouble administering it through the web interface. With Ipcop a truly
serious firewall, VPN support, transparent proxy caching, intrusion
detection, etc., are just mouse clicks away.

If you'd like a fully modern, easy to install and use linux that will
still run on a 503+, then I'd suggest Xubuntu (http://xubuntu.org). It's
Ubuntu Linux but with the faster, leaner XFCE desktop. It really is quite
nice, and is what I use on my personal PC. I have a modern computer and
don't need to run it, but it is my favorite linux distro at the moment.

If you want a really lean, fast linux on a 503+ you could try DSL Linux
(http://damnsmalllinux.org). It really is damned small, yet fast and
surprisingly featureful. DSL will run entirely in 128 MB RAM, providing
excellent performance basically any remotely modern PC.

Some observations:

You can download all these distributions for free.

I'd suggest 256 MB RAM if you're considering Xubuntu. You don't strictly
need it but the desktop experience will be better. I'd avoid the Gnome and
KDE desktops. They are pretty but too bloated for a 503+.

Finally, Linux has gotten a lot easier to use over the years. I would
suggest a trip to http://Ubuntuguide.org if you install Xubuntu to learn
how to install mp3 support and various other multimedia goodies.

Linux really is quite painless these days. I bet you'll be surprised.
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Carbon,

Thanks for your advice. I'm looking forward to trying a couple of the
distros you recommend. But first I have to get my 503+ up and running. I
broke the seal on the mobo Wednesday, and I thought I'd have it up in a few
hours, but it's still not working.

Bad battery, maybe, although its voltage looks OK, and the bios remembers
the settings I give it. But it won't go past the first screen - the one
with the memory check. I'm in the process of swapping out the floppy,
video card, cables, etc. I hope it's not a DOA motherboard.

My CPU is a K6-2+ 450, the one with L2 cache. Can anybody tell me whether
the mobo cache should be disabled? I tried disabling it, but it still
won't go past the memory test screen. I have two other 503+ computers
running fine, but with the K6-2 550. A couple jumper settings are
different, but there are enough similarities that I can't believe that I'm
stuck.

Well anyhow, Carbon, thanks again for your Linux suggestions.

- Dave
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Wait, wait, don't tell me.

503+ BIOS JE439 won't support the K6-2+ CPU. Have to first flash to BIOS
JE4333, then it will work.

- Dave
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Boon wrote
>Wait, wait, don't tell me.
>
Mums the word then.
>503+ BIOS JE439 won't support the K6-2+ CPU. Have to first flash to BIOS
>JE4333, then it will work.
>
FIC, as I remember, had a marvellous unique numbering system for the
503+ BIOSes, and with prefixes of such similarity I managed to screw
Royally the BIOS chip on mine by using a .bin designed for the 2013.

Also, the jumpers seem mostly labelled upside-down and often back to
front as well, and one or two need advanced tweezer design to get at
them easily (when overclocking the CPU of course).

Have fun!
--
Roger Hunt
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Boon wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Any good experiences out there with a Linux distro on a 503+?
>
> I have a 503+ that's never been used, and I'm thinking about giving Linux a
> try, if it's not going to be too painful. I tried Linux years ago, and
> give up in frustration. Maybe Linux is now more pleasant.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts.
>
> - Dave

I have a VA-503+ on which I have run a bunch of Linux distributions,
beginning with Slackware: RedHat, Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. After a
succession of recent disasters involving Linux 2.6-based Debian
distributions (namely, Debian etch and Ubuntu current) -- both of which
repeatedly self-destructed -- due, I suspect, to a bug in the
Debian/Ubuntu NE2000 ISA NIC driver module ('ne') -- I decided to switch
back to Linux 2.4-based Slackware 11.0.

Home, sweet home!

I doubt I will be running any more Linux 2.6-based distros on this
board any time soon.

BillH
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:43:19 -0700, no-spam wrote:

> I have a VA-503+ on which I have run a bunch of Linux distributions,
> beginning with Slackware: RedHat, Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. After a
> succession of recent disasters involving Linux 2.6-based Debian
> distributions (namely, Debian etch and Ubuntu current) -- both of which
> repeatedly self-destructed -- due, I suspect, to a bug in the
> Debian/Ubuntu NE2000 ISA NIC driver module ('ne') -- I decided to switch
> back to Linux 2.4-based Slackware 11.0.

That's weird. I've run an isa ne2000 nic in my 503+ for years with many
different distributions and have never had any trouble with it.
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Guys,

I got my new 503+ up and running. My problem was that the BIOS JE439
wouldn't POST with my CPU, a K6-2+ 450. I borrowed a K6-2 (no plus) from
one of my other 503+ computers, flashed the BIOS on the new 503+ to
JE4333, then put the CPUs back where they were. The new 503+ works now
with the K6-2+. I wonder how (or if) anyone got a K6-2+ to work on a 503+
JE439 BIOS without first using a K6-2 (no plus) CPU like I did.

I've been running the Linux live distros from CDs that you guys
suggested. I'm greatly impressed that I can get to the web and to files
on my other computers right away.

Here's a question. Suppose I run Knoppix live to find that yes, it
supports my sound card. Can I then assume that a hard drive installation
of Xubuntu will support my sound card? The reasoning is that Knoppix and
Xubuntu are both descendants of Ubuntu. If Knoppix has the driver, then
Ubuntu has it, and that means Xubuntu has it, too. Is this good logic?
Or do you still find out about drivers by brutal trial and error?

Thanks for your comments.

- Dave
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

Carbon wrote:
> On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:43:19 -0700, no-spam wrote:
>
>> I have a VA-503+ on which I have run a bunch of Linux distributions,
>> beginning with Slackware: RedHat, Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. After a
>> succession of recent disasters involving Linux 2.6-based Debian
>> distributions (namely, Debian etch and Ubuntu current) -- both of which
>> repeatedly self-destructed -- due, I suspect, to a bug in the
>> Debian/Ubuntu NE2000 ISA NIC driver module ('ne') -- I decided to switch
>> back to Linux 2.4-based Slackware 11.0.
>
> That's weird. I've run an isa ne2000 nic in my 503+ for years with many
> different distributions and have never had any trouble with it.

Thanks for the good news about the NE2000 ISA NIC. I forgot which
thread I was in. This (as I said in another thread) is the VA-503+ that
I wrecked by carelessly jamming a SDRAM chip into its slot, so there is
plenty of weird stuff going on. Fact is, it's amazing to me that the
board works at all -- but it does!

BillH

p.s. I am in the market for a replacement board. (I wasted $40 on a
DOA on eBay but the guy who sold it to me apparently "went South".) Any
sellers?
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+? 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:05:58 +0000, Boon wrote:

> Here's a question. Suppose I run Knoppix live to find that yes, it
> supports my sound card. Can I then assume that a hard drive
> installation of Xubuntu will support my sound card? The reasoning is
> that Knoppix and Xubuntu are both descendants of Ubuntu. If Knoppix has
> the driver, then Ubuntu has it, and that means Xubuntu has it, too. Is
> this good logic? Or do you still find out about drivers by brutal trial
> and error?

It's good logic.

However, you don't need to test with Knoppix. The Xubuntu desktop CD
(http://www.xubuntu.org/get) is also a live CD. If you boot into it and it
picks up all your hardware, just click on the install to hard drive icon
on the desktop and follow the prompts. It's that easy.
 >> Stay informed about: pleasant Linux for a 503+?