I was thinking about what I could throw together for cheap as a barebones minimal system and still run puppy powerfully. What would be the least problematic and most compatible mobo, audio/video, LAN etc... that won't leave some person scratching their head wondering how to get some aspect working right?
I'm thinking most generic components would get the job done?
The ideal equipment for puppy distro
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There is a via motherboard that is designed for Linux compatibility - someone will remember it
There is also a thread in Misc I think it is, about people who are building Puppy hardware
I think your best option is probably an old laptop that works
http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/PuppyHardware
There is also a thread in Misc I think it is, about people who are building Puppy hardware
I think your best option is probably an old laptop that works
http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/PuppyHardware
Laptops, especially old ones, are nothing but trouble, mainly because they are stuffed out with proprietary kit - avoid them.
It is possible to install Puppy onto HDs as small as ~300Mb, but a 540Mb one is ideal as it can take some extra D/L apps, too. Stick with v1.0.4 until Barry fixes the install issue in 1.0.5. There are reports of Puppy running on Cx300, so it may be possible to clock an i233 up to that level and get it working. The AMD K5/6 SS7 series are ideal for experimenting. Best to install with 128Mb mem. and relax that back to 64Mb, maybe 32Mb?, afterwards; this may raise issues if you're running boards with 32pin slots, but for 68pin mem, it isn't so hard to find higher mem capacities. Better still, if you're using bog standard clone stuff, install to disc using modern kit and switch the disc back to older kit, later. Puppy has reasonably good detection that can find most earlier HW. Another reason to avoid laptops - HD portability is invaluable for experimentation with older kit. Knoppix and DSL has the best detection (according to BarryK!), so it may be possible to cobble something together to revive all that flagging kit under the bed. Great projects for introducing newcomers to Linux, giving to infants for amusement, as well as avoiding landfill blight, HW firewalls and routers as well as for the smaller advanced development work.
Let us know of your progress.
It is possible to install Puppy onto HDs as small as ~300Mb, but a 540Mb one is ideal as it can take some extra D/L apps, too. Stick with v1.0.4 until Barry fixes the install issue in 1.0.5. There are reports of Puppy running on Cx300, so it may be possible to clock an i233 up to that level and get it working. The AMD K5/6 SS7 series are ideal for experimenting. Best to install with 128Mb mem. and relax that back to 64Mb, maybe 32Mb?, afterwards; this may raise issues if you're running boards with 32pin slots, but for 68pin mem, it isn't so hard to find higher mem capacities. Better still, if you're using bog standard clone stuff, install to disc using modern kit and switch the disc back to older kit, later. Puppy has reasonably good detection that can find most earlier HW. Another reason to avoid laptops - HD portability is invaluable for experimentation with older kit. Knoppix and DSL has the best detection (according to BarryK!), so it may be possible to cobble something together to revive all that flagging kit under the bed. Great projects for introducing newcomers to Linux, giving to infants for amusement, as well as avoiding landfill blight, HW firewalls and routers as well as for the smaller advanced development work.
Let us know of your progress.
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Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].
Two entirely different applications for liveCD s have emerged. It is always useful to boot a Linux variant on any machine, any time, anywhere.
However, there is another, more potent, implication for installed versions of these compact distros in enabling older, less capable kit to be recycled into something useful, save the planet, reduce the landfill inventory.
There is a real danger in confusing these two distinct areas, which is amply illustrated by the discussion in the threads outlined by raffy. There really isn't much point in installing Puppy or DSL to an 80Gb HD with 256Mb or more memory on a state-of -the-art motherboard. SuSE, FC4, raw Debian/Gentoo or Mandriva can do that better.
Wood for trees?
However, there is another, more potent, implication for installed versions of these compact distros in enabling older, less capable kit to be recycled into something useful, save the planet, reduce the landfill inventory.
There is a real danger in confusing these two distinct areas, which is amply illustrated by the discussion in the threads outlined by raffy. There really isn't much point in installing Puppy or DSL to an 80Gb HD with 256Mb or more memory on a state-of -the-art motherboard. SuSE, FC4, raw Debian/Gentoo or Mandriva can do that better.
Wood for trees?
THanks guys, This was my posting and I didn't realize it was as a guest!
Recycling PC's is a great idea and I think multi session puppy would be great for teaching students linux. Old basic equipment that they can hardly screw up and carry their own personal OS to class. No user accounts no headache?
Underpriveleged schools could bootstrap themselves for little outlay and provide skills that may mean a good life for some...
Recycling PC's is a great idea and I think multi session puppy would be great for teaching students linux. Old basic equipment that they can hardly screw up and carry their own personal OS to class. No user accounts no headache?
Underpriveleged schools could bootstrap themselves for little outlay and provide skills that may mean a good life for some...
The via epia ml8000a mobo seems to be ideal. All you need is ram and a cd-drive. Seems a little pricy though, I bet you could find a board (with lan, audio & video etc..) w/o processor for $40-50 and some pretty quick AMD for $30-40.
Stick of 512 ram for $30-40? Burner for $20. Cobble together a old case and power supply (purchase new maybe $40) and you have a dedicated live cd/multi system for $120 or a little more and new (mostly) equipment.
Why bother with a hard drive since it seems to defeat the purpose and spirit of puppy. And, really is more than 512 ram uneccesary?
Stick of 512 ram for $30-40? Burner for $20. Cobble together a old case and power supply (purchase new maybe $40) and you have a dedicated live cd/multi system for $120 or a little more and new (mostly) equipment.
Why bother with a hard drive since it seems to defeat the purpose and spirit of puppy. And, really is more than 512 ram uneccesary?
I'm assuming you meant the Via Mobo. Umm, now as a puppy newb who has experienced windows through the beginning I'm wondering where on the curve of performance does the old equipment lie? I'm thinking Pentiums or K-6's and PC133 ram or slower.Vastly overspecc'ed and overpriced.
With my current specs (ghz range) anything in ram is quite fast but how does that compare to the aforementioned "antiques'" performance? Surely performance must drop off dramatically, and as theres loads of stuff only a few years old can be had for cheap why go back to the 90's?
Realistically, unless its in the store-room or forgotten in the back of the garage most likely the early pentiums, celerons etc... and the related hardware has probably been to the tip already. So I'm curious about say something current too, if I wanted to slap together it could be very inexpensive, solid and fast.
BTW I live just down the street from the Alamo, so Tejas is- yes you guessed it...
As far as recycling goes and this is weird, in my city you can put anything on the curb and it's gone. I put a broken hot water heater out one evening and no exageration by the time I was at the front door someone was loading it up in a truck! Also, interestingly I've had occasion to leave alot of old PC's etc. out and no one would pick them up. Alot of stuff that gets put out ends up south of the border, but I guess no-one had a use for the equipment. To me that equates as no demand since even moldy old carpet gets taken!
Maybe puppy could change this.
Yup! The pup may be just the answer to make all that e-junk viable again? I think we need to be careful not to confabulate performance with recyclability, though.
Incidentally, when I last visited your southern neighbour, I was surprised to see large skeins of s/h copper wire and other scrap copper being sold at a premium. Although copper is traded as a commodity, smart money would always invest in such a rare and strategic metal, bearing in mind that ores as lean as 0.2% are considered commercially viable. As for carpet, never understood why it's necessary to replace them annually? When I lived over there, the apartment manager offered to replace them as an inducement to signing the lease! There are companies than can return them to new after a decade of use. This is what we need to aim for in PCs - new uses, reconfiguring, recycling, etc - and please, no BTX or Vista!!! We don't need to feed these greedy monsters and their evil leverage schemes.
Incidentally, when I last visited your southern neighbour, I was surprised to see large skeins of s/h copper wire and other scrap copper being sold at a premium. Although copper is traded as a commodity, smart money would always invest in such a rare and strategic metal, bearing in mind that ores as lean as 0.2% are considered commercially viable. As for carpet, never understood why it's necessary to replace them annually? When I lived over there, the apartment manager offered to replace them as an inducement to signing the lease! There are companies than can return them to new after a decade of use. This is what we need to aim for in PCs - new uses, reconfiguring, recycling, etc - and please, no BTX or Vista!!! We don't need to feed these greedy monsters and their evil leverage schemes.
Sage, in another thread you imply that softmodems are worthless trash which have no purpose other than to serve as landfill, and should always instantly be replaced by external modems. I hate to mention it, but it seems to me that your parsimony in this thread contradicts with your position on softmodems. 
Last edited by Flash on Fri 28 Oct 2005, 13:55, edited 1 time in total.