Read here. Note the use of the boot argument "puppy pfix=ram".baffledbylinux wrote:I would like to install everything to HD, and have puppy take up as much as possible, preferably all, of the HD.
Puppy just not ready for prime time
Depends on the card... there will nearly always be something to at least give you a desktop and video playback....but if you want full 3d performance on such as nvidia/ati and others you may need to add opengl and/or a propriety driver. Once you have a save or install then that helps if you need to add anything.Thank you mikeb. If I install a graphics card and boot up the puppy live cd, will it be able to install the required drivers?
Best to try it and then see what happens.
mike
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baffledbylinux
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu 22 Aug 2013, 10:21
Are you less baffled now? 
Yes happy driver + vid card does help even basic rendering.
Not sure of the state of matrox 3d support but you probably not biothered anyway...if you were grab a cheap Nvidia.
As for such as you tube look out for browser addons to download the source mp4...they will play much better.
Mike
Yes happy driver + vid card does help even basic rendering.
Not sure of the state of matrox 3d support but you probably not biothered anyway...if you were grab a cheap Nvidia.
As for such as you tube look out for browser addons to download the source mp4...they will play much better.
Mike
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baffledbylinux
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu 22 Aug 2013, 10:21
I have wasted another weekend trying to get some variety of Linux to work on an old computer.
Nothing beats Precise Puppy Retro for being able to run Adobe flash streaming video. This is because that distro makes it easy to install Opera with flash already built in. But the drawbacks are that I've tried to install it twice, and had to give up and re-format the HD both times. Another minor issue is that I find the cartoon-style icons on the desktop rather irritating - it does not seem a proper grown-up OS because of them.
I have already listed earlier in this thread several distros for old computers that I tried without any success. I'd like to add a few more to the list.
The goal is trying to get Adone Flash to work, but I've never managed it except with Precise Puppy Retro.
I've found that the only Linux versions which are going to be suitable for the low specs (and still have GUIs) are those with the LXDE desktops. Some well-known distros have little known LXDE variants which will run on older computers.
Lubuntu - it used to work OK both as a live cd and an install, but now it does not. I think this is probably due to installing an old graphics card which it does not have a driver for, as it starts up but eventually freezes with a black screen. Even before then I could not find out how to install flash. I also tried the Lubunto Alternative iso, which has a non-graphics installer suitable for small rams and it installed (after taking most of the afternoon) BUT it would only display at the smallest possible VGA monitor resolution, and the resolution was impossible to increase.
PCLinuxOS LXDE. Starts to install but eventually freezes with a black screen.
Debian LXDE - installed OK but could not discover how to get it to load Adobe Flash. Have to do something before that to allow it to use non-free software. Getting either of those done requires understanding instructions given in Mandarin, or so it seems. Installing flash as difficult as installing Puppy. Why in Dog's name has not someone written something that only requires clicking or choosing from a menu and which will then write the lines and lines and lines of unintelligible stuff at the right place for you.
Knoppix. Started up fast and automatically, with correct monitor resolution. But no obvious way to install it. There was an easy way to install flash, but it did not work. It also made the browser take several minutes to start, and there was no flash.
I wish there was a SOFIE or "Sophie" linux distro. It would work with Small rams, work on Old computers, be Fast, be easily Installable, and be Easy to use. It would have a LiveCD that you could also install from (like Debian LXDE) or at least have a separate installation CD.
After trying lots of things I have installed Debian LXDE, with Precise Puppy Retro as a LiveCD. If Precise Puppy Retro would install, I'd install that instead.
I've since found this article http://l3net.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a ... -desktops/ provides links to interesting old-computer low-spec suitable distros such as "PCFluxboxOS" which is said to have flash already installed, and "Linux Mint Fluxbox CE" which seems to be a low-resource version of Linux Mint which comes top of the Distrowatch list for being suitable for beginners.
Nothing beats Precise Puppy Retro for being able to run Adobe flash streaming video. This is because that distro makes it easy to install Opera with flash already built in. But the drawbacks are that I've tried to install it twice, and had to give up and re-format the HD both times. Another minor issue is that I find the cartoon-style icons on the desktop rather irritating - it does not seem a proper grown-up OS because of them.
I have already listed earlier in this thread several distros for old computers that I tried without any success. I'd like to add a few more to the list.
The goal is trying to get Adone Flash to work, but I've never managed it except with Precise Puppy Retro.
I've found that the only Linux versions which are going to be suitable for the low specs (and still have GUIs) are those with the LXDE desktops. Some well-known distros have little known LXDE variants which will run on older computers.
Lubuntu - it used to work OK both as a live cd and an install, but now it does not. I think this is probably due to installing an old graphics card which it does not have a driver for, as it starts up but eventually freezes with a black screen. Even before then I could not find out how to install flash. I also tried the Lubunto Alternative iso, which has a non-graphics installer suitable for small rams and it installed (after taking most of the afternoon) BUT it would only display at the smallest possible VGA monitor resolution, and the resolution was impossible to increase.
PCLinuxOS LXDE. Starts to install but eventually freezes with a black screen.
Debian LXDE - installed OK but could not discover how to get it to load Adobe Flash. Have to do something before that to allow it to use non-free software. Getting either of those done requires understanding instructions given in Mandarin, or so it seems. Installing flash as difficult as installing Puppy. Why in Dog's name has not someone written something that only requires clicking or choosing from a menu and which will then write the lines and lines and lines of unintelligible stuff at the right place for you.
Knoppix. Started up fast and automatically, with correct monitor resolution. But no obvious way to install it. There was an easy way to install flash, but it did not work. It also made the browser take several minutes to start, and there was no flash.
I wish there was a SOFIE or "Sophie" linux distro. It would work with Small rams, work on Old computers, be Fast, be easily Installable, and be Easy to use. It would have a LiveCD that you could also install from (like Debian LXDE) or at least have a separate installation CD.
After trying lots of things I have installed Debian LXDE, with Precise Puppy Retro as a LiveCD. If Precise Puppy Retro would install, I'd install that instead.
I've since found this article http://l3net.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a ... -desktops/ provides links to interesting old-computer low-spec suitable distros such as "PCFluxboxOS" which is said to have flash already installed, and "Linux Mint Fluxbox CE" which seems to be a low-resource version of Linux Mint which comes top of the Distrowatch list for being suitable for beginners.
Last edited by baffledbylinux on Mon 16 Sep 2013, 11:02, edited 3 times in total.
hi baffledbylinux,
icons are easily changed .... menu>>desktop>>desktop icon switcher
more icons here http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/index.php?f=37
most modern puppies have 'getflash' in menu>>>internet>>>getflash .. which will download and install the latest flash. for puppies that haven't got it ... getflash can be obtained here http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=74491
as for installing, what problem are you having?
icons are easily changed .... menu>>desktop>>desktop icon switcher
more icons here http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/index.php?f=37
most modern puppies have 'getflash' in menu>>>internet>>>getflash .. which will download and install the latest flash. for puppies that haven't got it ... getflash can be obtained here http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=74491
as for installing, what problem are you having?
Bionicpup64 built with bionic beaver packages http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=114311
Xenialpup64, built with xenial xerus packages http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=107331
Xenialpup64, built with xenial xerus packages http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=107331
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baffledbylinux
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu 22 Aug 2013, 10:21
I'd just like to complete my list of Linux distros I tried, none of them without problems.
I've realised that rather than choosing the Linux distro, the first thing you should do is to find out which "X window manager" your old computer has the hardware to run, and only then choose a linux distro which has a version that is based around that windows manager. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager
For old computers then Xfce or LXDE may be able to run on the low specs, for even older computers then there are several choices including Fluxbox and JWM. JWM is said to be used by Pupply Linux.
The further Linux distros I have tried are:
Salix Linux. Everything seemed to be going OK, but then it asked me for the user name and password. I had to re-start the computer to find out what they were. When I re-started Salix the graphics would not work. I was unable to register with the help forum either, despite trying several times. Despite being a livecd it must have made changes to the hard-drive.
PCfluxboxos. I tried both versions, tinyflux and midiflux. Neither of them worked. I think it is my old obscure graphics card that is causing the problems, many distros do not appear to support it. It appears to be based on PClinuxos, and I had the same problems with that.
Linux Mint Xfce. I had never expected to be able to run this on my old computer. The dvd ran as a livedvd as well as being instalable. It is listed on DistroWatch as being the easiest linux for beginners. The Xfce version, which is available in edition 13, initially ran like a dream, with almost perfect streaming video from the BBC news website, but not so good from YouTube. Flash was already pre-installed. But soon something went wrong with the graphics, which I have not been able to fix yet.
Another thing I found out is that the hardware specs required for Windows XP are lower than that for Linux. I've also found that you can buy new XP instalation disks with valid licenses for just a few pounds on ebay. So I'd been working for the equivalent of less than 50p an hour when trying to install Linux. Even Windows Millenium computers can be brought back to life by replacing the dial-up card with an ethernet card, and installing the freeware KernelEX which allows you to run XP programs such as Firefox or Opera on it.
So Puppy Linux rivals Linux Mint Xfce as a live cd when considering how well they do streaming video.
I've realised that rather than choosing the Linux distro, the first thing you should do is to find out which "X window manager" your old computer has the hardware to run, and only then choose a linux distro which has a version that is based around that windows manager. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager
For old computers then Xfce or LXDE may be able to run on the low specs, for even older computers then there are several choices including Fluxbox and JWM. JWM is said to be used by Pupply Linux.
The further Linux distros I have tried are:
Salix Linux. Everything seemed to be going OK, but then it asked me for the user name and password. I had to re-start the computer to find out what they were. When I re-started Salix the graphics would not work. I was unable to register with the help forum either, despite trying several times. Despite being a livecd it must have made changes to the hard-drive.
PCfluxboxos. I tried both versions, tinyflux and midiflux. Neither of them worked. I think it is my old obscure graphics card that is causing the problems, many distros do not appear to support it. It appears to be based on PClinuxos, and I had the same problems with that.
Linux Mint Xfce. I had never expected to be able to run this on my old computer. The dvd ran as a livedvd as well as being instalable. It is listed on DistroWatch as being the easiest linux for beginners. The Xfce version, which is available in edition 13, initially ran like a dream, with almost perfect streaming video from the BBC news website, but not so good from YouTube. Flash was already pre-installed. But soon something went wrong with the graphics, which I have not been able to fix yet.
Another thing I found out is that the hardware specs required for Windows XP are lower than that for Linux. I've also found that you can buy new XP instalation disks with valid licenses for just a few pounds on ebay. So I'd been working for the equivalent of less than 50p an hour when trying to install Linux. Even Windows Millenium computers can be brought back to life by replacing the dial-up card with an ethernet card, and installing the freeware KernelEX which allows you to run XP programs such as Firefox or Opera on it.
So Puppy Linux rivals Linux Mint Xfce as a live cd when considering how well they do streaming video.