GUI Pup for 128Mb. Feedback and questions.
Posted: Thu 15 Dec 2011, 11:13
GUI Pup for 128Mb. Feedback and questions.
Questions in red
I’ve just downloaded Wary 5.1.4.1, Original Puppy 2.1.4, Pup214x Top8 and TurboPupExtreme 1.0. (I’ll let Wary5.2 and Top9 settle a bit before I play with them). Each took about half an hour to download on my connection.
I understood that these were designed for older machines and I wanted to see how they performed on my old machine, a Pentium 3 with 128Mb RAM.
All four boot ok (if slowly), and access the net (if slowly), but only Original 2.1.4 will let go of the CD.
If I try to eject the disc in the other three, it refuses permission, saying that the drive is in use by Puppy. Watching a DVD is therefore out of the question.
Is this to be expected?
I imagine the RAM is too small even for these puplets, and Puppy is using the CD as a crutch. Perhaps I could fix the problem by creating a ‘swap file’ on a writable drive (don’t know how to do that - advice appreciated), but I’d much prefer to find a version of Puppy (with a Win-like GUI) that will run entirely in 128Mb RAM. The GUI is essential as I haven’t a clue how to do command line stuff.
Feedback:
Original 2.1.4
With CD removed, will just about connect to the net. The connection is unusably slow. Sites nag for updated browser and flash. YouTube access impossible.
214X Top 8
CD cannot be removed. Will just about connect to the net. The connection is unusably slow. Sites nag for updated browser. YouTube access impossible.
TurboPupExtreme 1.0
CD cannot be removed. Thought it had hung up a couple of times on boot. Slow and doesn’t talk you through what it’s doing as much as others.
Desktop is a blank screen - thought it had hung up again. Took a while to find that the icons are on the left and become visible only when you hover over them. Amusing with hindsight, perhaps, but not at the time...
Even when revealed, the icons are too small to recognise, requiring mouse hovers to find the right one.
All in all, I’m not impressed with the desktop. Clever, maybe, but a PITA, especially for noobs like me.
The connection is usable, successfully accessing Google, Wikipedia and YouTube, but it was initially difficult to find these sites as the setup is pointed by default at the Murga Forum and tries to find Google etc within the forum. Took a while to learn how to get out of the forum (by hitting the ‘Web’ tab).
It works, but sorry, it’s not for me.
Wary 5.1.4.1
CD cannot be removed. Noob-friendly splash and popup on start screen - I like it. Good for introducing your Gran to Puppy.
The connection is usable, successfully accessing Google, Wikipedia and YouTube. Definitely the best so far.
Tried it out on a newer machine with 1Gb RAM and it lets go of the CD there. Need to play about with it some more, but its universal nature could even make this my standard version...
You2pup doesn’t seem to work (even on 1Gb machine). Goes through the motions, tells me it’s downloaded (too quickly), but there’s nothing saved, not even a partial. Any ideas?
So, after performing these tests, I still haven’t found a GUI Puppy that will sit solely in 128Mb RAM and access Youtube.
Can anyone recommend a Puppy that will?
Is it even possible?
Thanks.
Questions in red
I’ve just downloaded Wary 5.1.4.1, Original Puppy 2.1.4, Pup214x Top8 and TurboPupExtreme 1.0. (I’ll let Wary5.2 and Top9 settle a bit before I play with them). Each took about half an hour to download on my connection.
I understood that these were designed for older machines and I wanted to see how they performed on my old machine, a Pentium 3 with 128Mb RAM.
All four boot ok (if slowly), and access the net (if slowly), but only Original 2.1.4 will let go of the CD.
If I try to eject the disc in the other three, it refuses permission, saying that the drive is in use by Puppy. Watching a DVD is therefore out of the question.
Is this to be expected?
I imagine the RAM is too small even for these puplets, and Puppy is using the CD as a crutch. Perhaps I could fix the problem by creating a ‘swap file’ on a writable drive (don’t know how to do that - advice appreciated), but I’d much prefer to find a version of Puppy (with a Win-like GUI) that will run entirely in 128Mb RAM. The GUI is essential as I haven’t a clue how to do command line stuff.
Feedback:
Original 2.1.4
With CD removed, will just about connect to the net. The connection is unusably slow. Sites nag for updated browser and flash. YouTube access impossible.
214X Top 8
CD cannot be removed. Will just about connect to the net. The connection is unusably slow. Sites nag for updated browser. YouTube access impossible.
TurboPupExtreme 1.0
CD cannot be removed. Thought it had hung up a couple of times on boot. Slow and doesn’t talk you through what it’s doing as much as others.
Desktop is a blank screen - thought it had hung up again. Took a while to find that the icons are on the left and become visible only when you hover over them. Amusing with hindsight, perhaps, but not at the time...
Even when revealed, the icons are too small to recognise, requiring mouse hovers to find the right one.
All in all, I’m not impressed with the desktop. Clever, maybe, but a PITA, especially for noobs like me.
The connection is usable, successfully accessing Google, Wikipedia and YouTube, but it was initially difficult to find these sites as the setup is pointed by default at the Murga Forum and tries to find Google etc within the forum. Took a while to learn how to get out of the forum (by hitting the ‘Web’ tab).
It works, but sorry, it’s not for me.
Wary 5.1.4.1
CD cannot be removed. Noob-friendly splash and popup on start screen - I like it. Good for introducing your Gran to Puppy.
The connection is usable, successfully accessing Google, Wikipedia and YouTube. Definitely the best so far.
Tried it out on a newer machine with 1Gb RAM and it lets go of the CD there. Need to play about with it some more, but its universal nature could even make this my standard version...
You2pup doesn’t seem to work (even on 1Gb machine). Goes through the motions, tells me it’s downloaded (too quickly), but there’s nothing saved, not even a partial. Any ideas?
So, after performing these tests, I still haven’t found a GUI Puppy that will sit solely in 128Mb RAM and access Youtube.
Can anyone recommend a Puppy that will?
Is it even possible?
Thanks.