Choppy is on a dial-up connection. Though it's possible, the likelihood that the connection would be broken during the long period of time required to download the packages during the install would be too great.
Safer to download the disks and install off-line. Once the base install is done, adding and upgrading packages should require much less time. John Hebert Matt wrote: > What about making a boot disk and doing a network install? > > Matt > > Chopin Cusachs wrote: > >> >> It is maxed out on memory -- can't support any more than the 32MB it has. >> >> Wonder how many floppies it would take to port Debian to the box -- it >> has >> no CD capability. Might be able to get a parallel port CD to run..... >> >> Guess I could hook an external modem to serial port. >> >> Looks like a challenge and learning experience. >> >> At 08:25 AM 11/26/03 -0600, you wrote: >> >>> Hmmm... that's a tall order. The small amount of memory is going to >>> make running a GUI painful. You should definitely shop around on Ebay >>> for laptop memory for it. And of course the small hard drive will >>> limit you. There may be larger hard drives available. >>> >>> You probably want to read these: >>> http://www.linux-laptop.net/ >>> http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Laptop-HOWTO.html >>> http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/4mb-Laptops.html >>> >>> I recommend a minimal install of Debian and tell it _not_ to install >>> everything and the kitchen sink at the first reboot. There are other >>> Linux distributions out there: TinyLinux, PeanutLinux, etc., that are >>> suited for old laptops but they require more Linux knowhow than >>> Debian to add software. Use Blackbox|Openbox|Fluxbox as your window >>> manager. >>> >>> Even if you don't add any new hardware to it, you should first decide >>> which word processor and spreadsheet apps you will want to use. >>> OpenOffice won't run well at all with 32MB as it needs Java running, >>> which is a resource pig. I'd say you need at least 64MB for >>> OpenOffice. And running Gnumeric will require Gnome, which is another >>> resource pig. >>> >>> If I were you, I would look for a text mode word processor and >>> spreadsheet app, which will run great on such an old laptop. And the >>> text mode browser "links" does a good job at correctly formatting >>> HTML. You could even run the old DOS version of Lotus123 under dosemu. >>> >>> Using text mode apps means you won't have to install X, which will >>> save you a lot of room. I've done similar installs in the past on old >>> laptops, so keep us in the loop about how it goes. You will >>> definitely learn alot about Linux trying to squeeze it on this >>> laptop! :) >>> >>> Good Luck! >>> >>> John Hebert >>> >>> Chopin Cusachs wrote: >>> >>>> I was blessed with an early Christmas present, >>>> an IBM ThnkPad from the early 1990s. It is a >>>> 486 33Mhz with 32MB of memory and a roughly >>>> 300MB hard drive. Does not support CD, but >>>> has 2.88 MB floppy drive. Battery is bad, but >>>> it runs DOS. No network, but does have serial >>>> and parallel ports. >>>> Would like to find a distribution of Linux that I >>>> could install from floppies to support word >>>> processor and spread sheet. Anyone know of >>>> something that might fit this need? >>>> Choppy >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> John Hebert >>> System Engineer >>> I T Group, Inc. >>> 225-922-4535 >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> General mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> General mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > > > > -- John Hebert System Engineer I T Group, Inc. 225-922-4535
