[Gllug] new member....

[Stephen Harker]

Tom Hannen wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've recently got hold of an extremely old laptop, with a view to
> learning about Linux. (only used OS X and windows before).
> 
> I was wondering if I could lug it along to the next meeting?  Been
> having some trouble getting the PCMCIA ethernet NIC to work...
> 
> Tried a couple of mini-distros designed for older machines - Delilinux
> and Blueflops...  Both look promising, but are having trouble
> detecting the NIC, which is a shame as I really need it in order to
> install stuff (no CDROM drive in the laptop).  I realise it is
> ancient, but was just hoping to run Links on it for web browsing...
> 
> The details:
> 
> Compaq Contura 410C 486DX2 50MHz
> 20MB RAM 
> 400MB HDD
> 1.44MB FDD
> Two Type II PCMCIA slots currently hosting a:
> Sitecom Fast Ethernet PCMCIA 10/100MBps NIC

I have an old IBM thinkpad 486 66MHz 24MB RAM and a 500 MB HD and it 
happily runs Debian Sarge with the 2.4 kernel. Links etc work fine. 
Detects PCMCIA ethernet cards no probs.

I seem to recall it was a bit of a faff to install but I got there in 
the end. You need to install from boot floppies (ie woody or potato) and 
then dist-upgrade. Can take a LONG time but it gets there in the end.

Stephen

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