Caluser2000 wrote on 2020-05-22, 04:59:

A bit of reminiscing today. Popped over to Uncreative Labs to have a look at an old thread of mine from 2008. http://uncreativelabs.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph … highlight=linux

Boy things have moved along a lot since then. That system is dead now but I do has a similar form factor Compaq P75 system to take over from it.

It's interesting how many posters on that forum ended up here, almost feels like there was an exodus or something..

appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-22, 07:03:

Caluser2000 wrote on 2020-05-22, 04:59:

A bit of reminiscing today. Popped over to Uncreative Labs to have a look at an old thread of mine from 2008. http://uncreativelabs.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph … highlight=linux

Boy things have moved along a lot since then. That system is dead now but I do has a similar form factor Compaq P75 system to take over from it.

It's interesting how many posters on that forum ended up here, almost feels like there was an exodus or something..

A few over at the vcfed forums as well.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-22, 07:02:

darry wrote on 2020-05-22, 05:14:

I boot Lubuntu from CD when I need something modern on my main retro rig (Pentium 3). Mainly used it for fdisk and mkfs.vfat . Impressive that it runs a GUI on 512MB of RAM with no swap .

I use Puppy Linux 4.1.2 Retro for that, it's a million times faster and works on even 64MB systems with a GUI.

Thanks, I'll give that a try .

Back in the day, around 1993-1994 at college, I tinkered with linux via 1.44mb floppy disks, Not too many, and had a fat book. Linux on that LTE 386s/20 I had got prompt going, then set up X and ran it. I got far as I got to grey screen with "X" for an cursor that does not move. Years later, I didn't realize I succeeded, but didn't know since the book ended at the setting up windows X (forgot the name). And needed desk top manager and all the goodies to install and setup were needed and book did no have that. Oh well.

Cheers,

Is it possible to update the kernel for Mandrake 7.1? Or do I need an upgraded version of Mandrake?

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 03:53:

Is it possible to update the kernel for Mandrake 7.1? Or do I need an upgraded version of Mandrake?

That probably depends entirely on what sort of upgrade you want to do. I doubt you can just drop in a kernel from twenty years after the distro's release and expect everything to work correctly.

I'm mainly trying to get sound to work.

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 16:03:

I'm mainly trying to get sound to work.

What hardware are you using?

I'm using an Aureal Vortex 1 card, along with a P3@500MHz and a Voodoo 3

Use a more modern version of linux. Debian or Duvian Jessie should work fine on that system. and you have more choice of software to install as well.

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 16:03:

I'm mainly trying to get sound to work.

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 17:13:

I'm using an Aureal Vortex 1 card, along with a P3@500MHz and a Voodoo 3

Don't you think it would have been easier if you mentioned this in your first post?

Do you have some reason to believe updating your kernel will get sound to work?

The system throws out a message about sound not being supported by the kernel. I don't know if that's true or not, but it was worth asking about.

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 22:18:

The system throws out a message about sound not being supported by the kernel. I don't know if that's true or not, but it was worth asking about.

Generally, it's easier to get help for whatever issue you're having if you mention the hardware and OS upfront. Older Linux can be a bit flakey with hardware support eg. Linux didn't support USB until 2.4 kernel in 2001. Anyway, like Caluser2000 said, you should be OK with Debian/Devuan Jessie.

TechieDude wrote on 2020-12-10, 14:42:

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-05, 22:18:

The system throws out a message about sound not being supported by the kernel. I don't know if that's true or not, but it was worth asking about.

Generally, it's easier to get help for whatever issue you're having if you mention the hardware and OS upfront. Older Linux can be a bit flakey with hardware support eg. Linux didn't support USB until 2.4 kernel in 2001. Anyway, like Caluser2000 said, you should be OK with Debian/Devuan Jessie.

Yea more hardware seems to be supported than the other Distros of that period, as well as being a lot leaner from the get go. I delete any reference to Xandros Networks wrt to installing software and add Debian Sarge repo archives. There were Open Circulation versions which any one could use as well as the boxed retail version. Great Windows network support as well.

And I agree if you have an issue list all your hardware specs. This goes for ANY OS/software/hardware issue old or new.

What kernel does Mandrake Linux 9.1 use? That might be a better choice over Mandrake 7.1, I think?

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-10, 17:24:

What kernel does Mandrake Linux 9.1 use? That might be a better choice over Mandrake 7.1, I think?

https://www.linux-distros.com/mandrake-9-0/

Caluser2000 wrote on 2020-12-10, 17:35:

[https://www.linux-distros.com/mandrake-9-0/

Definitely bookmarking that site.

I think kernel 2.4 supports a wider range of hardware?

RetroLizard wrote on 2020-12-11, 00:27:

I think kernel 2.4 supports a wider range of hardware?

Yes it does. 2.6 even more....

My first and only Linux experience was Slackware 1.0, loaded off about 60 floppies onto a 486. Never really got my head around it. That was when I was first getting into computers. Going to try a few more recent distros on a 775 system some time, but will probably never move away from Windows on my main PC.