loading linux on old hardware

[Eric Hattemer]

Make sure at the prompt you're using
linux text
That'll get rid of a lot of the graphical overhead, and I'm pretty sure
that's all it requires high ram for.  Also, if it has trouble detecting how
much ram you have, there's a kernel command called something like mem= or
something.  It's in that startup screen (hit F1, F2, etc.).  You might be
able to tell it you have more ram than you do, but I wouldn't suggest that.
I think the text install doesn't care how much ram you have, but it doesn't
have support for making raid arrays for some reason.  (You can make them
using raidtab, but not with disk druid).  Give that a try.

-Eric Hattemer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Warren Togami" <warren at togami.com>
To: "Linux & Unix Advocates & Users" <luau at list.luau.hi.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 2:45 AM
Subject: [luau] Re: loading linux on old hardware


> I just asked two places within Red Hat about forcing an install with low
> RAM.  I hope there is a way.  If not, then you could always do an
> installation on a bigger number, and transfer the hard drive.
>
> I'll let you know if they give me an answer...
>
> You could use one of those tiny Linux distributions, but then you lose
your
> ability of using Red Hat as the development platform from which you
develop
> software for your tiny computer.  Red Hat's new strategy (read their new
> home page) says this
>
> "Introducing one code base for the full spectrum of computing platforms -
> handheld device, thin appliance, router/gateway, workstation, server,
> advanced server, mainframe."
>
> They have embedded development tools... so I'm assuming that their
products
> should still support even the weakest compatible hardware.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Linux Robot" <linuxrobot at hotmail.com>
> To: "Linux & Unix Advocates & Users" <luau at list.luau.hi.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:35 PM
> Subject: [luau] loading linux on old hardware
>
>
> > I have some old 486's that I wanted to load linux onto, but I ran into a
> few
> > problems.  When I tried installing RedHat7.1, the installer told me that
I
> > didn't have enough system memory, and wouldn't let me continue.
RedHat6.2
> > told me to put in some driver disk which I didn't really know what they
> were
> > talking about.  My assumption was that I could run 7.1 on the 486 (I
> wasn't
> > planning on running X or any graphical stuffs), but I couldn't get
through
> > the install.  Am I going about this the wrong way?  Should I be looking
> into
> > a different linux distro or maybe a BSD or something since my hardware
is
> so
> > old?  Or is there a way to get through the RedHat installer?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > LR
>
>
>
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