Just Installed Fedora 10 on a $10 Computer

[puzld]

I got a 500MHz , 128MB RAM (256 now), 16GB emachine from the thrift store for ten bucks. It isn't fast but is still functional. I can play MP3/MP4s just fine after installing the appropriate software.

All hardware was recognized/works. The only problem I have found so far is Youtube videos are choppy although the audio is OK. I suppose the overhead of Firefox and associated plug-ins is just too much. I also installed the Xfce window manager but that didn't help with Youtube.

I should add this is the machine I am posting from :)

[Frank&Sense]

Well...you might not have enough video memory. My computer couldn't play movies until i got a graphics card so go get like a shit pci card thats like 64 or 128mb... but other than that, nice buy.

Wait, one more thing: TRY PLAYING DOOM ON IT!

[PirateJoe]

Should run doom with room to spare. Run half life, quake 3, and unreal tournament.

[Frank&Sense]

Should run doom with room to spare. Run half life, quake 3, and unreal tournament.
Speaking of unreal, you know of any place I could get it? preferably 2, but if not 1 is good.

[puzld]

Well...you might not have enough video memory. My computer couldn't play movies until i got a graphics card so go get like a shit pci card thats like 64 or 128mb... but other than that, nice buy.

Wait, one more thing: TRY PLAYING DOOM ON IT!

Yes, I wonder if that would do it. It does have a PCI video card, but I'm sure it is the original; I would not want to put more than a few bucks into this machine though.

Also I screwed up in my original description; it originally came with 128MB RAM and I put in 2 sticks of 256MB that I had laying around but it only recognizes 128 per stick, thus the 256MB total.

[Frank&Sense]

Also, with only 500MHz it might simply be incapable of streaming video with very high fps. Processors like that don't always handle video.

[Animal Farm Pig]

I've got an 800 MHz Duron running Debian Lenny that I use as a router, for torrents and for media (hooked up to my TV for watching movies). I'm also using XFCE on it. Mine also has trouble with Flash. I can watch South Park online, but there's still a tiny bit of choppiness to it. It's not so bad that it's unwatchable, but it's just noticeable that something isn't 100% right.

What video card do you have in it? You might try putting in an nVidia card. The closed source drivers are pretty good at off-loading work from the processor to the GPU. It could result in a decent improvement when watching video.

[Frank&Sense]

I've got an 800 MHz Duron running Debian Lenny that I use as a router, for torrents and for media (hooked up to my TV for watching movies). I'm also using XFCE on it. Mine also has trouble with Flash. I can watch South Park online, but there's still a tiny bit of choppiness to it. It's not so bad that it's unwatchable, but it's just noticeable that something isn't 100% right.

What video card do you have in it? You might try putting in an nVidia card. The closed source drivers are pretty good at off-loading work from the processor to the GPU. It could result in a decent improvement when watching video.

This

[Pavel989]

try to slash as much as u can of the OS. get older versions of GNOME or KDE or w/e ur using. Hell i got a linux server box here, thinking of completly stripping it to terminal, but u cant watch flash that way...

[pygar]

why Fedora? it's not known for its leanness. If i were in your position i would have tried zenwalk

BTW don't use older versions of GNOME or KDE there really is no point with all the choices you have. I'd use fluxbox and pcmanFM for the desktop environment and file manager. pcmanFM can also draw icons on the desktop.

[puzld]

why Fedora? it's not known for its leanness. If i were in your position i would have tried zenwalk

BTW don't use older versions of GNOME or KDE there really is no point with all the choices you have. I'd use fluxbox and pcmanFM for the desktop environment and file manager. pcmanFM can also draw icons on the desktop.

I'm not all that knowledgeable; I'll look into zenwalk. I did download DSL first but I wanted to try something that had all the bells & whistles to see how it would run. Of course the other thing about Fedora is I had to do a bit of dicking around to even get Flash, etc. to work because these are not a part of the default distribution.

Also, would there be any advantage (speedwise) of going to an older kernel; I think DSL uses 2.4, but they say it is to keep the size of the distro < 50MB.

[kelsokid18]

Get Damn Small Linux, you can almost get that onto a 1st generation flash drive and make it live boot.

[pygar]

Also, would there be any advantage (speedwise) of going to an older kernel; I think DSL uses 2.4, but they say it is to keep the size of the distro < 50MB.

You should only downgrade the kernel to get hardware working again (some modems dont work with 2.6 but are fine with 2.4 for example). The kernel isn't really a resource hog. It's the stuff around it.

play around with distros if you want, but keep in mind that small download size does not always mean it uses less resources. Best to find something optimized for performance not size.

[MunkeyQ]

My old school threw away 50 complete and working 700mhz PIII machines when they upgraded. It's depressing to see this waste when, as you found out, they're still very usable things.

I grabbed a car-load of them and gave most away to friends who needed a computer.

[phmeworp]

My old school threw away 50 complete and working 700mhz PIII machines when they upgraded. It's depressing to see this waste when, as you found out, they're still very usable things.

I grabbed a car-load of them and gave most away to friends who needed a computer.

Too true!!!
I am still running some 486 and earlier machines here on some applications, and they run just as good today as the day they came off the production line.

[13579]

What video card do you have in it? You might try putting in an nVidia card. The closed source drivers are pretty good at off-loading work from the processor to the GPU. It could result in a decent improvement when watching video.

Could this explain why I was able to play halo on a machine that had HALF the minimum system requirements in everything but graphics on full settings?

[Dfg]

Well, i have a 550MHz processor + a pretty decent board and i would rather make it a router with firewall and all other fancy stuff or a NAS but i still wouldn't install Fedora 10 on it. Go for a lighter distribution.

Fedora 10 good for P3 700Mhz onwards. (If you really want to use it i.e)