I got the 80386sx blues

[blastfurnace]

I'm a newbie to Linux. I mean NEWBIE. I couldn't find an answer to this question after searching the forum, so I'm asking you, the well-informed grasshoppers of the world. Here is my query:

A friend gave me a computer, namely a AT&T 6386SX/EL20 WGS with the classic Intel 80386sx processor. Also, it seems to have a whopping 6 MB of RAM. There is no OS on the machine, and I have no idea the size of the hard drive. My friend told me he bought this thing 11 years ago. It does have a floppy drive and modem.

Anyway, my question is fairly simple: Can Linux run on this box? If so, which version would you suggest using? I'll have more questions forthcoming, I'm sure.

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

[UltraMaroon]

Yes, Slackware (www.slackware.com) will run on that box...it only needs 4MB of RAM and like 20MB of disk space (I think) so it should run on that box...you won't be able to run X, but that's not really a bad thing http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/wink.gif

[ph34r]

You can walk linux on that box.

I have a 486sx33 laptop with just under 4mb of ram (free reports 2068 BYTES of total ram + swap) with Slack 7.1.


Check the 4mb laptop howto - basically, you create a small ext2 partition and a small swap partition first with some minidistro (I used smalllinux) and then copy the boot and root disk contents to the ext2 partition. Then boot with the bootdisk of choice - I used bareapm.i since I had a laptop - and specifiy root=/dev/hdaX (your ext2 partition). When it boots, activate the swap FIRST THING *before* running setup. Install the base + network + ssh + joe, disable all services, use a lot of swap space, change to the ash shell for everyone, and just use it as a ssh console box to your real linux machine. It will work like a champ, and will take less than 150mb including a ~32mb swap file.

[bugfix]

I'm guessing the h/d's about 40-210Mb, pop in to the BIOS and check from there, it may be useful to know before you start installing.

[kid]

The first time I installed Linux was on my first pc -- an AMD 386dx-40 which I bought 7 years ago. It had 8mb of ram and a 130mb hard disk. No cdrom, of course http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif The most popular distro at that time was Slackware so I loaded it. How did I install with no cdrom, no internet connection? I brought my hard disk to a friend who copied the Slackware installation files on it. He also made me a root disk and a boot disk.

In short, yes, Linux can run on a 386. In fact, the ability to run on old pcs is one of the selling points of Linux.

I'd recommend you try the Slackware distribution. It's not as newbie-friendly as Red Hat or Mandrake, but it's the one that will most likely fit in a small hard disk. There are smaller distros out there, like Peanut, but there are a lot more Slackware users here at LNO than Peanut users.

[blastfurnace]

Thanks for all your help! I'm filled with enthusiasm over my new Linux box