Antix on an old MB CV860A with Via C3 800 MHz processor

bingel · posted: 2017-03-15 09:05

Hello,

I have installed Antix (latest version) in an old MB CV860A with Via C3 (Samuel) 800 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM. This processor doesn't support"pae","cx8" and"cmov".

1st problem):

This processor has problems with grub2 (it is necessary to disable its internal cache in BIOS othervise system reboots infinitely when attempting to load grub) so I decided to replace grub2 with grub-legacy (that doesn't has grub2 problems). However, also disabling internal cache, system needs a lot of time to load grub2 menu (maybe too much graphics?).

These the commands used to install grub-legacy:

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sudo apt-get install grub-legacy
sudo grub-install /dev/sda
sudo update-grub

Unfortunately second command doesn't run (it doesn't emitted any output for a long time so I had to stop it).

2nd problem):

- I need to use this old system to setup a faxserver with hylafax. For this I don't need graphics so I would like to know how to transform Antix in a server (disable desktop manager, etc.) in way not lost time during the long boot process (my machine is very old)

- Moreover:

- Is there a lighter kernel to install from repos?

- I would like to disable graphics also in console mode (ctrl+alt+F1)

Thanks in advance and excuse me for my poor English

rokytnji · posted: 2017-03-15 11:58

SMXI can install older kernels from Debian <older kernels are smaller, hence lighter>. Keep your working kernel as backup though. In case it does not boot up or something stops working
Grub will have to edited of course or use grub menu manually to boot into older kernel. Newer krernels make the top of the menu in grub.

Use my sticky on how to find out what smxi is and how to use it.

how-to-search-for-a-solution-when-you-have-a-antix-problem-t5387.html

If you don't want a gui. Maybe you should have started with a AntiX core iso install.
Your English is not so bad. Howdy and Welcome from the local motorcycle guy here.

dolphin_oracle · 15 Mar 2017, 13:18 #3 2017-03-15 13:18

you might want to consider antiX-13.2 instead of antiX 16.1. Its older, debian-wheezy based, and it uses grub-legacy by default instead of grub2. Its my go-to for really old stuff. Much lighter, and uses a 3.7 kernel.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Final/antiX-13.2/"
linktext was:"https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix- ... ntiX-13.2/"
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SamK · posted: 2017-03-15 13:44

bingel wrote:Is there a lighter kernel to install from repos?

Yes.

antiX offers its own legacy kernel which is often better suited to older kit. It is available from the antiX Control Centre but as you are having problems you could try installing it directly from the repo via the command line. Both the headers and image are needed.

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apt-cache search 3.7.10-antix.8
linux-headers-3.7.10-antix.8-486-smp - Linux kernel headers for 3.7.10-antix.8-486-smp on i386
linux-image-3.7.10-antix.8-486-smp - Linux kernel, version 3.7.10-antix.8-486-smp

bingel · posted: 2017-03-15 13:56

Thank You for your replies.

In the meantime I already found and installed the older 3.7.10 kernel however I've also installed the old good"lilo" in place of grub and disabled graphics (desktop environment). Now no problem also with the most recent kernel (I think disabling also some unused services my system will be definitively OK).

Thank You again.