I made the serious mistake of thinking that I should upgrade my MEPIS 3.4 (from more than 2 years ago) to something more current. This is a great laptop (PII, 266 MHz, built to last) but it is old. Here are results so far:

AntiX - Like it a lot - VERY FAST on this machine. Can't get sound to work (a known issue for the 600e with many/most distros - even 2 years ago). Worse: I MUST use non graphical login - graphical login fails to execute - possibly because of errors in trying to set up sound during boot, but this is just a guess. I removed large log files - no effect. And to be sure- Anti has been helpful in suggesting sound fixes for AntiX - I like the ease of alsaconf (see TinyFlux note below) so much that I haven't tried them yet.

MEPIS 7.0 - Sloooowww on this machine, and same sound issue as AntiX (not surprising as AntiX is MEPIS based).

GoblinX - a beautiful distro, with a strange file structure (strange compared to what I'm used to, anyway). Managed a hard-drive install, but boot fails. Maybe I screwed up the GoblinX bootloader instructions....

TinyFlux: Sound works (I'm so happy!) - running alsaconf -l (-l for legacy cards) as root and selecting CS4236 my sound system is set up flawlessly (just like MEPIS 3.4; FYI this works in TinyMe as well). Managed to install the apps that I need using Synaptic (emacs, TeX, gnumeric, and a few others) but then - disaster: Boot fails. It worked once or twice, but then started hanging up at the point in the script where it says"Installing localhost hostname" or something like that - unfortunately I have since removed TinyFlux and am trying AntiX again). This error occurred repeatedly, and of course a nonbooting system is no good to me.

MEPIS 3.4 - I tried to go back - what a mistake. It installed fine, but Synaptic requires lots of upgrades as I install other apps, and the system became unstable. Clearly unless I find a repository with OLD apps and their dependencies I cannot go back to MEPIS 3.4.

So that's where I stand. I would like to use TInyFlux or AntiX, but I need to overcome the boot problems with both, and the sound problem with AntiX.

Suggestions are welcome.

-tip184
(also posting this on the TinyFlux forum - sorry for the excessive use of bandwidth)

Hi! I used 3.4.3 for about two years at school on several machines -- i loved it! I DO like 7.0 better, but NOT on an older machine.

You could try buying the 3.4.3"extras" CDs from the Mepis store - you may have to ask them about it. Alternatively, let me know on this forum if you get desperate and i will send you a copy of my three CDs.

ANTIX is great! I have encountered some graphical difficulties with both Mepis and antiX tho' -- and after trying many boot options, i just installed new cards on those machines (not forgetting to change the BIOS settings)...sigh.

You could use the old Mepis"Lite" - it uses KOffice, but you might be able to put AbiWord on it.

Lastly -- my"other" love is Puppy. It's not based on Debian or Slackware or anything. It will work on almost any machine with 128mb RAM. (Push the space bar IMMEDIATELY when the first screen starts loading so you can read the directions!!) There are many versions of it, but the current release should do you fine, then you can add packages to it. It's every bit as fast as antiX and EXTREMELY well supported, like Mepis/antiX. Tuxxmine, GrafPup, and Pizza Pup are some popular spin-offs of Puppy. Check out puppylinux.org or puppylinux.com.

Oh, yeah -- DreamLinux isn't heavy and is quite a charmer; Absolute linux may be another option but i can't speak from experience. It's #36 at DistroWatch. You can check their home page. All the above distros are live/install, except i don't think absolute runs off the CD.

Since posting this I have tried (or retried) many of the distros that I mentioned. TinyFlux was most promising, but yesterday I managed to make the entire hard drive inaccessible (mostly my own fault in trying to get TinyFlux to boot reliably by switching to a ReiserFS). Good thing I had backed up my /home partition....

I might yet go back to Antix. I'm using a laptop and I don't think changing the graphic cards is a viable option. I can live with nongraphic booting if it is reliable, but I would really like sound.

Emacs and TeX are necessities for me - do you know if the lighter distros that you mention (Puppy, Dream or Absolute) have easily installed emacs and TeX packages?

Hmm - idk but i found these with a quick google search for"puppy linux emacs tex" -- hope they help.


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You may wish to post some questions on the
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.

Also, i am curious -- have you tried using the antiX CD"live?" If you choose the"alpha" option (2nd from top at boot screen) you can make changes, tweak settings, install packages, etc. Of course, you'll want to keep a pen and paper handy to write down the configurations that work for you -- all will be lost upon reboot. However, it's a great way to experiment with the distro - you start with the default settings, experiment, and if you goof up, reboot and it's like Etch-A-Sketch - you get a clean slate to try again. When you find all the settings that work for you and have them written down, then you can install and adjust from your notes. (You can tell i am NO good at keeping things in my head...)

Keep me posted! __{{emoticon}}__

At one time, the newer version of SaxenOS was going to be a Mepis-based distro for slightly older systems. It was talked about as a midrange compromise between antiX and full-blown Mepis 7. But the talk has disappeared--possibly because the development of antiX has covered the bases already.

But you might check the Saxen website from DistroWatch to see if it has what you're looking for.

Don't know how you made out or if you are still watching this forum, but another distro i like is
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. There are several versions, from a full-blown KDE SOHO ed. to the standard versions with lighter wm's and apps. There's a comparison of their versions
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Thanks for the replies. After convincing myself that I should try Puppy I found that I miss apt-get (synaptic) too much. I tried TinyFlux until I found that it frequently would hang-up during the boot process (and I inadvertently fubared my system so badly by trying to convert from Ext3 to ReiserFS that I had to reformat the entire drive). Having done so, I tried antiX again, and I think I'll stay. It now allows a graphical login with no problem, but I still don;t have sound working. I'll make a concerted effort based on info that anti and others have already provided. I know that the machine is capable of great sound - it's annoying that setting it up proves so difficult. Alsaconf -l works so well on TinyFlux and some other ditros....

Thanks again to all of you. I expect to be on the forum frequently!

See if you can get us the info on the graphics card.

lspci--- should tell us what it is or

lshw-- but this has to be installed.

eriefisher

I'm not sure why you want the graphics card info, but lspci reports Neomagic Corporation NM2200 (MagicGraph 256AV). Graphics seem to work fine.

Sound card is reported incorrectly by lspci as Cirrus Logic CS 4610/11 - it is actually a CS 4236 - misidentification is a known problem for this computer. Alsaconf will attempt to set up CS4236 but it is not successful. In TinyFLux and in MEPIS 3.4 alsaconf worked.

Thanks for input.

Sorry, I meant you sound card. I was confused.

I have the same chip in an old desktop here and I can't get to work either. I ended up using an old used sound card(aureal) I bought for $10. Actually I don't even use this one anymore now that I look at it.

You could try to compile the driver from source. Who knows it might work.

eriefisher

You said that you've tried"TinyFlux" (Which is a great little distro) but what about"TinyMe"? It's OpenBox based, and i have found it to be excellent..... as good (in it's own RPM way) as antiX. It also uses Synaptic, and although the repos don't carry anywhere near as many progs as the Debian distros, there's still plenty of choice there & they're growing all the time.

Have you also ever tried just doing a"Minimal" Ubuntu install and going from there, adding whatever you need & tailoring the system as you would like it?

There's a Server install, which is just a base Ubuntu system, and also (although i haven't tried this yet myself) a"Base" install iso (Ubuntu) which is only about 9mb in size, and the rest is downloaded from the Net.

Also, maybe"MiniMe" (PCLOS based) would work? I know it's using the KDE libs etc, but it's a very good place to start from and also has the KDE Control Centre which helps to configure your system. __{{emoticon}}__

Other than that, Puppy or DSL are good, although as you mentioned earlier the lack of Synaptic etc is a real bind.

Is the sound card that you're having a problem with, PCI, ISA or onboard? Is there anyway that you can just add something like a Creative card, where the drivers are readily available?

There's a Server install, which is just a base Ubuntu system, and also (although i haven't tried this yet myself) a"Base" install iso (Ubuntu) which is only about 9mb in size, and the rest is downloaded from the Net.

I did this once with a server install and installed ICEwm. It was still nowhere near as good as Antix ans far as speed and usability. Too much going on underneath Ubuntu to be light weight.

eriefisher

eriefisher wrote: I did this once with a server install and installed ICEwm. It was still nowhere near as good as Antix as far as speed and usability. Too much going on underneath Ubuntu to be light weight.

Have to agree there..... __{{emoticon}}__ I haven't found much at all to touch antiX in almost every way, with the exception of"TinyMe" which i have found to be an exceptional package & a delight to use. I find i'm often flipping between the two just because it's fun to do, and also to see the different ways that they have of doing the same thing.

I guess an Arch based minimal install could possibly be leaner. Arch is very sleek and fast, and lends itself towards the whole"Self Build" approach rather well.

I tried the Flux version of Linux Mint a couple of days ago, and although it's good and has much of the"Mintiness" that makes Mint a few cuts above Plain Ubuntu, it's still far too heavy to be called"Light", even with Fluxbox. __{{emoticon}}__

I tried both TinyFlux and Tiny Me, and many other distros in the past week: xubuntu, fluxbuntu, Goblinx, puppy.... In one of them (so many to recall and I didn't take notes) letters in emacs were replaced by square boxes - I think a known problem with ubuntu-based distros that can be overcome, but I was too lazy to try to figure it out. Fluxbuntu was iiinnncccrrreeeddibbllyyy sloooooow to boot after a hd install.

Anyway - antiX it is The sound card in this machine is really quite good when it works (as it did under MEPIS 3.4, TinyFlux/Me, and I think GoblinX if I recall correctly). So, I will be resigned to live without sound but with a stable, nice-working distro (antiX) until I have the insight to get the card working.

I'll keep checking back for the ANSWER. Thanks!

I tried both TinyFlux and Tiny Me, and many other distros in the past week: xubuntu, fluxbuntu, Goblinx, puppy.... In one of them (so many to recall and I didn't take notes) letters in emacs were replaced by square boxes - I think a known problem with ubuntu-based distros that can be overcome, but I was too lazy to try to figure it out. Fluxbuntu was iiinnncccrrreeeddibbllyyy sloooooow to boot after a hd install.

Anyway - antiX it is The sound card in this machine is really quite good when it works (as it did under MEPIS 3.4, TinyFlux/Me, and I think GoblinX if I recall correctly). So, I will be resigned to live without sound but with a stable, nice-working distro (antiX) until I have the insight to get the card working.

I'll keep checking back for the ANSWER. Thanks!