Re: Starting with Linux
From: BobS (spam_at_spam.com)
Date: 11/15/05
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Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 04:39:05 GMT
Valentin,
My experience level with SUSE Linux is about zip but the min requirements
for ver 10 is a Pentium 1 with 256Mb memory.... I think he has a hardware
anomaly going on and that maybe, his upgrading to ver 10 (over 7.3 I'm
assuming) may have created some problems. Going back to 7.3 may correct the
problem but I seriously doubt any version of an operating system runs that
slow - even on a minimally configured system.
I think starting with a clean slate with version 10 should be tried if
setting the DMA does not work. Point of interest - if the hardware is
really old, the drives may not support DMA transfers and that will also slow
things down as well as possibly corrupt files. It did under Windows. The
version 10 documentation states that DMA is turned on by default for all
hard drives and left off for CD drives during installation.
He needs to find out if the all the drives do in-fact support DMA and then
set them accordingly. But beware that turning DMA on for a hard drive that
does not support DMA does have the potential for corrupting the boot files
and others - as I learned the hard way...
Do you recall if 7.3 turned DMA on or off for installation? I'll be testing
version 10 on an older box (P3, 300MHz, 256Mb) just to see how it runs. I
also have a P3, 800MHz system I can play with and I have an assortment of
hard drives - including some older SCSI drives I plan to test. I plan to
use the Linux box as a file server for my office and whatever else I can off
load to it such as backup storage for drive images. It better run like a
red-tailed fox or it gets the boot from here.
If WinXP, as much as a hog as it is, runs acceptably on this old hardware
(and it does), Linux should be able to run circles around it. Just my
two-cents and I hope he follows-up with a post that tells us what the fix
was.
Hopefully you'll respond to some of my future posts when I'm waist deep in
alligators and looking for help to drain the swamp....;-)
Bob S.
"Valentin Guillen" <usenet1@myrealbox.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.11.15.02.29.58.43348@myrealbox.com...
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 01:15:59 +0000, rod s wrote:
>
>
>
>>
>> There may be a clue in the boot process when amongst all the many lines
>> of
>> writing is one which refers to DMA not being enabled on the hard disk. I
>> cannot read the detail of this as the writing scrolls too quickly.
>
> Another poster has addressed the issue of DMA access on your system.
>
>> Alas I find that the new version is so slow - like walking through a lake
>> of treacle. It takes about 15 min to boot and all actions - like bringing
>> down a menu take about a minute. Version 7.3 worked quite quickly - if
>> anything faster than Windows.
>
> What we haven't addressed here is the question of your *hardware*; i.e.
> the speed and age of your computer system. If you had 7.3 from some time
> ago, and it has been on your hard drive for all this time, that indicates
> to me that your hardware is several years old.
>
>> Could this be a clue and does anyone have a solution... or do I forget
>> about version 10 and go back to version 7.3?
>
> I remember 7.3 fondly.....
>
> Here's my advice: Enable the DMA access on the hard drive, and ascertain
> whether this makes any appreciable difference in the speed. My guess is
> that it will not. That then brings us to your very observant question,
> the decision about whether to revert back to 7.3 Version 7.3 was
> optimized for hardware which was current at the time of its release.
>
> This is the rub: Current releases of both Windoz, OSX, and Linux are
> really dependent upon today's generation of processor speeds, common
> memory usage quantities, etc. Today's software runs like molasses, if at
> all, on previous generations of processors and RAM memory ammounts. You
> are witnessing this first hand. Don't let any amount of posts here
> attempt to convince you otherwise. So if it is older hardware, I would
> really recommend you revert back to 7.3. The trade off is this: There
> are many programs which, after learning a bit about Linux, you may wish to
> use. They will in all probablility, not be available for such an old
> distribution. I sure wouldn't let that stop me. The distribution of 7.3
> came with a full stable of software, all of it emminently usable, even
> today. You may not find a repository of additional software on ftp
> servers anymore, of that age, to supplement your base software which is on
> the CD, but that is not really much of an issue.
>
> Your quest is to *learn* Linux, and that version, with all of the software
> available on the CD, is sufficient to surf, do Multimedia, Office-related
> word processing, etc. Certainly there are several categories of
> specialized software you may not find currently available for a distro of
> that age, but anything you're likely to want to do as a novice, or
> intermediate level learner of the OS, you'll be able to do with the base
> software selection which you'll find on the CD. And there may be other
> posters here who know of ftp archive sites where you can find additional
> software available for that release. The more you learn of Linux's vast
> possiblities, the more impetus it will provide you to eventually upgrade
> your hardware, and your SuSE version, at some point in the future.
>
> My 7.3 provided me, back then, with a full range of possibilities
> regarding all I wanted or was able to do. So certainly don't let the
> *mere* age of the distribution be a deterrent to using it and learning to
> use SuSE. You'll find KDE to be fully functional, and you'll even find
> GNOME there too, albeit far less refined and developed than today's GNOME.
>
> And remember that we're all here to serve as your guide and mentor in your
> new learning quest! I have a nearly complete archive of all of the SuSE
> distributions beginning with version 6. I may even load an older version
> on one of my old boxes, just to be able to provide guidance.
>
> I sincerely hope that this advice will serve both to inspire you with
> whichever version you decide on, and that it will also guide you in making
> an informed decision regarding which way to proceed!
>
> Regards, and the best of luck on your new quest...
>
> Valentin
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