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Distro Recomendation Please

AWB70
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Distro Recomendation Please

Just been given a MSI Netbook U100, still finding the full spec for it but so far it seems to have an Intel Atom N270 1.6ghz 800mhz CPU and 1 gig ram. What distro would you advise putting on it where I get some features without compromising too much performance? TBH was just going to fresh install the xp home that's built in but the serial key is wiped I can only make out 10 characters.
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CX
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

I use Lubuntu 12.04 on an EeePC 900 (that's with a 900MHz Celeron CPU and 1GB RAM) that I take out on site for reprogramming Arduino boards. LXDE has a few frustrations out of the box (e.g. no easy way to create desktop shortcuts) but it works reasonably well. Responsiveness is similar to the Windows XP installation which came with it (unlicenced installation from eBay). The weak GPU means that full Ubuntu with Unity (or anything else dependant upon 3D performance/compositing) is a no go, but any of the regular 2D desktops should run fine (Gnome 2, LXDE, Xfce).
Lubuntu was installed just because I needed something up and running in a couple of hours. If I were setting the system up again I would probably choose Gnome 2 (or Mate) as the desktop environment, on either bare Debian, or Mint.
picbits
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

If your unit still has XP running, use a key recovery tool to grab the installed key then you can reinstall it if needed.
I use Ubuntu server on my older Revos with XCFE4 for my GUI which seems to work well Smiley
w23
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

My old netbook (Asus AO751h) still runs Linux Mint 9 (Standard Gnome edition), performance definitely feels better than XP (which is still installed as dual boot).
Pretty sure I originally installed Mint 8 on it but haven't bothered updating to a newer one since 9, can't say if a newer version would be as quick.
I have CrunchBang (#!) on an atom powered mini desktop and that really flies but have not had Windows, in any form, on that machine for comparison.
Call me 'w23'
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AWB70
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Thanks, will have a look at your suggestions.
Quote
If your unit still has XP running, use a key recovery tool to grab the installed key then you can reinstall it if needed.

Managed to get the key using Belarc Advisor
VileReynard
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Just try a few distros - none should cause serious problems for you.
I suggest Debian based ones such as Ubuntu, Mint etc
Try Mint 13 (a long term release).
Its got a small screen so you won't be doing any fancy graphics.
I bet XP will struggle.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

AWB70
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

I already have a copy of ubuntu 12.04 so might try that first. I know from having it on a work system with 1GIG ram it was pretty much bare minimum you can get away with although it went a lot better when switching back to gnome classic. I think my radeon 9600 card didn't get on too well with unity. Also downloading mint 13 mate, only had cinnamon version.
VileReynard
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

I think Ubuntu needs/likes quite a lot of graphics processing these days.
Try running Xbuntu - its a bit basic but doesn't ask for the graphics.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

Waldo
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Quote from: AverageWhiteBloke
Just been given a MSI Netbook U100, still finding the full spec for it but so far it seems to have an Intel Atom N270 1.6ghz 800mhz CPU and 1 gig ram.

I'm guessing the spec is largely similar to my Aspire One

[waldo@archey ~]$ inxi -v3
System:    Host: archey Kernel: 3.9.2-1-ARCH i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.0) Desktop:  Gnome  (Gtk 3.8.2) Distro: Arch Linux
Machine:  System: Acer product: AOA150 version: 1
                Mobo: Acer model: N/A Bios: Acer version: v0.3310 date: 10/06/2008
CPU:          Single core Intel Atom CPU N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB flags:
        (pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3193.97
                Clock Speeds: 1: 1600.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
          bus-ID: 00:02.0
                  X.Org: 1.14.1 driver: intel Resolution: 1024x600@60.0hz
                  GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 1.4 Mesa 9.1.2 Direct Rendering: Yes
Network:  Card-1: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
                driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
                  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: 00:1e:68:d0:b1:77
                  Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter
          (PCI-Express) driver: ath5k bus-ID: 03:00.0
                  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: 00:23:4d:02:f5:6e
Drives:      HDD Total Size: 120.0GB (4.8% used) 1: model: ST9120817AS
Info:          Processes: 138 Uptime: 7:12 Memory: 474.6/993.5MB Gcc sys: 4.8.0 Client: Shell (bash 4.2.45) inxi: 1.8.47

Pretty much any (32-bit) distro and desktop environment will work acceptably; I find Arch/GNOME3 works surprisingly well.
If Ubuntu is what you're familiar with then Ubuntu/Mint are as a good a choice as any; Xfce, MATE, and LXDE will be less resource-hungry than GNOME3.
Bodhi Linux is worth a look if you want something a little more minimalist.
AWB70
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Cheers, I tried both Mint and Ubuntu last night from live usb sticks and both functioned perfectly well without much messing about. All the bones in me are saying stick with Ubuntu which actually looks good on the smaller screen and I am familiar with it. Maybe it's time to give mint a proper run out. I've only ever tested it in VM and never had a full use setup. I can always change my mind later but at least I can say that I have tried both fully and which one I prefer.
All that's a bit in the back ground at the moment. I made a proper rocks up of the re-install of windows last night and ended up with three installs of xp on the machine  Embarrassed was tired was my excuse  Roll_eyes I know it's probably the wrong place to ask but I'm here anyway, some people seem to have one of these or similar that have posted and we're all adults here  Grin The file system seems a bit weird to me. There is a hard drive that is solely for the re-install and then another HD which I suspect is the same drive partitioned.
I have three xp's showing up in the boot screen. One is the guy I got it off, one is the fresh one I installed and the other is a failed install attempt. There is also a default windows.
Does anyone know how to remove all the installations and just leave the original? I can get into the boot.ini files using the Ubuntu live cd and edit that. I can remove boot entries for the ones that don't work but if I remove them all except the default the computer won't boot so I guess I need to keep one of the other working install. Either the one I created or the one of the guy I got it off. Once I get to that stage I could do a re-install but this time without creating another. The boot screen was so fast I don't think I read the instructions properly and installed another instead of re-installing the one that was there if that makes sense.
The other problems is once these installs are removed from the boot menu the folders are still on the computer. Anyone know which folders are safe to delete? Bit worried with having no OS to to use other than the recovery partition. If I delete something wrong on that I won't be able to get the windows back on the system. 
Waldo
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Quote from: AverageWhiteBloke
There is a hard drive that is solely for the re-install and then another HD which I suspect is the same drive partitioned.
I have three xp's showing up in the boot screen. One is the guy I got it off, one is the fresh one I installed and the other is a failed install attempt. There is also a default windows.

A 'factory reset' from the recovery partiton seems the logical solution (or am I missing something since I'm in the habit of simply nuking Windows partitions?).
AWB70
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Apparently F3 on boot up should give you the option to format but doesn't work on mine. Going into windows/i386 and winnt or something like that I can do a fresh install. Just removed the startup entries for the other installs but I'm sure the folders are still on the drive somewhere. Just trying the ubuntu live cd again at the moment.  Can't find drivers for wifi card or if there is one built in.  Says wifi b and g on the sticker but I've seen that on laptops before when they weren't. 
Waldo
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

How about a reformat of the Windows partiton from the Ubuntu LiveUSB before reinstalling from the recovery partition?
Runinng lspci from a terminal should identify the wireless card

[waldo@archey ~]$ lspci
[...]
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
VileReynard
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

In view of the small drive size, aren't you forced to have Linux or Windows?
I'd suggest you load a 64 bit install - even though you don't need it for memory access.
I have 1TB of disk - and I find it a bit limiting.  Grin
(I've got a load of video stored on it).
You can delete or create partitions with gparted.

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AWB70
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Re: Distro Recomendation Please

Quote
Runinng lspci from a terminal should identify the wireless card

Yeah mate I managed to find it using lspci, problem was I'd had a few beers and I spent two hours going round in circles thinking nothing was working only to realise that even though the drivers are installed you have press fn/f11 to switch the wifi on.  Embarrassed
Quote
In view of the small drive size, aren't you forced to have Linux or Windows?

This thing has 160gig, 40 of which is the restore drive which I'm sure I can shrink if I find out which folders contain the other installs. More than enough to dual boot.