Installing OpenSUSE 12.3 on a really old laptop

[Kymps]

Hey!

I recently got a really old laptop (Toshiba Sattelite something) to my possession. It has Win XP installed, but it runs really slow, so I decided I'd try using OpenSUSE on it.

The computer can boot from either HDD, network, or CD. It does not have a DVD drive and the Wi-Fi card does not work. I tried installing from USB DVD drive using the Windows installer the DVD has, but it was really slow.

I have a external HDD, which has other data on it (I cannot format it) and a 2GB flash drive. Is it possible to install Opensuse 12.3 from either of those? If not, can I install a older version of OpenSUSE from those or a CD?

[vazhavandan]

Does your BIOS support boot from USB ?
If yes then you can download one of the LIve ISOs from here software.opensuse.org: Download openSUSE 12.3
Write it onto your pen drive using imagewriter https://en.opensuse.org/Live_USB_stick and try out the LIVE OS and check whether your hardware works .
If it works you can reboot and install openSUSE 12.3

[Kymps]

As I said, it can only boot from HDD, network or CD.

[robin_listas]

On 2013-04-10 11:06, Kymps wrote:
>
> As I said, it can only boot from HDD, network or CD.

Well, the only CD install media for 12.3 is the network install CD.

Alternatively, there is in the current or perhaps the old wiki, some
instructions on how to run the installation without a boot CD. I have
never used those.


--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 "Asparagus" at Telcontar)

[vazhavandan]

On 2013-04-10 11:06, Kymps wrote:
>
> As I said, it can only boot from HDD, network or CD.

Well, the only CD install media for 12.3 is the network install CD.

Alternatively, there is in the current or perhaps the old wiki, some
instructions on how to run the installation without a boot CD. I have
never used those.


--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 "Asparagus" at Telcontar)

I think the 12.2 version of openSUSE live images do fit on cds. 12.3 doesn't fit on cds

[DenverD]

On 04/10/2013 08:06 AM, Kymps wrote:
> It has Win XP installed, but it runs really slow, so I
> decided I'd try using OpenSUSE on it.

i do not know the purpose of your experiment....that is, are you just
trying to see *if* you can install it, or are you wanting to actually
install and use Linux on that computer??

i mention this because i notice this is your fist post here (by the
way -=WELCOME=- new user) and it has been said for YEARS how much
faster Linux is when compared to Windows...

BUT: if you recognize that XP is a 12 year old operating system
(which is running very slowly), and openSUSE 12.3 is less than a
month old--and FAR more technically capable than Window8, then you
have to anticipate that openSUSE will need MORE resources than you
probably have..and, may run as slowly, or nearly so, as XP....maybe
even more slow....or NOT at all..

so, if you are trying to install openSUSE 12.3 to "try out linux"
then STOP--i can pretty much assure you will not like it....on the
other hand there _are_ Linux distribution specifically made to need
very few resources, i would highly recommend you try one of
those....two spring to mind Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux.org/ or **** Small Linux
<ttp://www.****smalllinux.org/

by the way the resource requirements for 12.3 are

Pentium* III 500 MHz or higher processor (Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or higher
or any AMD64 or Intel* EM64T processor recommended)
512 MB physical RAM (1 GB recommended)
3 GB available disk space (more recommended)
800 x 600 display resolution (1024 x 768 or higher recommended)

cite:
http://doc.opensuse.org/documentatio...lquick.sysreqs

--
dd
openSUSE®, the "German Engineered Automobile" of operating systems!

[DenverD]

On 04/10/2013 03:39 PM, dd wrote:
> **** Small Linux http://www.****smalllinux.org/

prudish, victorian, silly "naughty" word detector!!

try this: DÅMN Small Linux http://bit.ly/10itu7

--
dd

[robin_listas]

On 2013-04-10 15:58, dd wrote:
> On 04/10/2013 03:39 PM, dd wrote:
>> **** Small Linux http://www.****smalllinux.org/
>
> prudish, victorian, silly "naughty" word detector!!

Put it inside code tags, instead of url tags ;-)

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 "Asparagus" at Telcontar)

[nrickert]

I recently got a really old laptop (Toshiba Sattelite something) to my possession. It has Win XP installed, but it runs really slow, so I decided I'd try using OpenSUSE on it.

I have a Toshiba Sattelite A65, purchased around 2004.

It came with 192M of memory. If that's all you have, then you might have problems. But, fortunately, I added 1G of memory back in 2007.

I install from a USB. For that, I had to first install PLOP Boot Manager. I installed that to run from the WinXP boot manager. When I get the PLOP prompt, I type in "U" and that starts a USB boot in USB 1.1 compatibility mode. That's the only way I can get it to work, though it is a USB 2.0 port.

Maybe that works for you. Or maybe not. But it is something you can try.

[hendersj]

On Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:06:06 +0000, Kymps wrote:

> As I said, it can only boot from HDD, network or CD.

Go take a look at "Plop Boot Manager" (http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/
index.html) - this can be used to boot from USB drives on systems whose
BIOS doesn't support it (you burn plpboot to a CD and boot the CD, then
in turn you get an option to boot from the USB drive).

That said, I'd be concerned about this laptop's power - memory, CPU, etc
on the Satellite series that I'm familiar with would be inadequate to run
openSUSE with a GUI (you might get lxde or xfce to run as they're
lightweight desktops), but performance isn't going to be great.

Jim



--
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C