installing linux

[bobcat]

Hi I`ll start of bey saying i an a complete  novas with linux  i have download a number so os to iso files but only two load (vector 7.0 and
zorin 6.2)
ITis on a old advent 3208 only 256mb of RAM is this the problem or the download in to iso
i don't now how to download  from  a zip file
HELP PLEASE       

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Hi bobcat, and welcome to the forum

256MB is stretching the limits with a lot of LiveCD's .. so yes this may be the problem, but you'd have to be clearer about what you're doing with the ISO images, and when it's failing.

Do you mean the ISO image is refusing to burn to a CD, or that the CD is refusing to boot, or that the distribution will not "install" ? .. are there any error messages ? .. how far does the boot process get (what are you seeing) ? .. which distro's don't boot ? .. etc.

i don't now how to download  from  a zip file

Do you mean you don't know how to extract a .zip files contents ? .. if so, in which OS, Windows or Linux ?

--

[bobcat]

Hithe os are Watt os  Joli 1.21   Gnome 3.6.0   Puppy431.105    Fedora-9-live    Presice Puppy i burn  the iso white  Active@iso burner
but  the cd don't boot but Vector and Zorin was burnt in the same way .
Chakra booted and started a memory scan a error bad sectors and went no fetter


The problem white zip is i extract the files and don't now wot to do then don't burn in to iso

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Hmmm .. I would expect at least puppy to boot, and probably WattOS.

If you have bad memory, that could definitely explain things .. try running a memory testing application.
(a dying CD drive/burner could also explain things)

As could the speed you used for burning the disks (see below) .. What speed were you burning the disks in Active@iso burner ?

Maybe you should check the MD5 checksums of the downloaded ISO images before burning to check they downloaded properly

To do this, download this (free) application to the windows PC
http://www.md5summer.org/md5v12011.zip
unzip it, and use it to generate the MD5 hash for the ISO image .. then check it against the MD5 checksum published at the distros download page.

Help page for the MD5 application can be found here:
http://www.md5summer.org/help.html

Might also be worth trying ImgBurn to burn the ISO's ..

And ImgBurn to burn the ISO image to disk (CD or DVD):
http://download.imgburn.com/SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe

Tutorial for burning an ISO image to CD/DVD with ImgBurn here:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn

Hint - On the second picture, where it says
Write Speed: MAX
Change it to
Write Speed: X4


I'm still not sure what you mean by not knowing what to do with the unzipped files .. what files ?

Maybe it would be easier if you post a link to the zip file you're having problems with.

--

[SeZo]

In addition to what Mark said please consider the desktop environment the prospective distro uses.
Take a look at this threadfor some more suitable candidates.
According this you could expand the memory to a maximum of 3GB. Just by adding
a second 256mb memory card would give you a completely different set of choices.

[bobcat]

Hi   the  problem seems to be solved  i have re burnt   the cd`s in cdburnerxp at 4+ they  all work . in LINPUS i get error the please use kernal appropriate for your CPU but i guess that is the age of the computer
the next step is to get more RAM but Iam a 70 year old pensioner  on a tit
  budget tiring  to get to grips with technology  so thank you for your help. 

[greenian2]

Hi   the  problem seems to be solved  i have re burnt   the cd`s in cdburnerxp at 4+ they  all work . in LINPUS i get error the please use kernal appropriate for your CPU but i guess that is the age of the computer
the next step is to get more RAM but Iam a 70 year old pensioner  on a tit
  budget tiring  to get to grips with technology  so thank you for your help.

sounds like a pae issue (In computing, Physical Address Extension ( PAE) is a feature to allow 32-bit x86 processors to access a physical address space (including random access memory )) if the computer cpu is not pae enabled it wont run certain linux kernels

here are some non pae distros

vector linux (slackware based) http://www.vectorlinux.com/

solus (debian based) http://solusos.com/

pclinuxos (Independent (originaly forked from mandriva)) http://www.pclinuxos.com/

puppylinux (independant (i would not advise for a new linux user)) (PRECISE PUPPY IS BASED ON UBUNTU AND NO GOOD AS NEEDS A PROCESSOR THAT RUNS PAE ) slacko or wary will be fine if a steep learning curve http://www.puppylinux.com/

i think thease are ok for non pae

bodhi linux (based on ubuntu striped down for old computers) http://www.bodhilinux.com/

linux mint (based on ubuntu (most versions ) or debian (for the lmde  version ) http://linuxmint.com/


hope this helps

[greenian2]

i think wattos may be an option as it's new user friendly , easy to install from live disk /usb and needs low spec computer

http://www.planetwatt.com/

[greenian2]

after looking around bobcat this looks perfect for you

snowlinux (debian based)

http://www.snowlinux.de/713-snowlinux-4-cinnamon-a-e17-non-pae-released

System requirements:

    x86-CPU
    256 MB memory (Cinnamon) / 128 MB (E17)
    2 GB free disk space
    Graphics card capable of 800×600 resolution
    CD-ROM drive or USB port


if i was you i would choose the e17 one as it needs less ram and is non pae

the cinnamon iso can be downloaded here http://cdimage2.snowlinux.de/releases/stable/4/snowlinux-4-cinnamon-i386.iso

and the e17 non pae iso here http://cdimage2.snowlinux.de/releases/stable/4/snowlinux-4-e17-i386-nonpae.iso



hope this helps

[greenian2]

another option is this funny named distro bloatbodhi

http://sourceforge.net/projects/bloatbodhi/?source=directory

[greenian2]

another option for you (and no it's nothing to do with ubuntu people ) is unity linux os (based on a slimmed down mandriva for old hardware and comes with openbox wm)

http://unity-linux.org/

[greenian2]

if you are brave there's this

http://sourceforge.net/projects/archpup/?source=directory


ArchPup is innovative, small and fast distribution designed to be aesthetically pleasing and usable on every kind of hardware - on first boot it uses only 37MB of RAM so it will work flawlessly on every computer with 256MB of RAM and more. ArchPup is a distribution built using packages from Arch Linux, with custom compiled kernel for aufs support, udev and very minimal number of other packages .