Baslinux mailing list

[qwms-avib AT dea.spamcon.org]

Todd wrote:
> 
> I have a Thinkpad 355c.  I am not sure if that is 
> a 486sx or dx.  Maybe its an SLC?  

If it is an SX, SLC or DLC, you should use BL1.  
If it is a DX (or has copro) and you have at least 
8mb RAM, you can use BL2.

> I'd like to load the Basic Linux v.2 with hopes of 
> running X and a gui web browser, as well as telnet, 
> ftp, and maybe even mutt.

All of that can be done in v.1

> It has 259M of HD space 

That's plenty of space.

> There is a Megahertz XJ10BT PCMCIA card for networking 

You will need to install the pcmcia.tgz package (from
Slackware 3.5) for that to work.

> Can I do this on the Thinkpad 355c?  

Most Thinkpads have an "inverted floppy drive change line"
(why IBM did it this way, I don't know).  To fix it, add:
---------------
floppy=thinkpad
---------------
to the loadlin line in boot.bat  (in your DOS directory)

> I believe I have 8M RAM.

With no coprocessor (SX/SLC/DLC) and only 8mb RAM, a full
graphical browser is not viable.  You will be able to see 
individual images, but full-blown graphics is just too 
demanding.  X uses the copro for screen rendering -- you 
get a big performance hit when there is no copro.  The 
486DX (and every CPU after that) has a built-in copro.  
Add-on copros are available for 386s and 486s.

Cheers,
Steven