Baslinux mailing list

["Anthony J. Albert" <albert AT polaris.umpi.maine.edu>]

On 15 Jan 2004 at 10:24, James Miller wrote:
>On Thu, 15 Jan 2004, Anthony J. Albert wrote:
>> On 14 Jan 2004 at 15:59, James Miller wrote:
>> >On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:
>> >> How much RAM?  I saw an account of somebody who ran Slackware
>> >> with Xvesa in 4mb RAM.  He moved the HD to different system,
>> >> installed everything there and then moved the HD back into
>> >> the laptop.
>> >>
>> >Ok, here's a challenge (I'm supposed to be spending less time on computer
>> >stuff and more on school work, so don't tell my wife . . .).  I've got a
>> >really neat little 386 SX 25 with 4MB RAM that I'd really like to put to
>> >some use.  It's got an old onboard 256 KB video (Trident?).  Technically,
>> >I should not be able to run BL2 on it, since it has no math coprocessor.
>> >But let's say I installed BL1 there, then the xvesa binary.  Could I then
>> >use it to get an xsession from my more up to date machine that runs
>> >Debian?  Shall I give it a whirl?  Pointers on how?
>>
>> Yep, BasicLinux 1.x will run fine on this machine in CLI mode.  You'll
>> really want to put some more memory in it if at all possible, to bring
>> it up to at least 8MB-20MB if you're going to do anything involving X.
>
>I did get ahold of some 4MB 30 pin simms a while back and tried sticking
>them in this machine, but it would only detect them as 1MB.  I've heard
>there are major compatibility problems with 30 pin simms and varying
>boards, so I assumed I had run up against one such.  In any case, barring
>getting some more of a different brand of 30 pin simmms, I'm sort of stuck
>at 4MB RAM with this machine.

That's odd...  I'm afraid I don't have a diagnosis for this, except 
trying some different memory.

>> I've got a similar machine, and I was able to get it to start X, using
>> BL1.7, and the X packages, but with only 4MB of RAM, doing anything
>> more than using "xcalc" makes it swap.  It'll help to turn off a few of
>> the virtual consoles, as well.
>
>Steven's information may be at odds with yours.  First, he is speaking of
>using xvesa rather than traditional xwindows.  Apparently, its
>requirements aren't as great as traditional xwindows.  And he did cite a
>source that spoke of running xvesa in 4MB RAM.  I don't know if that
>person was using a 386 SX, though.  If they were running a 486 DX, running
>xvesa on the machine I'm talking about may still be out of the question.

I did read Steven's reply to your original post on this topic, before 
composing my own, and, because of his reply, I didn't really mention 
xvesa.  If it is possible to compile xvesa under libc5, then it might 
very well be worth giving a try - but from Steven's post, I suspect 
that might be difficult.

I have tried to run compiles on a 4MB 386SX, with BL1.x installed on 
the hard drive, and I was only able to get the simplest programs to 
compile. gcc kept bombing out on anything much more complex than "Hello 
World", until I added additional memory.

Hope this clears up a little confusion,
Anthony Albert
===========================================================
Anthony J. Albert                     albert AT umpi.maine.edu
Systems and Software Support Specialist          Postmaster
Computer Services - University of Maine, Presque Isle
        "This is only temporary, unless it works."
                        --- Red Green