Can Ubuntu run ok on a 1GB RAM 1.6gHz old WinXP->Win7 laptop?

[ultred ragnusen]

Can Ubuntu run ok on a 1GB RAM 1.6gHz old WinXP->Win7 laptop?

I have an old originaly WinXP no-name laptop that is just being killed on
Windows 7 Ultimate whenever a chromium-based browser opens up, and even a
Mozilla based browser brings it almost to its knees, even without the
billions of processes that the Chromium-based browser elicit.

I wonder if Linux would be more efficient with the lack of RAM?

I know that Windows 7 Ultimate can NOT run ok on 1GB of RAM.
Can Ubuntu run ok on a 1GB RAM 1.6gHz old WinXP->Win7 laptop?

[Wildman]

Yes, but it will be slow if you use Unity or KDE for
the desktop. I would suggest to use the LXDE flavor
of Ubuntu.

https://lubuntu.me/

--
<Wildman> GNU/Linux user #557453
The cow died so I don't need your bull!

[Caver1]

Ubuntu Mate 16.04 also works well with 1gig of ram.

--
Caver1

[Mike Easter]

ultred ragnusen wrote:
> Can Ubuntu run ok on a 1GB RAM 1.6gHz old WinXP->Win7 laptop?

I wouldn't run just 'any old' Ub; some DEs are too demanding on limited
resources.

This is from an old 1 G ram 1.7 gHz Pentium M with ancient Intel
graphics running an older but still supported Ub in the form of Mint
17.3 XFCE. Notice that Pentium M has better cpu flags than many AMDs of
the same age, such as sse2.

$ inxi
CPU~Single core Intel Pentium M (-UP-) speed~1700 MHz (max)
Kernel~3.13.0-24-generic i686 Up~3 min Mem~164.4/993.8MB
HDD~60.0GB(12.4% used) Procs~143 Client~Shell inxi~2.2.28

$ inxi -S
System: Host: Dell Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit)
Desktop: Xfce 4.12.2 Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa

$ inxi -G
Graphics: Card: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller
Display Server: X.Org 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded:
fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1280...@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2
GLX Version: 1.4 Mesa 10.1.0

$ inxi -f
CPU: Single core Intel Pentium M (-UP-) cache: 2048 KB
speed: 1700 MHz (max)
CPU Flags: acpi apic bts clflush cmov cx8 de dts est fpu
fxsr mca
mce mmx msr mtrr nx pae pbe pge pse sep ss sse sse2 tm tm2
tsc vme


--
Mike Easter

[Eef Hartman]

ultred ragnusen <ult...@ragnusen.com> wrote:
> Can Ubuntu run ok on a 1GB RAM 1.6gHz old WinXP->Win7 laptop?

The newest ones (17.10 and the upcoming 18.04) better not as they're
64-bit only, but 16.04LTS (Xenial Xerus) should be perfectly alright
and it will be supported for some while yet.
As others already said, you may want to try the lubuntu or xubuntu
downloads, with the more-lightweight desktop.

But I actually run Linux (not ubuntu, btw) on a 1200 MHz Pentium-III
with xfce. THAT machine only got 512 MB of ram available!

[Ken Hart]

On 02/01/2018 03:14 PM, Wildman wrote:

I've run Lubuntu quite well on some very under-powered machines.

--
Ken Hart
kwh...@frontier.com

[ray carter]

On Thu, 01 Feb 2018 11:52:28 -0800, ultred ragnusen wrote:

I would describe it as 'walk' rather than 'run'. There are other
distributions, made for machines with lesser specs, which would probably
work better for you. As mentioned, you'll need a 'light' desktop or a
simple window manager - twm (or vtwm) seem to be as light as it gets.

[RonB]

The OP poster might want to check to see if he can upgrade the memory as
well as changing to Linux – as RAM for older laptops costs next to nothing
now. If he could provide the model number of the laptop I could at least
check to see if an upgrade is feasible.

--
The more I see of Windows, the more I like Linux.

[RonB]

I run Linux Mint Mate on a Dell D400 (Pentium III, 1.2 Ghz, 2GBs of RAM). I
also have another one (running an older version Linux Mint) that runs with
1GB of RAM but, if it was my only computer, I would upgrade it to 2GBs. It
costs almost nothing now to upgrade these old laptops' RAM (I guess
depending on HOW old they are.)

[Caver1]

I agree. The only reason I know Mate runs well with 1gig is my daughter
was in the same boat and I couldn't talk here into getting more ram.

--
Caver1

[smallbore]

On 02/01/2018 01:10 PM, Eef Hartman wrote:
> But I actually run Linux (not ubuntu, btw) on a 1200 MHz Pentium-III
> with xfce. THAT machine only got 512 MB of ram available!

Finally, someone has an older slower processor than me!
Mint 17.3 Xfce runs easily with 512MB RAM here, but on a 2GHz Athlon XP.

I did try upping the RAM to 1 GB, but my dual-booted Win98SE choked.
Set 98 to use only 512MB of it, then 256MB, 128MB ...
the sound card and various other stuff in Device Manager were all
scrambled. Maybe the board's dual memory channels prevented it.

[ultred ragnusen]

RonB <ronb02...@gmail.com> wrote:

> If he could provide the model number of the laptop I could at least
> check to see if an upgrade is feasible.

The sticker says it's a "Great Quality ZX-33010, model 331" which seems to
be a Fryes branding nomenclature based on a google search.

It's currently Win7 Ultimate, 64-bit, and it has an AMD Turion64 CPU at
1.61GHz with 1GB of RAM and paging set at automatic (currently 1601MB) with
a small hard drive of 40GB with 4GB currently free but I can free up more
space.

I'm thinking of turning it into a Linux laptop if Linux works well as
Windows decidedly does not.

[F. Russell]

On Thu, 01 Feb 2018 11:52:28 -0800, ultred ragnusen wrote:

>

> I wonder if Linux would be more efficient with the lack of RAM?
>

Well, let's see. I have 16G of RAM but if I take a look at memory
usage:

# free
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 16342956 702052 15082180 1688 558724 15191564
Swap: 33554428 0 33554428


Look at that! I have open 3 virtual terminals, Opera and Firefox browsers,
the Pan newsreader (of course), and an image viewer. My window manager (no DE)
is FVWM. All this consumes the whopping total of 702 Megabytes.

But then this is a CUSTOM setup. A distro would have far more overhead in terms
of services, service managers, and a supremely bloated DE.

[Pascal Hambourg]

Le 02/02/2018 à 12:05, F. Russell a écrit :
>
> # free
> total used free shared buff/cache available
> Mem: 16342956 702052 15082180 1688 558724 15191564
> Swap: 33554428 0 33554428
>
>
> Look at that! I have open 3 virtual terminals, Opera and Firefox browsers,
> the Pan newsreader (of course), and an image viewer. My window manager (no DE)
> is FVWM. All this consumes the whopping total of 702 Megabytes.

Not quite. The number in the "used" column is misleading. It mostly
accounts for anonymous pages (data) only and excludes program and
library code which is accounted in buff/cache. The actual used memory
amount is (total - free) = 1.3 GiB.

As a comparison test, start Linux with the kernel parameter "mem=720M".

[RonB]

This definitely complicates things. I doubt even current Frys employees
would be able to tell you much. My searches all ended up as dead ends.
Sorry. About the only thing you do is check to see if there are any empty
memory slots, either in the back or under the keyboard. Or you could check
to see what RAM it uses and see if a 2GB RAM chip exists.

[ultred ragnusen]

On Sun, 4 Feb 2018 23:24:49 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> This definitely complicates things. I doubt even current Frys employees
> would be able to tell you much. My searches all ended up as dead ends.
> Sorry. About the only thing you do is check to see if there are any empty
> memory slots, either in the back or under the keyboard. Or you could check
> to see what RAM it uses and see if a 2GB RAM chip exists.

In the a.w7.g ng someone with the same machine found this.

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/outpost-gq-zx-3310-amd-turion-laptop-399-free-shipping.1907442/

AMD Turion 64 Technology MT-30

256MB Memory

40GB Hard Drive

The people in that thread, suggest it's this thing. Made by ECS.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060426235256/http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?detailid=562&MenuID=55&LanID=9

It really depends on how many memory sockets it has,
as to the max memory. The "Specifications" page is missing
from the one capture in archive.org of that ECS info,
so we can't get the information from there.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Turion%2064%20Mobile%20technology%20MT-30%20-%20TMSMT30BQX5LD.html

Memory channels: 1
Supported memory: ... DDR-400

It doesn't say how many sockets.

OK, I can get the info from Crucial.com

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/EliteGroup%28ECS%29/331

Maximum Memory:2GB

Probably as 2x1GB SODIMM.

[Carlos E.R.]

Like "damn small Linux".

However, both Firefox and Chrome are memory hungry applications.


As an alternative to adding more ram, I would suggest replacing the
internal hard disk with an SSD, and put swap in there. I did that with
mine and it gained a lot. Of course, not as fast as doubling the ram
would be, but still...

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Mike Easter]

ultred ragnusen wrote:
> The sticker says it's a "Great Quality ZX-33010, model 331" which seems to
> be a Fryes branding nomenclature based on a google search.

There are plenty of GQ/s around; I can't find that ZX or 331.

> It's currently Win7 Ultimate, 64-bit, and it has an AMD Turion64 CPU at
> 1.61GHz with 1GB of RAM and paging set at automatic (currently 1601MB) with
> a small hard drive of 40GB with 4GB currently free but I can free up more
> space.

My chief concern with old AMDs is a lack of SSE2. All of the Turion 64s
had SSE2, even the earliest ones. Later ones had SSE3.

It would be nice to know something about the graphics capabilities.
Without using any 3rd party programs all Win7's device manager can tell
you about the graphics device is in Start/ CP/ System/ Device manager/
Display adapter.

> I'm thinking of turning it into a Linux laptop if Linux works well as
> Windows decidedly does not.

The best way to tell and see for yourself is to boot up a live version
of a 'target' (anticipated to work OK) linux distro on a USB thumbdrive.
My personal first choice would be Mint 17.3 XFCE. Then, if that plan
worked out OK, I would check the next 'generation' Mint 18.3 XFCE.

Do you know how to make a linux live USB?


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

ultred ragnusen wrote:

> In the a.w7.g ng someone with the same machine found this.
>
> https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/outpost-gq-zx-3310-amd-turion-laptop-399-free-shipping.1907442/
>
> AMD Turion 64 Technology MT-30
>
> 256MB Memory
>
> 40GB Hard Drive

I saw that rabbit hole. I didn't go down it.

> The people in that thread, suggest it's this thing. Made by ECS.
>
> https://web.archive.org/web/20060426235256/http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?detailid=562&MenuID=55&LanID=9

It could be an ECS 331 which one can find without the wayback:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_SPEC.aspx?DetailID=562&CategoryID=3&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=93&LanID=0


If that is the device, then its graphics are

Radeon Xpress 200M

which seems quite believable and its ram is DDR 333/400.

I would just run that with the current ram and the older Mint; possibly
the 18.3 XFCE.

> It really depends on how many memory sockets it has,
> as to the max memory. The "Specifications" page is missing
> from the one capture in archive.org of that ECS info,
> so we can't get the information from there.
>
> http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Turion%2064%20Mobile%20technology%20MT-30%20-%20TMSMT30BQX5LD.html
>
> Memory channels: 1
> Supported memory: ... DDR-400
>
> It doesn't say how many sockets.
>
> OK, I can get the info from Crucial.com
>
> http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/EliteGroup%28ECS%29/331
>
> Maximum Memory:2GB
>
> Probably as 2x1GB SODIMM.

When people say old ram is cheap; I don't call 2G of that old ram for
$66 USD cheap.

Some old ram is cheap such as when you buy it used from someplace like
ebay or have a friend who has ram lying around and will give it to you.


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Mike Easter wrote:
> ultred ragnusen wrote:
>> The sticker says it's a "Great Quality ZX-33010, model 331" which
>> seems to be a Fryes branding nomenclature based on a google
>> search.
>
> There are plenty of GQ/s around; I can't find that ZX or 331.

wp sez:

ECS computers are sold by Fry's Electronics under the “Great Quality”
(“GQ”) brand.

ECS support page for 331
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_SPEC.aspx?DetailID=562&CategoryID=3&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=93&LanID=0

Specs, manual, BIOS, etc


--
Mike Easter

[Jimmy Johnson]

You can run Puppy Linux with no problem.
https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=puppy
and you can put it on a flash drive and give it a try, Micky did and
liked it. I used to run it on a Tecra with 32Mb ram. It's a full
featured distro, lot's of apps and one of the oldest distros with great
support.

Cheers,
--
Jimmy Johnson

Debian Buster - KDE Plasma 5.10.5 - AMD A8-7600 - EXT4 at sda7
Registered Linux User #380263