[tlinux-users:07278] Re: Looking for recommendations for Linux for a Libretto 70CT

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 08:49:32 -0700
"Gerwitz, Jim-P06288" <[email protected]> wrote:

>  
> I have a Libretto 70CT which I have successfully installed a 20Gig hard
> drive into. It also has the standard external 3 1/2 floppy. 

Installing with boot floppies still works, but is going out of style.  You might consider swapping the 20G drive into another machine (which can install from CD), then back.  

A floppy bootstrap comes in a couple flavors:
	- boot off the floppy (may take as many as four depending on flavor).  Somewhere in the fistful of floppies should be the necessary driver to see your CD; then the rest of the install runs by scraping the bits off that.  
	- boot off the floppy and get the 589 driver installed (all the PCMCIA ethernet modules are loadable and almost always live on a second floppy).  Then you can ftp-install.  (This helps if you have a good size pipe in -- I've done it at home off a cable modem but it works in a third of the time if I do it at work where we have OC-12 pipes in).  



 I also have
> the Enhanced Port replicator as well as an H45 Technologies SCSI card
> CD-Rom for it. 

I'm guessing that boot from CD is asking too much?  If it does, you have lotsa options.  *

 I have Win98 running well and everything appears to be
> ready to install Linux.  I also have a 3Com 3C589 card that seems to
> work just fine.

PCMCIA?  I have several of these in similar vintage laptops.  Some of the boot floppies are stingy enough that they don't have this particular driver which makes ftp installs problematic.  

> 
> I am new to Linux and I'm looking for some recommendations please:
> 
> 1)  I understand that not all versions of Linux run on the 70CT because
> it has a Pentium MMX chip in it and some versions of Linux have an
> instruction that locks up the CPU.  Can anyone give me a suggestion of a
> current version of Linux to install.  (Some of the older versions that
> folks have installed before are mentioned out on the web but I have no
> clue where to get 'older' versions).


Personally can't say.  But try
http://www.isi.edu/~brian/libretto/install.html
which showed up when I looked up the specs on your machine.


* the 'old CPU' problem that is real dates back to 486 chips; halfway through the production run, the math coprocessor climbed onto the single CPU.  Prior to that, it was an external chip (which most computers did not, in actuality, have installed).  So the Linux kernel had math coprocessing emulation built into it -- which was a lot of extra bulk if you didn't need it.  That emulation software has long since been removed from the kernel, so if you try something that old, you do indeed need a similar vintage kernel.  


Some things to try.  If you can boot off CDs, there are a lot of fun things to try:
	- FreeBSD (if the CPU lockup does indeed occur with your machine, this is an entirely different unix kernel).  (I've ftp-installed FreeBSD with a floppy bootup in the past, works fine).
	- you'll not be happy with either GNOME or KDE once you get into GUI-land.  This is not a CPU problem, but a graphics chip one.  The amount of HP and RAM on graphics chips has somewhat outpaced Moore's law over the past half dozen years and the windows managers are bloat-to-match.  Try fvwm2, FXCE or something similar.
	- try puppy or similar 'lightweight' linux (puppy uses fvwm2, btw).  
	- you might want to try, in addition to puppy, some bootable CD linuxes like Knoppix or systemrescue.  They leave your hard drive alone but let you explore.  Your precious windows98 will be undisturbed.  ...unless you want to get evil, chroot into that partition and change passwords;-)

> 
> 2) I am interested in recommendations on how to partition the HD.  I
> know there is a hibernation partition that I have to account for.  (I
> haven't yet figured out quite how to do that but I'm working on it).
> What recommendations do folks have for setting up the partitions?  I
> have seen everything from one extended partition to 5 or 6 separate
> partitions.

Manual covered this.  
> 
> 3) I am into HAM radio and I'm interested in any suggestions that anyone
> has on how they are using Linux to enhance their radio hobby.
> 
> Jim
> AC7FN
>