12.04 on old hardware

[Axxon95]

Hey, I was recently given an old Dell Dimension 4400(slightly upgraded) to fool around with, and I updated the bios to the latest.
So far I've put WinXP, PCLinuxOS, and Ubuntu 10.04 on there(all older kernels and they work well).
I want to try something newer.
Recently I tried to install 12.04 Xubuntu and Lubuntu but they both lock up a few minutes after choosing "Try X/Lubuntu without installing" or "Install X/Lubuntu".

I'm guess old hardware is winning?

[papibe]

Hi Axxon95.

Could you tell us a little bit about the hardware specs? processor, RAM, HD size?

Regards.

[Axxon95]

P4 1.6GHz
512MB(256MBx2)
ATI Radeon 9600 128 AGPx4 Connect3D
30GB IDE HDD
The exact MB name I don't recall.
1 CD, 1 DVD, and 1 Floppy drive.
And 3 PCI adapters(LAN, Wireless, and a 4 USB Port PCI card.)

[johnathansmith]

You should be fine with this hardware. If assume you will use lightweight desktop environment. Are you sure you HDD is ok? I would recommend try some LiveCD and do few diagnoses.

[Axxon95]

You should be fine with this hardware. If assume you will use lightweight desktop environment. Are you sure you HDD is ok? I would recommend try some LiveCD and do few diagnoses.

The HDD is fine.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

What do you mean by "lock up"? Does it just stop with the last window displayed, or does it go to a black screen with a blinking cursor, or something else?

[mastablasta]

you can try nomodeset, though with this graphics card live CD should work with no problem.

another source of issue could be PAE kernel, but since this happens in Lubuntu as well (and i think they don't have PAE kernel-not sure) it's hard to say.

[2F4U]

I've installed Lubuntu successfully on a notebook with Mobility Radeon 9600 (should be similar to your graphics card but even less powerful with only 16 MB RAM). I needed to provide nomodeset to be able to suspend to RAM, but not for the installation.

[Axxon95]

What do you mean by "lock up"? Does it just stop with the last window displayed, or does it go to a black screen with a blinking cursor, or something else?

The whole computer stops responding with the last displayed window, and both X/Lubuntu lock up at the same spot(Xubuntu + bar, and Lubuntu + dots).




When I get time, I'll try nomodeset again and report back.

I tried nomodeset, and it doesn't help either. The computer locked up, and lost input to the monitor.

[mastablasta]

try antix 12 - new kernel patched for old maschines. debian based

[Axxon95]

Marking as solved. Xubuntu 12.04.1 is working wonderfully.