Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

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thewanderlustking
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:52 pm

Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#1 Post by thewanderlustking »

Ador sent me a box full of super cool distractions to play with (THANK YOU ADOR!!)!!! I have two MK7 CF-M34 units here. One is on a super fast customized W7, I am probably just leaving that alone (other than to get a few more things working). The other was a non-booting parts machine that I managed to get fired up and working, it had either a wrong memory stick, or a bad one. So now to go play! It has the 1.0ghz Pentium M I believe, and the 256mb of onboard memory. I have a 1gb chip on the way, of hopefully the correct specs.

I am looking for something reasonably idiot proof. I am not good with linux, so I will take a decently complete package with a nice desktop interface over a stripped down terminal machine. I want stuff light the screen brightness and volume function buttons to work.

I tried linux Mint as I am most familiar with that one. That didn't work so I tried the LMDE version, again no luck. I got errors about PAE the first time, and something else the second time. I may have taken a picture? Whatever the case it was just the age of the machine. They are defiantly dinosaurs at this point. I have a limited amount of DVD's on hand, so I figured asking suggestions here might get me much closer a lot quicker.

A google search suggests Puppy Linux, Linux Light, and Tiny Core. Ease of installing other software seems to go to Unbutu flavors. I suspect Tiny Core won't be that user friendly...

Windows 10 on my CF-31 surprised me though. It was the EASIEST I have ever burnt a disc image!!!
CF-3110778CM, CF-19ADUU51M

Michael AU
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:35 pm

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#2 Post by Michael AU »

I, personally, would get iso images for old Ubuntu versions such as 7.04 (my personal favourite), 8.04, 10.04, 12.04 and try them. These were back in the day when Ubuntu was a very refined Debian with some underhood adjustments. See if 12.04 works, if yes then stay with it, if no then try 10.04 etc. The problem you will have with these machines is their age and changes made to the Linux Kernel and its default settings. While it probably isn't impossible to get a newer version of Linux working having a good known baseline is very helpful thus the reason I suggest starting at 12.04 which is 12 years younger then an M34.
CF-29 x 3 (Debian (Rugged) 11, FreeDOS 1.2, Windows 7)
CF-30 (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-31SBLAX1M (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-D1 (Debian 11, Windows 10, trying BlissOS)
Never give up, never surrender!

thewanderlustking
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:52 pm

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#3 Post by thewanderlustking »

You know, I remember back in the day buying various Linux distros on eBay (when downloading them was a BIG PAIN to do) and thinking just how shiny and sexy they were. They would have extremely vivid desktops with backgrounds that were pretty breathtaking. They mostly worked right out of the box, or I should say "right off the cd." I don't see any of that anymore. Maybe they were just shiny because of their novelty? But there was definitely something different. Now I also remember them being a bit too complicated for me to install. Not sure if it is my skill level has improved so drastically since, or they really have become that much more user friendly.

I will try grabbing some older distos and burning them! I have plenty of CDs at least (if they will fit lol). I probably have a spindle of DVDs around her somewhere, but no clue off the top where.

W10 is kinda growing on me... This machine (my CF-31) needs a WHOLE LOT of tweaking though, especially in the mouse/touchpad interface department. I would kill for an "apple touchpad" kinda feel and interface to it... I don't have super high expectations for the little M34, I just want it to be usable.
CF-3110778CM, CF-19ADUU51M

Michael AU
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:35 pm

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#4 Post by Michael AU »

I dislike Windows 10 immensly, Windows 7 was the last decent Windows in my no so humble opinion. I'm a Linux user now and only have Windows for some tuning programs (e.g. Haltech NSP).
CF-29 x 3 (Debian (Rugged) 11, FreeDOS 1.2, Windows 7)
CF-30 (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-31SBLAX1M (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-D1 (Debian 11, Windows 10, trying BlissOS)
Never give up, never surrender!

thewanderlustking
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:52 pm

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#5 Post by thewanderlustking »

I am very comfortable with Windows 7. Windows 10 is pretty, but feels alien. I dislike how it bombards me with distractions. A laptop is not my phone. That, I do tend to pick up in moments of boredom... Still I could probably tweak W10 enough to eliminate this and get back to a core OS that also happens to be pretty well integrated. But this is about the M34s, and they will never in a million years run W10 HAHA! There is a custom W7 install on one of them, that will be left alone AND backed up!

Alright so far Ubuntu is a fail. 7.0.4 did actually fire up and give me some indication it would be successful, and then kept going and going and going for over 30 minutes before I shut it down. I had downloaded and burned a couple versions too. I will try the newer ones too and see if they make any difference. And the alternate version of 7.0.4, that is downloaded and burning right now.

Puppy Linux worked, but it is probably too basic for what I am after. I don't think I ended up with the most recent version though so there is room to try for a better version. None of the function buttons worked though...
CF-3110778CM, CF-19ADUU51M

Michael AU
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:35 pm

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#6 Post by Michael AU »

Ubuntu 7.04 shouldn't have failed, I've run it on a Pentium with 256MB RAM. Your M34 should be a Pentium III. If the alternative version, which will be ncurses not graphical install, doesn't work I'd suggest your RAM isn't stable enough.
If you can find Debian Lenny (5.x) or Squeeze (6.x) you may want to try them in text install mode.
What exactly do you want in an operating system? I might be able to offer some guidance to help you out. Unless you do a specific build no distro will have a current version that will install and work well. The kernels are simply to big and the programs on them take to much CPU and RAM to be stable and functional.
CF-29 x 3 (Debian (Rugged) 11, FreeDOS 1.2, Windows 7)
CF-30 (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-31SBLAX1M (Debian 11, Windows 10)
CF-D1 (Debian 11, Windows 10, trying BlissOS)
Never give up, never surrender!

UNCNDL1
Posts: 509
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:01 pm
Location: New England

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#7 Post by UNCNDL1 »

My 34 is buried in the basement for now but look at antiX and MX Linux sites. I’m fairly certain one of those has a version that fits on a CD, if not the newest version one or two older.
I’ll look up some links later at work. :salute:
CF-53 MX-Linux 21 Wildflower
CF-30 MK2 SSD MX-21 Betsy, MK2 Navigatrix, Fundraiser for TbT
CF-52 GUN SSD MX-19
(NICE) Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M34 MicroWattR8 Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M33 MicroWattR8 Thanks Springfield

UNCNDL1
Posts: 509
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:01 pm
Location: New England

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#8 Post by UNCNDL1 »

Update,
Look in my signature….try Micro WattR8 if you can find it.
CF-53 MX-Linux 21 Wildflower
CF-30 MK2 SSD MX-21 Betsy, MK2 Navigatrix, Fundraiser for TbT
CF-52 GUN SSD MX-19
(NICE) Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M34 MicroWattR8 Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M33 MicroWattR8 Thanks Springfield

UNCNDL1
Posts: 509
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:01 pm
Location: New England

Re: Best distros for older CF-M34 MK7 and me?

#9 Post by UNCNDL1 »

Here’s where I would start:
http://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/doc ... index.html
Also search for crunchbang++
CF-53 MX-Linux 21 Wildflower
CF-30 MK2 SSD MX-21 Betsy, MK2 Navigatrix, Fundraiser for TbT
CF-52 GUN SSD MX-19
(NICE) Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M34 MicroWattR8 Thanks Sadlmkr
CF-M33 MicroWattR8 Thanks Springfield

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