~Toughbooktalk~

Booted Lubuntu LXLE 12.04.3 Live and it worked pretty good, so I loaded it and tried it for a couple of days. It is a distro designed to gift life to older hardware. That is the last live distro I have laying around that hasnt been tried by someone else (grml, etc).

The live version of Uberstudent also ran good so I loaded it and tried it for a couple of days. Uberstudent is debian/ubuntu based with lots of menu items that open a browesr and goto a web resource, so its pretty small for everything it can do, it is limited without a internet connection.

On a side note, So after many different distros and lots of failures, fun and some successes on this CF-29 its back to Debian Wheezy. I dont have time this semster to figure out Fedora on my school machine. I still have Fedora 18 running on a C-19, quite nicely.

I stumbled on this variant of antiX last night: http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx
If you click on the top left icon "Get MX Linux" you are taken to the current stable version.
There is a PAE version, and also a non-PAE version.
MX-14 non-PAE is exactly the same as MX-14 PAE except it uses
•the 486 kernel instead of the 686 one
•an older version of flash by default
One reason I like this distribution is that it has Video Tutorials on their web site:
http://www.mepiscommunity.org/videos/mx14
Another reason is that it loaded with OUT hassle, found wireless networks, etc.
Give it a go and let us know. Especially you all that have an older ToughBook (CF-34, CF-25, CF-27, CF-28...you get the picture)

[quote="UNCNDL1"]I stumbled on this variant of antiX last night: http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx
If you click on the top left icon "Get MX Linux" you are taken to the current stable version.
There is a PAE version, and also a non-PAE version.
MX-14 non-PAE is exactly the same as MX-14 PAE except it uses
•the 486 kernel instead of the 686 one
•an older version of flash by default
One reason I like this distribution is that it has Video Tutorials on their web site:
http://www.mepiscommunity.org/videos/mx14
Another reason is that it loaded with OUT hassle, found wireless networks, etc.
Give it a go and let us know. Especially you all that have an older ToughBook (CF-34, CF-25, CF-27, CF-28...you get the picture)[/quote]
Almost Spring Update on this post...The live cd list is a starting point for those looking to add a Linux distribution, but I wanted to caution you to the fact that this list is only a guide. What I mean is some of the distributions do NOT provide a live cd/dvd/usb chance to try it before you install it. The download link and subsequent iso/image is for INSTALL, not live. Please keep that in mind.
The MX-14 referenced above is my day to day operating system on the 52 gun, 18 digitizer, 19 digitizer, and the CF-29. Here's why I like it:
You can run "persistence" and customize a usb stick to run between machines, what this means is the program saves your settings i.e. browser as well as programs you add or subtract. I can stream Netflix on my "live" usb that I made and everything just "works". No fuss, no muss.
I have installed it on the 18, 19, 29, and the 52 (Thanks you once again Sadlmkr). It's fast, free, and very easy to use. You can save your programs to "favorites" which is very nice and it's similar to Zorin & Mint distributions. It's based on antiX, which is Debian and the Synaptic Package Manager is how you add and subtract programs to run. I encourage you to make a live cd/dvd/usb image of the system and try it out. I do NOT think you will be disappointed. At the very least, make a usb image and carry it with you. The sky is the limit on this one. Read through the videos they offer and try it out. They are a great resource. I'm in the process of moving so everything is packed except for my usb drives and several blank CD's to upload a system over the next several weeks. I still like MicroWattOS R8 for the 28, 33, and 34 but that may change. The important thing is to try and find something that works for you and give it a go.
Sadlmkr and I are working on a few things so stay tuned. P.S., "talking dog ranch rocks"...

I have installed MX-14 onto the 128GB 1/8" ssd in the CF-29MK4. It seems like a nice distro.
The problem I am having is that I can not get xinput-calibrator installed. I followed your link, Cleve, to the ppa and tried installing through terminal and adding the 2 repositories on the web site to the list of repositories. Both methods give errors and no xinput-calibrator installed.

Okay, I got it figured...I needed to include the 'lucid main' to the 'Distribution:' section.
All good, got it calibrated. Now to play with it.

I like this distro to the point it has become my new daily OS. I have installed gpsd, Cutecom and FoxtroxGPS, got everything working. I might give Navit a try as I read that they now have an 'routing' feature.
Overall I find MX-14 to be a good OS for the 29MK4, everything works well.
Got tired of day to day Mint.

Morgan, glad you got it all working for you. I've been without a computer for several day while visiting in Vermont. My flight was cancelled last night and I had to re-route via Rhode Island. I'm home for a day to shovel the new snow, and then on to NJ tonight to start the move the rest of this week.

Thanks. I think I am going to ditch Mint on the 30MK3 and load MX-14 onto it.

Hang in there man, spring will be here soon and the move should be over by then.
Drive safe and be gentle on your back when loading/unloading.

So the move went well, and I'm not unpacked yet but I'm online and wanted to report that another distribution to try is Bodhi 3.0.0- I'm on a live cd right now just under 700 mb and the CF-52 GUN is screaming on the 64 bit version. I haven't figured out multiple tabs with the default Midori Browser, but if you google search
Bodhi download linux something should pop. Both the 32 and 64 bit versions fit on a CD, which is nice. OBVIOUSLY a usb would be faster. Many reviews rave how this works on old hardware with minimal ram available so might be a good trial for someone with older toughbooks on hand. I'll have to try it on a spare usb and a 52 since they are starting to achieve fleet status. Anyone having trouble burning a cd or a usb please let us know. Sadlmkr, I have your port/door/covers for a 52. Which ones do you need?

Battery for sure. O.K. and the three double doors.
Two on back and one next to power on the right.
Fixing two machines.

Thanks,

J'd

You got it Lefty. I needed a few parts so when it arrives and they are removed for me and Sadlmkr, the bottom and top half are up for grabs at one low price of nada, just the shipping to you. It's a Mk1 CF-52 with working motherboard and screen, obviously no drives, battery, doors but it does boot to bios so it's yours, just PM me first come first served.