Thinkpads Forum

I just came across a IBM R32 Thinkpad it has 1.6 cpu ,Intel graphics ,512 of ram & 30gb Toshiba ide hdd....needs wifi card & power adaptor ....it boots into bios with no problem & the current bios on it is 1.2 & can be updated to1.6 & currently no operating system.Now If I update the bios & max the ram to 1gb ..the wifi card is like the intel 2200 that was in my t43 that i just sold ....or use a wifi card that you put into side port .......what would be the best operating system to put on this & have read that it will boot from a usb stick & also that it will not.Picked it up at a descent price & the laptop overall condition including the screen ,key board & shell is a easy 95% out of 100.......just want to know if it's worth the few things mentioned or go ahead & flip it .....Just really surf the web & watch a movie here & there.....was suprised with parts & priceson ebay for some that were working ....someone had ubuntu on ebay for sale.


Thanks Chess

Check out whether the specific GPU works fine on linux, though I imagine it's new enough to do so, same with the wi-fi card. Other than that there should be no issues. If you are new to linux I recomment Linux Mint. Get it with a lightweight Graphic Environment (I recommend Xfce, but there's also Mate if you don't like my choice).

R32's have ATI graphic cards, which is tricky to install in Linux since AMD was so nice and stopped supporting drivers for old GPU's

The VESA standard drivers will work fine, but won't be enough for watching videos or with flash with strong flash content. There are packages to install ATI drivers, but I never managed to get it done, (maybe I'm too dumb for that). As the previous poster said give a try with an easy going distro like Linux Mint or Ubuntu.

My 2 cents...