Thinkpads Forum

I have recently acquired a 600X (see sig) with the RAM maxed out at 576 MB. I was wondering what would be the best distro to install on this laptop. I am well experienced in installing and using linux, so suggestions for older versions are also welcome.

I tried my hand with ubuntu fiesty on a T22, the installation went excellent (I was able to get everything working, including wireless), but it was slow even after I tried to configure the services running ... so I am skeptical to try it on the 600X, which is why I made this post.

try running Xubuntu. i ran it on a 600X with the same amount of ram but less processing power (500mhz) without a hitch

alfio

I'm a fan of Fedora. F7 has a quicker startup time than older versions. It's also very easy to use XFCE4 instead of Gnome if you want a smaller memory footprint.

I was using FC5 and FC6 on my 600X for software development and it performed just fine.

You should know that the sound driver for the CS4624 (the sound chip in the 600X, T20-22 and A20-22) has a bug where sound won't work after suspend and resume. A fix has just been added to the source, so distributions should see it sometime soon.

I wrote the ThinkWiki pages for the 600X and FC3, FC5 and CentOS 5.

FC5/FC6 + XFCE sounds like a great idea, I'll try it out this week. I also downloaded Xubuntu over the weekend, I'll see how that goes too and decide between these two.

Thanks for the tips whizkid and alfio. Whizkid, can I contact you if I need any help on FC5 isntallation on my 600X?

gator wrote:Whizkid, can I contact you if I need any help on FC5 isntallation on my 600X?

Sure. PM me. I'm on the ThinkPad mailing list (avidly) and the linux-thinkpad mailing list (barely) too. I'd not recommend FC5 as it is past end-of-life.

whizkid wrote: I'd not recommend FC5 as it is past end-of-life.

Not only that, I can't find it anywhere I'll give FC7 a shot ... Xubuntu is awesome too, I just tried the live CD. I am going to install Linux in a seperate HDD and boot from the ultraslimbay, so today I am going to give Xubuntu a try. Will keep ya guys posted.

have you settled on a distro yet? i've just recently installed debian etch on my 600X and although i'm working through some issues (mainly with my pcmcia wifi cards) i like it much more than xubuntu

alfio

I personally think Fedora is too bloated for a not to beefed up machine. There are other mini-distributions that work with much less RAM and still give graphical interfaces, e.g. Peanut Linux, [censored] Small Linux (a popular one), and like Alfio said Xubuntu.

I'm glad there are many choices, but I used Fedora on a 600X (with a 5400RPM drive and maxed out at 576MB RAM) for software development. I had an editor open with a dozen files, a web browser with a handful of URLs open for documentation and testing, running Apache, MySQL, Gnome desktop and my own web application, and found the machine responsive.

Fedora also has the latest software and features in any distribution except those that build from source like Gentoo... and that can be a great or terrible thing, depending on your tastes.

Personally, I think Fedora is certainly not more bloated than Windows XP, and that runs very well on that same 600X.

And, a simple "yum groupinstall XFCE" lets you choose XFCE4 instead of Gnome as your desktop session, saving some memory.

(BTW, I've been testing Fedora 8 Test 1 on my 600X, and it's not ready for primetime just yet.)

debian 3.1 (sarge) runs good on this T22, on pogo the
600e, and little snow the (500mHz) x20. I use fvwm2 as
windowmanager, eschewing both Gnome and <whatever that
other one is called>. I'm a fan of "apt-get".

the net install of debian will give you 4.0 now, I
suppose: probably I'll be putting that on a certain
SXGA+ t22 presently:-)

I still have not settled on a distro. I tried Xubuntu, but did not like it. I tried [censored] small linux - it ran amazingly well, but its a pain to get everything else installed. It does not even come with gcc for cryin' out loud! I tried DSL-n too, but ran into trouble installing it.

I am still debating on installing FC7 I know it will install fine and run, but I don't want it for the same reason I don't want XP on this 600X: I don't need unwanted bloat.

Whizkid, apart from FC7 what do you suggest I try on my 600X?

I'm a fan of Fedora. Bloat is a relative matter. You don't have to run Gnome or KDE - you can use XFCE4 on Fedora. It works great. Some people that XFCE is too bloated, but whatever.

"yum update" could not be simpler. The pup updater is even easier. Add/Remove Software is childsplay.

I think a 600X with 576MB RAM runs Gnome just fine. Not as fine as my T60 does, but very usable.

But if bloat-aversion is your thing, I'd suggest Gentoo. Tweak it to your heart's desire, and it will be custom made not just for a 600X but for your 600X.

Sound still isn't working after resume using Fedora 8 Test 1. Test 2 comes out tomorrow.

Here's my suggestion: Try the F7LiveCD. Give it a spin before you decide whether to install or not. Keep in mind the CD is MUCH slower than a hard drive, and you won't have XFCE as a choice until you install to disk. Heck, install Gnome, KDE and XFCE, and make your choice when you log in. It's all good.

Sri,

Have you tried PC Linux OS? I can make you a copy of 2006 version if you need it...

The last 600X i"ve just sold had SuSE 9.2 retail version and it ran just fine even with 320Mb and small HDD...

I'm running Slackware 12 on mine. So far I've had no problems from the distro, aside from the standard display configuration settings in Xorg, et al. It can run KDE without any issues, but I prefer to run fluxbox, just to make better use of my limited resources.

If Slackware on it's own isn't quite what you're after, then I'll second the Slax recommendation.

rampire wrote:I'm running Slackware 12 on mine. So far I've had no problems from the distro, aside from the standard display configuration settings in Xorg, et al. It can run KDE without any issues, but I prefer to run fluxbox, just to make better use of my limited resources.

If Slackware on it's own isn't quite what you're after, then I'll second the Slax recommendation.

Though I haven't used Slackware in a while but it used to be my favorite distro a few years ago. The only gripe I had about it was the lack of setup and configuration tools/scripts and text based installation can be a little tricky for novice users but then I think back then I learned more using it than any other distro of the time. IMHO the experience of using Slackware came closest to an Unix system on x86 machine.

There is a less chunkier and perhaps a bit easier version of Slackware called Vector Linux.

I'll agree that it can be a little more work for people who aren't very acquainted with Linux, but I'll also agree that I've learned more with Slackware than any book or other distro could hope to offer.

I'd forgotten about Vector; all I've read about it is good. Also, there's GoblinX, which is Slack-based (but has some weird file structure, IIRC) and built to be light-weight. Wolvix is another, though I don't recall much about it. There are piles of lean distros out there that are Slackware based and on live CDs.

rampire, thanks for the tip. I had completely forgotten about Slackware. It was one of the first Linux installations I tried back in 97-99, but it was a nightmare getting dependencies right (I was a n00b then!). I learnt a lot using Slackware though ... I haven't followed Slackware releases, did you have any difficulties installing slackware 12 on your 600X? Are you using any 3rd party tools for package management?

I looked at gentoo, and frankly, it is just too much I don't want that much customization anyway, and I don't have the time for that either. I need to get things running on my 600X by wednesday, I might end up with debian 4 + fluxbox. What do you guys say?

On a side note, Fluxbuntuseems to be interesting. I will definitely the live CD a try once it comes!

Slackware 12 gave me no problems other than configuring x. Fixing that took all of a few minutes. The only issues that have arisen aren't so much due to Slackware, as it is general configuration for Linux on a 600X.

As far as third party repos go, I hear a lot about them, but I prefer to just look up what I'm after on the net, download the tarball, and go from there. I've heard that slapt-get is supposed to be just as easy to use as Debian's apt system, though not as many pre-scripted packages are available. More info on it can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapt-get. Good luck!

Another thing you can try is a vanilla install of debian using the network install cd. This allows you to start with only a base system, and build on top of that. This is what I always do when I need a good, light system.

I went with Debian 4 netinst ( installed fluxbox for X). It took me a whole day to get things where I wanted them to be, but now I am very happy. I am going to stick to this for a while.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

In case anyone else comes into the thread for reccomendations, I recently borked my old Slackware install (trying to break it and see if I could fix it. I failed. ) and went with Absolute Linux. It is, for all intents and purposes, Slack, just with fewer heavy-weight apps and icewm using Rox filer.

All in all, I have to say that this distro was made for the 600x. I didn't have to do anything to get the sound working, the Fn keys work right out of the box, and it's even faster on my 450Mhz 600x than regular Slack was. Highly reccomended.

A live CD version of [censored] Small Linux will
work on any Thinkpad. Anything that has more
than 50mb ram.

You'll be surprised at how many programs the DSL project manages to get within 60MB! I recommend the newest release or the one before that. I have the version released early this summer, 3.4, on a CD RW to save my settings and bookmarks.

I haven't come across a operating PC or Laptop yet that couldn't run DSL.

--Bruised

These will also work very well and are usually overlooked because they don't have a 'buntu' attached to their name. Simply MEPIS, Vector, KateOS and way out in right field - tinysofa.

Kate will fly, Vector is lickity split on anchor-ware, MEPIS is light and loved by it's creator and tinysofa although they've taken a different path in recent years will give you a boat load of stuff you probably won't appreciate.

I'm looking to replace FC6 on my X22 and am testing this one next:
http://pcfluxboxos.wikidot.com/

I just need basic functionality and stability on the X and good ACPI implementation. I've had a RedHat headache since RH8! I was very glad to find PCLOS about a year ago. I've used many of the distros already mentioned, for fast and light DSL, Puppy and Vector stand out. Many major distros have light remasters available.

gl

Visit distrowatch.com for a comprehensive list
of linux distros. On left column click on
business card and get list & information on most small linux distros.

linuxcd.org provides professional quality
burned CDs, CD-RWs and DVDs of most
linux distros for under $2 each.

--Bruised

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