Thinkpads Forum

Posted: **Sun May 11, 2008 6:00 pm**

Odd question: What is the best
ubuntu version to run on an old IBM Thinkpad: R31 RAM 622MB CPU 1200 Mhz Celeron?

I have been running Ubuntu (ubuntu, kubuntu and edubuntu) on this machine for quite a while now (1.5 years) and during this time I have upgraded every half year.

Since 7.04 the machine will (especially when 2-3 apps are open, eg firefox, ktorrent) suddenly slow down to a crawl (processor at 99%).

TOdAY I upgraded to Hardy Hderon _ now two things happen
* system will suddenly freeze (eg when in digikam)
* SYSTEM WILL slow down without any apps other than systems monitor

I am not quite sure what causes the problrmbut suppose that the old machine can't handle the new ubuntu versions. Does that make sense?

If so, which of the older versions would you recommend?

The following things are important to me
- that WLAN works (have an ASUS card)
- that I have a good digital photo program with batch resize (use digikam ate the moment)
- that I can use printers (eg hp,canon)

Or can HH be made leaner for older machines?

Suppose I should switch of Compriz eye candy / but can't find the option to do so.

Advice much appreciated!

Posted: **Sun May 11, 2008 7:12 pm**

I guess it does make sense for new versions to be a little more resource intensive, but disabling the 'bells and whistles' should make it run properly (eg. compiz

). Although have you compared your setup to the recomended system requirements of HH?

Ever considered using Xbuntu. Apparently it uses the XFCE system which is quite low on resources and its part of the *buntu suit of distros too.

Posted: **Mon May 12, 2008 11:09 am**

Thanks, wasn't aware of this variant! Will try it!

Posted: **Mon May 12, 2008 11:54 am**

Strange. Other than my problems with the fan sensor and fan speed I have no freezes or cockups on a slower system then yours. I only have

PIII 700
ATA33 !!!
256MB of ram.

I would check your ram and hdd just to make sure they are ok. 622mb of ram is an odd number. What is the chip configuration?

Posted: **Mon May 12, 2008 4:55 pm**

I've had good luck with PCLinuxOS 2007 on an A31.

I had no luck with getting my Atheros card to work consistently with Ubuntu.

Posted: **Mon May 12, 2008 5:21 pm**

Xubuntu is lighter than Ubuntu, but not as much as you'd hope. One method I used to use on my X24 was to use an Ubuntu server installation disc, install a command-line only Ubuntu, and then install all the packages I needed individually. This was a bit frustrating at times, especially when I couldn't find the packages I needed, but it ran very fast.