Getting my R40 running optimally

[indeauto]

Hi,

I've got an old R40 that i really love. Was hoping i'd be able to install linux on it and it'd be good for the basics -- word processing and the internet. But, after installing Ubuntu 13.10, the computer operates VERY slowly AND I can't access the internet. I bought one of those cheapie wireless usb antennas, but Ubuntu doesn't recognize it. Just wondering if there's something i can do -- without spending a lot of money -- to get the computer running ubuntu (efficiently) and able to access the internet.

R40. Model # 2682 - NU2
Enhancements -- added 1 gig of RAM (now has 1.2 total)
Optical System -- no idea. couldn't figure out how to figure out what it is. The graphics is a Gallium 0.4 on LLvmpipe (LLVM 3.3, 128 bits).

I've tried installing Ubuntu 13.10. It does run, but it is VERY slow.
For the internet access, tried using this generic wireless usb antenna i bought off ebay for like $3, but ubuntu doesn't recognize it.

I'd really love to get this up and running. Is it worth it to spend a couple more pennies to do so?

any help appreciated.

mark

[ajkula66]

Your machine as it left the factory:

ThinkPad R40 (2682-NU2)
Based on 2682-48U: Celeron 1.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 20GB HDD, 14.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, 16MB ATI RADEON, 24x10x24x/8x CR-RW/DVD, Cisco 802.11b Wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), Ethernet(LOM), IEEE 1394, Li-Ion battery, WinXP Home


If it still has the original hard drive, it's going to be *very* slow regardless of what's being done.

The wireless card is not likely to be supported by any current OS. That is an inexpensive upgrade, though.

[Jah-Buddha]

A year ago I occasionally picked up R40 in perfect condition, but without hard drive. I never used such an old computer before, so I bought a 32Gb IDE SSD on ebay. Linear read speed is around 85 Mb/s, on the limit of PATA bus, and 0.3 ms access time improves responsiveness a lot.
But there is caveats too: this drives doesn't support SMART and therefore don't have a TRIM command, and some people comlain about performance degradation over time, due to SSD write amplification. On my laptop I use F2FS filesystem on root partition. It was developed by Samsung especially for NAND devices, and shows some good results preventing degradation of flash memory over time. Cons: it is not as reliable as ext4 filesystem, but shows some progress over last year.
Currenty (as I know) the only linux distributions that can be installed on F2FS is Gentoo and ArchLinux (I use Gentoo, but recommend Arch ).