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i686 Linux?

jedjames
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Hi, I am trying to revive and old dell PC with an Intel Pentium in it but when i tried to install Ubuntu it said that it was not compatible with i686 processors. I did some research and it said that it was just not compatible with i686. So I was wondering if anybody knew and good Linux distros that are optimized for i686. I have seen that Arch Linux is compatible but i don't really like the way it looks, i really liked the look if Ubuntu though. Thanks.

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AFAIK, i686 is 32 bit, in which case you should be able to install the 32bit ISO...

A Guide For Getting Started With Linux

My first rig:   CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 MoBo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DH3 Video Card: EVGA GTX 750 Ti Superclocked RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury White 1866MHz Storage: WD Blue 1TB PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR Case: Rosewill SRM-01

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I also heard that Gentoo was optimized for i686, can anybody confirm?

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As long as the distro has a 32 bit ISO, it will work. I wouldn't recommend Arch or Gentoo at all for a beginner. You install them through the command line, no GUI, no hand holding. Just use Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

A Guide For Getting Started With Linux

My first rig:   CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 MoBo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DH3 Video Card: EVGA GTX 750 Ti Superclocked RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury White 1866MHz Storage: WD Blue 1TB PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR Case: Rosewill SRM-01

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Ok, so i heard good things about Lubuntu and managed to get it running on that and it seems to be all good for now it is still installing!

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Is it a Pentium MMX/Pro or a Pentium 4? I tried to install some lightweight distributions on a P4 with 512 MB of RAM and the performance just wasn't enough to do anything useful with it.

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6 hours ago, Lehti said:

Is it a Pentium MMX/Pro or a Pentium 4? I tried to install some lightweight distributions on a P4 with 512 MB of RAM and the performance just wasn't enough to do anything useful with it.

Ha, I raise you a mobile P3 with 256MB RAM. Completely useless.

A Guide For Getting Started With Linux

My first rig:   CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 MoBo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DH3 Video Card: EVGA GTX 750 Ti Superclocked RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury White 1866MHz Storage: WD Blue 1TB PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR Case: Rosewill SRM-01

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its a pentium 4 with 500mb of RAM it had 1gb but it turned out that when i got it, it had a dead stick. Anyways now when i boot it gives me this on a black screen "/dev/sda1: clean, 121555/9707520 files, 1259079/38812672 blocks" does anybody know what this means and how to fix it?

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How long did you wait? It usually says that briefly and goes away. It might just be slow because of the hardware.

A Guide For Getting Started With Linux

My first rig:   CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 MoBo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DH3 Video Card: EVGA GTX 750 Ti Superclocked RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury White 1866MHz Storage: WD Blue 1TB PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR Case: Rosewill SRM-01

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i waited about 6-7 mins then tried again a few times, i will leave it running while i eat dinner tonight and see what happens.

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it has been running for 25 mins now and still nothing should i just let it go for a while longer?

 

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so it has been 1 hour now and still nothing...

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55 minutes ago, jedjames said:

it has been running for 25 mins now and still nothing should i just let it go for a while longer?

 

That's a bit much. I'd say there's something wrong. What version of Ubuntu are you trying to install? If you're using 16.04, it may just be too new for the system to handle.

 

Give BunsenLabs a try. Follow the link and click on the button that I circled on in the screenshot below:

Screenshot from 2016-05-23 20-23-30.png

 

 

 

A Guide For Getting Started With Linux

My first rig:   CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 MoBo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DH3 Video Card: EVGA GTX 750 Ti Superclocked RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury White 1866MHz Storage: WD Blue 1TB PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR Case: Rosewill SRM-01

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Yeah, pretty much any linux distro with a 32-bit iso should be i686 compatible. It's the i586 and i486 you need to watch out for, they are kinda limited to Damn Small Linux. i386 and earlier are SOL afaik.

 

Sounds like you've got a P4 that won't run Lubuntu? That's strange, P4 computers usually run Lubuntu pretty well (although, you'd really benefit from a RAM upgrade). Maybe try another LXDE or XFCE centered distro like LXmint or Debian LXDE or something. 

Then again, those are very similar, so if Lubuntu didn't work, these might not either...

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