[SOLVED] 32bit netbook, best light distro

zambeta

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Hi all
I have an old Asus Eee PC netbook. It's been running lubuntu since 2014 but has been largely unused for the past few years. I've read recently that, contrary to what Asus says, it IS possible to upgrade RAM and memory on this device and other users report that it then runs much faster. So, that was my plan.

It booted up ok, warned me about updates and then, after updating, failed to boot - it just sits with a blank screen which appears to flash between off and lit, but always blank.

So, I tried to flash boot it, but the flash disk I have now has 64bit system on it, so was rejected. In order to rescue this netbook I will need to install a 32bit system on it.

Which is the best currently available distro to use? Am I best to stick with lubuntu? What will be the situation with updates/upgrades for 32 bit systems? I went to the lubuntu page but when choosing 32 bit, the latest I can get is 18.04.

Any advice much appreciated.
 


Most distributions are now only supporting 64 bit, On my Acer ZG5 [1.5gb ram atom 1500 -32bit]I use to run Peppermint 10 re-spin , but it is running out of support time last month I swapped to MX-linux 32bit ,
no issues installing, and it seems to run a little faster than peppermint did..

Bwiz
 
I've read recently that, contrary to what Asus says, it IS possible to upgrade RAM and memory on this device
on this point I can't comment until we know exactly what model you have
 
last month I swapped to MX-linux 32bit ,
no issues installing, and it seems to run a little faster than peppermint did..

This is useful, thanks, I will have a look.

It's the EeePC Flare 1025CE, FWIW. I'm happy with the idea of upgrading, but the concern is the availability of still updated 32bit systems.
 
Curiously, it seems the processor I have (n2800) does admit 64bit architecture, yet when I tried the boot thing I got a warning that it didn't.


Will read around a bit more.
 
EeePC Flare 1025CE, FWIW.
First the good news it has a 64 bit processor,..The bad news is it may only have a 32bit motherboard,
If it still has the original 1Gb of ram this can be swapped out for a 2Gb module, no point in going any more as this is the maximum the motherboard is designed to take, [many 64 bit Linux distro's will run on 2Gb]

If it was sitting on my bench the first thing i would try is download a different 64 bit distro to that you have already tried burn a clean installation usb [please do make sure the check sums match] then try running it live [if it runs live then it will install] if that fails then go for a 32 bit option [MX min requirement for 64 bit is 2mb]
unless the harddrive is giving problems the the cost of changing is not worth it

Bwiz

[edit ..after increasing the ram]
 
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Thanks for this and will try these options.

I really just want it as a 2nd laptop for online learning. It would only have to manage Google Meet/Drive sessions through a browser (ability to use scrcpy for screen mirroring from android would be useful too) - so the OS needs to accept latest versions of browsers where these google apps insist on it.

At the moment I've left it trying to re-install lubuntu 18.04, mainly to reassure myself that whatever went wrong with yesterday's attempted update is not a fatal problem. I will have a look at MX later.
 
done a bit more digging and as i suspected the BIOS on the mother board is not 64 bit enabled, and reading on several other sites , there doesn't seem to be any way of enabling it , several people have tried to flash the BIOS and all it did was bulk the system, so i would now suggest stick with 32 bit

Bwiz
 
Mx-32 bit should be a good choice as it is still maintained. Give it a try. Antix would also be a good choice.
 
Perfect, thanks.
I'm currently preparing a house move so possibly won't get round to this as quickly as I'd like, but it's on a list of things to do....
 
Just to add MX 32 bit will run on your 1gb ram... this is the version you need
MX-19.4_386,
 
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Just to say thanks again for all this advice.

I have installed MX, it does work and I like the look of it. The netbook is still not exactly what I'd call agile, but once I have the browser open and Meet up and running, it responds quickly enough.

I will still probably try to upgrade the RAM but it's not urgent and in the meantime, I know I can travel with a small, light netbook rather than a heavier lap top. Makes a big difference when baggage allowances are tight.
 
@zambeta
It will never be fast [a little quicker with more ram but not essential]
if your now happy please amend the title of your original post to include "solved"

many thanks
Bwiz
 
Glad it's working for you, enjoy! :)
 


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