Best Lightweight Linux Distro & Optimization Tips for an EeePC 1005HA

[elitost]

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for advice on choosing the best Linux distribution for my Asus EeePC 1005HA, an old 32-bit machine with an Intel Atom N280 (1.66 GHz), 1GB of RAM, and Intel GMA 950 graphics.

I’ve already tried Lubuntu, but I find it a bit slow. I also tested AntiX, which runs better, but I’d love to hear your recommendations on the most lightweight and efficient distributions for this kind of hardware.

I’m specifically looking for a distro that is:

• Lightweight and smooth, working well with only 1GB of RAM.
• 32-bit compatible, since the Atom N280 doesn’t support 64-bit.
• Usable with a responsive desktop, not too minimalist or requiring too much manual setup.

Performance Issues & Optimization Advice Needed

I’ve had performance issues, especially with Firefox, which comes preinstalled with Ubuntu. I tried Falkon, but it still feels sluggish.

In addition to distro recommendations, I would also love to hear any optimization tips to make the system as fast as possible, including:

• Best lightweight browsers for low RAM usage.
• Optimizing swap (should I enable zswap or zram? Best swap partition size?).
• Disabling unnecessary services or daemons to free up resources.
• Tuning system preferences (e.g., reducing swappiness, using tmpfs for cache, etc.).
• Lightweight alternatives for essential applications (file managers, text editors, media players).

I’ve heard about Puppy Linux, Slax, BunsenLabs, MX Linux 32-bit, and even Tiny Core, but I’m not sure which would be the best fit for basic usage (web browsing, light document editing, and some tinkering).

If anyone has experience with similar hardware and knows the best tweaks to improve performance, I’d really appreciate your advice!

Thanks in advance!

Eric

 

[mg753]

Alpine Linux might be worth trying. https://www.alpinelinux.org/about/

 

[CaffeineAddict]

• Lightweight and smooth, working well with only 1GB of RAM.
• 32-bit compatible, since the Atom N280 doesn’t support 64-bit.
• Usable with a responsive desktop, not too minimalist or requiring too much manual setup.

With 1GB RAM you're restricted to very minimalist DE which is LXDE

The rest boils down to a 32 bit distro, I'm not aware of which one that might be but LXDE is my recommendation.

 

[elitost]

Thank you for the suggestions!

I’ve considered Alpine Linux, but I’ve read that it requires quite a bit of manual configuration, which might not be the best fit for my EeePC 1005HA. While it’s a lightweight distro, I’m looking for something that can provide a more responsive desktop out of the box with minimal setup.

I appreciate the recommendation of LXDE for lightweight environments, as it works well with 1GB of RAM. It’s definitely something I’ll consider if I go with a distro like MX Linux or AntiX.

By the way, would Ventoy be a good option to test multiple distributions quickly on my system without installing them first? This way, I could easily try out several lightweight distros like AntiX, Puppy Linux, and Q4OS to see which one performs best on my hardware.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks again!

 

[Brickwizard]

There are very few 32-bit Linux distributions, [see below] none is better than the other just different, I have just got rid of my 32 bit machines as support is likely to end later this year, on mine I ran Debian 32 bit, MX 32 bit and peppermint 32 bit on a daily basis but also Bunsen labs and Anti-x for a change

Top 15 Linux Distros That Still Support 32 Bit Systems

If you have vintage hardware with 32-bit processor and you would like to keep on using it, here are the best choices of Linux distros with 32-bit support.

itsfoss.com

 

[Brickwizard]

• 32-bit compatible, since the Atom N280

I know it well, I had one in my ZG5, sorry you will not be able to do a lot with it no matter which distribution you choose, there was a distribution specially for this CPU by ACER, but that was over 20 years ago.
It will never set the world alight, OK for general surfing and home computing, not a lot of good for modern hi def streaming,

 

[ML_113]

I would consider Puppy Linux like Biopup. I use it in an extra obsolete Chromebook just for banking, and feel safe.

 

[elitost]

I wanted to try Puppy Linux on my eeepc, so I downloaded the latest 32-bit ISO and created a bootable USB. However, when I boot from the USB, I get stuck on what looks like a GRUB4DOS, similar to a DOS prompt. I’m not sure what to do from here.


• Did I miss a step during the installation?
• Are there specific commands I need to enter?
• Should I use a different method to create the bootable USB? I tried Balena etcher and dd

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

 

[Brickwizard]

I will call the master of hounds

@MikeWalsh

Mike can you please help

 

[dos2unix]

With 1GB RAM you're restricted to very minimalist DE which is LXDE

I would say LxQT, is usually a little lighter than LXDE

 

[elitost]

@MikeWalsh For information, I downloaded the latest BookwormPup32 23.12 (x86 32-bit, Debian Bookworm 32) ISO. I followed the instructions on this page and used the dd command to create a bootable USB.

 

[KGIII]

I would say LxQT, is usually a little lighter than LXDE

That and LXDE is no longer really being developed. The same people are the ones doing the LXQt desktop environment. It's still being given some maintenance but that's about it - as far as I know. Unless someone takes over the project, it'll likely die on the vine in short order.

I took a look at OP's device and it has an old Atom CPU in it. It's a mere 32 bits and will never be all that fast, though some of the very lightweight distros will happily run on it. They're just not going to comfortably play HD video with a dozen open applications. 4k video, for what it's worth, probably won't play at all. Still, lots of netbook fans exists today and there's still a pretty vibrant community around them.

 

[elitost]

I’m well aware that this is an old machine—it’s from 2009—but for basic tasks like browsing the web, checking emails, writing here and there, and using it as a secondary device for work, it could still be useful.

I tried AntiX, which I installed on the hard drive. The OS and applications run fairly smoothly, but as soon as I launch a browser, everything lags terribly. I tested YouTube, and videos run at something like 3 frames per second—which I expected.

I also tried several lightweight browsers like Dillo, Viper, Falkon, and Pale Moon, but none of them made a real difference. I was thinking that maybe Puppy Linux could handle things a bit better.

 

[KGIII]

I was thinking that maybe Puppy Linux could handle things a bit better.

I'm optimistic. We have a Puppy guru here on the forum, so they'll help you out.

Your older device can still be useful and, for better or worse, it's not easy to find that formfactor these days.

But, as for your web experience, it's going to be slow. I'm not sure how to phrase it, but today's 'web' is much heavier than it used to be. In other words, even simple browsing of websites consumes more compute resources than it did in the past. This is because of a number of reasons, but much of it is the increased use of large JaveScript libraries, multimedia, etc...

I'd find a browser that is still supported and, obviously, supports 32 bit. I'd look for one that has extensions, so that you can install stuff like 'NoScript' and 'uBlock Origin'. Just blocking scripts and ads will make the web quite a bit lighter. One must temper their expectations, I suppose. As you've noticed, sites like YouTube are going to be problematic.

 

[ML_113]

I get stuck on what looks like a GRUB4DOS

Yes, you have to install Grub4dos before rebooting otherwise your PC won't boot. Grub4dos can boot (multiboot) others OS if they are already there (Windows, Linux ...).
Yes you don't have to erase anything if you don't want to. Puppy is a peaceful distro.

 

[elitost]

I think I’m already inside Grub4Dos, which must be on the USB stick. But I’m not sure what to do from here. What commands should I enter to boot into Puppy Linux?

Is there a way to manually start the system, or do I need to configure something first?

 

[guiverc]

My own equivalent system runs Debian GNU/Linux

asus eepc 1000HE (intel atom n270, 1gb, intel mobile 945gse integrated)

It was used for Quality Assurance testing of Lubuntu until 19.04, which was the last release which had i386 or 32bit x86 ISOs, last supported w

asus eepc 1000HE (intel atom n270, 1gb, intel mobile 945gse integrated)

as 18.04 which reached EOL for i386, armhf or 32-bit back in 2023-May.

Debian provide two installers, I can't recall which I used, but I do have a preference for the live or calamares installer over di, but I'd use whichever works (the live installer needs more RAM).

My box has a 160GB disk, so it's bloated with many DE & WMs, as I don't care about the number of packages or footprint on disk; as those multiple choices at login still only use a fraction of 1GB of disk; its RAM that matters to me.

I'll login & use whichever will be most efficient with the apps I'll use in a session; ie. if I'm using GTK3/4 apps I may consider a Xfce desktop, if only GTK2 then LXDE makes sense, if using Qt then LXQt may; but most of the time I'm using a WM only.

I don't do much browsing on it; but I do have a number [of browsers] installed; but I'm more likely to use w3m or lynx, as if I need a full browser I'll likely use a device with better keyboard (I don't like the reduced-size keyboard on the asus). If I'm wanting to use it to stream a news channel or something; then I'd likely login with WM long & just run the browser direct.. it can still be used in that way; but it's a low-powered device so I'm generally not using it with a HiDpi image (screen can't show than anyway), and it has poor sound, so I'd likely grab an pentium M laptop & use that instead (older IBM thing that is better actually but will use more power).

 

[MikeWalsh]

Hallo, @elitost. You'll have to bear with me; as a full-time carer for a 91-yr old (with a dodgy immune system), my appearances can be a bit sporadic. In other words, it's going to be a case of "expect me when you see me"!

It's currently nearly 3 am here in the UK, and I'm just about to turn in, so I won't be around for another 8-9 hrs. I just wanted to let ya know I WILL try to help here with Puppy if I can.

One thing I will say, here & now; even Puppy isn't immune to the "bloat". Modern Puppies are a hell of a lot larger than their older counterparts, many of which would have comfortably run on those kinds of specs.....as m'colleague @Brickwizard says, the single-core N280 will not set the world alight, but at least you do have SSSE3s and HyperThreading, which will help somewhat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

For a machine of that vintage and resource envelope, I'm going to take the unconventional step of echoing @ML_113 ......the older Bionicpup32 would be a far better choice for a machine of that age, because it's much closer to the kind of "lighter" software that would have been around at the time that machine was on the market. I call this being "date-sympathetic" to your hardware, though I'll be roundly castigated for even suggesting it.

Along with Bionicpup 32, I'll suggest the Pale Moon browser.....and for watching videos, use something like the DuckDuckGo seach engine, and watch videos using their 'in-house' video player. This is way lighter on resources, and saves the messing around trying to get something like YT-dlp up-and-running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

In a world obsessed by online security, Puppy is one of the very few distros that is relatively safe.....because IF you think you've picked up anything "nasty" during a session, at shut-down you can choose to let the session simply disappear into the vacuum of cyberspace. No harm, no foul.....and nothing bad saved back to the system, which runs from highly-compressed, read-only files anyway.

(In fact, you can set Puppy up to ONLY 'save' what you actually WANT to 'save' - this is achieved manually - which gives you somewhat more granular control over what you're doing.)

As others have said, the modern internet is the killer of older, low-resource machines. All you can do to combat this is to try and minimize your resource usage as best as possible, by using the less well-known, lighter (think featherweight) applications, of which there are plenty out there. You just won't have heard of their unfamiliar names.

I'll leave you with those thoughts. We'll pick this up again later on today, if you still want to.

Actually, if you're serious about trying Puppy out, why not swing by the Puppy Forums? Our very friendly crew will bend over backwards to help you get one of the many available Puppies running on your old netbook...

Puppy Linux Discussion Forum - Index page

forum.puppylinux.com

We DO love a challenge.....and several heads are better than one in this scenario.


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

I call this being "date-sympathetic" to your hardware

Off-topic:

As you know from my previous posts, I can be very careful with my speech. No, it's not being 'politically correct', it's being understanding and compassionate. (If those are bad things to you, well you can kiss my nether regions.)

That said, I'm stealing that. I'm adding 'date-sympathetic' to my lexicon. While I've been that already, that's a wonderful description of it. So, you've lost control of it and I'll be using it in the future. Thanks!

Now, back on topic...

 

[elitost]

Hi @MikeWalsh ,

Firstly, thanks a lot for your help! I really appreciate it.

I’m in France, so there’s only a one-hour time difference between us.

Following your advice, I downloaded BionicPup32 from this link:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/pb-gh-releases/files/BionicPup32_release/

I installed it on a 32GB USB stick using Balena Etcher (my main computer is a Mac – the devil’s machine, I know, but I like it! ).

I booted from the USB, and instead of landing on a black screen with white text from GRUB4DOS, I arrived directly at the boot menu.

I selected the first option, and everything went smoothly from there. I was able to set up the language, keyboard, and WiFi connection without any issues.

I also tried to register on the official Puppy Linux forum, but it asked me for Barry’s dog password.

To be honest, I have no idea what it is… Any hints?

Once I manage to join the forum, I’d like to ask how to best configure BionicPup32 to run alongside AntiX, which I have installed on my 160GB HDD.

Thanks again for your time and help!
Cheers,
Elitost