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Linux distro for an ancient Pentium PC

I need some help finding a distro for a very old machine.

It’s my family’s old desktop with 2001 components (bought in 2004) and a Pentium CPU that is NOT i686. I checked the exact model and architecture once but I don’t remember it now. The only thing I remember is that it’s not i686 so 99% of modern 32 bit distros don’t work on it (stuck right after grub).

The machine has 1 Gb of DDR1 RAM though so I think it may be useful or at least fun to play around with.

Now it’s on Windows XP that runs quite well but doesn’t support modern SSL certificates so it can’t browse the internet (idk how to fix it ok?).

A long time ago I tried to run multiple distros in live mode on it and got only one (Puppy) to work. Display, sound, ethernet and pretty much everything worked fine. GPU seemed to be an issue though because NVidia and I couldn’t install the driver (it was skill issue and I think it’s possible to do). But now it doesn’t work for some reason.

Are there any Linux distros or other operating systems (preferably not deprecated) that I can install on it? And btw it does have bootable USB support.

EDIT: There are way too many answers and a lot of ones that don’t mind the architecture limitations. I’m grateful to everyone who replied but I have to close this discussion now and I will not reply to further answers. I have received enough information and I cannot physically read so many replies.

boredsquirrel ,

T/2 SDE!

It supports everything

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Now it’s on Windows XP that runs quite well but doesn’t support modern SSL certificates so it can’t browse the internet (idk how to fix it ok?).

Yes there are modernized versions of Windows XP with updated certificates and whatnot.

The only thing I remember is that it’s not i686 so 99% of modern 32 bit distros don’t work on it (stuck right after grub).

Debian has images for i386: cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/i386/

But… frankly the power consumption of that thing will be just crazy. Take for example this example, a more modern Pentium D vs a Pi:

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/59448465-4373-46f6-a58a-dec35fc8774f.png

browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/compare/6390478?base…

drwho ,
@drwho@beehaw.org avatar

Check out Slackware. There is still a 32-bit version that is said to work on older Pentium-class machines.

Telorand ,

Dunno if it would work or not, but I wonder if a minimal NixOS install would work.

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

I think it’s easier to write your own kernel from scratch than learning how to install something in Nix lol

Telorand ,

It’s not that bad 😆. But there’s definitely a learning curve, something I’m working on figuring out myself, at the moment. There’s some practice guides, but it’s certainly a unique beast.

Frederic ,

At least if you want to play with it in XP, install mypal browser www.mypal-browser.org I have had success with it on a XP machine, it loads facebook, reddit, lemmy.world, etc.

For an old distro, have you tried AntiX 32 bits?

AbidanYre ,

Tiny Core would probably run on it.

I have it on a PII 333MHz with 192MB of RAM from 1999. It grinds to a halt if I try to open pretty much any modern website though.

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

I just checked it and it seems to be an independent distro. Does it have a repo or do I have to compile everything I want to install?

AbidanYre ,

It has a repo with programs you can install. The selection is fairly limited though.

wiki.tinycorelinux.net/doku.php?id=wiki:install_a…

That computer is in the basement and I’m not having any luck finding a list of what’s available.

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

Hmm I can’t find a browseable repo so idk if there’s anything useful for it but I might check it out. Thanks

qprimed ,

the repos are browsable inside the package manager - I would imagine they are browsable outside as well, but I have never had cause to do so.

honestly, give tinycore a shot. fire it up in a VM and take a look around - it really is an amazingly useful distro.

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

My main Linux machine is too slow to run a VM of any kind

qprimed ,

understood. tinycore is a live installable distro, so you can still test it on bare metal.

pick the GUI flavor and kick the tires for a while.

superweeniehutjrs ,

If you do compile something, it is very easy to make it an installable package you could share. I’m not sure how the repos are managed

hagar ,

Consider antiX. It’s very lightweight, supports 32 bit and you’ll have access to the Debian Repos.

nossaquesapao ,

A long time ago I tried to run multiple distros in live mode on it and got only one (Puppy) to work. Display, sound, ethernet and pretty much everything worked fine. GPU seemed to be an issue though because NVidia and I couldn’t install the driver (it was skill issue and I think it’s possible to do). But now it doesn’t work for some reason.

Puppy linux has 3 versions, based on different distros. Maybe you tried one version back then, and now a different one?

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

I know and I think I tried the same version

fpslem ,

Puppy was going to me my suggestion too, before I read that you’d already used it. Maybe try some of the other versions? If you used a Debian- or Ubuntu-based Puppy, you could try a Slack-based one, or vice-versa. Puppy’s organization is a little confusing, in my opinion, but it does give a user some options. You also might try some of the “puplets” that aren’t official Puppy distros but are part of the Puppy family.

puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/family-tree.html

ipacialsection ,
@ipacialsection@startrek.website avatar

Damn Small Linux is a recently resurrected distro made specifically to run on old 32-bit PCs. You probably won’t be doing much web browsing or gaming on this device, but you should at least be able to get it to function

cyborganism ,

Technically, Ubuntu supports it’s LTS versions for something like 12 years I think?

Anyway, you can get Ubuntu 14.04 LTS still with the i386 32bit ISO.

www.releases.ubuntu.com/14.04/

I personally would install that and install something like FVWM95 or Blackbox WM or some other ancien desktop environment.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

Maybe let go of this ancient hardware? Seriously: Get a Raspberry Pi (or whatever SOC computer is the latest trend) and install whatever distribution you want. You get 100x the performance for 100x less power consumption. It’s great to reuse old hardware and all, but THAT old?

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

It’s just for experiments and learning. Why judging? Also a Pi is like $100 here and it is a big deal for me

ashaman2007 ,

Looks like a whole bunch of conversation about this topic can be found here:

…stackexchange.com/…/which-linux-or-bsd-distribut…

cocolopez ,
@cocolopez@lemmy.world avatar

Void with Xfce has done wonders to my atom cpu with 2 GB of ram. Also iceWM has seen a new release that might worth checking

GolfNovemberUniform OP ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

Void doesn’t support the CPU architecture of that machine

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