[Solved] Uses for old Computer

I have an old computer and I am not sure of what to do with it.

Specs:
Intel Pentium4 @2.4Ghz (dual core)
Nvidia GeForce4 MX 420
256MB RAM
120GB HDD

i was thinking of running xubuntu, will it work well?
what are some other uses?
additional thoughts:

media computer
network computer (that holds shared files on the network)
selling?

if you need any more info just ask

Message edited by nnaatthhaannx2 on 10-24-2011 at 02:03:47 AM

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Difficult to say for sure, but there's an easy way to find out. Try it and see - you have the hardware and only you can decide what is acceptable performance for your needs.

Personally, I would put a 1 or 2 TB hard disk in it, install FreeBSD, and use it as network storage. (FreeNAS will do this for you.)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Ijack

i was also wondering if it could serve as a netflix (or other movie) computer and conect it to my TV. how would 720/1080p movies work on here?

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Ijack wrote :

Difficult to say for sure, but there's an easy way to find out. Try it and see - you have the hardware and only you can decide what is acceptable performance for your needs.

Personally, I would put a 1 or 2 TB hard disk in it, install FreeBSD, and use it as network storage. (FreeNAS will do this for you.)

and will the computer be speedy enough to do this?
how difficult is this to setup?

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

The only way to know if the computer is speedy enough is to try it and see. FreeBSD is not very demanding and I believe that FreeNAS is pretty simple to install. All these things are free, so have a play and see which works best for you.

Reply to Ijack

well i just installed xubuntu, not done yet, but i read that it makes a old computer useable, is there a way to do this on xubuntu?

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Pentium 4 1.4Ghz? (dual-core)?

No such CPU exisists.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

amdfangirl wrote :

Pentium 4 1.4Ghz? (dual-core)?

No such CPU exisists.

2.4Ghz.... sorry about that

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Personally I prefer LXDE over XFCE, but that's just preference. Either should run just fine on a rig with those specs.

I would also do what iJacks suggested if it were up to me.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Pyroflea

Xubuntu is a pretty solid choice. Might be a better OS to learn the Linux from.

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

o well i was just about done with the installation, and then i got an error (i think it was error 5 {thats probably wrong}) and it froze and nothing could be done, it said it was a disk error (it was not clean) but i did a disk check before..... any help?

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Burn the CD at a really slow speed and check the MD5 checksum?

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

amdfangirl wrote :

Burn the CD at a really slow speed and check the MD5 checksum?

so set it to like 4x?
(it was at 24x)
wats md5 checksum?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Pyroflea wrote :

Personally I prefer LXDE over XFCE, but that's just preference. Either should run just fine on a rig with those specs.

I would also do what iJacks suggested if it were up to me.

k i have no idea wat you are talking about

theproblem with ijack's suggestion is that i dont want to spend the $60 on a terrible computer.

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

nnaatthhaannx2 wrote :

so set it to like 4x?
(it was at 24x)
wats md5 checksum?

It's a code avalible on the download website to make sure that the download is not corrupted.

If you wish you could make a LiveUSB.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

amdfangirl wrote :

It's a code avalible on the download website to make sure that the download is not corrupted.

If you wish you could make a LiveUSB.

can i just try again by deleting all the files on my hard drive, or is it more complicated than that?

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

$60 may sound a lot to spend on an old computer; on the other hand, it's pretty cheap for a 1TB NAS device. But you don't have to spend anything, just use the original disk for less storage.

Reply to Ijack

Best answer

My observations:

1. It will not like HD video and no HDMI out.
2. It has limited ram
3. As a file server the P4 chip will eat electricity. (it's just gone up 15% per kWh here!)

Suggestions:

1. Run Puppy, Slax or DSL and it's a perfectly workable desktop
2. For any of the Ubuntu derivatives try and find at least another 256mb of ram.
3. It could make an audio PC using to play your MP3's etc. Disk is big enough and you're not likely to worry about an old PC if you have a party or friends want to play DJ. Old sound blaster card would improve over the on-board efforts.

For what it's worth I'm picking up a similar box this week as payment for helping a friend move house. It's going to get 2Gb of old ram I have and a DVD RW drive and replace my brothers somewhat sick EeePC 701. The extra core and 1.5Ghz speed boost will see him right for another year or so.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to audiovoodoo

Yeh, I have a P4 box running Fedora 15 LXDE which works quite well doing the inventory for the sewing machines we fix.

Message quoted 2 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

amdfangirl wrote :

Yeh, I have a P4 box running Fedora 15 LXDE which works quite well doing the inventory for the sewing machines we fix.

Would this be the appropriate time to make a sexist joke?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Pyroflea

Pyroflea wrote :

Would this be the appropriate time to make a sexist joke?

no

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

amdfangirl wrote :

Yeh, I have a P4 box running Fedora 15 LXDE which works quite well doing the inventory for the sewing machines we fix.

with how much ram?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

audiovoodoo wrote :

My observations:

1. It will not like HD video and no HDMI out.
2. It has limited ram
3. As a file server the P4 chip will eat electricity. (it's just gone up 15% per kWh here!)

Suggestions:

1. Run Puppy, Slax or DSL and it's a perfectly workable desktop
2. For any of the Ubuntu derivatives try and find at least another 256mb of ram.
3. It could make an audio PC using to play your MP3's etc. Disk is big enough and you're not likely to worry about an old PC if you have a party or friends want to play DJ. Old sound blaster card would improve over the on-board efforts.

For what it's worth I'm picking up a similar box this week as payment for helping a friend move house. It's going to get 2Gb of old ram I have and a DVD RW drive and replace my brothers somewhat sick EeePC 701. The extra core and 1.5Ghz speed boost will see him right for another year or so.

for puppy os, do i have to have a clean new disk (CD), or can i use an old one with deleted data?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

nnaatthhaannx2 wrote :

with how much ram?

I use 1GiB but the min requirement is 640MiB because of a glitch in the system requirements. It only uses 100MiB idle and 200-300MiB in use.

Lubuntu does not have this problem, needing only 384MiB, idling at 70MiB.

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

I know a guy that has a computer with similar specs. He uses his as a
astericks server / DHCP server / PPPoE conection.

He uses Cent OS with X-windows not running so it is just terminal. I forget which version though.

Message edited by Declivever on 10-29-2011 at 03:15:54 AM

Reply to Declivever

I'd suggest upping the RAM to 512MB, keep wxisting hdd, install antiX-M55-i686; partition
/ ext4 8GB, /home ext4 100+ GB, swap 1GB.

Run smxi and install liquorix kernel

have fun![url=http://www.smxi.org][/url]

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by chamaecyparis on 10-29-2011 at 03:41:05 AM

Reply to chamaecyparis

chamaecyparis wrote :

I'd suggest upping the RAM to 512MB, keep wxisting hdd, install antiX-M55-i686; partition
/ ext4 8GB, /home ext4 100+ GB, swap 1GB.

Run smxi and install liquorix kernel

have fun![url=http://www.smxi.org][/url]

whats your best suggestion for current RAM?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

Q:

nnaatthhaannx2 wrote :

whats your best suggestion for current RAM?

A: . . . to create a swap file

After install of the distro (BTW, I must have been thinking of the Toyo tires on my 4WD when I said 'M55' as it should have been M11), I'd suggest downloading and installing your favorite text editor if you do not like to use vi -- for ex.
Midnight Commander

Code :

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install mc

before having to append the /etc/fstab with

Code :

/swapfile1 swap swap defaults 0 0

[see e) referred to in link above].

Then all that needs be done is to enter the command

Code :

sudo mcedit /etc/fstab

then append.

A 512MB swap file should be plenty, so just follow the example in link.

Best wishes!

Reply to chamaecyparis

nnaatthhaannx2 wrote :

for puppy os, do i have to have a clean new disk (CD), or can i use an old one with deleted data?

Puppy can save to a file on an existing file system or you can install it as a full OS (disc wiped) so the answer is either way is fine.

Reply to audiovoodoo

Oh, forgot to ask if you are in the UK? I might have 2x 128Mb DDR2 DIMM's I could post you if that would help.

[off topic]
Just in case anybody knows... I got given an old HP SFF box but the BIOS is locked down and even after doing the battery trick it's still asking me for a BIOS password (I can boot OK but I want to tweak a few things). Is there a clear switch on the old HP hardware at all or do people think flashing the BIOS is my best option?[/off topic]

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to audiovoodoo

audiovoodoo wrote :

[off topic]
Just in case anybody knows... I got given an old HP SFF box but the BIOS is locked down and even after doing the battery trick it's still asking me for a BIOS password (I can boot OK but I want to tweak a few things). Is there a clear switch on the old HP hardware at all or do people think flashing the BIOS is my best option?[/off topic]

Have you tried those BIOS PW defaults you can find on the internet?

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

amdfangirl wrote :

Have you tried those BIOS PW defaults you can find on the internet?

Like here, do you mean?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to chamaecyparis

chamaecyparis wrote :

Like here, do you mean?

Psk, you are supposed to make people Google, not do it for them .

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

Best answer selected by nnaatthhaannx2.

Reply to nnaatthhaannx2

amdfangirl wrote :

Psk, you are supposed to make people Google, not do it for them .

Errr... What's google and how can I get IDM to work??

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to audiovoodoo

audiovoodoo wrote :

Errr... What's google and how can I get IDM to work??

LOL -- luv ur srcasm!

BTW -- set up a friend, who has a similar SFF IBM, with Swift Linux -- check it out, audiovoodoo!

Message edited by chamaecyparis on 10-30-2011 at 09:43:36 PM

Reply to chamaecyparis

I'll have a look (see my rant in another thread about Fedora!) along with Mint. It looks like the field has changed a bit since I last played with Linux in any depth.

Reply to audiovoodoo

audiovoodoo wrote :

Errr... What's google and how can I get IDM to work??

It is now a sticky.

Anyone caught posting another one of those threads will have their thread removed.

audiovoodoo wrote :

I'll have a look (see my rant in another thread about Fedora!) along with Mint. It looks like the field has changed a bit since I last played with Linux in any depth.

Mint is really the best direction for beginner Linux.

Message edited by amdfangirl on 10-31-2011 at 02:41:41 PM

------------------------------ Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
-Slyvia Plath Lady Lazarus
Reply to amdfangirl

Forum Linux/Free BSD : General Discussion [Solved] Uses for old Computer

General Discussion

Please mind