[PLUG] Trying to install a new OS on an older machine

Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net
Thu May 6 23:24:27 UTC 2021


Distributions have been dropping support for 32 bit CPUs, but the Atom
D525 is 64-bit according to
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/49490/intel-atom-processor-d525-1m-cache-1-80-ghz.html

"Linux distributions now commonly use a PAE-enabled kernel as the
default, a trend that began in 2009.[25] As of 2012 many, including
Ubuntu (and derivatives like Xubuntu and Linux Mint),[26][27] Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6.0,[28] and CentOS, have stopped distributing
non-PAE kernels, thus making PAE-supporting hardware mandatory. Linux
distributions that require PAE may refuse to boot on Pentium M family
processors because they do not show the PAE support flag in their
CPUID information (even though it is supported internally).[5]
However, this can be easily bypassed, at least in Ubuntu, with the
forcepae option.[29]

Distributions that still provide a non-PAE option, including Debian
(and derivatives like LMDE 2 (Linux Mint Debian Edition)[30]),
Slackware, and LXLE, typically do so with "i386", "i486", or "retro"
labels.[31][32] The article Lightweight Linux distribution does list
some others, allowing to install Linux onto old computers."   -- from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension

PAE isn't likely your problem if you have a 64-bit CPU.

On Thu, May 6, 2021 at 3:13 PM Ben Koenig <techkoenig at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, May 6, 2021, 2:29 PM Dick Steffens <dick at dicksteffens.com> wrote:
>
> > I have an older computer (Jetway mini ATX, Atom D525 processor --
> > Thanks, Rich) which currently has Slackware 14.2 running on it. I
> > installed it back on March 3, 2019. I haven't used the little box for
> > some time, but now have a new use for it, and want to replace Slackware
> > with Xubuntu 20. My documentation tells me I used a Plop CD to be able
> > to boot from a USB stick, the same one I used to install Xubuntu 20 on
> > this machine. The CD fires up and gives me options on which device to
> > use. I select the USB option, it blinks a few times, then gives me a new
> > set of options that I can't scroll through. Any ideas on how to fix this?
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dick Steffens
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > PLUG: https://pdxlinux.org
> > PLUG mailing list
> > PLUG at pdxlinux.org
> > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>
>
>
> Have you checked the architecture of the machine? since you have a distro
> on it check the arch and cpu extensions.
>
> $ uname -a
> $ cat /proc/cpuinfo
>
>
> Ubuntu dropped support for old x86 processors so you need to look for
> things like PAE and proceed accordingly
>
> -Ben
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG: https://pdxlinux.org
> PLUG mailing list
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> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug



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