UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hy, I've an 486 dx2 laptop an I want to run unix on it, the problem is it has only 4 megabytes of ram, so my question is; does anybody know an unix based OS which runs with only 4 mb?

thanx

almost any linux will run on it. But the problem is it will be slow. i suggest you do not run X so no gui. your linux machine need some swap to install. so your linux distribution will ask you to enable the swap partition during install.

thank u

I Tried debien because I can install it from 1.44 mb disks, nut after inserting the second disk my computer stops. (even crtl alt del doesn't react)

I thought maybe an instalation thru an open conection (parallel) ith my other system, but i've no idea how to:P

you can ofcourse take the cd-rom player out of the other computer and put it in this one. even my old 486 does support bootable cd's (486 DX 33).

Yeah, thougt about that, but how can I put an IDE cdrom drive on a labtop with oly serial and parralel connectors.

you can connect your laptop to an other (with an network) pc and install there a nice proxy (best is a transparant proxy). (you need a pcmcia network card for this). and use a bootable disk from a company like suse. run the disk connect to the internet. and install from an ftp.

things you need at least for this is an pcmcia network card and comp with 2 network cards or an network card and a modem. (last one is not prefferable). and a crosscable/coax cable, transparante proxy software.

it is proberly also possible to installl from a cd in your computer if you have made it an ftp server (not sure if it works never tested it).
then you need is an pcmcia network card , other normal network card and a crosscable. ftp server software for other pc.

i hope these a workable ideas.

it is not possible to run X on a 50MHz, 33MHz external proc, and I think that your 486 w/ cd boot bios is a rare find indeed. take it from a kid who's had 7. (all in the last 2 years). and, on top of that, getting a working internal laptop CD drive for a 486 is near to impossible, unless you get an lpt adapter. Minux will surely run on 4MB of ram, but if you want X, think again. I assume that your hard disk is around 512MB... and I think GNOME takes 150MB and KDE takes 300, so forget using a desktop environment. My advice: install Win 3.11 on DOS 6.22, or PC DOS 7.0.