setting up router

donkey42

donkey42

plank
trying to config my router, after a lot of pleading with my carer, i now have 2 machines working on my desk (looks a mess)

i'm wanting to connect the new router to the old machine (P200 + 64Mb Edo) & researching the correct settings on my usual machine, now the question, which distro would run ok on an old P200 & 64Mb ?
 
donkey42 said:
...which distro would run ok on an old P200 & 64Mb ?
Click to expand...
Well, I'd say "not Ubuntu". ;) If it was me, I'd do a minimal Debian installation with one of either Windowmaker, IceWM, or Blackbox for the desktop environment. With only 64mb of RAM, even Xfce wouldn't be extremely comfortable, though it would work. Gnome or KDE are right out, as they'd cause your system to swap with only 64mb.
 
was looking around the net like a lost kid, because i didn't know what OS to use, i know *buntu requires 256Mb, so, i knew that was out

BTW: thankies AT, u da man, thanks
 
yes, i did go with debi, but, the net install wouldn't work, because, the crappy system is connected to my new router, but, is not connected to my ADSL line, so, i DLed debian-40r3-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso, however, more problems, the following error is repeated & scrolling over & over & covering the screen
Code: 
Out of Memory: Kill process 2 (ksoftirqd/0) score 0 a children.
now if i analyse the error message

  • Out of memory: obvious - not enough RAM, even though debi with xfce should work with even with only 32Mb
  • Kill process 2: unknown, presumably the process assigned to process 2 has being terminated for some reason
  • (ksoftirqd/0): presumably the "ksoft" refers to "KDE" even though the iso includes "xfce" & the "irq" refers to an interrupt request somewhere
  • d/0: unknown
  • score 0: unknown
  • and children - obviously (i think) this refers to the dependants of "ksoftirqd"
this error has being constantly occurring for about 5 hours

i would like help with the debugging of this error message, because, i want to use my new router

i've searched google & apparently i need more RAM (128 Mb) so, i'll ask my carer tomorrow to add more RAM (from another system i got off Freecycle), i'll update when i've added more RAM, but, in the meantime, i'd appreciate help with this error

Edit: after a bit more googleing i found this error refers to onboard NIC on this crappy Dell Optiplex Gn+,

BTW: i did enable memory hole (15 - 16Mb) because it was disabled, but, i think that refers to graphics

still searching
 
After you put in the disc and the splash screen for the installer comes up, type
Code: 
lowmem
It will try to be as conservative as possible with your RAM during the install, thus reducing the required amount of RAM for the installation dramatically.
 
donkey42 said:
thankies, i need to learn all these CLI tags, anymore words of wisdom from the master ?
Click to expand...
At the bootup screen, you can use the F1 key to get a help index of "cheat codes" to use in order to start off the installer the way you want. BTW, I think my memory was a bit off on the low memory installation. You only need 16mb of RAM to use the debian installer, at least the non-graphical one. You would start the installer using the following:

Code: 
expert
When you get a bit further, you'll be asked which installer components you want to load. Find the low-memory option in the list and select it before proceeding.
 
AT said:
At the bootup screen, you can use the F1 key to get a help index of "cheat codes"
Click to expand...
already looked there

BTW: i can be a nosey tw4t

AT said:
You only need 16mb of RAM to use the debian installer
Click to expand...
& 32Mb to install a usable GUI, correct ?
AT said:
Find the low-memory option in the list and select it before proceeding.
Click to expand...
like the lowmem kernel

BTW: thankies AT

what are things like the lowmem tags actually called, so, i can look them up on wiki ?
 
guess what, it didn't work, after it verifies the image is initramfs it just starts scrolling the same error as before
Out of Memory: Kill process 2 (ksoftirqd/0) score 0 a children.
Click to expand...
BTW: still searching
 
Fred said:
I'm not super familiar with your particular problem, but here are some words from debian on the matter: Installations on Systems with Low memory
Click to expand...
It's been a long time since I've had to install Debian on a PC that low-end, so I decided to do a mock low memory install in Virtualbox. I gave the virtual machine only 64mb of RAM to split between the system and the video card. When the Etch installer started, it automatically told me it would go into low-memory mode since the machine didn't have much RAM.

One thing you can do to see perhaps more symptoms of what's going wrong is to switch to another VT during the time when the problem occurs. If there is something interesting in the logs, you can potentially see it there on one of the first few VTs (VTs 3&4 if memory serves -- VirtualBox doesn't yet have a mechanism to catch the hotkeys in order to switch VTs for a guest OS). To switch virtual terminals, you'll need to use the multi-key keystrokes of Ctrl+Alt+F# where F# = one of the function keys at the top of your keyboard. I realize that if you don't have full use of both hands this would be very difficult, so you might have to use an implement like a writing utensil held in the mouth to complete the keystroke. Sorry!
 
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