When the operating systems abandon your computer

[nonaeroterraqueous]

I have an Acer netbook from 2011 that I've taken pretty good care of, upgraded the hard drive and memory, and installed Linux Mint 18.3 dual boot with Windows 7. I've never had problems with it. The hardware is fine, but the operating systems have abandoned it. I know it can't upgrade to LM 19.x, and I don't believe it can move to Windows 10.

So, what do you do when your perfectly good computer won't run on an up-to-date operating system? Do you leave it on an old one until things stop working? Find an OS for dinosaur computers? Chuck it and get a new one?

Getting a new laptop is not a problem, but I hate to trash a good machine.

 

[Tolworth John]

Find an OS for dinosaur computers? Chuck it and get a new one?

Post on computer geek sites, there must be one for Linux fans where someone can tell you where to get the version you need, or how to load a more modern op system.

 

[paul1149]

MX Linux with the Xfce desktop environment still makes a 32 bit version, and it is superb (I used the 64bit version, with the KDE destkop, on three units and have installed it on many others). Its cousin, Anti-X, is more lightweight and would fly, but it lacks some of the creature comforts we are used to.

 

[Wookiee]

Depends on the processor in it. If it's a Celeron or similar, you're probably likely to find something supporting it - may even be able to run Android on it.

If it's an Atom... yeah. Good luck.

To be fair, it's almost a decade old on architecture that really was barely designed to last two years. Putting the time into maintaining something like that (for free) just isn't worth it to most people.

 

[Sketcher]

I have an Acer netbook from 2011 that I've taken pretty good care of, upgraded the hard drive and memory, and installed Linux Mint 18.3 dual boot with Windows 7. I've never had problems with it. The hardware is fine, but the operating systems have abandoned it. I know it can't upgrade to LM 19.x, and I don't believe it can move to Windows 10.

So, what do you do when your perfectly good computer won't run on an up-to-date operating system? Do you leave it on an old one until things stop working? Find an OS for dinosaur computers? Chuck it and get a new one?

Getting a new laptop is not a problem, but I hate to trash a good machine.

Why exactly can't you upgrade it to Mint 19.x? That is to say, which component or components of Mint 19.x won't run on it anymore?

Also, the hardware specs, as well as the model number (usually found near the serial number) would be very helpful.

 

[Wookiee]

Why exactly can't you upgrade it to Mint 19.x? That is to say, which component or components of Mint 19.x won't run on it anymore?

It's probably a 32-bit processor, and he may be mistaken and thinking of Mint 20 (which doesn't support 32-bit).

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

It's probably a 32-bit processor, and he may be mistaken and thinking of Mint 20 (which doesn't support 32-bit).

No, it's 64-bit, and I'm not mistaken. I haven't downloaded Mint 20, yet.

Why exactly can't you upgrade it to Mint 19.x? That is to say, which component or components of Mint 19.x won't run on it anymore?

Also, the hardware specs, as well as the model number (usually found near the serial number) would be very helpful.

Acer Aspire One 722-0667

All I know is that an attempt to run a live CD gave me a ton of error messages. If I remember right, they were mostly about a lot of components not found or recognized. 18.3 ran without a hitch. The same 19.x disk runs great on my desktop computer.

 

[Sketcher]

No, it's 64-bit, and I'm not mistaken. I haven't downloaded Mint 20, yet.



Acer Aspire One 722-0667

All I know is that an attempt to run a live CD gave me a ton of error messages. If I remember right, they were mostly about a lot of components not found or recognized. 18.3 ran without a hitch. The same 19.x disk runs great on my desktop computer.

Acer's site wasn't taking that as a search term, does this seem to match up with it?
Acer Aspire One 722 Specs

Consider giving Lubuntu a try. It's modern, and meant to be lightweight. I haven't tried it on any old laptops, but it runs decently in a virtual machine and is easy to set up.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Acer's site wasn't taking that as a search term, does this seem to match up with it?
Acer Aspire One 722 Specs

Consider giving Lubuntu a try. It's modern, and meant to be lightweight. I haven't tried it on any old laptops, but it runs decently in a virtual machine and is easy to set up.

Yes, that's it, except for the RAM and hard drive upgrades. If Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based, then wouldn't it suffer from any driver/compatibility issues inherent in Ubuntu, the same as LM?

 

[Sketcher]

Yes, that's it, except for the RAM and hard drive upgrades. If Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based, then wouldn't it suffer from any driver/compatibility issues inherent in Ubuntu, the same as LM?

Maybe, maybe not. I'd say don't knock it until you've tried it - all you're losing is a blank DVD. This is the easiest Linux route that I know of to take. Other Linuxy solutions very likely exist, but will very likely be more work to configure.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

Install Debian with LXQt or another lightweight DE, or even check out a WM like i3-gaps. It's a totally different workflow paradigm, but I think it's fun. Debian is the tried-and-true of the Linux world that rarely fails, even on ancient machines.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Install Debian with LXQt or another lightweight DE, or even check out a WM like i3-gaps. It's a totally different workflow paradigm, but I think it's fun. Debian is the tried-and-true of the Linux world that rarely fails, even on ancient machines.

I don't know that it necessarily needs to be lightweight, but I was considering the Debian option. LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) would give me a Debian option, while continuing my current interface, which would be nice.

This is the first feedback I've heard about Debian, which is encouraging.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

I don't know that it necessarily needs to be lightweight, but I was considering the Debian option. LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) would give me a Debian option, while continuing my current interface, which would be nice.

This is the first feedback I've heard about Debian, which is encouraging.

I've used LMDE in the past. Back then, it was rolling release, which was what was so attractive to me. I don't think it is now, but I definitely think it is advantageous to use Mint with a Debian base instead of Ubuntu. Forgive me but Canonical leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.

 

[Wookiee]

I don't know that it necessarily needs to be lightweight, but I was considering the Debian option. LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) would give me a Debian option, while continuing my current interface, which would be nice.

This is the first feedback I've heard about Debian, which is encouraging.

On your hardware you definitely want to use lightweight. It'll be a huge help.

Vanilla Debian is good. I've used it on a lot of servers and the odd VM with a graphical shell. It works well, doesn't come bloated, lots of online support.

It doesn't hold your hand as much as Ubuntu (I assume Mint would do a better job of that), so some things generally require a bit of additional configuration out of the box (like sudo) but it's pretty solid.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

On your hardware you definitely want to use lightweight. It'll be a huge help.

Actually, I find that the best solution is to use it as a dumb terminal to a good desktop computer via VPN. It's pretty smooth that way. That gives me the fastest performance. But, seriously, I use it with Mint Cinnamon. It's a little slow that way, but it's good enough for me. My only other uses for it are email and surfing the web.

Yeah, lightweight would be better, but I'm stodgy.

 

[Sketcher]

I don't know that it necessarily needs to be lightweight, but I was considering the Debian option. LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) would give me a Debian option, while continuing my current interface, which would be nice.

This is the first feedback I've heard about Debian, which is encouraging.

I run Debian. I like it. It's the base operating system of many lightweight Linux distros. I actually transitioned to Debian from Mint several years ago when Mint's forum and repository security breach was made public, and I haven't looked back.

It is mostly similar but it doesn't go out of its way to be as user-friendly as Ubuntu and Mint. I found that I have to install more packages under Debian to get everything that I want to run running. I also had to jury-rig one of them a bit (Virt Viewer, since I work with virtual machines). I'm OK with this, but using the CLI in Linux is part of what I do for a living.

Part of why I recommended Lubuntu is because of Ubuntu's greater attempts at compatibility and user-friendliness to Linux noobs. That's more likely to include the drivers that you'll need. By all means, try them both, but I think Lubuntu may be less of a pain on certain hardware (especially wireless networking).

 

[HARK!]

I have an Acer netbook from 2011 that I've taken pretty good care of, upgraded the hard drive and memory, and installed Linux Mint 18.3 dual boot with Windows 7. I've never had problems with it. The hardware is fine, but the operating systems have abandoned it. I know it can't upgrade to LM 19.x, and I don't believe it can move to Windows 10.

So, what do you do when your perfectly good computer won't run on an up-to-date operating system? Do you leave it on an old one until things stop working? Find an OS for dinosaur computers? Chuck it and get a new one?

Getting a new laptop is not a problem, but I hate to trash a good machine.

Hmmm...I used to work on some computers, that for security reasons, would have the drive partitioned into into multiple LINUX and DOS drives. The data that was being processed was being alternately pulled from across all of the partitioned drives.

Anyway, back on topic. Sometimes the perfectly good drive would get corrupted. It would require that it be wiped clean and copied over. This is where it would get tricky. If you wiped the drive clean with DOS; DOS wouldn't recognize the LINUX; so when the drive was supposedly clean, the drive would read smaller than the actual physical capacity of the disk.

Try taking the drive and putting it in tandem with a working drive, on a working computer. Look at how much available space is on the drive. If it's full; that's a sign. If so; wipe the drive. Check it again for available disk space. Does it match its' rating? If not; that's a sign. You can download the factory software for most disk drives online. Get the factory disk for your drive, from that drives' manufacturer's website, and set your drive back to factory settings. Write all zeros to the drive. This will wipe the registry. You'll have to reformat the drive, and load Windows again.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Try taking the drive and putting it in tandem with a working drive, on a working computer. Look at how much available space is on the drive. If it's full; that's a sign. If so; wipe the drive. Check it again for available disk space. Does it match its' rating? If not; that's a sign.

I've got no problems, there. Both partitions are nearly empty, and both equal the expected size.

 

[HARK!]

I've got no problems, there. Both partitions are nearly empty, and both equal the expected size.

Have you tried using a different drive on that computer. That would divide the problem nearly in half. If the new drive won't take it; then as far as I can figure right now, it would be one of just few possibilities.

1.) Hardware.

This seems unlikely to me; as the first thing I would look to as the source of the problem would be the CPU. CPUs generally work, (even if not perfectly) or they don't.

2.) Firmware

There might be some firmware on your motherboard that is corrupt.

3.) I haven't worked around computers for well over a decade. I'm sure much has changed since then. Could there be some sort of key on the HD, (which now, for some reason, is missing) that prevents pirating the OS?

Have you tried simply booting the computer with DOS? If it boots in DOS; that would provide some very telling clues.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Have you tried using a different drive on that computer.

Well, the problem happens in the loading of the live disk. This isn't even going so far as an attempt at installation. I was under the impression that the live mode left the internal hard drive unchanged.

At any rate, version 18.x works fine, but 19.x won't load. It's as simple as the first bootable disk works, and the second bootable disk does not.