MAIN EDITION: Clit (486) Release News

[machinebacon]

This is the LinuxBBQ Base Edition for older CPUs (i486), with the Debian stock 3.8-486 kernel. It's not exactly the same like the Tiny/Bass combo, but does the same thing. An upgrade will come in October 2013.

Filesize: 222MB
wget:

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wget -c http://linuxbbq.org/releases/Clit/linuxbbq-clit486r1.iso

Download link: http://linuxbbq.org/releases/Clit/linux ... t486r1.iso
md5sum: e92733442acca599a042b8c3f005fb5f linuxbbq-clit486r1.iso

Rescue it :)

[machinebacon]

Revision 1: fixed bbqstart so that it can be started with 'bbq'
Download link updated.

[GekkoP]

I got an old Acer Aspire 1304XC, now running CrunchBang. I upgraded RAM and plugged in an USB wireless adapter so it's still a nice machine to play with. I'll try this release and go with that framebuffer madness wux and DebianJoe are always talking about. Wondering if Tiny could go on this Acer, might as well try both and see what's better on this old pal.

[pidsley]

Clit is pretty old, and may be difficult to upgrade. It's also designed more as a live-boot rescue system than an install base. I'd recommend tiny, or wait until bacon gets a chance to update Clit.

What are the specs on the Acer? Tiny has a non-PAE kernel (like all BBQs) if you need that. I really doubt that you need a 486 kernel.

[GekkoP]

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1800
RAM: 640MB
Video: ProSavage KN133 AGP4X VGA Controller

I'm downloading both Tiny and Clit, but if Tiny has got non-PAE in it I'll go with that. Actually, I don't even know if a PAE kernel would work with it.

[pidsley]

Yes, tiny has non-PAE. All the 32-bit releases are non-PAE. It's much easier to install a PAE kernel after if you want one than it is the other way around. :)

[GekkoP]

Thanks, I'll go with Tiny then.

(and yes, bacon, I'm doing it for you: I don't want you to update Clit because of me! :D)

[pidsley]

When you get it running, please post the output of

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cat /proc/cpuinfo

Thanks.

[machinebacon]

Everything said here is correct :D
This 486 Clit is indeed more or less a live system, and with the 486 kernel it boots on everything post-1993. An upgrade wouldn't make *much* sense, considering that the new 486 kernel is 3.10-3, which is known to be problematic on some machines. So, it might get a push sometime, if somebody *very much* needs it, bt as pidsley points out, the non-PAE 686 works for 95% of the IBM-compatible computers that are still in use today.

[GekkoP]

I didn't forget about this. Tomorrow I'll finally get my hands on a Thinkpad T60, so I put that in our school and took the Acer back with me for some framebuffer violence.

[GekkoP]

Here's /proc/cpuinfo of my Aspire

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processor	: 0
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 6
model		: 8
model name	: mobile AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1800+ 
stepping	: 0
cpu MHz		: 666.735
cache size	: 256 KB
fdiv_bug	: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 1
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mp mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow
bogomips	: 1333.47
clflush size	: 32
cache_alignment	: 32
address sizes	: 34 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid

[pidsley]

Thank you. As you probably already figured out from the flags, this machine will run a PAE kernel. While you do not need the memory-access features of the PAE kernel, it also provides support for NX bit security. I am not recommending that you switch to a PAE kernel if everything is working fine now, only providing information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX_bit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_ ... _Extension

[GekkoP]

Using a PAE kernel on the Aspire at the moment, and everything's fine. Check here: http://linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f ... 850#p11141 :)

[pidsley]

Excellent. I'm collecting information on which processors actually need a non-PAE kernel. So far, the main one is the Pentium M (and it's only some of those). The others I know about so far are Pentium I, Geode, and Via CX. I still think it's a good idea to provide non-PAE kernels as default, mainly for the Pentium M laptops, but most people can use PAE (it was introduced on the Pentium Pro in 1995). There is a major misunderstanding out there that all "old hardware" needs a non-PAE or even 486 kernel.