[Mageia-discuss] New install on older machine

Thu Jan 5 14:57:27 CET 2012

On 12/29/2011 10:14 PM, TJ wrote:
+> I just installed Mageia 1 from the DVD on my brother's computer -
+> Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard, Athlon XP 1500+ processor, 512 MB PC2100
+> DDR RAM, nVidia FX5500 AGP 4x video card, Samsung B2030 monitor
+> connected via VGA, Asus WL-138G V2 wireless card (Broadcom 4318
+> chipset). The existing OS was Mandriva 2010.2. I did a clean install,
+> not an update, leaving the drive with /home intact.
+>
+> So far, so good. The install went smoothly, no problems. The monitor was
+> correctly identified, and the correct resolution selected. After using
+> the b43 firmware cutter to install the necessary firmware, all that was
+> needed was to select the proper signal to make the wireless connection.
+> After configuring the mirror list, the proprietary nVidia driver was
+> installed, using MCC. Then, 619 updates were downloaded and installed,
+> while I ate some lunch.
+>
+> My brother's uses are modest - some websurfing (Facebook and Youtube), a
+> bit of email, watch a DVD now and then. His hardware is enough for that
+> kind of work, though he could probably use a video card with DVI output,
+> and some more RAM. I installed the Flashplayer plugin, Oracle's Java
+> version 7u2, Thunderbird, vlc, Kaffeine, and then the latest Adobe
+> Reader and Google Earth for good measure. All seem to be working fine,
+> though there wasn't much time for testing today once I had everything
+> installed. More testing tomorrow, but so far I'd call it an unqualified
+> success.
+>
+> Just thought you'd like to know...
+>
+> TJ
+>
+>
+Uh-oh. Make that a qualified success. Since installing Mageia my brother 
+has noticed a slowdown in operation over what he had with Mandriva 
+2010.2. The latest KDE, coupled with Firefox 9 is just a bit more strain 
+than his 512MB of RAM can handle, I think. He might have noticed it with 
+Mandriva 2010.2 as well, because the flatscreen monitor had only been 
+installed for a couple of days before I put Mageia on his machine. 
+Before that, he had used a CRT at a lower resolution. Even though the 
+video card is handling the display, it still takes more RAM to build it.
+
+The top command shows swap being used when there's just Firefox and 
+Konsole running, and that just shouldn't be. I could go with a lighter 
+desktop, but it took me long enough to settle my brother into working 
+with KDE - I don't want to change things now. It would only be a 
+stopgap, anyway. RAM needs always increase, never decrease.
+
+So, I've gone to eBay and purchased a couple of 1GB sticks of used RAM 
+for $25. New RAM that will work in this machine is pricey and harder to 
+find than it used to be. That'll bring the computer to its maximum of 
+2GB, which should be plenty for a good while.
+
+We'll see how that works out. Another video card with a digital 
+connection would probably help too, but one thing at a time.
+
+TJ
+
+