cbagger01
Group: Members
Posts: 4264
Joined: Oct. 2003 |
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Posted: May 08 2004,02:53 |
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If you add the boot option '2' to your boot command, you will boot into text mode which requires less memory than the normal boot. However, 8MB of RAM is very low for a graphical system. You may not be able to run XWindows and will have just the command line at your disposal. I seem to remember somebody who said that they got XWindows to work with 12MB of RAM, but that is a semi-usable system.
I think that the command for formatting your swap partition is:
mkswap
or
mkswap /dev/hdax
where 'x' is the location of the swap partition that you created with 'cfdisk' after booting into Linux.
FYI, most of these commands need to be run as the 'root' user or super user.
To do this, type:
sudo su
to become 'root' before creating your partitions or format your swap partition.
When your swap partition is ready for use, type
swapon
to activate your swap partition.
If you want a version of Linux that is a little outdated but would work better with a computer that has only 8MB of RAM, try BasicLinux:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/
Another, more current (but still not running on a recent kernel like DSL does) distro with good feedback is Deli Linux:
http://delilinux.berlios.de/
I think that DSL's modern design and Debian roots make it the best choice but you may find 8MB of RAM to be a challenge that cannot be overcome.
Deli is 2nd best because while the OS (kernel, X Windows) is not the newest, this is a good thing because it needs less RAM. But Deli is kind of the best of both worlds because it still has modern applications like Dillo, Siag Office, Sylpheed, etc.
Basic Linux is also useful but many of the applications are somewhat dated.
Good Luck.
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