Linux on older IBM laptop (was: Daily digest (10 messages) V1 #140)

[Robert Citek <rwcitek@alum.calberkeley.org>]

On Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004, at 08:39 US/Central, Joe L. wrote:
> I've got an older IBM laptop that I'm wanting to do some tinkering
> with. It's a pentium but it only has a floppy. Any suggestions as far
> as distributions.
>
> I did get a pcmcia card scsi with it  and an old school external cd
> rom.

What type of IBM Laptop?

I've been able to install Linux on an IBM ThinkPad 600, 600 E, 770X, 
and X20.  With the exception of the modem, they've all worked great.  
Each of those machines had a drive bay where you can swap out the 
floppy for a CD-ROM.

Personally, I would try to get an older version of Knoppix (<= v3.3) 
which came with a boot floppy image.  Insert both the floppy and the CD 
and then boot.  It will start from the floppy, recognize your hardware, 
and then boot from the CD-ROM.  I really miss that feature with newer 
distros, including newer distros of Knoppix.

If you need a copy of Knoppix (or any other distro) let me know.  I 
still have a stack of Knoppix CDs that PCXperience created that have 
the older Knoppix.  You can pick one up at the CWELUG meeting this 
Sunday ( http://www.cwelug.org ).  In fact, if you bring the laptop, we 
can try to get linux installed right then.

Regards,
- Robert
http://www.cwelug.org/downloads
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