Qbasicnews.com

I originally wanted to post the thing below on a Linux forum, but as i have
approximately only 8 minutes to be on line every day, i had no time to
register, and find the appropriate location for my post. So that's my problem.
I would like to have a Linux to make 32bit programs, and HTML, but i can not
install it. If anybody visits a Linux User Group here, please ask somebody
there to help me since i can not hunt down everything to make it running
myself


(The post



Please help!...

I have a very old computer, and i would like to use Linux. I have got some
CDs of Linux, the earliest is dated 1998, but i can not install them since
my CD - rom is very very outdated.

The configuration:
486 (SX ???); 25Mhz CPU running at 30Mhz
8Mb of SBSIM RAM
240Mb HDD (With 40Mb of free space, but i have almost unlimited number of
both 5.25" & 3.5" floppies to make backups)
Cirrus Logic CL - GD 5426 Video card with (i think) 1Mb of memory
CMI 8330 Sound Card (Sound Blaster Pro compatible)
3.5" FDD, 5.25" FDD
Some sort of ZIP or cassette drive for wich i never had any disk, so i never
could try it out (I have not got any driver or program for it. By looking
inside it i think it would work with some sort of tape).
The CD - ROM: It uses an ISA card to make the thing working with jumpers to
configure it's IRQ and DMA. The driver what makes it working is a Mitsumi
driver, version 2.10, of two files: MTMCDE.SYS and MTMCDS.SYS. On it's card
i found the following informations: CD - ROM DRIVE 16BIT I/F CARD (below that
with small letters KU-03294V-ON (below, now with large letters 74-1645A

It is impossible to change anything in this configuration, i need to make it
working with these. It would be acceptable for me to install Linux from
floppies, but i would like to have that CD - ROM working after it is
finished.

I would like to use Linux to finish some DOS - 16 application which i had
started already, but, it's more important, to make a little of graphic and
HTML pages (the last is impossible with Win 3.1), and develop 32 bit
applications (The graphic is not really important in my case). I do not know
too much about Linux, but i will learn that somehow as i could learn the
Microsoft way (but i can not continue that way since it is impossible to run
Win 95 on this computer in an acceptable manner. And i much more like the
Linux way, and i think it would run much more smoothly on this computer than
DOS & Win 3.1 if it will be installed somehow).

The only thing what i might be able to get is some sort of memory extender
card since i have got six additional 1Mb SBSIM modules what i can not place
in the computer unless i have a card for it. Is this exist somewhere?

If Linux will start ever on this computer, i will not need Win 3.1 any
longer, maybe only a small partition of MS - DOS (At about 60Mb would be
enough for everything). With Linux i would like to have KDE, and tools for
developing applications and documentations. At the HTML side i think i will
need an image editor, and a browser, but i do not need them to be
professional, only to wiev my HTMLs fastly, and to draw or convert some
images.


If somebody can help me, i thank, i really need it since possibly i will have
to use this computer for more than a year or more (or until someone throws
out one from his window in front of me during installing a Win XP ).

What distro?

Maybe the computer doesn't support booting from the cdrom?

Usually where ever you download the iso file to burn, there's also a floppy image for older computers that need it. Just download that, "burn" it to a floppy (there are free utilities to do this), then put both the cdrom and floppy in your computer and reboot. But since you mentioned having only 8 min a day online, I'm guessing that downloading isn't how you got your copy of Linux... I'm positive you need a boot floppy, but I don't know how you can get one.

The latest versions of KDE's equivalents to Windows notepad: KWrite, Kate, & KEdit, all support syntax highlighting for C++, html, etc...

There's also Quanta, which is pretty much the most powerful html editor for KDE. But it might be very slow on a 30Mhz...

Use a simple distro - try....MuLINUX. YOu can keep windows running with that on the SAME partition (u might need to format to fat32). It should run in console on a 486.

http://mulinux.sunsite.dk/

You can also use Smart Bootmanager. It's a simple program that installs to a diskette. Then you boot your computer with that diskette on the drive and it automaticly will detect every drive and partition present on the PC.

This will let you boot from the CDROM: just start the computer with the Smart Bootmanager diskette, instert your Linux CDROM in the drive, and select the CDROM from the list. Smart Bootmanager will make the computer boot from the CDROM.

http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/

Anyhow, you can do HTML with Windows 3.1. You can even do it with MSDOS. All you need is a text editor (Notepad anyone ) and a graphics editor, plus a browser. There are plenty for both Windows 3.1 and MSDOS.

You can do 32 bits programming with MSDOS as well, check out DJGPP: It's the same compiler you get in Linux (GCC), but ported to the 32 bits MSDOS platform: http://www.delorie.com

Hi there. Instead of Linux you could try QNX. It's a realtime OS and it will make your 486 really useful. I dont recommend installing DOS and Win3.1 on that PC because it will be rather 'slow'. QNX has a rich variety of applications so your needs will be satisfied =).

Windows 3.1 will not be 'slow' on a 486. I run Windows 3.1 on a 286 with 2 MB of RAM and it's not even 'slow.'

Are you kidding me? Hes on a 25MHz =P. I was running Win3.1 on a 386DX(33MHz) and it was *not* fast.

Oops, i did not say some things what i should have told about...

First of all, i tried to install Linux already from a CD with boot floppy, but it did not
recognized that CD - ROM, so it failed.

Second: i have got Win 3.1 and DOS, so i know how fast they run. The biggest problem is
the 32bit thing: Win 3.1 is too outdated to try anything on it. I would like to have Linux
since i can make programs then what are completely useable with a new computer equipped
with Linux. Any other solutions would not fit. The problem with DJGPP is that it is DOS
based, and i do not want to make the eyes of my program's users killed by that 60 or 56
Hz what it offers (Linux would take care of it). Operating systems other than Linux or
Windows are bad too since they are not common enough so almost nobody would be able to
use my program.

Third: I have got an Arachne browser, but it does not know anything of JavaScript what i
most liked at writing HTMLs. I could live without it if there won't be the DOS problem
that i always have to exit from it when i write the HTML, then start it again, find my
HTML again, and wait it to be loaded, and AARRGGH, it is bad... Exit... Hit CTRL ALT DEL...
RESET!!!!... (No, it never freezed, but this is so annoying that i would rather do this).
I would be happy if i could use it somehow with Windows, but it does not work.
I found a 16bit IE5, but it is so slow and huge that it is almost completely useless (and
fills my disk with tons of garbage).

So the biggest problem is that i would like to write useable 32 bit programs. And it seems
to be only possible with Linux since Win 95 would eat all of my memory, disk space,
everything, and finally (after a hour of loading) it would turn in BSOD.

The linux problem is exactly that all of my copies of Linux fail with this old CD - ROM, so
they can not load the OS on it, just the contents of the floppy.

I will try that Smart Bootmanager, but i do not really think that it will recognize this
CD - ROM. I think i will need to get (or create) a Linux boot - floppy containing a special
driver what can make it working (Where can i found a place where i can get Linux drivers
fastly? Within 8 minutes ).
(I have a Linux system on the computer from which i visit the web, but i can not use it -
the computer, not Linux - for anything else. I might be able to create the boot disk there,
but i will need a Linux driver for the CD - ROM, and some documentation about how i can
alter a boot disk as i do not know too much about Linux yet)

Quote:Are you kidding me? Hes on a 25MHz =P. I was running Win3.1 on a 386DX(33MHz) and it was *not* fast.

Maybe you're just spoiled. I run Windows 3.1 on a 12 MHz 286 and it runs fast enough for me.

Cheetah: You really can't afford a Pentium?

you could try a floppy disk only linux distro (like MuLinux as someone said above) or theres many others. Most might not have all the features your after though im not sure.

Also QNX is great.