Evening All
My wife has been given one of the above loaded with XP home and I’m looking to wipe it and replace with a Linux distro.
It’s got a 160GB hdd and 1Gb Ram. She’s familiar with Mint 13KDE, Ffox and Tbird. She only does a bit of surfing, emailing and the odd text document.
What would you recommend I install, for lightness and speed and for general all-round use?
Ta in advance
Rich
Hi Rich J
My choice would be Peppermint 4 any KDE based distro may be a bit on the heavy side for that spec, I’ve recently installed Peppermint 4 on a netbook with similar spec and it flies
Good luck
Graeme
I’m pretty sure I’d agree … Peppermint 
Have you got the exact model of mini ?
You might want to take a looksee at the HP and Compaq mini’s listed here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/Machines/Netbooks
but the only way to tell for sure would be to either give us the full model number so we can check the spec/hardware … or even better, create a LiveUSB stick, boot to it, and post the output from:
sudo lshw
so we can see the list of discovered hardware
Just try and boot a live USB - if it working (including wireless networking), 3D works, you’re golden.
Bummer that she’s used to KDE, as it’s not a good plan on a netbook. THAT said, there is a Plasma Netbook KDE desktop, which doesn’t run badly. Worth testing out!!
Oh god no … lead her away from the dark side and into the light.
We already are - from XP to Linux 
No, with KDE you’re leading her from the dark to the slightly less dark.
You guys crack me up - you really do! ;D I didn’t mean I intended to put KDE on the notebook…
It’s an HP Compaq Mini Notebook F10 32-bit. 160Gib hdd and 1Gib RAM.
Code returns - (apologies, there’s a lot of it)
mint@mint ~ $ sudo lshw
mint
description: Notebook
version: F.10
width: 32 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.4 dmi-2.4 smp-1.4 smp
configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook cpus=1 family=103C_5335KV sku=NF280EA#ABU uuid=96349962-8D98-619E-2D3C-51D2AF5F1A6E
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: 361A
vendor: Hewlett-Packard
physical id: 0
version: KBC Version 02.0E
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: Hewlett-Packard
physical id: 0
version: 361A0 Ver. F.10
date: 12/25/2008
size: 64KiB
capacity: 960KiB
capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Atom™ CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.12.2
serial: 0001-06C2-0000-0000-0000-0000
slot: CPU 1
size: 1600MHz
capacity: 1666MHz
width: 32 bits
clock: 133MHz
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm cpufreq
configuration: id=1
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 5
slot: L1-Cache
size: 24KiB
capacity: 24KiB
capabilities: internal write-back data
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 6
slot: L2-Cache
size: 512KiB
capacity: 512KiB
capabilities: internal write-back unified
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.1
width: 32 bits
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.2
width: 32 bits
capabilities: logical
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: b
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 1GiB
*-bank
description: DIMM SDRAM Synchronous
product: PartNum0
vendor: Manufacturer0
physical id: 0
serial: SerNum0
slot: DIMM0
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: Mobile 945GSE Express Memory Controller Hub
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=agpgart-intel
resources: irq:0
*-display:0
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:16 memory:fe980000-fe9fffff ioport:dc80(size=8) memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:fe940000-fe97ffff
*-display:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Display controller
product: Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:fe880000-fe8fffff
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1b
bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
version: 02
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
resources: irq:43 memory:fe938000-fe93bfff
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:40 ioport:1000(size=4096) memory:fea00000-feafffff ioport:3fa00000(size=2097152)
*-network
description: Network controller
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=0
resources: irq:16 memory:feafc000-feafffff
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:41 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:feb00000-febfffff ioport:3f800000(size=2097152)
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 00
serial: 00:24:81:52:d3:12
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.30 firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
resources: irq:42 memory:febfc000-febfffff ioport:ec00(size=256)
*-usb:0
description: USB controller
product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:23 ioport:dc00(size=32)
*-usb:1
description: USB controller
product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:19 ioport:d880(size=32)
*-usb:2
description: USB controller
product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:18 ioport:d800(size=32)
*-usb:3
description: USB controller
product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.3
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:16 ioport:d480(size=32)
*-usb:4
description: USB controller
product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.7
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:23 memory:fe937c00-fe937fff
*-pci:2
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1e
bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
version: e2
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
*-ide
description: IDE interface
product: 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
logical name: scsi0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: ide bus_master emulated
configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
resources: irq:18 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:ffa0(size=16)
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: TOSHIBA MK6028GA
vendor: Toshiba
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: BN10
serial: Y8N7W76ZW
size: 55GiB (60GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=1bfc1bfc
*-volume
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
version: 3.1
serial: 72b9cc8d-2a4d-c042-8334-3510abe404b9
size: 55GiB
capacity: 55GiB
capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2001-02-26 16:38:39 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
*-serial UNCLAIMED
description: SMBus
product: N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: latency=0
resources: ioport:400(size=32)
*-scsi
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@1:1
logical name: scsi2
capabilities: emulated scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage
*-disk
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
size: 8006MiB (8394MB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: signature=0000cf4d
*-volume
description: Windows FAT volume
vendor: SYSLINUX
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sdb1
logical name: /cdrom
version: FAT32
serial: 94e5-979e
size: 8005MiB
capacity: 8005MiB
capabilities: primary bootable fat initialized
configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro state=mounted
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
physical id: 1
logical name: wlan0
serial: 00:24:2b:ae:ff:08
capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=3.2.0-23-generic firmware=N/A link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
Rich
Ugh, it’s that Broadcom b43 rubbish again 
Mark’s probably got the instructions set up on a copy-paste, so we’ll wait for them…
Meanwhile, I’ve run Unity fairly happily on a equal spec netbook, but it really flew on Xfce, so I’d lean more towards Peppermint on that (LXDE-based, so even lighter). Mint MATE should be ok, but I’d still lean towards Peppermint
Yeah, Peppermint or one of the other light distros … take it from me, Mint/Ubuntu on an N270 and 1GB of RAM will feel slow by comparison, they’ll run but they won’t compliment the hardware, more they’ll highlight its shortcomings.
The Wireless will probably need tweaking as it’ll need the lpphy firmware installing … but as long as you can attach temporarily with an ethernet cable, that’s an easy fix.
All other hardware seems fine
Ok guys! Thanks for the heads up.
I assume I just download the latest Peppermint and burn the iso as per usual - (this will have to be to a usb stick btw, no optical drive) so are there any particular issues to watch out for? Best method etc? And yes Mark, there is a connection for an ethernet cable.
Also, is Peppermint a ‘fork’ of Mint (a Mint lite, as it were), or is the name just a coincidence?
I’ll no doubt be back for info on the wireless… :
Rich
Get the 32bit ISO image from the Peppermint main website
Direct download link:
http://peppermintos.info/32/Peppermint-4-20131113-i386.iso
MD5 = dcabc386e2b89f937b327814ed370ec1
and burn it to a LiveUSB stick as explained here:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/index.php?topic=11109.0
in fact you can follow that tutorial EXCEPT for stages 8, 9, 10, and 11 (which are specific to the AA1 netbook)
Also, is Peppermint a 'fork' of Mint (a Mint lite, as it were), or is the name just a coincidence?
Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu
Lubuntu is Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop environment
Peppermint is a derivative of Ubuntu/Lubuntu … but it also uses some of the Mint software, such as the software Manager.
Peppermint was started by the guy who used to build the Mint LXDE version.
Peppermint unlike Lubuntu doesn’t strictly stick to the LXDE environment … we cherry pick a bit, as in we use the Xfwm4 window manager from Xfce, bits from Mint, bits from Gnome, and bits of our own.
The story goes that the name was chosen as Kendall (who did the Mint LXDE version) and Shane saw it as a “spicier” Mint LXDE
@ Mark - I burned the usb as per your tutorial but on booting the mini from it, I get:
Missing parameter in configuration file.
boot: (then flashing cursor)
Any thoughts?
Rich
Edit: K3B shows the MD5 of the downloaded file the same as in your post except there is an additional figure 1 at the end - is this significant?
try this…
when at the
boot:_
prompt … what happens if you type
live
and hit enter ?
What app did you use to create the Peppermint LiveUSB ?
What app did you use to create the Mint LiveUSB ?
[EDIT]
My mistake I’d chopped the 1 off the end of the MD5 … it’s fixed above now.
This is a problem with the bootloader as added by the USB creator application … not the ISO image … have you tried formatting the USB stick before using the USB creator software ?
you could also try a different LiveUSB creator application.
such as this one for Windows:
http://www.linuxliveusb.com/en/home
or even just try the same one again … sometimes the LiveUSB creators can be a bit funny.
Is this a different USB stick to the Mint one ? … I know the Acer Aspire One doesn’t like certain USB sticks.
prompt … what happens if you type
live
and hit enter ? … er - Peppermint loads, no problem… :-[ :-[ :-[
I’ll go and have a short lie down, a stiff drink, hit myself over the head a few times and then continue with the install!
Thanks for now
Rich
Ok! Peppermint now up and running on the mini with extras installed, no problem!
Very impressed so far with speed and stability. One issue, the wireless card is not recognised (ref: Chemicalfan and Broadcom), wired connection works flawlessly.
@Mark - you mentioned something about installing ‘lpphy firmware’ and it’s an easy fix?
Thanks as always
Rich
OK, with the netbook connected to your router with an ethernet cable (so it has an active interweb connection), open a terminal and run:
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-lpphy-installer
When that’s finished … REBOOT
Did wireless come to life … ie. if you click the networkmanager icon in the system tray (by clock) does it list your network ?
Had a thought Mark - is it worth rolling that firmware into the default install? Would save a bunch of troubleshooting for newcomers, and wouldn’t add too much bloat.
Kinda thinking ahead to Peppermint 5 (the BIG one for people jumping ship from XP, imo)
I gather it all changed in 13.10 onwards anyway.
It used to be you couldn’t have the lpphy firmware and the standard firmware installed at the same time … I’m pretty sure it all comes as a single package now … though I don’t know if it’s installed in Ubuntu/Lubuntu by default now or not.
The firmware used to be considered proprietary so couldn’t be rolled into the ISO image … but “Additional Hardware” (jockey) would detect a b43 adapter and offer you the drivers … problem WAS that it always seemed to download the non-lpphy firmware so lpphy cards wouldn’t work (the 2 packages USED to conflict) … I gather since 13.10 thats fixed now and ALL the firmware now comes as a single package, so I guess “Additional Drivers” will sort it for you.
I also know Broadcom were open sourcing some of their drivers … but I’m pretty sure these weren’t included, so they’re highly unlikely to be rolled into the ISO … “Additional Drivers” makes it easy though (as long as your wired connection works).
So it was a licensing issue? That’s kinda crappy, considering it’s the first thing a user is going to want to do. Pretty sure that Mint comes with the Nvidia drivers on the ISO, and I’d assumed that Broadcom could do the same?
Anyway, if it’s fixed in future, I guess my solution has already been implemented