The things people throw away.....

megamaced said:
Do you think Linux in any form would actually run on a K6 200MHz 48MB RAM setup? :confused:

[ot]I am no Linux expert, but i've dabbled with Suse Linux 9.3. I was pleasently suprised with what I saw. It looks great and has a great feature set. It is by far more innovative then Windows.
Theres just one thing I can't stand about Linux, and that's the lack of proper installer packages! Dependencies drive me up the wall and the .RPM packages don't help much.[/ot]
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Sure, it'd run no problem. The memory expensive thing in Linux, like Windows, is the heaviness of the GUI. But unlike Windows, in Linux one has their choice of which GUI to run (if at all). There are GUIs, for instance WindowMaker, which take up only 4mb RAM to run. That leaves you a lot of RAM for actually running software. Of course, running a heavy GUI like KDE in 48mb of RAM would be equivilent to running XP on that thing -- just nasty.
 
Matt555 said:
Yeah people shouldn't throw such stuff away.
www.freecycle.org
To recycle old stuff to stop it going in landfills, so far I've got:
[2x 500MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, 12GB HDD PC's. (both with NIC's),] CD-RW (External) 14" Monitor, Cables, Keyboards Mice etc.
I'm soon to pick up 5x 17" CRT screens for free. Need one for this computer and might use a couple with the other systems I have and give one to a friend as he needs it.
I've had it with small CRT screens, if I'm going to have one, 17" is minimum,I can then use it with my 15" TFT as well (dual monitors, I can't stand only having one monitor anymore)
Anyway check that site out, it's not just PC stuff but there's some good stuff to be had, you need a yahoo e-mail address to join a group from a certain area but this freecycle thing is global!
*EDIT* No longer getting the computer monitors, I left if too late and they've all gone now :( *EdIT*
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Can you explain how this works? From what I gather, you sign up for the news group and wait for someone to email offering free computer hardware? Then all you do is pick it up? Sounds to good to be true! Whats the catch?
 
megamaced said:
Can you explain how this works? From what I gather, you sign up for the news group and wait for someone to email offering free computer hardware? Then all you do is pick it up? Sounds to good to be true! Whats the catch?
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No, that's pretty much it. I've also found that asking around at large companies, universities and other such places which cycle through a lot of PCs will often donate some PCs to you if you ask nicely. I got about a dozen HP Vectra workstations from a major university here in SoCal.
 
As it happens, we a FORCED to use HP Vectras here at Yahoo! They are P3 500MHz and 128MB of RAM running Windows NT - Terrible for a workstation!

Out of interest, what have you done with all those Vectras?!
 
There is no catch, basically it's stuff people don't want anymore, I happen to get those PC's because the guy who wanted to get rid of them was moving to another country and didnt need them, those 5 monitors I was going to pick up were from a company that recently upgraded to TFT screens and therefore had loads of CRT's they needed to get rid of.
It's not just computer stuff, there's lots of other stuff as well, basically anything people don't want and they think is able to be used by someone else they give away, you just e-mail them if you want it and then if they say you can have it you go and pick it up! It's a great idea.
 
Yeah it is im a long time member but i have nothing because mi cant drive and nobody will take me to the items.
 
unlucky Nic :(, most of the communities say all the items must be free, but for some reason the glasgo one has to state:-

"Our main rule: everything posted must be free. Please read the user's guide to find out how to use it effectively, and what isn't permitted (heroin and Kalashnikovs aren't allowed, free or not)."

loooooooooollzzzzzzzz :P
 
Anti-Trend said:
Well, if you lived within a few hundred miles of me I'd gladly mail you a 2GHz Celeron with motherboard I have collecting dust here. But since you're in the UK, it'd be cheaper for you to buy a rig like that than for me to ship it to you. :)
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Mail me the celeron! : )
 
megamaced said:
...Out of interest, what have you done with all those Vectras?!
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Some were converted to IPCop or m0n0wall firewalls, some were refirbished into Linux Internet stations, and some were donated to a local community center.
 
Anti-Trend said:
Some were converted to IPCop or m0n0wall firewalls, some were refirbished into Linux Internet stations, and some were donated to a local community center.
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... And I bet you've got a PC for every room in your house. A PC in your kitchen, for when you're doing the washing up/cooking. A PC in your dining room, for when you're eating your dinner. A PC in your lounge, for when your 'entertaining'. A PC in your bathroom, for when you're sitting on the toilet. And a PC in your bedroom.........I won't go there :D
 
megamaced said:
... And I bet you've got a PC for every room in your house. A PC in your kitchen, for when you're doing the washing up/cooking. A PC in your dining room, for when you're eating your dinner. A PC in your lounge, for when your 'entertaining'. A PC in your bathroom, for when you're sitting on the toilet. And a PC in your bedroom.........I won't go there :D
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Thats like us..except for the bathroom. I wanted a pc for the bathroom in the tiles above the bath so I could watch movies while in the bath. Eventually they agreed but it wasnt poosible :( but i still want more. I love having pcs to tinker with.
 
I remember when I first opened up this Compaq, I saw a strange white slot on the motherboard, near the processor. I have since found out it is called a COASt socket - short for Cache-On-A-Stick! Apparently, they were a really common sight, especially on Intel boards, back in the days of the P1

This Compaq was a low cost option back in 1998 - can you believe $700 was considered enty-level back then. Anyway, to cut costs, this PC was manufacturered with NO onboard level 2 cache! This explains why the PC is so damn slow, when it shouldn't be!
I've since bought 512KB (probably overkill for this computer) of Cache RAM, and now it's flying!
 
That last line about 512kB made me chuckle.

But, yeah, for practicing, dumpster diving can be a nice option, plus you may be able to accumulate spare parts...like me and my dad have. I can see you're learning quite a bit in your PC adventures too.
 
the other great thing about the 2240 is it has a built in speaker system, if your cd rom drive is of the two button variety it will play cds while the computer is turned off (power supply button on). the volume controls work too. you can also upgrade to 233mhz in either AMD OR intel.
megamaced does yours have a heatsink and fan or just the big heatsink??
 
hehe, yes it's got a built-in JBL speaker system! The CD-ROM doesn't have any special play buttons though, although it is the generic Sanyo that comes with the PC.

The CPU has a heatsink but no fan, and the motherboard has no fan header either! The processor seems to run quite hot, but I guess it's always run like that, so hopefully thats normal.
I was thinking about upgrading it to the fastest AMD available with a 66MHz FSB (which i think is 350MHz), but there is no point really. If I started to upgrade bits, I'd end up with a completely new machine! After all, it can only support 48MB RAM, theres no DMA modes and the hard drive is only 4200RPM!
 
i think the fastest we ever got this one to go was 233. it only has multipliers up to 3.5. plus if you go intel you will need to change the voltage jumpers. the voltage jumpers are on the left side i think. been awhile since i had mine opened. i had to put an itel 200 in mine because we fried the amd in another machine. :(
mine also came with that big fanless heat sink, think i still have it in a box somewheres. if you look around i bet you can find an old cdrom that is the two button type. we found out by accident that it would play cds with the computer off. mine also came with the factory install 16 meg dim that is the same chips that are on the motherboard. at 1 point i was considering soldering them on the blank spots on the board.:eek: but never got around to it and gave the ram away.
it has 1 pci slot, we populated it with a 100tx nic and had it hooked up to a comcast cable modem, that was fun.:)
my favorite thift store find to date is a pent3 800. has a nice 40gig maxtor in it and 256meg ram all for $5.
 
cybergiest said:
i think the fastest we ever got this one to go was 233. it only has multipliers up to 3.5. plus if you go intel you will need to change the voltage jumpers. the voltage jumpers are on the left side i think. been awhile since i had mine opened. i had to put an itel 200 in mine because we fried the amd in another machine. :(
mine also came with that big fanless heat sink, think i still have it in a box somewheres. if you look around i bet you can find an old cdrom that is the two button type. we found out by accident that it would play cds with the computer off. mine also came with the factory install 16 meg dim that is the same chips that are on the motherboard. at 1 point i was considering soldering them on the blank spots on the board.:eek: but never got around to it and gave the ram away.
it has 1 pci slot, we populated it with a 100tx nic and had it hooked up to a comcast cable modem, that was fun.:)
my favorite thift store find to date is a pent3 800. has a nice 40gig maxtor in it and 256meg ram all for $5.
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Do you have a PDF manual for the Intel motherboard? I need to know the jumper layout!

I'm not sure if this is normal, but whenever I shutdown the computer, It seems to restart again! It never switches off! There is a sleep button on the front, so maybe i'm missing something here? Does this happen on your Presario?
I've installed Windows 98SE on it.
 
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