Installing Kubuntu on an old laptop

[SumBloke]

Hi everyone
Im trying to use my old laptop, again, I tried a few years ago and installed Kubuntu 14.04.01 and it was problematic because pae was not supported. So I left it there. Now I'm having another go. Could you recommend which version to install please? Or perhaps another distro altogether might be better for my laptop which is a:

HP Compaq nc8000
Pentium m 1.6ghz (please don't laugh)
Ram, not sure but probably 64mb or so

It has Kubuntu 14.04.01 installed which started up ok yesterday. I left if for a while and when i came back it had switched off, now when I boot it flashes up an error for a split second about temperature critical levels and then shuts down again. Even when stone cold. I don't know the exact error as it flashes up too quickly ad the pause doesn't pause it.

Any suggestions gratefully received on how to get linux going on this old thing would be great. I want it for offline storage with disk encryption only so basic features would be fine

Thanks very much for any suggestions

[Rod J]

According to this page: HP Compaq nc8000 the laptop should have 512Mb of ram. You'd be hard pressed to find any distro that would run in 64Mb of ram ... Puppy Linux perhaps.

Kubuntu isn't going to run very well even in 512Mb of memory I'm afraid.

This page has some good suggestions. I think Lubuntu might work best.

[SumBloke]

Thanks Rod, that was very helpful.

Before I go ahead with one of those lite distro's though, do you know if one of the more modern releases of Ubuntu would get my laptop working? I'm thinking it would be easier to upgrade rather than format and start again.
Also, any ideas on that error message about critical temperatures? Is that a common error? The laptop is cold when I boot and it still gives that error
Thanks again for the helpful link to the lite distros

[GreyGeek]

Does the Compaq have a USB port? If so, burn the ISO of Lubuntu onto a USB stick and boot your Compaq from it. If it starts up but aborts then move the USB stick to your main laptop and boot from it. A msg about the problem may be inn the system log. You can open a terminal and issue "dmesg" to see the the boot msgs.

Personally, I think your Compaq has moved to the bit bucket in the sky. Capacitors lose electrolyte, resistors can age and lose binder material, contacts corrode. IOW, circuits are no longer operating within design parameters. It's not worth rehabilitating unless you are starting a digital museum.

[whatthefunk]

I had an old laptop with similar specs and found Crunchbang to be the best solution. Crunchbang died but theres a community continuation of it that looks good: https://www.bunsenlabs.org/

Any modern version of Ubuntu or Kubuntu is not going to work well with that amount of ram.

[flamboyant]

i'd focus on availability of a driver for the graphics controller and install Lubuntu or Debian Wheezy [with LXDE or another light-weight DE]. according to this:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product...c00114045#AbT6

the notebook features ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 Pro.

[arochester]

"when I boot it flashes up an error for a split second about temperature critical levels and then shuts down again." One possible cause is the Thermal Paste in the heat-sync. It may have dried out and need replacing.

The HP Compaq nc8000 can take up to 2Gb of RAM. If the laptop otherwise works you might try increasing it.

[SumBloke]

Thanks everyone. Some really helpful info for me in this thread. Things are progressing well and it looks like the old girl might just make it

Thanks again for all your help!

[dazz..]

I recently pimped up an old Dell Inspiron 6000 that used to belong to my father, and it had very similar specs to yours. I got me 2GB of RAM at eBay for 6 bucks (just make sure the rated speed and timings match yours), a Pentium M755 for another 5 bucks (those puppies went for some 600 bucks back in the day ) and even installed a small SSD in the CD tray with a SATA-PATA caddy.
I wasn't expecting much, but boy, it runs Xubuntu Xfce like a champ, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be capable of handling KDE as well