AMD Turion 64

[Member sasa_]

For sale. On ads. Old computer. Only 384 mb ram memory. Can antix work on this pc.

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[Member sybok]

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Hi, my guess is that antiX will run (depends on drivers, probably try with older kernels first 4.19) on this approx. 20 years old notebook.

The RAM is really low and this would be a problem when running any modern browsers.
I’ve got an old HP Compaq with AMD Phenom II 3.2 GHz — yours has 1.8 GHz — upgraded to 8 GB RAM, I typically run fluxbox and starting Firefox takes few seconds.
When I play a youtube video, the CPU has to work really hard and its load increases to 70% (the load is only some 20% if the youtube video plays in a tab that is not currently opened)
Right now, I run antiX with fluxbox + latest Firefox ESR with 5 tabs open (not playing any video/music) and it uses 2GB RAM (I have enough RAM for the browser not to restrict its consumption).

If you decide to buy the notebook (based on other recommendations), I would strongly recommend to increase RAM and/or upgrade the CPU if possible; they could be found on some “second-hand” servers/e-shops.
Is it possible to get more information about the notebook such as motherboard model and BIOS version?

This would allow you to determine the limits of an attainable upgrade, e.g. to determine the max. RAM you can put in and/or better CPU.
All Turion 64 Lancaster models have the same socket, the best is Turion 64 MT-40, see the below wiki page.

CPU:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Turion search for ML-32 points to “Lancaster” model.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Turion_processors

Official information:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-compaq-nx6125-notebook-pc/471753/model/471756?sku=EK156ET

[Member sasa_]

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I had this laptop ten years ago. In 2012. I installed Linux Mint 12 lxde 32 bit. It worked fine for years. I could upgrade to 768 MB ram. 640 MB would be available. I would play again with the old lapotop.

[Member sybok]

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I have a Lenovo Think/Idea-Pad notebook and some 15 years ago and both Windows 8.1 and Lubuntu worked reasonably well on it.
Today, it is really slow especially if more than two GUI programs are running (even with antiX), thence a decade old experience can be deceiving with the ever-increasing demands of newer versions of programs.

Switching to SSD drive, upgrading RAM and CPU would help in my case, provided the fan is able to cool it down, but the PC is too old for me to invest in it.

BTW, the “best” MT-40 CPU listed on wiki has the same TDP as the current one in your case.

[Member sasa_]

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Thank you for your advice, so that I don’t waste time and money.

[Member sasa_]

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I found an old computer. Installed antiX 22 full iso. Surprise, it works fine. Seamonkey, Pale Moon, they do well for surfing. Single core processor is weak for youtube. Audio and video playback works. Libreoffice excellent.

inxi -b
System:
  Host: antix1 Kernel: 4.9.0-326-antix.1-486-smp arch: i686 bits: 32
    Desktop: IceWM v: 3.3.1
    Distro: antiX-22_386-full Grup Yorum 18 October 2022
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard
    product: HP Compaq nx6125 (PY419EA#ABB) v: F.07
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 308B v: KBC Version 45.23
    serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68DTT Ver. F.07
    date: 07/01/2005
Battery:
  ID-1: C175 charge: 15.6 Wh (99.4%) condition: 15.7/15.7 Wh (100.0%)
CPU:
  Info: single core AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML-28 [UP] speed (MHz): 800
    min/max: 800/1600
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RS480M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200] driver: radeon v: kernel
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: X: loaded: radeon
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: radeon resolution: 1024x768~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: ATI RS480 v: 2.1 Mesa 20.3.5
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet driver: tg3
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN
    driver: b43-pci-bridge
  Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros AR9271 802.11n type: USB driver: ath9k_htc
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 55.89 GiB used: 4.19 GiB (7.5%)
Info:
  Processes: 133 Uptime: 15m Memory: 873.5 MiB used: 258.4 MiB (29.6%)
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.19

[Member PPC]

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sasa_ wrote:

Single core processor is weak for youtube

At 1600Mhz, it probably isn’t- use smtube, with video resolution set to 360 or less and you’ll probably see any YouTube video just fine… You can copy any YouTube video address and paste it on smtube’s search window to view it…

P.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.

[Member sasa_]

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When I play a youtube clip from SMtube, antiX freezes. Other apps work fine. I’m happy.

[Member RJP]

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Browsers are the weak link in weak hardware, but else programs should work ok.

PS. I have a download script for youtube-videos.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by RJP.

[Member sasa_]

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I open the video clip with the help of mpv or smplayer, antix freezes.

[Member PPC]

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sasa_ wrote:

I open the video clip with the help of mpv or smplayer, antix freezes.

Did you set, in smtube, the video resolution to a low one- 360p or 240p? If even so, antiX freezes, while trying to play a video, it may be some kind of problem with the video configuration.

Edit: on very low powered systems, it make take some 10 seconds, before the video begins playing, but antiX should not freeze while the video is loading.

P.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.

[Member sasa_]

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The resolution is 240p. The processor operates at 100% frequency. The video plays for a minute, and then everything freezes. The laptop must be turned off and restarted. The processor is too weak to replay video.

I’m going to convert the video to mp3. The processor runs at 100% and freezes antiX.

Works surf, email, office, radio stations in web browser. Works nicely.

[Member sybok]

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There is a post on this forum about ‘hooktube’ as an lower-memory alternative frontends for common services.
Also, you may clean the PC from dust.

If even ‘mpv’ does not help, then I read recently about an audio player from YouTube (does not play video which could decrease CPU usage).
https://gitlab.com/zehkira/monophony
Did not test it though.

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