[lubuntu-users] Using Pentium 3 Machines on Lubuntu

[E James]

On 09/05/17 03:54, Aere Greenway wrote:
> Lubuntu Users:
> 
> I noticed in the minimum system requirements for Lubuntu 17.04, that a Pentium 4, or perhaps a Pentium M is required.
> 
> I have two Pentium 3 machines, on which I successfully tested Lubuntu 16.10, and later upgraded them to 17.04.
> 
> These machines passed my basic sequence of tests, using them as music workstations.  I concluded that Lubuntu works (for my music software) on Pentium 3 machines.
> 
> But on attempting to browse the web (using Firefox) to download my latest music software, the browser crashes!
> 
> I tried Chromium, and it also crashes.
> 
> I tried Qupzilla, and Midori, and they, too, crashed.
> 
> I remember that I had noticed browser crashes when I tested Lubuntu 16.10, as well.
> 
> So I figured that the reason a Pentium 4 is required for Lubuntu 17.04, has to do with the lack of a working browser.
> 
> I then concluded I would just have to use Lubuntu 16.04 on these machines until its support runs out.  But on testing this, I find that with a fully updated Lubuntu 16.04 machine, when I try to run Firefox on a Pentium 3 machine, it crashes!
> 
> Does anyone have any more information on this?  I am curious.
> 
> But then, not wanting to throw these machines away, though probably more from being stubborn, I found a way to make the Firefox browser work on Lubuntu 17.04!
> 
> I discovered that if I installed wine, and winetricks, I could install the Windows version of Firefox (using winetricks), and it would run without crashing!  It even puts a launcher for it on the desktop.
> 
> Currently, it won't play videos or audio files (I may yet be able to tweak it to succeed at this).  But I can usually download the file (right-click, then Save Link As...), and then browse to where it was downloaded (with the file browser) and then use the file normally under Linux.
> 
> Perhaps some of you out there may find this information useful.
> 


I use ffmpeg a lot. It comes as a single binary file which I just copy to whatever working directory I have in mind. 

This is a list of my PCs.

"","PC CLASS","MODEL","32BIT/64BIT","RAM","SCREEN","CPU","OS1","OS2","APPROX AGE","STATUS"
"PC1","Netbook","Acer Aspire one D257","32BIT","1GB","1024x600","Atom N570","Lubuntu 14.04.3 (32BIT)","Windows 7 Starter",2012,"FAULTY HDD"
"PC2","Netbook","Acer Aspire one D257","32BIT","1GB","1024x600","Atom N570","Lubuntu 14.04.3 (32BIT)","Windows 7 Starter",2012
"PC3","Laptop","Toshiba Sat. Pro L300","64BIT","4GB","1280x800","Pentium T3400","Linux Mint 18 (mate) (64BIT)","Windows XP Pro SP2",2009
"PC4","DeskTop","Shuttle","32BIT","512MB","1024x768","Athlon XP 2000+","Lubuntu 14.04.4 (32BIT)","Windows XP Pro SP2",2003
"PC5","DeskTop","----","32BIT","1GB","1024x768","Sempron 140","Windows XP Pro SP2","Lubuntu",2005,"FAULTY PSU"
"PC6","Nettop","Shuttle DS47","64BIT","4GB","1366x768","Celeron 847","Lubuntu 13.10 (64BIT)",,2014
"PC7","Nettop","G2Digital Nano C16L","64BIT","4GB","1360x768","Celeron J1900","Lubuntu 14.04.3 (64BIT)",,2015
"PC8","Nettop","Asus EeeBox B202","32BIT","1GB","1366x768","Atom N270","Lubuntu 15.10 (32BIT)",,
"PC9","Netbook","Asus EeePC X101CH","32BIT","1GB","1024x600","Atom N2600","Lubuntu 13.10 (32BIT)","Windows 7 Starter",2012
"PC10",,"Raspberry Pi 3",,"880MB","1366x768",,"Debian 8 (Raspbian)",,2016
"PC11",,"Raspberry Pi 3",,"880MB","1366x768",,"Debian 8 (Raspbian)",,2016
"PC12","Nettop","G2Digital Nano C16L","64BIT","4GB","1360x768","Celeron J1900","Lubuntu 14.04.5 (64BIT)",,2017
"PC13","Nettop","G2Digital Nano C16L","64BIT","4GB","1360x768","Celeron J1900","Lubuntu 14.04.5 (64BIT)",,2017

Please note PC4. It was running Lubuntu 12.04 and ffmpeg wouldn't work so I upgraded to 14.04. ffmpeg still wouldn't work.
On closer examination of the error messages I realised that the 2003 CPU didn't support some of the instructions ffmpeg was trying to use, so I compiled ffmpeg on that PC and it works well. It would be my guess that the Lubuntu system software is able to identify the CPU capabilities and run the appropriate code but Firefox etc. is not that careful.