[Test Report 1] Minimum System Requirement for Xubuntu 12.04 LTS

peter a.gillen at mo-po.de
Mon Jul 29 11:05:11 UTC 2013


hallo,

I have got the same problem with a ibm t40  (1024 mb ram).

yours peter

Am 29.07.2013 10:48, schrieb Joan Advincula:
> By the way, I think we also need to clarify the CPU type and whatnot. 
> (There are still lots of things about CPU's that I don't understand.)
>
> I tried installing 13.04 on an old IBM ThinkPad and it wouldn't 
> install because the CPU is missing something, apparently. (It runs on 
> and Intel Pentium M 1600 MHz.)
>
> Something about pae. I'm still Googling that part though so this might 
> be irrelevant.
>
> - Joan
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 2:42 PM, PK <pliniusminor at gmail.com 
> <mailto:pliniusminor at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I agree with Ali Linx, that 512 MB RAM should be considered as a
>     workable minimum for Xubuntu. If it gets lower than that, Lubuntu
>     or even mini's like AntiX or Puppy Linux are much more suitable.
>
>     In my opinion, the minimal system requirements should be aimed at
>     a practical and workable system, not at a theoretical minimum that
>     will, at best, cause an unbearably slow and sluggish system.
>     Underpromise and overdeliver, that's what makes people happy....
>     Not the other way round.  :-)
>
>     I have no figures to back my statement, but I do have the
>     experience of seven years of fulltime Linux use on many computers.
>
>     Regards, Pjotr.
>
>
>     2013/7/23 Jeff Hanson <jephhanson at gmail.com
>     <mailto:jephhanson at gmail.com>>
>
>         Could you have actually opened the System Monitor to see how
>         much ram and how much swap was being used at the time, or did
>         I miss something? I just wouldn't like to assume that it is
>         going over etc based on overall performance, when it's easy to
>         see how much is being used in real time and from what apps.
>
>
>         On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 12:15 AM, Ali Linx (amjjawad)
>         <amjjawad at gmail.com <mailto:amjjawad at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>             On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 8:59 AM, Micah Gersten
>             <micahg at ubuntu.com <mailto:micahg at ubuntu.com>> wrote:
>
>                 On 07/16/2013 11:33 PM, Ali Linx (amjjawad) wrote:
>>                 Hi,
>>
>>                 *_Information:_*
>>                 - Xubuntu 12.04.1.ISO
>>                 - LiveUSB Created by UNetbootin
>>                 - Installation on Real Hardware -
>>                 http://phillw.net/hardware/BnA9pw11
>>                 - RAM Used: 242MB - http://i44.tinypic.com/a4ug5s.jpg
>>                 - Note that: LiveUSB is faster than LiveCD
>>
>>
>>                 *_Test Case:_*
>>
>>                  1. Machine has two HDD1 and HDD2
>>                  2. HDD1 is Samsung 20GB IDE (Lubuntu 13.10 Saucy is
>>                     installed on the whole HDD).
>>                  3. HHD2 is Segate 80GB IDE
>>                  4. Booting the machine from the LiveUSB
>>                  5. Choosing "Try Xubuntu without installation"
>>                  6. Booted successfully to the Live Desktop
>>                  7. http://i44.tinypic.com/2hf5tgj.jpg
>>                  8. The Live Desktop was slow and I had to wait few
>>                     seconds until Right Click > Menu shows up.
>>                  9. Ran GParted to turn SWAP OFF.
>>                 10. Once SWAP is OFF, the machine became VERY SLOW.
>>                     If I press CAPS Lock, the LED on the Keyboards
>>                     needs few mins to be ON.
>>                 11. Obviously, because Physical RAM was already being
>>                     used (FULLY) - http://i44.tinypic.com/2hf5tgj.jpg
>>                     - then once SWAP is OFF, definitely the whole
>>                     machine will stop responding and this is very
>>                     easy to re-produce (I'm expert to make old
>>                     machine not usable and not responding).
>>                 12. Clicked on "Install Xubuntu" from the Desktop
>>                 13. I waited for 30 mins and the machine is totally
>>                     not responding and the mouse pointer is stuck on
>>                     the circle icon (when the system is processing
>>                     something, the pointer turns to be a circle - I'm
>>                     sure you know what I mean).
>>                 14. I had to reboot the machine.
>>                 15. Repeated the same above steps - same result
>>                 16. Even though the Live Desktop did not crash after
>>                     30mins of waiting, the whole system/machine is
>>                     not usable and not responding so whether it
>>                     crashes or not, same - you can not do anything
>>                     and you must reboot.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>                 *_Summary:_*
>>                 Having all the above said, long story short, there is
>>                 *_NO WAY_* to 'Try' Xubuntu on 256MB of RAM nor
>>                 'Installing' it with 256MB of RAM. Again, see this:
>>                 http://i44.tinypic.com/2hf5tgj.jpg
>>
>>
>>                 *_Suggestion:_*
>>                 I think by far, it is very much safe to say that the
>>                 *_Minimum RAM_* required to Try Xubuntu and/or
>>                 Install it is 512MB AT LEAST.
>>
>>
>>                 *_Please Note:_*
>>                 You need to understand that having a pre-exist SWAP
>>                 Partition is NOT the default/standard case for all
>>                 users. Users may have only one HDD. User may have not
>>                 installer another Linux System on a different or same
>>                 HDD so they do have SWAP.
>>
>>                 Also, please note that it is NOT advisable to ask
>>                 from a new user to create a SWAP Partition just to
>>                 install Xubuntu on LESS than 512MB RAM. This is not
>>                 helpful at all, IMHO.
>>
>>                 Having that said, in order to do a real test with a
>>                 worse case scenario, you need to follow the steps I
>>                 have done to get the same results (SWAP OFF).
>>
>>                 /By the way ... if zRAM was enabled by default, I'm
>>                 sure the results would be different - just saying /:)
>>
>>
>>                 *_What Next?_*
>>                 On the same machine, I am going to increase the RAM
>>                 used by system by entering BIOS and:
>>                 http://i44.tinypic.com/a4ug5s.jpg
>>
>>                 I will set it to 64MB so the RAM that will be used by
>>                 the system will be 432MB RAM. I know what you are
>>                 thinking. There is 16MB any Linux OS I have tried on
>>                 that machine can not read/detect that is why the
>>                 usable RAM by the system is 432MB not 448MB. Yes, I
>>                 will turn SWAP OFF as well.
>>
>>                 Ok, I have tried that and I did not work.
>>
>>                 I had to set the RAM to 464MB so that I can install
>>                 Xubuntu 12.04 from the LiveUSB while I'm on the Live
>>                 Desktop (Try Xubuntu without installation > Live
>>                 Desktop).
>>
>>                 and ...
>>
>>                 Installation is successful - Time:13mins
>>
>>
>>                 *_After Installation Xubuntu 12.04_*
>>
>>                 This is what I did after the installation:
>>
>>                  1. sudo nano /etc/fstab
>>                  2. Removed SWAP entry
>>                  3. Saved
>>                  4. Rebooted
>>                  5. sudo apt-get install zram-config
>>                  6. http://i40.tinypic.com/n2cqq9.jpg
>>
>>                 I'm currently upgrading my system:
>>
>>                 sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
>>
>>                 Now, Xubuntu 12.04 installation has NO Physical SWAP
>>                 Partition.
>>                 The SWAP that you see here:
>>                 http://i40.tinypic.com/n2cqq9.jpg
>>                 This is from zram-config
>>
>>
>>                 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZRam
>>                 https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zram-config
>>
>>
>>                 *End of Test Report 1*
>>
>>                 Thank you for reading!
>>
>>                 -- 
>>
>>                 "All of us are smarter than any one of us."
>>
>>                 *Best Regards,*
>>                 *amjjawad <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/amjjawad/>*
>>                 *Start Ubuntu
>>                 <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/CommunicationsTeam/WOWLubuntu/StartUbuntu>*
>>                 *My Own Business <http://alilinx.blogspot.com/>*
>>
>                 I don't think that anyone says to run Xubuntu with
>                 256MB RAM with no swap partition.
>
>
>             I have volunteered to do this test because the Minimum
>             System Requirement on the Website is not correct IMHO and
>             as Lyz said, no one has done such test for a long time so
>             I guess it is good to have some data regarding this.
>
>                 Creating a swap partition is a part of the standard
>                 install IIRC.
>                 Also, this can be a swap file and does not need to be
>                 a separate disk (though I don't know if the installer
>                 handles this properly or not).
>
>
>             NO one said swap should NOT be created. You misunderstood
>             the whole point.
>             SWAP partition will be created 'during' the installation
>             process NOT 'before' it :) hope it is clear now and I
>             guess my report is very much detailed unless I missed
>             something that need further explanation.
>
>                 Having said that, I don't have an issue saying that
>                 the minimum to run Xubuntu is 512MB at this point.
>
>
>             Good. Because saying on the website 256MB is not correct :)
>
>                 Even at 512MB, swap will be needed, but I don't think
>                 that's a problem.
>
>                 Micah
>
>
>             For me to disable swap and edit fstab is an extreme move
>             to test how far I could go with my installation. That was
>             an added step, ignore it please if this will cause any
>             confusion.
>
>             Summary: Because I have previous installed Linux with SWAP
>             Partition, I had to disable it 'before' installing Xubuntu.
>
>             Xubuntu Installer will create SWAP Partition DURING the
>             installation process NOT before it ... unless of course
>             ... someone will create his/her partitions 'before' the
>             installation using GParted and choose 'Something Else'
>             from this step: http://i40.tinypic.com/14jx9h4.jpg
>
>             However, this is not the standard approach. New Users will
>             not create their partitions 'before' the installation.
>
>             Definitely, having a swap partition created 'before'
>             installing Xubuntu will help, no doubt about it but this
>             is not a general case. Only those who are experienced
>             enough can do it. When you mention on the official website
>             a minimum system requirement, you need to keep the very
>             new users in mind :)
>
>             Thank you for your feedback!
>             and you are welcome :)
>
>
>             -- 
>
>             "All of us are smarter than any one of us."
>
>             *Best Regards,*
>             *amjjawad <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/amjjawad/>*
>             *Start Ubuntu
>             <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/CommunicationsTeam/WOWLubuntu/StartUbuntu>*
>             *My Own Business <http://alilinx.blogspot.com/>*
>
>
>             --
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>             xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
>             <mailto:xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com>
>             https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/xubuntu-devel
>
>
>
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>
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Joan Advincula
> Mozilla Rep, https://reps.mozilla.org/u/jadvincula/
> @iamMJae <http://twitter.com/iamMJae> | http://jauntyskipper.wordpress.com
>
>

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