🚀 go-pugleaf

j4823363@ironbark.bendigo.latrobe.edu.au (Pugsly) wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Ive been running linux since 1.0.9 back whenever that was, but stopped for
>a while due to disk space problems, anyway...
>
>I have a problem that I cant seem to find in a FAQ or on dejanews or doing a
>web search.
>
>Im trying to install onto a
>cyrix486slc-??Mhz
>16M RAM
>WDC vid card
>and what looks to be a pretty stock multi IO card.
>
>The problem is this - 
>I try in install Redhat, both version 4.0 or 4.2.
>
>The installation goes smooth, I allocated 64M for swap etc.
>Then on reboot after installing the kernel loads fine...
>Its when the daemons try to run the trouble starts. Linux (awk I think)
>starts reporting that it cannot allocate memory because it is out of memory.
>
>I initially thought this might be a memory management problem in the 2.0.30
>kernel (I installed 4.2 first) so that is why I switched to 4.0 but with
>the same results.
>
>As far as bios settings are concerned there are very little confurable options
>but I tried all the memory ones with no success. 
>
>I am stuck. My next step is to install an old old version of slackware (Aug 95)
>to make complete sure that its not a software problem. If that does work - 
>can anyone recommend me a good diagnostics tool?
>
>Thanks for any and all help.
>Cheers
>Brett
>
>that it 
>
>
>--
>Brett Quinlan           |Ph: +61 3 54477982| PATIENCE, n.   A minor form of
>4th Year B.Computing    |M:  +61 15 099 736| despair, disguised as a virtue.
>                                           |   -- Ambrose Bierce           

I used to run Linux on a 486DxR2/66 which is similar enough to the SLC
that I used an SLC program to enable my on chip cache (that little 1K
improved BogoMIP's from 12.5 to 26.8).  I ran everything from kernel
1.2.1 through ELF conversion to 2.0.0.

Somewhere in the 1.3 kernels the memory management became more
processor specific and I could no longer compile the kernel for 486 on
my 386 memory (although a 486 kernel would run on it).  If you can get
into the system somehow, try compiling a kernel for 386.

That also worked for a Pentium that choked when I went from 100MHz to
180MHz MMX.  At the higher speed it worked fine on 24 meg with a 386
kernel, but choked on some programs (sig 11) with a Pentium or 486
kernel.  Apparently this is due to mismatched RAM because a Pentium
kernel limited to 16 meg works fine.  386 compiling must be more
standard in its RAM access or tolerant of variations than 486 or
Pentium optimizations.


David Efflandt/Elgin, IL USA
efflandt@xnet.com    http://www.xnet.com/~efflandt/