[101976] in RedHat Linux List
Re: Minimum hardware
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David E. Fox)
Mon Nov 30 16:55:38 1998
From: "David E. Fox" <dfox@belvdere.vip.best.com>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 13:44:22 -0800 (PST)
Reply-To: dfox@belvdere.vip.best.com
In-Reply-To: <19981130.073733.13726.3.LCNagy@juno.com> from "L C Nagy" at Nov 30, 98 07:37:31 am
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
> The books say that the version of Redhat Linux I bought can be installed
> on a 386 with 8MB RAM and 80MB HD (without X Windows, of course).
> However, my searches of the archives have not turned up information on
Technically, you should be able to install Linux (possibly not Red Hat's
version) on smaller hardware, although the minimum CPU is of course
a 386. Personally, I've run older versions of Linux (up to kernel rev.
1.2.13) on 386/sx hardware (4/8 megs RAM) -- I only upgraded to
a Pentium in 1996 :(.
Older versions of RedHat (pre-4.0) required the 8 megs because of
the extra RAM disks required, and the need for perl for the
install software, etc. Other distributions, such as Slackware, could
be installed on a machine with as little as perhaps 2 megs, provided
you disabled the ramdisk (after all, that in itself sucks up 1.4 megs
per disk of your RAM) and set swap up as soon as possible, often
before actually doing the programmed install.
But according to the more recent FAQs and Howto's, it is not certain
that Linux will _boot_ on a 386. There's an entry in one of the FAQs
I think that mentions recent kernels (i.e,, 1.3+) and says that if
they are compiled for Pentium then they won't run on a 386.
One of the reasons I mention this is I have a friend who lives
nearby who happens to still use a 386sx with 4 megs running an
ancient Slackware (probably 1994 vintage). He is looking to
upgrade, but is dubious as to the possibility of success.
I read on the product literature that Redhat will run on a
386 system -- but of course that seems to be dependent on
whether the kernels Redhat supplies are compiled to run on
a 386.
> how to do that. I get stuck on the install because, apparently, I need
> to disable the ramdisk option. Any help or suggestions would be much
Some versions of Linux (especially Slackware) would let you type
'linux floppy' at the boot: prompt, which would negate the initial
ramdisk. I am not certain that RedHat allows this -- in any event,
you should have enough RAM for the install.
> L.C. Nagy
> LCNagy@juno.com
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