Reviving an old PC

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JAMMAN2110

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#7452 16-Apr-2006 15:12

I have an old P166 that I just put back together.
I plan to use it as remote network storage, my plan for my little holiday.
I've gone minimal, all it has is 1x Graphics Card but will not have a screen, 1x CD-ROM 1x Hard drive (small 4GB at the moment),
10/100 PCI network card. I want this set up to run without a screen, preferably install without a screen and be remotely configurable preferably through a small and FREE product eg RADMIN or through a Web Interface.

So basically I would like any suggestions you guys have for it, remembering its purely for storage.
I'm looking more for an operating system at the moment that will install from CD or over a network WITHOUT a screen and mouse.
anyone?

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#33197 17-Apr-2006 17:54

I have not found a way to run a box blind, it always expects a console, however, KVM's are a great solution and the all in ones can be a cheap as $80 for 4 ports.

ps. you can run active directory on a P166 with 64MB of RAM (if you are interested in that sort of thing).

JAMMAN2110

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#33199 17-Apr-2006 18:13

This box has done just about everything with 48MB of RAM, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2k, NT Server (4), NT Workstation (4), Red Hat.... 2k and 98se it did do filesharing but I cant be bothered with them anymore. I was having a play with Lycoris Desktop today, forgive me MS I beg you, it was a complete waste of time, soo bad in fact I now well, lets leace it as lucky I had a spare keyboard.

lyonrouge

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#33201 17-Apr-2006 18:42

JAMMAN2110: This box has done just about everything with 48MB of RAM, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2k, NT Server (4), NT Workstation (4), Red Hat.... 2k and 98se it did do filesharing but I cant be bothered with them anymore. I was having a play with Lycoris Desktop today, forgive me MS I beg you, it was a complete waste of time, soo bad in fact I now well, lets leace it as lucky I had a spare keyboard.

Ha! I thought I was the only one who tortured old PC's with O/S loading. You need to load OS/2 now that is a mystery, the fun part is trying to find drivers (if you find that sort of thing fun). Apparently there are better distro's of Linux that don't make SMB so much of a black art.

tonyhughes

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#33202 17-Apr-2006 18:50

Knoppix works very well for this sort of thing, and the live CD can be installed permanently to hard drive very easily.
Just about any linux distro should do the trick. I currently use Fedora Core 5 but Mandriva 2006 is also a good newbies distro.

For a really well featured system that can run as a standalone server, check out the free version of Clark Connect Home (3.2 r1 I think is the current version).

I have lots of Linux CDs and DVDs including the above titles, and will send one or two discs free of charge to you if you want.

freitasm

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#33205 17-Apr-2006 19:39

Perhaps try Ubuntu?

JAMMAN2110

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#33212 17-Apr-2006 20:19

Is it possible to run any of these off CD [linux newbie ;) ] that boots and then you can share a HDD?

bcourtney

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#33219 17-Apr-2006 20:52

Not that i've tried it myself, but apprently Knoppix can do this (I do have it cut to CD but haven't gotten around to testing it). Maybe Tony knows more... ?

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lyonrouge

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#33252 18-Apr-2006 08:40

tonyhughes: Knoppix works very well for this sort of thing, and the live CD can be installed permanently to hard drive very easily.
Just about any linux distro should do the trick. I currently use Fedora Core 5 but Mandriva 2006 is also a good newbies distro.

For a really well featured system that can run as a standalone server, check out the free version of Clark Connect Home (3.2 r1 I think is the current version).

I have lots of Linux CDs and DVDs including the above titles, and will send one or two discs free of charge to you if you want.

Does this have an RDP and/or ICA client included?

tonyhughes

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#33268 18-Apr-2006 10:31

Yeah Knoppix has just about frikkin everything. Runs really well, stable, fast.

Google it for features. Boots on its own off the CD into a nice full featured KDE desktop worth dying for.

Handy to have anyway if your PCs OS/HDD dies, you can be up and running in 2 mins for anything urgent.

lyonrouge

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#33275 18-Apr-2006 11:25

Thanks. I've downloaded Knoppix 4.0.2 from the AU Mirror, I'll give it a try tonight.

NokiaRocks

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#33292 18-Apr-2006 13:00

Could never manage to get write permissions on my HDD/USB Key with knoppix

Satyr

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#33623 22-Apr-2006 03:33

your best bet would be a linux distribution

freitasm

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#33634 22-Apr-2006 09:27

If it's just for Network Storage, why not try an easy Linux install (free, not hard to install): Ubuntu. This is the only Linux I managed to install, automatically update and use without problems, on an old PC.