[mdlug] wireless on older laptop

[Jeff Hanson]

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 2:31 PM, Dean Durant <mdlug at wowway.com> wrote:
> Hello, I have a compaq armada M700, 192 MB ram, Pentium 3. I had Mandrake on it but I blitzed that out trying to install Ubuntu 9.1 or whatever the latest is. Live Ubuntu was pretty slow. There was some problem installing it (ext4 over ext3 or something) but I should try again.
>

Insufficient RAM.  Ubuntu LiveCD needs 512MB+ minimum to install.  Use
an Alternate CD that has a text-mode interface.  Use Xubuntu (XFCE) or
Lubuntu (LXDE) if you want a graphical desktop.  XFCE has a problem
with desktop panels not loading at start-up (timing bug of some sort)
but this can be worked around by creating an auto-start entry for
xfce4-panel so it loads even when the primary launcher fails:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-panel/+bug/53897

>
> The toughest thing is the wireless. It isn't built in. I would have to go external. Either PCMCIA or USB. Is there a particular brand or model people have had good luck with?
>
> I bought this Fast Netz ralink rt73 or rt2500, something link that, never once thinking about compatibility. But I can buy something else.
>

RAlink devices are a broken mess on Linux.  Some function, some
partially (like non-encrypted only), some not at all.  This is
supposed to be fixed in the 2.6.34 kernel.