Solved 32 bit flavors? -Solved-

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SMBNY

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Hey all, I'm looking for 32 bit flavors of Linux to experiment and try out. The laptop in questions a Lenovo ThinkPad X130e, 1.65 ghs dual core Apu. with 320gb storage and 4gb ram.

All evidence i have at the moment suggests that 64 bit versions of Linux will struggle greatly. (It originally came with windows 7 but i like my privacy)

I realize this isn't going to run anything like Tor browser, But as long as i can get Brave, Libresuite, and VLC running I'm happy.
 


A 32 bit system should NOT run more smoothly on hardware that supports 64 bit. In fact, quite the opposite should be the result. You're able to address a whole lot more bits, as this is an exponential thing, meaning the CPU can process larger sets of numbers quicker than it can with 32 bit.

(If you wanted to know why.)

Do some benchmarks, if you don't believe me.

A 32 bit system can process 4,294,967,296 bytes at once.

A 64 bit system can process 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes at once.

That's 4294967296 times more data that can be processed at once with a 64 bit system.

Under no circumstances should a 32 bit OS run better than a 64 bit OS when both are using identical hardware. If the system supports 64 bit, then you might just want to trust that the people who made the CPU knew a bit about math and shunting around electrons. (Yes, you're shunting around singular electrons. You're just doing it quickly, very quickly... Frankly, I'm amazed that it works as well as it does!)
 
KGIII said:
A 32 bit system should NOT run more smoothly on hardware that supports 64 bit. In fact, quite the opposite should be the result. You're able to address a whole lot more bits, as this is an exponential thing, meaning the CPU can process larger sets of numbers quicker than it can with 32 bit.

(If you wanted to know why.)

Do some benchmarks, if you don't believe me.

A 32 bit system can process 4,294,967,296 bytes at once.

A 64 bit system can process 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes at once.

That's 4294967296 times more data that can be processed at once with a 64 bit system.

Under no circumstances should a 32 bit OS run better than a 64 bit OS when both are using identical hardware. If the system supports 64 bit, then you might just want to trust that the people who made the CPU knew a bit about math and shunting around electrons. (Yes, you're shunting around singular electrons. You're just doing it quickly, very quickly... Frankly, I'm amazed that it works as well as it does!)
Click to expand...
I'll take this into consideration. For whatever reason, the laptop came with windows 7 service pack 1, 32 bit. I just assumed this would be a limitation.

At the moment it's not finding any operating system on the 8gb thumb drive I have, even after setting the boot order. Funny enough, I don't see a secure boot option in the Bios. I'm thinking I either have a bad thumb drive, or a bad UsbC to USB adapter, or something I lack the knowledge to account for. I can't even get the updated bios ISO from Lenovo to boot. I don't know if etchdroid might even be the problem.

I'll try a 64 bit distro and get back to you.
 
Post what the processor is.

The laptop came with 32bit Windows 7 because it was cheaper to produce.

How did you create your bootable usb media.

The processor appears to be 64 bit so most likely the laptop will run a 64 bit Linux distro.

Try either of the two distros I posted in 64 bit they won't be no race car distro although should run decent.
 
Last edited:
SMBNY said:
ThinkPad X130e,
Click to expand...
this is a 64 bit machine probably with a second gen I3 CPU, I would suggest you stick with a 64 bit Distribution as 32 bit are coming to the end of their lives, If you want something lighter than the main distributions then try
Linux Lite
BunsenLabs
Anti-x
Lubuntu
Bodhi linux
 
The Duck said:
Post what the processor is.

The laptop came with 32bit Windows 7 because it was cheaper to produce.

How did you create your bootable usb media.

The processor appears to be 64 bit so most likely the laptop will run a 64 bit Linux distro.

Try either of the two distros I posted in 64 bit they won't be no race car distro although should run decent.
Click to expand...
Step 1: download distro
Step 2. Mount in etch Droid
Step 3. Write to 8gb thumb drive.
Step 4. Plug thumb drive into laptop.
Step 5. Press F12 to get to boot menu.
Step 6. Select the Thumb drive to boot the new OS.

This is where it's getting stuck. It recognizes the general Udisk, but won't boot into an operating system at all.
 
The Duck said:
Post what the processor is.

The laptop came with 32bit Windows 7 because it was cheaper to produce.

How did you create your bootable usb media.

The processor appears to be 64 bit so most likely the laptop will run a 64 bit Linux distro.

Try either of the two distros I posted in 64 bit they won't be no race car distro although should run decent.
Click to expand...
As for what the processor is, AMD E450 APU
 
SMBNY said:
AMD E450 APU
Click to expand...
That's fine , it's a bit older than I thought [a 2010 model]
I use to run Mint LMDE on a laptop 2 years older [but similar spec] not the fastest by current standards but worked just fine, further back i have listed some very lightweight distros for you to try, you can improve the speed a little by changing the plate spinner HDD for a SATA SSD.
 
Brickwizard said:
That's fine , it's a bit older than I thought [a 2010 model]
I use to run Mint LMDE on a laptop 2 years older [but similar spec] not the fastest by current standards but worked just fine, further back i have listed some very lightweight distros for you to try, you can improve the speed a little by changing the plate spinner HDD for a SATA SSD.
Click to expand...
I'm looking at upgrading it from a 320gb HDD to a 1Tb or a 4tb SSD. I know either one is overkill, but I'm of the mindset that overkill is underrated.

What did you go with?
 
SMBNY said:
I know either one is overkill,
Click to expand...
On a machine of that age unless your need that amount of space to store god knows what, the smallest that you need will 1] save money] save seek time when the machine is booting or running apps,
my new to me DELL laptop has a 240gb NVMe for daily use [and speed] I also have for it a 250gb SSD [2280] in an external caddy for my storage of important bits. My desktop on the other hand has a 120gb NVMe and a 512gb SSD for storage, [I also have a copy of importaint documents and family pictures on a USB which is kept in a fire resitant box]
 
Last edited:
Brickwizard said:
On a machine of that age unless your need that amount of space to store god knows what, the smallest that you need will 1] save money] save seek time when the machine is booting or running apps,
my new to me DELL laptop has a 240gb NVMe for daily use [and speed] I also have for it a 250gb SSD [2280] in an external caddy for my storage of important bits. My desktop on the other hand has a 120gb NVMe and a 512gb SSD for storage, [I also have a copy of importaint documents and family pictures on a USB which is kept in a fire resitant box]
Click to expand...
I should probably mention this laptop also has an SD card slot in it, with which I plan to add a 1tb SD or microSd.

5tb in total is a ridiculous amount of storage to be sure, frankly the only justification I have for it is, eventually I'll swap the laptop but keep the hard drive anyway, might as well Max it out.
 
Just for information, the following are the approximate speeds
Traditional SATA HDD 125mbs
SATA SSD 520mbs
PCIe3 NVMe 3200mbs [not compatible with your machine]
class 10SD card 10mbs
 
SMBNY said:
Step 1: download distro
Step 2. Mount in etch Droid
Step 3. Write to 8gb thumb drive.
Step 4. Plug thumb drive into laptop.
Step 5. Press F12 to get to boot menu.
Step 6. Select the Thumb drive to boot the new OS.

This is where it's getting stuck. It recognizes the general Udisk, but won't boot into an operating system at all.
Click to expand...
The laptop is new enough that it should boot from usb media.

You may have to enter bios and set the usb device as first boot.
 
Last edited:
The Duck said:
Post what the processor is.
Click to expand...
It's a 6 step processor haha
SMBNY said:
Step 1: download distro
Step 2. Mount in etch Droid
Step 3. Write to 8gb thumb drive.
Step 4. Plug thumb drive into laptop.
Step 5. Press F12 to get to boot menu.
Step 6. Select the Thumb drive to boot the new OS.
Click to expand...

Just kidding, couldn't resit lol
 
I'd try booting from a DVD.

Lenovo has been problematic booting Linux from my experience.
 
The Duck said:
I'd try booting from a DVD.

Lenovo has been problematic booting Linux from my experience.
Click to expand...
I'll make a point of getting an external DVD drive, as well as getting a copy of Linux burned to a DVD when I can afford it.
 
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