xubuntu-16.04.3 installed...Possible memory issues?

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Hello again. I am back with a series of new quires. I got the Distro with the firewall working and I start playing around. You know gmail, youtube, etc.

Well I start with Youtube. I love the fifties and earlier black and white movies. Awesome cars. I get playing a vid and then it starts freezing. I am getting the sound but the pictures is not moving. hmmmm, seams like a memory issue.

I am running a Packard Bell Easynote E4710, (UK keyboard), 32 bit, Intel Pentium M 1.40 GHz, yup had to force the PAE. Comes up with 736 MB of RAM. Weird number I know. So I do a little digging around and find mrmemory in the UK. I can install up to 1GB so I think lets get this baby running at full steam, why not.

After all we got the dinosaur up and running again. So, I learn about the "sudo lshw" command to see what type of hardware is running in this old beast. I start reading though it. Not that I understand it but there was a common thread width:32 bit. Until it came to the memory, it's reading width:64 bit. hmmmm, How does that fit?

So I start thinking maybe someone tried to upgrade the RAM at some time and put in the wrong modules. The disk is caching the whole time and now she froze up.

Did I follow the clues or are we dealing we something else here. Last message was that mozilla can not find the server. Which I know is available as all my other devices are working fine.

Going for a reboot and try that again.....:cool::rolleyes::rolleyes:o_O
20171114_185055.jpg
 


Hey again @Old Carpenter Guy... didn't take you long! :D

I don't think you need be worried... if it were the wrong RAM, it probably would not boot. Computers are quite sensitive about things like that.

If you're thinking of adding or replacing RAM, then you should be worried... or at least very cautious. As old as that laptop is, newer RAM is probably not going to be backwards compatible. And a quick Google shows quite a lack of suppliers for EDO DRAM (as your screenshot shows)... mostly eBay sellers, and I'd be skeptical about buying there. RAM may be non-returnable or have a restocking fee if you order the wrong parts. If you continue shopping, please shop carefully.

I'd hate to see you spend too much, and the truth is that I do not think you will notice a difference in the upgrade. Videos are extreme hogs of memory and CPU... so your laptop is probably just not a good fit for this usage. However, I do think you might have better results if you download the videos first rather than trying to stream them live. Your built-in WiFi may be on a bit of an older, slower scale too, and it actually could be a big part of the trouble. I can't say for sure, but a faster WiFi dongle might make streaming possible... but many WiFi dongles do not play well with Linux either, so I'm not quite recommending that either, it's just a thought.

What I do recommend to people using old computers is: don't spend much, if any, money on them. If you're thinking of spending $50 to upgrade, it is often better to put that $50 toward a newer better system, even a used one. And if you shop around, you may find quite a deal... I am installing Linux on a desktop right now that was purchased by a friend at a yard sale for $50, including flat screen monitor, keyboard, and mouse... with 3GB of RAM and two 250GB hard drives.

So just enjoy what that thing will do for you... its already doing more than it was, right? It's a great learning tool to get you started with Linux.

Cheers
 
To update all that helped me with this project. I have been able to use the Packard Bell Easynote as planned. It streams videos from Youtube. Mind you the CPU is running at 100% or pretty close to it most of the time. I can see the sweat and steam coming off that Intel Centrino processor. But all in all doing exactly what I wanted it to do. Next I will be using it as a video library to play tutorials on the rebuilding my transmission. Again Thank you everyone.
 
I think you are very likely welcome, "Not so Old Carpenter Dude", lol.

Enjoy your Linux

Wiz
 

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