Older computers

[Lagu]

Hi

Guys, you all have once upon a time had a new computer as now is old. What have you done with your computer? Take apart or split up it? Scrap it?

I have a 1999 years model as I not had heart to sell because I should get too little money for it. That is I glad for today. I can namely use this rig for Distributed Computing. This rig is an

Compaq Presario P II
350 Mhz
6 GB HDD
128 MB ram
2 GB virtual memory

I use this computer I HachClach using Boinc 5.2.13 and am crunching their WU´s all from 3.54–27.05 to 2 hour.

Have you an older computer in your wardrobe full of dust? Won’t work? Can you get it to work? If so what are you waiting for? Let your computer have a renaissance!

Remember: All is possible!

Lagu :D ;)

[drezha]

Using a P2 266Mhz laptop 24/7 on Reisel Sieve. :D

Doing about 8kps :shock: :D

192Mb RAM.
No idea on virtual memory..it's the Windows 2K default ATM

[Steve Lux]

You know, I have five old PC's sitting around holding up books on the shelf or holding down the floor somewhere. All of then died due to HDD failures. All but two probably need a new bios battery. Probably about a $1,000 to get all up and crunching (provided I can re-use the old OS software).

Not being a super-IT dude though I have to wonder if I should use a switcher or a router to my DSL modem?

[Lagu]

Steve Lux dude

That sounds amasing. If you have 5 you must at least get 1 running. The question is how much ram and speed it have. I think it is wasted if we not use our old computers.

They are doing well if they got a project suited for them.

Lagu :D ;)

[vaughan]

Steve, yes get a router and if required install a cheap network interface card in each old PC (about 10 dollars each) and connect to your router. Internet access to all now. Use a standard Cat 5 ethernet cable not a cross-over cable if you are using a router.

Lagu, I have a P233mmx running Win95 no letter and it is on Ubero 24/7 Occasionally I get some weird Java error that kills the processing. Its Sun Java forget the version number. I have this PC running without a monitor so I only check its status every so often.
In addition, I run a Dell P3-750 with 256MB RAM under Windows 2000 Pro SP4. This PC only has a 4.3 GB HDD so it constantly runs out of room. It is happily running Boinc Leiden Classical and HashClash and also has the screensaver version of the MoneyBee Project running. It is very stable and the Up-Time Project shows it as being on-line for over 34 days straight currently. Not bad when one considers all my WinXP computers have had re-boots forced on them by Micro$oft in the last couple of days.

I wonder if Windows Vista, when it is released, will avoid this plague of forced re-boots just to patch dodgy operating system programming? Somehow I doubt it.

[Lagu]

Vaughan

Great to hear. I think we perhaps underestimate our old computers. My P11 has been running since I got my routher. I have Windows Millenium. It suits better for java. I have tried Dimes on that rig but it was to hard. The agent won´t start why I remove it. MoneyBee and HashClach are wery well suited. Talking about rebooting, this computer have not been rebooted the last 3 monts. It walk and walk and never stop.

Lagu ;)

[drezha]

I have this PC running without a monitor so I only check its status every so often.

Seeing as it's connected, why dont you install a VNC server on it and a VNC viewer on your main rig so you can keep an eye on it? :)

[vaughan]

I haven't ever been able to get any of the VNC clients to work on my home network. Complete mystery to me.

[drezha]

I found my firewalls were blocking it even after I asked it to allow it through..Had to have a play and now it works fine. Maybe it's that?

[Empty_5oul]

in the UK there are big problems with AOL and VNC. Just a warning to you!

[Ototero]

Try www.logmein.com. It works very well from my laptop in a B&B (on a wireless network) to my home machines.


EDIT. and it is free.

[vaughan]

Works great with all Windows except doesn't support Win 95, the one I need access to.

[Keith75]

I generally keep upgrading the ones around the house and then take the old parts and put them in storage. I tend to be a little bit of a pack rat when it comes to electronics. :)

Keith

[AMDave]

vaughan,

Have you tried the Free Edition of RealVNC ver 4.1 ?
http://www.realvnc.com/
It will run on Win95/98/ME. You can view the desktop in your web browser.
You can also change the port IDs to suit your network. So you can configure your router to allow access to the port only on your LAN and not from the internet. Then try with your firewall up and down. The documentation is available on the website. I like it. It is small fast and simple to use.

...back on topic, though

Hej Lagu :D

I don't have any PIIs or Cyrix-x86s anymore, but I got the old PIII 800 running again last month using FC4 linux. With no mouse, keyboard or screen connected I get all the access I need on the remote Secure Shell (SSH) command line. The 1.2 GB HDD is very limiting but it is getting the job done so I am pleased with the result of the effort.

[drezha]

Off topic but I use Real VNC and have only had a couple of problems (like my the firewall decided to go into "Stealth" so I could out of it but not into it...
Would have thought a 1.2Gb drive was fairly suffcient...
No idea what size the FC4 SSH Linux is but could easily run Dam Small Linux.

Takes a shade over 50Mb when installed :cool:
Set up a script to start Folding@home linux text only client on statup...sorted nice and simple :) It's what I should be running on my laptop, but got a copy of Windows 2K on there for ease of networking and compatibility with my main PC. :roll:

[Steve Lux]

I got an old Toshiba laptop (430 series) of mine working again. It runs Win-95 but it only has 16 megs of ram and 300 megs of free disk space, and I'm having trouble finding a PMCIA-1 network card for it - preferably wireless if they are even available. The new network cards don't fit in the old slot.

[drezha]

I got an old Toshiba laptop (430 series) of mine working again. It runs Win-95 but it only has 16 megs of ram and 300 megs of free disk space, and I'm having trouble finding a PMCIA-1 network card for it - preferably wireless if they are even available. The new network cards don't fit in the old slot.

Run resiel sieve ;)
It doesn't need to be connected to the web. All done by copy pasting files :) and can set the size of workl units yourself

Should run fine.
Could always add a 512Mb USB drive to double the space :lol:

[Lagu]

Hej AMDave

Thats is great. A Intel PIII, 800 MHz is far better than my PII. But how can you have so small HDD? Mine is 6 GB. What project are you running on this computer?

Right now I´m running QMC@Home on my PII and used CPU-time is 199.05 hours and 92.10 % done.

I must have been unlucky as got that big WU. This is my second and the first work doesen´t run so long. I think 6 hours.

I had post about this longrunning WU in their forums and got replies where they told me to cancel, but I didn´t listen on them. Another guy said I was georgious as run this wu on a PII.

I will be exiting to se how much point it will get.

Lagu :D
All is possible!

Hej Lagu :D

I don't have any PIIs or Cyrix-x86s anymore, but I got the old PIII 800 running again last month using FC4 linux. With no mouse, keyboard or screen connected I get all the access I need on the remote Secure Shell (SSH) command line. The 1.2 GB HDD is very limiting but it is getting the job done so I am pleased with the result of the effort.[/quote]

[Lagu]

Hi

Steve Lux

Don´t give up. I´m glad for everyone who can get an old computer to run a project. Old computers are not a simple scrap. However, I´m aware it is a problem finding hardware as fit.

Lagu ;) :)