Has anyone tried puppy linux here before?

[piatti]

I have a 2008 MB with the HDD dead. So if I want to use it as a second computer without trying to do some video watching, instead just browsing the net, then could I use a USB stick with puppy linux installed to do that?

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Or maybe even, if I bought this $60 SSD that could be not too expensive and make it very fast? http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/Mercury_Extreme_SSD_Sandforce/Solid_State_Pro/

 

[(marc)]

I'd recommend buying a new HDD/SSD. Running a OS from a usb key tends to be slow, especially if your 2008 computer doesn't have a lot of RAM.

 

[Hastings101]

Sure you could use the USB drive, it would be a little slow but it's still possible. The SSD would make for a much more pleasant experience.

 

[piatti]

Is that the case for even Puppy Linux? It's supposed to be a very light OS.

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Sure you could use the USB drive, it would be a little slow but it's still possible. The SSD would make for a much more pleasant experience.

Would the $60 SSD make the 2008 MacBook faster than my current 2010 MBP?

 

[Hastings101]

If your 2010 MBP has a HDD instead of an SSD it will make it substantially faster for some things, like booting up, copying files, and launching applications. It would feel much snappier. Outside of that, your MBP will still have a better processor and probably faster ram so it will still outperform your 2008 MB.

If all you're really going to do is browse the web and nothing else, you should be fine with just the USB drive. You might have some lag every once in a while because of how slow read/write speeds of USB is, but it wouldn't be horrible.

 

[piatti]

Thanks. I am not sure how to install it on the USB though. I tried to


I only know how to burn the ISO file to a CD but not sure how to get it in the USB drive, or if I can do that directly instead of doing it on the CD first.

I have a bunch of 4.7 GB CDs but don't want to waste it on burning 100MB of ISO file on it. Or maybe it's cheap enough and I probably won't use it on anything else so that I shouldn't worry too much?

 

[dukebound85]

Thanks. I am not sure how to install it on the USB though. I tried to


I only know how to burn the ISO file to a CD but not sure how to get it in the USB drive, or if I can do that directly instead of doing it on the CD first.

I have a bunch of 4.7 GB CDs but don't want to waste it on burning 100MB of ISO file on it. Or maybe it's cheap enough and I probably won't use it on anything else so that I shouldn't worry too much?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/598291/

 

[piatti]

Thanks, but the thread seems really chaotic and it's hard to glean out the useful information.


Anyway, can you install multiple OSs on your USB drives? There's so many varieties; I want to try them all. PuppyLinux, BrowserLinux, Chromium, etc.

Below is reference gleaned from that thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10485070/

Jolicloud OS using dd command: https://getsatisfaction.com/jolicloud/topics/copying_image_to_usb_drive_is_very_slow_mac_os_x

Final solution: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12808483/

 

[rocknblogger]

Puppy is the bestdistro to use on older computers. You'll have no problems running it off the USB stick. I've done it many times to fix laptops that were essentially dead.

If you have an optical drive you can also use a number of different distros off that. In this case though performance will be a bit slower but not unusable. Puppy rocks though!!

 

[rocknblogger]

Here's a good PDF too http://puppylinux.org/main/Puppy430-tutorial-English.pdf

 

[piatti]

that guide seems to be for windows though.

 

[dukebound85]

Thanks, but the thread seems really chaotic and it's hard to glean out the useful information.


Anyway, can you install multiple OSs on your USB drives? There's so many varieties; I want to try them all. PuppyLinux, BrowserLinux, Chromium, etc.

Below is reference gleaned from that thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10485070/

Jolicloud OS using dd command: https://getsatisfaction.com/jolicloud/topics/copying_image_to_usb_drive_is_very_slow_mac_os_x

Final solution: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12808483/

Egads no. The second post is all that you need to know. You just drag the Iso and hit restore in the USB drive and boom, you have a bootable USB drive

 

[SkyBell]

I've run it a few times. It's incredibly small, simple and fast, but it seriously lacks features of any kind whatsoever. It's good in a quick fix, but for day to day work, just a little too limiting IMO.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I'd recommend buying a new HDD/SSD. Running a OS from a usb key tends to be slow, especially if your 2008 computer doesn't have a lot of RAM.

the Whole Puppy Linux Distro is loaded into RAM. So technically, it should have speeds faster then a SSD drive. Once loaded into RAM, you can even remove the media and it will still run.