Trouble installing Ubuntu and Fedora Core 4

[leglez]

I recently got some Ubuntu cds and fedora core 4 cds I wanted to put it on an old computer of mine but am having troubles with both

Ubuntu: With this i select i want to use DHCP for networking and i know i have it turned on on my router because i use it for my xbox and ps2 and it says it is unable to use DHCP and then once its done installing i cant use the internet and thats what i want it for so it is useless

Fedora: With this i cant remeber the exact error code but it says something like this "Error: Invalid Memory" im asuming thats because it has 96MBs of ram what is the minimum for FC4

 

[Robor]

I'd start by making sure whatever NIC you're trying to use in the box is supported in Ubuntu and/or Fedora. Worst case you can always pickup something like a 3Com 3c905. I've never had an issue with those being supported in anything.

 

[LokeanSon]

Honestly, if you have that little RAM and just want to browse the net why not pick up DSL? It's a very small Linux distro that works very well with older hardware and smaller amounts of ram.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

I agree with Robor, I would suspect your nic isn't being installed properly. Check the connection lights on your router with the computer booted, and make sure you see the light on with it plugged in. Also check the lights on your nic with the computer booted. If you see nothing, chances are it didn't detect the card properly or you could have an unsupported card(which is very unlikely if the system is old).

 

[pkme2]

When I first installed FC3 on my e-Machine, I had 128MB RAM and it went OK but when I updated to FC4, my teacher recommended that I should up my RAM to at least 256MB.
Since I had 512's, I slipped 1 of those svckers into my machine and voila better performance.

Depending on your machine, if its a later model, go with 512MB.
PC3200

 

[Slowlearner]

I would suggest using a Knoppix Live CD to test out the system before installing any distribution. This live CD has been able to configure itself on a variety of old and new systems that I have tried it on. I have been able install 6 different distros on a old PIII 450 with 128MB ram and a 10GB HD without the slightest difficulty or having to locate any drivers on my own- I wonder why none of Windows OS' can do this - some chipset or device driver always seems to be missing. If Knoppix fails its sure to point to the obvious problem area.

Do keep in mind Linux is slow on a slow pc, and an aging pc is not going to be lightning fast on linux. All distros like newer bios and hardware.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Ubuntu: With this i select i want to use DHCP for networking and i know i have it turned on on my router because i use it for my xbox and ps2 and it says it is unable to use DHCP and then once its done installing i cant use the internet and thats what i want it for so it is useless

Any errors in the logs (/var/log/messages probably)?

Does the NIC show up in an ifconfig -a?