Seeking 32-bit distro advice

Lounge EndeavourOS pub
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Time for a bit of an update…

Since my last post, I spent a few days playing with distro and package manager options in VMs and a spare drive on the actual netbook. Based on those experience, I decided on XFCE and narrowed my distro choices to Debian Testing or Arch 32. My inclination on Debian Testing over Stable was because of the newer package as well as a couple of favorites that aren’t in stable. I liked Arch Linux 32, despite its more limited support, for the usual reasons that one prefers Arch, including the AUR.

My SSD (an older 64GB Samsung 300) arrived yesterday and I wet ahead with a “final” install. I opted for Arch Linux 32 which I installed with the help of the archfi/archdi scripts. The installation took a bit of time, but went off without issue. I had tried to build an Anarchy-based installer but could never get a test VM to install correctly.

The archlinuxcn community maintains an i686 repo which I have also added to my pacman config,

Besides the base system and desktop, I’ve installed a number of favorite packages. Performance tweaks include setting vm.swappiness to 10 and installing packages including preload, nohang, and ananicy-cpp.

Some initial impressions:
First, a bit about the hardware. This system in question is an Acer Aspire One D250 netbook with the max 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, and an 802.11g Atheros WiFi adapter.

The keyboard and screen have firmly convinced me that my preferred lightweight configuration is something in the 12"-14" range. As expected, the 1024x600 screen is a challenge. A lot of my initial tuning has involved reducing font sizes, browser zoom levels, etc. to get better use of the limited screen real estate.

I’ve had to force software OpenGL rendering to get some software to run, even applications that really should have no need for it.

The big issue, however, has got to be the Atom N270 CPU with its HyperThreaded single core. By way of comparison, I also have a Dell Latitude D430. This is a system which is contemporary to the Acer and shares portions of its chipset, but is powered by a ULV Core2 Duo processor. The D430 is also limited to 2GB RAM and actually has a PATA HDD but supports 64-bit software. Despite the HDD limitations and the extra overhead of a 64-bit OS (EOS with LXQt, BTW), the Dell still feels faster.

What I will say though is that running a 32-bit Linux on a system like this Acer netbook still makes a lot more sense than running 32-bit windows.

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A couple of additional updates…

Out of curiousity, I pulled down the latest code for anarchy and made another attempt at building an i686 installer. I hit a small issue with the build script (needed to update the version of the keychain package), but was able to build a 32-bit install ISO. More importantly, I was able to use the 32-bit ISO to create a VM under Gnome-Boxes!

Installation with Anarchy went a lot faster than with archfi/archdi, though I have to acknowledge that the latter provides more detailed control over the installation process.

FWIW, I noticed that Archlinux32 has the new version of the archinstall script in its testing repo.

I’m continuing to fool around with the Acer Aspire One. The speed (or lack thereof) continues to frustrate. Recently, I pulled out my old rtl-sdr dongle to see how well gqrx would work on the netbook. The result was audio with frequent dropouts as though the system was struggling to keep up with the decoding. So far, I haven’t figured out a configuration that helps.

I need to find an excuse to go in to work and grab the D420 in the drawer. It’s a 32-bit only ULV Core Duo and I’m getting curious to run some comparisons. That or I need to scrounge a spare disk for my D430. :slight_smile:

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Latest update:
I’ve decided to give up on the Aspire One netbook. DW was thinking about using it for something, so I put the original HDD back in. To be honest, I was somewhat fed up with trying to get it to do simple things like play YT videos and work with my SDR dongle.

I have not given up on Arch Linux 32, however. Last night, I wiped my Latitude D430 and installed Arch Linux 32 from an Anarchy installer. Technically, the CPU in this one is 64-bit compatible, but the system is limited to 2GB RAM making a 32-bit os a debatable better choice, anyway. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just move the drive from the Acer (the Acer uses a standard 2.5" SATA drive while the D430 uses a 1.8" PATA drive with a Zif connector (same drive as an iPod)).

I went again with XFCE and, though I’m still getting it configured to my liking, I’m happy with the overall system. The Core2 Duo definitely runs rings around the Atom N270.

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Sounds like you had the same experience that I’ve with my Aspire One. I, too, have “given up” on it, but still pull it out once or twice a year just to give up on it for the last time.

Again… and again… and again…

Too bad, really. It’s a tough little toy and works well for what it is.

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It is a decent piece of hardware. The Atom N270 seems to be a decent CPU; the problem, I think, is that they paired it with a really anemic integrated GPU.

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Why not arch 32?

https://www.archlinux32.org/

EDIT : you are already running it. There is Void Linux also, gentoo, and NixOS which is nice.
With a tiling WM (like i3, bspwm) you should be good