[00:38] Hi, is there an upgrade path from Ubuntu 8.10 to a version with 'xz', and modern encryption and maybe GRUB 2 on ancient 32-bit equipment (Athlon XP Mobile) that will not boot from USB or CDROM? I have extra partitions. [00:39] no [00:39] the last 32bit release is 18.04. but upgrading is .. well.. not impossible. but just dont do it [00:40] lechner: 8.10 was a non-LTS from 14 years ago. There is absolutely no advantage in trying to upgrade from something that old [00:41] that computer is ready to be retired. [00:41] leftyfb: i would be happy to install something newer but i have to do it via hard disk (or perhaps TFTP) alone [00:41] "Don't" is generally the recommendation, if you must, then upgrade release by release until you hit a LTS, then jump from LTS to LTS until 18.04. [00:42] If you have enough ram, then grml-rescueboot is pretty great, except it needs grub2. [00:42] lechner: Do you have any newer system? Your best bet here IMO is to take the drive out, connect it to a different computer, boot that computer from a Lubuntu 18.04 (or better yet, Debian LXDE 32-bit) drive, install onto the drive, then put the drive back into the original system. [00:42] Unit193: that would not be an install I would wish on anyone [00:42] lechner: wow that's a brutal situation :( [00:42] lechner, netboot images for 18.04 are here: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/bionic-updates/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/ [00:42] leftyfb: I did it once a few years back with the last Fluxbuntu release, in a VM just to try it. [00:43] arraybolt3[m]: it's a parallel IDE adapter in a laptop i have never seen before [00:43] jeeze [00:43] why bother? [00:43] burn it [00:43] lechner: Actually, netboot isn't a bad idea. If you can TFTP boot netboot.xyz, you can install a 32-bit version of Debian most likely. [00:44] ravage: We're Linux. We like resurrecting old computers. [00:44] leftyfb: Because we can. [00:44] when did Ubuntu stop shipping the odd CDROM Atapi drivers, please? [00:44] lechner: https://netboot.xyz/docs/booting/tftp [00:44] For 32bit, I would encourage you to go to Debian, yeah. [00:45] i would just use debootstrap but the 8.10 archive is long gone [00:45] arraybolt3[m]: there's old, then there's "the only reason to do this is because it's fun and I want to learn something" at which point, you are basically on your own [00:45] !eolupgrades [00:45] End-Of-Life is when security updates and support for an Ubuntu release stop. Make sure to update Ubuntu before it goes EOL so you get updates promptly for newly-discovered security vulnerabilities. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOL and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases for more info. Looking to upgrade from an EOL release? See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades [00:45] leftyfb: Ubuntu 18.04 is still supported. If we're true to our word, he's not on his own. [00:46] arraybolt3[m]: he's running 8.10 [00:46] arraybolt3[m]: Then even after that, one could get free ESM (for up to 3 systems) [00:46] lechner: WAIT. Are you in the Boston area? [00:47] leftyfb: sorry, that was in college :) [00:47] damn. I would give you a new PC that'll run 64bit [00:47] well, not new [00:48] leftyfb is just Oprah is disguise [00:49] leftyfb: One of my ancient systems had a very practical use (an ancient XP desktop that was able to help me take a disk image of a critically important Win2K system). [00:49] lechner: The problem with installing from netboot is that the whole installer image would have to fit in your system's RAM. How much RAM do you have? [00:49] 768MB [00:50] i knew it would be an unpopular topic (and thank you for your empathy, leftyfb, i have some more recent equipment). [00:50] lechner: Yeah, that's not too old to be hopeless. [00:50] lechner: I have dealt with so many ancient computers. I think this is a great project. [00:51] my neighbor threw out a laptop with the screen ripped off. it would be a nice Zoom station for my family [00:51] well, not Zoom, but you get the idea [00:51] lechner: you're not running zoom on that [00:51] lechner: So why exactly could you not boot from CDROM? [00:51] you're lucky to play video, let alone stream it [00:51] lechner: if there's a reason why you're aiming for a machine without debian, you could also try https://www.adelielinux.org/download/ -- I've heard the maintainer really intends to keep supporting 32 bit x86 as long as they can [00:52] i think it's the old ATAPI drivers, but in fairness i did not try the latest Ubuntu (only the latest Guix) [00:53] leftyfb: you are probably right about the video. i am too optimistic sometimes [00:53] lechner: One problem is that, with as little RAM as you have, Ubuntu 18.04 probably isn't going to work. I think Debian is your best hope. [00:54] what [00:54] what is Ubuntu shipping? [00:54] xubuntu 18.04 maybe [00:54] i would not try full gnome on that [00:54] lechner: I think 18.04 need 1GB or so. [00:55] if you want to watch videos on that thing there is an ascii plugin for mplayer i think [00:55] that's funny! [00:56] sorry to bother everyone. i have been milking a lot of old equipment lately. my biggest issue has been energy consumption generally [00:56] lechner: I've had no problems watching videos on XP desktops - they weren't in 1080p or anything, but a DVD? Sure. [00:56] the processor also does not have the modern hash instructions [00:56] those old CPUs keep you warm in winter for sure [00:57] lechner: I think it's a great idea, though. [00:57] unfortunately, i am in california [00:57] oh. it does not provide water. sorry :) [00:58] re ascii output: mplayer -vo aa _-5dEyAzu3Nww.mkv [00:58] we would be okay if they did not use ninety percent of our water to grow almonds or avocadoes [00:58] lechner: Well, here's a possibly silly idea. Boot from a really old Linux ISO that does provide the old drivers, then use dd to flash a fully installed image to your old system. [00:59] sarnold, nice. let me watch something :D [00:59] lechner: You can make the image in a VM on a newer computer, then flash it to the drive of the older computer. [00:59] arraybolt3[m]: i have 8.10 on the hard disk, and three empty partitions [00:59] but the browser cannot do modern encryption [01:00] and there is no xz [01:00] except for mozilla or google, i can't even read the internet [01:00] lechner: Yeah. So just go to a newer system, fire up QEMU with a 32-bit ISO file and a raw virtual drive, install the distro of your choice, then copy it to a USB, take it to the old system, flash it to the HDD, and you're good to go. (That's a basic idea, you'd have to fill in the rest.) === synapt is now known as nate