DamnSmallLinux on Retro hardware

[Leo J Mauler]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:52:01 -0600 "Brian Kelsay" <BLKELSAY at kcc.usda.gov>
writes:
> > Naturally, the lack of a FPU prevented some of the 
> > DamnSmallLinux applications from working, but you 
> > can probably find a 486SX FPU chip for the cost of 
> > postage, or just use a 486DX.
> 
> Not necessarily true.  

Try a hardware newsgroup and mention your need.  Some guy who has a wife
who wants him to clear out that hardware, but he doesn't want to just
throw it away, will drop a 486 FPU in an envelope and mail it out to you
(so that he knows its going to a good home).

Back when 72-pin SIMMs had taken over and 30-pin SIMMs were hard to find,
I did just such a thing and received a baggie of eight 1MB 30-pin SIMMs
in the mail for precisely that reason: free RAM to good home.  :)

> I looked long and hard for a 387 chip a couple of yrs ago 
> for a mobo that needed one  and couldn't find the right 
> one.  There were at least 2 types.  One had pins that go 
> in a socket straight and one, like I needed, had j-pins 
> and it slipped inside a square socket w/ the pins all around.  
> I gave up looking, but I did find a 287 in a computer store, 
> still new in the box.  They wanted at least $30 for it, and it 
> might have been $40.  The PC isn't really worth that 
> anymore.  I still have a 286 that needs a 287, but also has 
> a borked pwr supply.   

The trick with buying used computer parts is that frequently people will
sell you a complete system which happens to include a 287/387/487 for a
lot cheaper than they would sell you the individual parts.  Locally, used
computer stores still want something like $10 for used floppy drives, yet
checking out local garage sales and thrift stores usually results in a
complete computer system (such as a 386) which comes with a used floppy
drive in it for around $5.  A few months ago Hypertech marked a bunch of
Pentium-I's down to $2 each, included a floppy in each one.  Or free, if
they just want you to haul it off (picked up a nice 486 system that way
once, built like a Mac with built-in monitor attached to the case).

The same usually goes for stuff on EBay.  If someone is selling a 386
with a FPU, they may list it as a selling point while selling the whole
thing for $10.

> On ebay you don't always get what you think you are 
> paying for.  I hate buying stuff without pictures.  I bought 
> a 233 thinking it would be a socket 7, p-I.  It turned out 
> to be a slot 1, P-II.  Couldn't even shoe-horn that in.

I don't buy much of anything on EBay that isn't a peripheral for that
very reason.  Peripherals can have lots of accurate photographs.  Sellers
seem to think that a photograph of the *case* is enough photography for a
complete system.

If you're looking for decent used motherboard with CPUs, try out the
Computer Garage up on Merriam Drive (just west of I-35 on Johnson Drive,
turn right on Merriam Drive if you're coming from I-35).  You can usually
find something in the 200-350Mhz range there for under $40.
 
> Now if someone has a P-I 233, I could still find a use for it, 
> but I'm probably ready to give away the 386.

Noooo!  Run DamnSmallLinux on it instead!  :)

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