Pentium 4 - Debian "The Lifeline"

One of the reasons I started to use Linux is e-waste, saving money, and the general ethos I felt around the Linux community. The apparent default attitute to Linux working on old hardware is one of those attitudes I rather like. Clearly this can not be an indefinate lifeline to every machine that Linux has ever worked on. As a result years ago I switched to Linux and even though in my day job I used Windows a lot, my homes computers have been Linux for decades now. So many years ago I through means I don't remember ended up with a Pentium 4. It's a perfectly good bit of hardware, originally made by a German company called Maxdata who some of you may remember from days gone by. Very well constructed with a sturdy case, power supply, Intel Motherboard (yes not just a chipset) a real life Intel manufactured and branded Motherboard. Anyway I digress, the point is it's well made and has quality components in it. Now this machine would have originally come with Windows XP loaded on it. It's a 64bit computer I have two CPU's I can change in and out of it one is a P4-630 3GHz and one is a P4-660 3.6GHz, bare that in mind so you understand I am not trying to pull the wool over your eyes and suggest that this can be done on an original Pentium 4 GHz 32bit, technically you could run some very light weight linux or perhaps a CLI but not what we are talking about here. So in this article I will go on to explain the specification of this machine and any upgrades or changes I have made. I will then go on to the install it's self. Once this machine is fully operational it will be a working desktop computer, true it will have it's limitations but it will have a modern operating system on it and you will be able to browse the web, do word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and a few lightwight games on it. You won't be playing AAA games or watching Youtube in 1080p but then some people in this world are not lucky enough to have a highend gaming machine or the money to purchase one. There are people in this world who have a great deal less than some of us and in our strive to move foreward we should always think of them.

I would at this juncture like to add a word or two of opinion. As we move forward over the years I have noticed a terriffic amount of wasted computer hardware, largely in my opinion because of the push of commercial entities to make more and more money and less to do with need. I believe personally that the planet is suffering greatly from this endless push and it needs to stop.

Corporations would like to continue to tell you that everything is fine and that they can recycle and therefore you don't need to worry, just keep buying more and more but the truth is that this is simply not true, yes some things can be recycled metal is a good example, you can just melt it down and start again, but a lot of what you find in electronics and batteries can not just be recycled some of it yes but not large amounts and as a result the end game for that which can not be recycled is it will end up in a landfill, leaking polution for many years to come. Now listen I am not an in your face Greta Thunberg type I won't tell you that you should be ashamed because frankly that's a pathetic attempt to gain a sympatetic ear. But I am someone who has lived a long time and watched carefully at what is happening as I can assure you as night follows day that things will only get worse if we don't slow down, consider what we are doing and persue things in a more orderly fashion. Stop expecting things to just work out, stop wanting a new phone every year, stop assuming that battery powered cars will reduce pollution, stop assuming that it's fine for you to have a new computer every 3 years or a new graphics card every time a new game comes out. Remember the people selling you this idea have one goal, to make money nothing more and nothing less, the reason they are wealthy is because they pushed this idea at people and people brought into it. So instead of jumping on the bandwagon and buying a new computer because there is a new version of Windows think about how you can perhaps extend the life of your current computer and perhaps this year can be the start of a different attitude to how we are treating the planet. If on the other hand you think I am full of rubbish and you'll continue to do what you have always done well... enjoy your future and when you think about your grandchildren or your great grandchildren think about this. Will they have a future to enjoy or will they spend every day of their lifes struggling in a world that's too hot?, too dry?, not enough fresh water?, not enough proper food? I could go on, I won't!

In The Begining

We start our adventure with a computer manufactured around 16 years ago, yes you read that correctly 16 years ago. I would like to point out this this is not an exercise in pain just principle however you might like to also read my artcle on a similar specification machine which is 13 years old this year. Am I trending yet?

Specification

Motherboard: Intel D915GUX.

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 630 HT 2MB Cache 3Ghz 800MHz Front Side Bus. (Downside to this is 84W TDP).

Alternative CPU:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 660 HT 2MB Cache 3.6Ghz 800MHz Front Side Bus. (Downside to this is 115W TDP).

These are the two P4 CPU's I have for this board, I have some Celeron D class CPU's but frankly they were never good when they were first on the market, the Pentium 4's are better but I know what you are all thinking. So due to the TDP I decided on the 630 HT and not the 660 HT, for the extra 600Mhz frankly it's not woth the extra power.

Memory: 4GB DDR2 533MHz (You could do this with a 32bit OS and 2GB RAM).