Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

Th3_uN1Qu3 · 2010-05-15 17:00:28

Okay, before i begin fiddling about i'll have to ask. I have been running FREESCO on a P1-233 with 32MB RAM and for almost 5 years it's done a flawless job as a router. But my old printer no longer works in Windows 7 and it is a USB printer so FREESCO won't work with it. I have also picked up another free machine which happens to fit in the same spot that the old P1 did, and it also has an Intel Pro 100 NIC onboard so i can remove one of the PCI NICs and add a wifi card to the router. But since this machine has enough grunt to run my printer too (or so i think), i'd expand a bit from FREESCO.

It currently looks like this - Celeron 533, 256MB SDRAM, Matrox G100 onboard video 2MB, Crystal onboard sound (don't need), 1x Intel Pro 100 onboard, 1x 3Com 3C509 PCI, and a 15GB HDD. I can upgrade the CPU to 733MHz and the RAM to 384MB if need be, but that's about the max i'll be able to put in it.
The printer is a HP PSC 1100, and since it is an all-in-one with scanner, i suppose i'm going to need some VNC-accessible GUI to run the scanner too. And i might just add a larger HDD and use it as a torrent server and NAS, but that's second priority. I want this box to run without a swapfile.

A friend recommended Arch Linux for this purpose. He knows his stuff (i'm more of a Windows guy), but i figured out i'd ask here in the forums too. FREESCO's setup is quite straightforward since basically a router is all FREESCO is, so i'd like to know what packages do i need to accomplish my tasks using Arch, i think i'll be able to install them myself, but i'll be bugging you with questions if i can't get it done.

Thanks for reading,
Andrew

Last edited by Th3_uN1Qu3 (2010-05-15 17:02:28)

fukawi2 · 2010-05-16 03:02:58

Th3_uN1Qu3 wrote:

O
A friend recommended Arch Linux for this purpose. He knows his stuff (i'm more of a Windows guy)...

Please don't take any of this personally, or interpret it as being "elitist", but Arch probably isn't for you.

Arch requires a lot more setup and configuration compared to other Linux distros, or turnkey solutions, so if you're mainly into Windows, then it's probably going to frustrate you more than anything else.

Unless of course you are willing to make the investment in learning through devoting the time, reading the wiki, searching the forums etc then you will no doubt find success.

But if you're hoping to install Arch and have everything up and running perfectly in a couple of hours, then you will find yourself frustrated and jaded towards Arch, which none of us want to see for all our sakes

skottish · 2010-05-16 03:08:52

Th3_uN1Qu3,

When you say that you're printer doesn't work in Windows 7, have you simply tried updating its firmware? I've run across a few USB printers at my work that simply needed their internal software modernized.

Th3_uN1Qu3 · 2010-05-16 19:52:48

fukawi2 wrote:

Unless of course you are willing to make the investment in learning through devoting the time, reading the wiki, searching the forums etc then you will no doubt find success.
But if you're hoping to install Arch and have everything up and running perfectly in a couple of hours, then you will find yourself frustrated and jaded towards Arch, which none of us want to see for all our sakes

Don't worry, i'm familiar with the Linux command line and config files. It's just that i prefer not to waste time tweaking my distro when Windows works with a lot less hassle. Besides, there are two main things keeping me on the Windows side - games and FL Studio. I have used Ubuntu for quite a while on my HP DV5 and was quite disappointed when i upgraded to Windows 7, because i was getting more battery life when watching videos in Ubuntu - MPlayer used GPU acceleration all the time and i could watch HD video with my CPU downclocked to 400MHz... It was fun.

I know how to install stuff and how to configure stuff - i just want a few pointers. For a start, you could tell me a minimal GUI. Puppy Linux came with JWM, that was light enough. Is it supported in Arch too?

@ skottish: Updates? From HP? You gotta be dreaming. None available, and Win7 tells me from the get go that "this software is known for compatibility issues" when i try to install the XP software from HP.

Last edited by Th3_uN1Qu3 (2010-05-16 19:54:33)

fukawi2 · 2010-05-16 22:59:03

Th3_uN1Qu3 wrote:

I know how to install stuff and how to configure stuff - i just want a few pointers. For a start, you could tell me a minimal GUI. Puppy Linux came with JWM, that was light enough. Is it supported in Arch too?

That's what I mean -- Arch generally isn't a "hand-holding" distro/community -- we're happy to help with specific problems (eg, "this is my setup, here is my xorg.conf file but I can only get 800x600 when my monitor and card supports 1024x768") but generic questions are generally given generic answers (LMGTFY or RTFM)

BUT, if you really want to go ahead with it.... You should be able to use the latest xorg without any xorg.conf file and it should be able to figure it out on it's own. Don't forget to start the HAL and DBUS daemons first!!

Failing that, you'll be able to find plenty of xorg.conf examples by searching the forums or Google.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-05-15 17:00:28

Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

#2 2010-05-16 03:02:58

Re: Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

#3 2010-05-16 03:08:52

Re: Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

#4 2010-05-16 19:52:48

Re: Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

#5 2010-05-16 22:59:03

Re: Need router, print server, and possibly NAS in 256MB RAM

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