Linux on a Dell Inspiron 630m

Question

I have an old Dell Inspiron 630m with Windows XP and I want to put some Linux distro on it. I have tried Ubuntu 12 but it did not work (nothing happend). Downloading older versions is slow. I am not a nerd (only wanabe) so I'm afraid of installations that are more complicated than Ubuntu. But the old laptop is a great tool for messing up so I ask you, which distro should I try and how can I get it.

EDIT: I went for Debian (Crunchbag looked nice but too big step for me from Ubuntu). I deleted Windows in GPARTED but now I'm missing firmware, ipw2200-bss.fw. How do I add it to my dead laptop?

Answer 1

From what I found, this laptop is powerful enough to run a lightweight GUI (like XFCE, Openbox etc...).

You could start using Debian (which isn't much more complicated than Ubuntu) or Arch Linux (which is more difficult, but will be a good experience).

Answer 2

You might want to check out CrunchBang. Like Ubuntu, it is based on Debian, however, it uses the Openbox window manager and in turn is significantly lighter on resources. I can't tell you specifically how well it will work on an Inspiron 630m, but it is definitely a solid distro. The project lead, Philip Newborough, has done an incredible job of blending simplicity, beauty, and a "just works" functionality.

Here are some links to get you started:

• http://crunchbang.org/about
• http://crunchbang.org/forums