kev392
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Post by kev392 on Sept 7, 2021 0:22:17 GMT
I picked up an eMachines T4510 circa 2004. It's a Pentium 4, 2.6 GHz processor, can have 2 GB RAM. Everything works but the sound and USB ports. It also only has 512 MB RAM. Step 1: Get 2 GB for the RAM. It was slow as molasses surfing the internet. Step 2: Get a sound card, maybe an old sound blaster. I've read that sometimes the onboard sound drivers permanently fail on these machines. Step 3: Get a PCI card to establish USB connections. Another issue with the motherboard. Step 4: Patiently wait for Bodhi 6 32 bit  |
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enigma9o7
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Post by enigma9o7 on Sept 7, 2021 4:25:59 GMT
gotta be a way to get sound and usb working... it'd be more fun to figure that out than just buy a soundblaster and card for usb(if you dont have those laying around already). if you're spending money may as well buy a $100 laptop on craiglist thats ten years newer...
but yeah the 2GB ram will make it way more usable; with 512 you gotta micro-manage your memory and be super efficient, one tab in the browser while everything else is closed kinda thing... use legacy html version of gmail... dont use discord unless you wanna wait more than a minute for it to load while swapping around, etc. The other thing if you do decide to waste money on it is a SSD. I spent $20 on a 128GB SSD (at the waiters advice) and put it in my p4, and another in my athlon, big big improvement. And no more hearing the sound of the hard drive going crazy booting/loading stuff either.
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kev392
Crew Member
Posts: 356
Likes: 474
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Post by kev392 on Sept 7, 2021 23:43:16 GMT
gotta be a way to get sound and usb working... it'd be more fun to figure that out than just buy a soundblaster and card for usb(if you dont have those laying around already). if you're spending money may as well buy a $100 laptop on craiglist thats ten years newer... but yeah the 2GB ram will make it way more usable; with 512 you gotta micro-manage your memory and be super efficient, one tab in the browser while everything else is closed kinda thing... use legacy html version of gmail... dont use discord unless you wanna wait more than a minute for it to load while swapping around, etc. The other thing if you do decide to waste money on it is a SSD. I spent $20 on a 128GB SSD (at the waiters advice) and put it in my p4, and another in my athlon, big big improvement. And no more hearing the sound of the hard drive going crazy booting/loading stuff either.
I've read quite a bit on the sound and USB issues with the eMachines from that era. The motherboards are just flaky. I'll definitely consider a low end SSD. I've never bought one. I guess I don't know what I'm missing. Definitely would buy: 2 sticks RAM = 2 GB: $23 Probably would buy, unless I can find a sound card that'll work from something obsolete: USB external sound card, adapter, splitter converter with volume control, no drivers needed: $13 First world problems: SSD 120 GB: $19 2.5" to 3.5" bay adapter: $6 Internal USB 2.0 PCI Card with 4 external ports, 1 internal port: $11 At this stage the whirring and other noises is part of its charm. Try booting up an old 486 for the kids just to get a reaction.  |
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