# GUI/window manager for 256 MB RAM n 1.3 GHz processor.



## usernamekiran (Jun 23, 2011)

Hello all,

I am a newbie at FreeBSD, I installed FreeBSD 8.1 on my Thinkpad which has 256 MB RAM and a 1.3 GHz processor.

*Preface/Background of the problem:*
I tried to install GNOME and XFCE (both separately, not at the same time). I installed them successfully (I didn't get any error). The only problem I faced was, while installing GNOME, I made such settings that GNOME was supposed to be launched directly while booting. The booting process used to go on fine, only when GNOME user login was supposed appear, the screen used to go completely blank.

So I removed everything, and as XFCE is known as "lightweight desktop environment", I installed it, and after the login, when I used to type in the command *startx* the screen used to go completely blank, just like it used to go with GNOME.

*The actual question:*
Which desktop environment/GUI/window manager should I use which will run on 256 MB RAM and a 1.3 GHz processor? And how to install it? 

P.S.: I'm an idiot regarding FreeBSD, so please try to be simple and well explained.

Regards,
Kiran


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## wblock@ (Jun 24, 2011)

The specific model of Thinkpad is important to tell if it's a driver issue.  What video card does it have?  We also like to see xorg.conf and /var/log/Xorg.0.log.  The log file is usually too long to post in a message, but pastebin.com can be used.

You say "completely blank", but is that with or without a mouse pointer?  Can you switch back to the console with ctrl-alt-f1?


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## UNIXgod (Jun 24, 2011)

You can install www/wgetpaste and pipe the output of your log since you're in the console.


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## vermaden (Jun 24, 2011)

kiran9 said:
			
		

> Hello all,
> 
> I am a newbie at FreeBSD, I installed FreeBSD 8.1 on my Thinkpad which has 256 MB RAM and a 1.3 GHz processor.



Thats quite nice hardware comparing to systems that I installed FreeBSD on, like AMD K6-2 500MHz with 192MB RAM, and FreeBSD worked very well there with setup like: fluxbox/opera/mpd/abiword/gnumeric/thunar/urxvt/conky/wbar/pypanel/...



> So I removed everything, and as XFCE is known as "lightweight desktop environment"


If you want something 'truly' light, then get LXDE or a window manager (fluxobx/openbox/pekwm) along with some needed applications only.



> *The actual question:*
> Which desktop environment/GUI/window manager should I use which will run on 256 MB RAM and a 1.3 GHz processor? And how to install it?


I am using *openbox*, so my answer will be, use *openbox*, You can add it like: *pkg_add -r openbox*, but if you are not familiar with window managers, then install LXDE with *pkg_add -r lxde-meta* which will bring up a simple desktop environment for you.


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## Gew (Apr 12, 2012)

With the risk of stepping into the world of FreeBSD as a forum necromancer, I must ask the thread starter (and the rest of you), what would the results be on such system? I myself have access to an old machine, I think it's a Celeron 1GHz with 256MiB of RAM. It was bundled with a Windows 98 license. I tried installing XP, and it was terribly slow. I also tried installing Lubuntu, which was slow as well. Most recent, I tried the Slackware composite of Puppy Linux. It runs okay, yet it seems somewhat a hassle to get the operating system of the actual disc and into the hard drive plus MBR. Well, a hassle may be somewhat a draft, but anyways, I think I'd prefer a ~BSD solution if it would be about the same smoothness, or even better. Ideas? Would FreeBSD 9.0 with Fluxbox do me any good?


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## wblock@ (Apr 12, 2012)

Try it.  A machine that old will not be fast, but it might be fast enough.  Limited memory and a slow drive will probably be the bottlenecks.


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