Use Blitzmax on an old PC

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Tutorials/Use Blitzmax on an old PC

slenkar(Posted 2009) [#1]
I installed Arch Linux to use with blitzmax and I found it is light on RAM usage and CPU power.
Im using a 128MB RAM 600mhz PC with an 82810 intel graphics card

Here is a small guide to get started, the official arch linux site has more detailed guides but this guide is a good overall checklist of things to do:

burn arch linux to CD,
you have a choice between core and FTP iso versions
I used core, FTP installs from internet.
I tried to do a FTP install but it didnt work.

then when you reboot you are faced with a black screen and an input prompt.

type in 'root' to become the root user

First thing to do is get online.

You have to use a text editor called nano to edit a file called

/etc/rc.conf

so type in:


nano /etc/rc.conf


If you are using an ethnernet cable connected to a cable-modem
you change the network part of the file to look like this:

eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)
ROUTES=(!gateway)


press CTRL O to save
and CTRL X to exit

then type in

dhcpcd eth0


to get online, if you are succesful you go on to the next step

otherwise:http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_network

now you need to make sure Bash is the latest version

you can type

pacman -Syu


to update all system libraries at once or


pacman -S bash


to get the latest bash

then you need to install some things to get a windows like environment


pacman -S Xorg
pacman -S xf86-input-mouse
pacman -S xf86-input-keyboard
pacman -S xorg-driver-evdev
pacman -S hal
pacman -S dbus
pacman -S xfce4


edit the /etc/rc.conf file again and put the words dbus and hal into the DAEMON section inside the brackets

a daemon is merely a background process

reboot the PC to get hal and dbus working

there are a lot of video card drivers with names like
xf86-video-intel
I used xf86-video-intel-legacy because its the best fit for my 82810 graphics card

so I typed in:

pacman -S xf86-video-intel-legacy


you can search for your best driver here:
http://aur.archlinux.org/

now type in

Xorg -configure


and it will automatically write out a xorg.conf file to tell the system which drivers to use

reboot the computer and type
startxfce4 to get into the windows like environment