I got an older Gateway 633C model computer about a few months back from a friend who was getting rid of it. Being about the size of a VCR, I figured I'd turn it into a small internet-to-TV computer; something like an AppleTV, only AppleTV (to my knowledge) can't run Hulu.
Anyways, almost immediately I slapped on PuppyLinux 431 (pup-431.iso) after DSLinux didn't like the onboard video adapter. Puppy did just fine.
The computer originally had a 633Celeron and 64MB of RAM, no LAN. it now has a 933MHZ P3 (SL4C9) and approx. 384MB RAM (256+128), though some of the RAM is utilized for the video card.
I've been using the Seamonkey browser, and Hulu especially is laggy (Sound seems normal, but definately does not match up with the video). I've come to several possible solutions, either A) the Hulu website hates older equipment, B) the browser isn't suitable, or C) I need more RAM.
Anyways, when I was looking around in the menu I found a program called "CPU Frequency Scaling Tool," if my assumption is correct, this is a tool for overclocking the CPU. So... how does it work? Keep in mind it's a P3 (SL4C9). As for overheating, I don't think it should be a problem. the original 633Celeron CPU originally only heatsink while a fan is attached to the PSU very close-by. When I installed the P3 I put a heatsink/fan combo and plan to use both that and the PSU fan.
Any info/help/advice will be most awesomly greatly appriciated!
-- Hunter
CPU Frequency Scaling Tool
your 'A' guess is correct...its one of the worst sites for needing excessive cpu.
The frequency scaling is to reduce cpu speed to save battery life on laptops
your bonfire has been p***ed on...plus in the uk hulu won't even let me have the pleasure of watching jerky tv made in the uk.
A machine half that speed can play dvds...go figure
mike
The frequency scaling is to reduce cpu speed to save battery life on laptops
your bonfire has been p***ed on...plus in the uk hulu won't even let me have the pleasure of watching jerky tv made in the uk.
A machine half that speed can play dvds...go figure
mike
So is there any Puppy program that'll help me overclock? I'll look up BIOS upgrades...mikeb wrote:your 'A' guess is correct...its one of the worst sites for needing excessive cpu.
The frequency scaling is to reduce cpu speed to save battery life on laptops
your bonfire has been p***ed on...plus in the uk hulu won't even let me have the pleasure of watching jerky tv made in the uk.
A machine half that speed can play dvds...go figure
mike
My pc spec is the same as yours (via chipset?) and hulu is unplayable on here using puppy2 which is pretty lean. You tube is ok ish .Another 1GB machine with pc133 is ok for you tube but still no go for hulu. For them you are looking at a 1.5GHz machine.
There's nothing in puppy that would overclock...for that you are looking at pusing up the FSB frequency on a pentium. I think the fastest pentium is 1.2GHz with a voltage spec that matches or you could use tulatin up to 1.5GHz with a special adaptor but it would be cheaper to get a fresh Mobo+cpu from ebay.
The only other route is if you could find a video card that flash on linux will use 3D acceleration...some of the later radions I believe...that would at least improve full screen performance. As it stands they use codecs that are quick to compress (sorison/mp4etc) but take lots of cpu to play and then the video is played without any acceleration and finally they use wmode=transparant for the flash code which is very slow on mozilla browsers so the combination of all three turns playback into cold porridge. Bear in mind that adobe have close ties with microsoft which is why you will find much better performance using windows...some have reported better performance using wine...the ultimate was using IE on wine but then you are bordering on a security disaster.
The most effective workaround is to use a player like gxine but flash 10 downloads to ram so buggers that route.
mike
There's nothing in puppy that would overclock...for that you are looking at pusing up the FSB frequency on a pentium. I think the fastest pentium is 1.2GHz with a voltage spec that matches or you could use tulatin up to 1.5GHz with a special adaptor but it would be cheaper to get a fresh Mobo+cpu from ebay.
The only other route is if you could find a video card that flash on linux will use 3D acceleration...some of the later radions I believe...that would at least improve full screen performance. As it stands they use codecs that are quick to compress (sorison/mp4etc) but take lots of cpu to play and then the video is played without any acceleration and finally they use wmode=transparant for the flash code which is very slow on mozilla browsers so the combination of all three turns playback into cold porridge. Bear in mind that adobe have close ties with microsoft which is why you will find much better performance using windows...some have reported better performance using wine...the ultimate was using IE on wine but then you are bordering on a security disaster.
The most effective workaround is to use a player like gxine but flash 10 downloads to ram so buggers that route.
mike