Tangible Bytes

I was recently updating a very old laptop for use in some network testing - all it needs to do is connect to wifi.

I couldn’t understand why I was getting a blank screen after grub loaded

I tried various install media, tried editing grub conf.

The best I could get was a screen saying

Booting a command list

This sticky post from ubuntu forums Graphics Resolution- Upgrade /Blank Screen after reboot sent me in the right direction and I realised the kernel wasn’t starting at all.

Then the penny dropped and I realised this very old laptop is 32 bit.

It won’t run any recent version of ubuntu.

But it will run 32 bit debian.

It’s never going to be fast but it should work for my purposes.