Old PC tips & tricks

Gurglin · May 7, 2020 at 11:07 PM

Dear All,

This is my first post here, and therefore I want to greet everybody, hoping to establish a fruitful collaboration with all of you.

I want to install LibreELEC on a 20-year-old Compaq Presario 14Xl250 laptop, with the following specs:

- 600 MHz Intel Celeron cpu

- 128MB RAM

- 6GB hard drive

- NOT WORKING 13.3" TFT monitor

- 2 USB 1.1 ports

- NO Bluetooth

- MP3 Player buttons

I am planning to install LibreELEC using an external monitor, and then control it via smartphone, in an environment without internet.

I therefore will have to buy a USB Bluetooth dongle.

As Kore (or Yatse) doesn't work via Bluetooth (incredible but true) I am thinking of using Apps like "BT Remote PC" or "Unified Remote", which require to install some software on the PC as well.

My questions are:

1) Would LibreELEC (especially its kernel) be compatible with my laptop?

2) Does anybody have experience installing and using a recent LibreELEC release with a comparable computer?

3) Does LibreELEC support USB Bluetooth dongles? In case, are there specific drivers I should install?

4) Would it be possible to install "BT Remote PC" or "Unified Remote" related software on LibreELEC? They are either Debian or Ubuntu based, if I am not wrong.

5) Would "BT Remote PC" or "Unified Remote" work fine with LibreELEC?

Either you already experienced a similar situation, or you have the theoretical technical knowledge, please provide your suggestions.

Thanks a lot in advance!

**smp** · May 7, 2020 at 11:32 PM

It's not gonna work. Kodi will not run on that.

**Klojum** · May 8, 2020 at 5:56 AM Official Post

LibreELEC requires a certain minimum level of OpenGL graphics.

I doubt very much that a 20-year old computer will be able to pull that off.

**chewitt** · May 8, 2020 at 7:50 AM Official Post

Not going to work because:

a) We don't ship any 32-bit (i386) OS since 2015

b) Device has 50% less RAM than the lowest/worst spec device we ever supported (mk1 AppleTV)

c) Even if you figured out a custom image to deal with A and B, the GPU probably isn't supported

Find a second-hand Raspberry Pi 3B+ on eBay (lots of people upgrading to RPi4 means there are lots of cheap ones) and it will be a better investment of time and effort.

Gurglin · May 8, 2020 at 5:02 PM

All,

Thanks a lot for your answers. That is really bad. I hoped at least a legacy version of LibreELEC could work...

Have a nice day.

**Nicolas** · May 10, 2020 at 5:44 PM

Hello!

You can try Windows XP and XBMC (now KODi) V12 aka Frodo and older Versions.

Or old Versions of Mediaportal.

But I doubt you'll be pleased with the Performance...

The Origin XBox had an equal setup (733mhz CPU and 64mb RAM), but at least a dedicated Nvidia GPU. So it was able to Playback h264 at 480p.

Regards

Nicolas

**Klojum** · May 10, 2020 at 7:19 PM Official Post

Quote from Nicolas

You can try Windows XP and XBMC (now KODi) V12 aka Frodo and older Versions.

It's better to promote the 20-year-old Compaq Presario 14Xl250 laptop to being the official doorstop or bookend for the Gurglin family.

You don't want to deal with all the shortcomings of old software anymore.

**Da Flex** · May 10, 2020 at 7:47 PM Official Post

I had my moments with old hardware and Windows versions. It feels like a big waste of former lifetime, and still is a waste of time.

Gurglin · September 20, 2020 at 12:55 PM

Quote from Nicolas

Hello!

You can try Windows XP and XBMC (now KODi) V12 aka Frodo and older Versions.

Or old Versions of Mediaportal.

Hi Nicolas, and thanks for your feedback. On on of the three internal HDD partitions I had installed GeeXboX 1.2.4 (see here, for instance: GeeXboX 1.2.4 – TECHBETA), which was working flawlessly, and was way better than newer versions (from version 2.0 onward). It is a bit basic, though, and wanted to try something more recent. Sadly enough it seems impossible.

Long life to LibreElec and to Linux!