It's been a long while so i'm totally disconnected now, but i've been experimenting with Linux again recently and realized maybe Porteus/Slax would have something to offer in the situation described as follows...
The PC to revalorize is a cheap 2-parts LapTop/Tablet that's more like a nano-PC: the Insignia Flex 11.6 NS-P11W7100-C. At 1st i expected it would be easy and convenient to use it in combination with my network TV server so i can carry it around, euh... but then i discovered part of its peripherals only enjoy marginal Linux support and that's "flaky" at best: starting with the MMC/NCard stuff, but not only.
Initially Windows 10 kept disturbing me so many times i eventually wanted to taste and enjoy the satisfaction of deleting its partition - and i did just that finally! - but not before having accumulated quite some redundant backup in case nothing works. Since the begining i had given my best futile efforts over quite a few ideas until i read about the 32/64 bits boot problem, and ultimately "Linuxium" which could fix it for me by "re-spinning" an ISO, at least in principle.
But the complicated reading alone made my courage plumet fast so i resorted to these ready-made downloads intead:
- linuxium-v4.17-rc6-lubuntu-18.04-desktop-amd64 (1.2G)
- linuxium-linuxmint-18.3-xfce-64bit (1.8G)
- linuxium-v4.17-rc6-elementaryos-0.4.1-stable.20180214 (1.8G)
- linuxium-atom-ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64 (2.1G)
Though in practice only Ubuntu completed installation so i could get a better perspective now of what i don't like about such hardware: it's still the i2C bus on which too many of this machine's peripherals depend (as i recall) i'm afraid; although i do seem to have gained access to its internal MMC drive and micro-SD flash card reader (with a 128 GB ammovible limit) i regret to admit trouble with the later occurs after a few minutes: the only semi-reliable use i got for it under Linux is for brief file accesses. Music plays but when i try videos it's like the more i use it the faster it fails. That's why i suspect this bottleneck may never be resolved and hence i'm back to days with Slax/Porteus run from RAM memory... But that's forgetting the 32/64 bits problem created by its peculiar boot loader, whatever.
Euh...
It's so tiresome i'm starting to regret posting about it too, because the more i write the less clear it feels!
All i know with confidence is that the MMC and micro-SD storage spaces may work fine and long enough to load an "image" of Linux in RAM, with VLC Media Player, LiRC support for an MCE remote control and BlueTooth/WiFi for wireless earphones and internet access. This is a proper challenge for Slax/Porteus the larger Linux flavour may be unfit for, considering the limited RAM memory of 2GB only... In any case having Ubuntu installed on its internal 32GB MMC/NCard i could compare with its "Live" version and that's why i'm here now: "Live" mode, with a tist, suggesting the Linuxium trend is a perfect niche where Slax/Porteus can effectively shine, because those have a long history with severely limited material that looses value fast at the hands of Microsoft Windows and even regular Linux releases. Instead of a flash USB thumb drive the image can reside on MMC space i figure.
Years ago inclusion of PlOP was a nice gesture in favour of compatibility, perhaps a Linuxium spin would make a great update to that today.
My 2 cents.
I feel like expressing admiration for keeping up the good work despite adversity in a consumer's world anyway!