Installing Zorin Linux 32-Bit OS On A Lenovo S10-2 Netbook

So I had a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 netbook lying around unused in my workplace - a victim of the times, in my humble opinion. Microsoft (and Lenovo) no longer support a 32 bit Windows XP (and 32 bit Windows 7, Vista, 8, 10) and so it seems that the Lenovo S10-2 is doomed to be a piece of trash. The time of the netbook is over and I have fallen victim to Intel's promises for the Atom CPU. But wait a minute - if the Windows OS is defunct, can another OS replace it? Enter the Linux distribution - hooray for Linux! But wait - the Intel Atom is a 32 bit CPU and everyone (including my sick cousin) is moving to 64 bit CPU's - is this a deal-breaker? The answer is NO! All I need is a 32 bit Linux OS that can take care of the various hardware of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 - at least the hardware that I find important.

After searching the Internet for a suitable 32 bit Linux distribution candidate, I settled for Zorin 12 Core - yes Zorin makes and offer for downloading a 32 bit version here - despite distrowatch.com misleading web page here. The picture below shows my Lenovo S10-2 running a 32 bit version 12.4 OS at bootup.

Why this Linux distribution? To answer the question, it was the only 32 bit Linux that had a modern version - all the others had a somewhat older version. It was tried out on the Lenovo S10-2 and it worked perfectly except the battery (and other hardware which will be covered later in this article).

Replacing The Battery

The battery needs replacing as it was too old to retain a charge - the year 2009 is a bit too long ago - it's practically in the prehistoric age as far as computer technology goes.

Once the battery arrived, it was installed on the Lenovo. It was powered up, and the user (me) signed in, and the battery indicator indicates that the battery was charging - but unfortunately, it did not indicate the amount charged. To know the amount charged, click on the battery icon in the notification area and the following window will pop-up (see figure below).

The figure as shown by the red colored arrow is the battery charge, which according to the figure, is 98% and the remaining time for the battery is 4.38 hours. This time for the battery usage is only an estimate - accuracy is not guaranteed.

If you do see a green colored battery icon instead of the usual black icon, it will indicate a fully charged battery (see figure below), which according to Lenovo, amount to a battery power of 5.5 hours. This was not specified by Lenovo whether the usage is continuous or not.

Alternatively, you can click on the 'Zorin' menu and select the 'Settings' item (see figure below).

When the settings window opens, click on the 'Power' item (see figure below).

You will see the amount of charge the battery left for you (see figure below).

Scroll up the screen and click on the 'Off' button for 'Automatic Suspend'.

Then set the switch to 'On' for the item labeled 'On Battery Power' on the new window that appears. Make sure that the delay is set to 30 minutes and close the window.

Close the 'Settings' window. You are now set to use the new battery effectively. Testing the new battery, plus the new settings for the battery, proved to OK.

Dropbox On Zorin

Zorin 12 Core 32 bit Linux OS on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 has possibilities - one of the biggest being that Dropbox works on it (note that Dropbox will not work with Windows XP) and that will solve my problems with cloud storage as my files are stored that way.

Bluefish On Zorin

One of my favourite HTML and text editor is Bluefish (thank you Olivier Sessink and others), which I use extensively on my Windows and Linux PC's (yes it works on Zorin too) to prepare this blog and other blogs for publishing.

Conclusions

All in all, I am satisfied with the performance of the Zorin based netbook, as long as I remember that the main idea of me resurrecting the said netbook was the idea of "potability". In this case, it means that I can lug around the netbook easily without worrying about it's weight since it was so light. I must also remember that it uses the Atom CPU - and a dual core at that - so it won't break any speed record! At 2 GB of RAM, it also suffers from "not-so-good-at-multitasking". As long as I take this into account, the netbook will suffice as as a "not speedy but light PC".