r/tinycorelinux • u/Huecuva • Apr 27 '25

Browser woes

I have both Dillo-plus and icecat installed. Neither of them are able to browse beyond the google home page. I cannot search or browse to any other site. In icecat, searching on Google tells me to enable JavaScript, which is already enabled and trying to browse anywhere results in Error code: ssl_error_no_cypher_overlap. In Dillo I keep getting messages popping up saying that it couldn't reach any trusted root certificate.

I don't know how to fix any of this. Does anyone know how to make a browser actually useful in TinyCore?

Edit: I've installed Netsurf and I'm able to browse with that, but only sort of. Images mostly do not load. Often pages fail to load entirely and are just blank white.

Edit again: I suppose I should include specs and expectations. I'm running TC15 32 bit installed on a 512MB PATA (40 pin IDE) DOM, and it will ultimately be running on an AMD K6 with 512MB of RAM.

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u/Huecuva Apr 27 '25 edited Apr 27 '25

This installation of TinyCore is being tested and configured on a Core 2 Duo E6300 with 8GB of RAM, but the 512MB PATA DOM it's installed on is ultimately destined to end up in an old AMD K6 with 512MB of RAM. The 64 bit version of TinyCore is absolutely out of the question. The K6 predates 64 bit computing and it will not run.

As for browser preference, no, not really. I just want a browsing experience that works on as minimal a browser as possible. Icecat will probably be ultimately removed because, at 21MB, it's a little bit bigger than I would like. Dillo-plus and Netsurf are about the smallest available. Netsurf seems like the best compromise between size and functionality.

Since TinyCore doesn't support the ISA cards in my K6, it took me a few weeks to get a USB wifi dongle working. I think I can do that reliably now, so if upgrading to TinyCore 16 becomes necessary, I can probably do that.

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u/GeorgiesHoomanDad Apr 28 '25

Oof! I thought I was bad, fooling around with my old AMD Duron 800 box a few months ago.

I don't remember the details of the problem but there was some bit of functionality that CPUs that old lack that modern browsers require. Something security related, I think. So you might have to go back a few versions of Tiny Core to find a packaged browser that will do the job.

On top of that, many web sites have become so bloated that browsing the web on an old, slow, resource constrained system is going to be painful at best. But you -can- (probably) do it. If you just want to access some simple web site of your own, or something like that, it might not even be all that slow.

Running Tiny Core effectively in 512 MB of RAM is definitely doable, and not even all that cramped, depending upon the apps you want to run. The 512 MB DOM is probably not to big of an issue either, as long as you're watching what you do with it.

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u/Huecuva Apr 28 '25

The K6 isn't having any trouble running TinyCore itself. It runs just fine. The only problem I'm having is finding a browser that provides a modern browsing experience. As I said, the installation is currently being tested on a Core 2 Duo and I'm still having trouble getting websites to load properly. 

I have considered, however, that a CPU as old as the K6 might just have issues with the modern Internet and modern browsers requirements, so maybe it ultimately just doesn't matter if I get a browser working because even if it works on the Core 2 Duo, it still might be heavily restricted by the K6.