Simplex3's SuSE Linux Converts Thread
 

Looking for some help moving to Linux? Drop the question here and we'll see what I can do. Some topics I expect we'll cover:

1. Installation
2. What apps do what?
3. My (hardware) isn't working (right)
4. Multi-media issues

Remember, if you need help sooner rather than later:

Kubuntu users:
1. Launch Konversation from the "Internet" menu.
2. Connect to #kubuntu by double clicking on it.
3. Ask away.

Suse users:
1. Install X-Chat
2. Connect to the Freenode network
3. Join the #suse channel
4. Ask away. There are usually about 280 helpful souls in there.

I'll also try to keep this up as a sort of FAQ. Non-question-specific posts will have a large, bold heading (see post #2).

*Note: Don't forget you can try out Linux without installing anything on your PC at all. Download one of the LiveCD versions, burn it to a disc, then reboot the PC with the LiveCD in the drive and your computer will load Linux and your hard disk will not be changed. You can get them at either of these links:
http://www.kubuntu.com/
http://www.novell.com/products/susel...rors_isos.html
http://www.mepis.org/
http://www.knoppix.org/

*Note: If I start asking you to run a bunch of things from a command prompt it isn't because that's the only way to do it, it's because that's the only way I can "control" what is happening on your end.

Do us all a favor and use SuSE 10. It's stable, there is a commercial version, it has excellent hardware support, there's no good reason to not use it. The home page for the community (read free) version is here:

http://en.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org


You want version 10. The download links are here:

http://en.opensuse.org/Released_Version



Here's a GREAT intro guide for Windows users. It will even help you get DVDs playing.

http://spinink.net/suse-for-windows-users/

Here is another link that will help you get more up-to-date software and some packages that SuSE can't legally provide:

http://susewiki.apanela.com/goodlinks:yast_sources

I am D\L the x86 bit torrent file...hopefully everything goes ok with the whole ISO burned image thing for installation.

This is a pretty impressive open source group. Very organized...reminds me of the wordpress codex.

I've d/l'd the bittorrent version a couple of times. In fact, I'm one of the seeds.

I may switch tonight. I am sick of this windows crap. How simple is the source install to get on there? Does it still include all of the other programs that the retail version has or do I need to download each one of those individually?

Why won't Bob Dole's DVD of Saw II play?

Oh boy Mr. Simplex did you open up a can of worms.

Allow me a day or two to get my ducks in a row so I can present the problems without being embaressed./

Did you push 'play'?

The 5 CD download of SuSE 10 has everything you'll need/want. It's not source code, it is binaries, so installing apps is just copying files and creating shortcuts, just like Windows.

Has Bob Dole installed libdvdcss? Right now Linux can't play region encoded DVD's out of the box because of various BS copyright issues (neither can Windows). Fear not, the problem is easily solved. The other bonus is that once the problem is solved you also don't have to worry about region codes on your DVDs, they're ignored. Follow this guide and you'll be good to go:

http://spinink.net/suse-for-windows-users/

Is there a Money or Quicken equivalent for Linux?

What's a Linux? Is it a disease?

Here's a nice article for you:

http://applications.linux.com/applic...7.shtml?tid=13

There are no stupid questions. There are stupid people who ask questions, but don't let that scare you.

Just curious, simplex, have you tried ubuntu?

Yes. Great hardware support but here are the things I didn't like about it:

1. Lack of a GUI installer. Sure, a pro doesn't need it but we're trying to get noobs converted.
2. Their weird root login configuration. It's kind of a pain in the butt.
3. Their packages aren't as fresh as other distros.
4. I prefer to introduce people to Linux using KDE and Kubuntu had/has issues.
5. Nearly all purchase apps are tested on Red Hat and SuSE. Other distros are hit and miss.
6. Their naming convention pisses me off. Breezy Badger? WTF? Does that come before or after Rabid Dolphin and Constipated Squirrel? Stick to the numbers, folks.
7. They've changed long-established names in their effort to Africanize their community. Or some other reason. Whatever it is, I don't want to have to re-learn terms just so I can use a distro.

Well, I have it downloaded and ready for burning to make a live cd. Problem is, I'm wondering whether I'll be lost.

I take it you'd recommend suse, for "n00bs" or beginners?

I've also heard mandravia (or mandrake linux, whatever it's called these days) is a very good beginners' distro.

What I'm asking is: Do you think Suse is the best distro to start out with?

Yes, I believe SuSE is the best noob Linux and it grows with you very nicely. I was a Mandrake guy years ago but it got weird during their transition.

Ok, this ISO burning thing...I don't unpack the file...I just tell NERO to burn the image?

Correct. Then after they're all burned you will drop in the first CD and reboot. The computer will boot from CD (assuming that's how your BIOS boot order is set up) and you're off and running.

For music Amarok can't be beat:

http://amarok.kde.org/

For videos/dvds you can go with either Kaffeine or MPlayer:

http://kaffeine.sourceforge.net/
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html

Is there a way to combine the 5 cds into one dvd while in windows? The download seems to be designed only to work on the linux platform./

There is a DVD ISO download if you prefer that to CDs. The download (any of them) very simply gives you the format you prefer in ISO files, then you burn them. It's very platform-agnostic.

Hmmm, must have missed the DVD ISO file sources. All I found was the CD files to download. Almost done now anyway so I will just burn the 5 CDs.

Well I am posting this from my new linux install...SImplex is going to kill me though I when with ubuntu bc the install looked more straight forward...I am going to spend some time to poke around.

OMG What were you thinking Zach. ROFL

First, congrats. Not nearly as bad as people made it out to be, huh?

Second, Ubuntu is a fine distro. They have a large support community just like SuSE. Just wasn't my cup of tea. Of course that's what open source is all about, choice.

:)

So ya...first impression is that this is impressive in and of itself.

Second impression is that I am totally freaking out because I am pretty sure everything I had on my computer before is gone.

How bad is it if i reboot and the linux thing boots automatically. How do i switch back to windows...

Just about done. I am going to run Live to see what it looks like then I will probably install SUSE. Wish me luck. Be back soon.

Ummm, that might not be a good thing. Let's not panic just yet, though.

Launch a Terminal window (shell prompt), then run:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

That will ask you for the root password you created when you installed and then it should open an editor with some text in it. Paste that in here for me.

Ya, feeling pretty certain about my doom.

Oh ya, the amount of space I have on this drive? Alot.

Give me:

I'm assuming you had Windows on the first drive (sda)? Let's hope your data is on the second drive (sdb), because there are no Windows partitions left on the 160GB drive.

Heh, I am pretty sure the second one is a card I have in for my camera...oh well...no critical data lost...

But the 20 gigs of music? Ya that hurts.

Ouch.

Ok, since you're starting from scratch do this:

Install Windows. Give it all but, say, 40G of your disk. When that's done (before you spend a bunch of time updating, installing software, etc.) install Linux and be sure to have it dual boot. I'm not sure what the Ubuntu install is like but SuSE will see the Windows partition and keep it by default. According to the Ubuntu guys I was just chatting with it is supposed to do that, so I'm not sure what happened. The SuSE installer has a nice graphical front end with mouse support, etc. It'll probably be more comfortable for you.

After we have them both installed and we've verified the dual boot THEN we'll start spending time configuring the two OSes.

Well I am pretty much digging this right now...so you are talking about how to get it cracking so I can do them both again...not raising my old stuff from the dead right?

Correct. The old stuff is gone. I'm talking about puttting you into a fresh dual boot environment.

Just to clarify, did you install Ubuntu or Kubuntu?

Ub.

I will have to dig up my WIndows XP disks. I am not sure where they are offhand.

Ok, that just lets me know that you're enjoying Gnome, not KDE. If you decide to install SuSE next time you'll encounter a screen that asks you what desktop you want to use, KDE, Gnome, or Other. KDE is the default, you might want to go with Gnome. With SuSE you can install both and just switch back and forth.

Ya what happened was...when it was asking me for parition info I clicked what seemed to be safe and then it stalled on me...so it ran again and I was on the phone and hastily clicked the nuclear bomb option it seems like...I had a suspicion I messed up as soon as I clicked it...I am a little worried the semi baked install and the real one won't play nice.

Are you asking if a dual boot environment will play nice? If so, they play very nicely. In fact, Windows is totally unaware of it's "friend". Linux can see Windows, but knows what to do with it. There's no "basic" way to say this, so here goes.

The major linux distros install a boot loader to the boot sector of your disk. Most of them install one called grub, some still install one called lilo. The PC executes whatever code is in the boot sector when it turns on, which in the case of a Windows only machine there is a piece of code saying simply "Go and boot Windows". When Grub overwrites the boot sector, now the computer shows us a grub screen which says "What would you like to boot?" If we pick Windows it launches the Windows partition and Windows is all happy. If we choose Linux it boots the linux partition and it is all happy.

It's all good. I'm doing it on both my desktop and my laptop, no issues.

Nah I am more so worried that a botched install of ubuntu and the working one will make things dicey.

The botched one doesn't exist. It was blown away with Windows. Does that make you feel better? :(

ROFL Cool. I am actually pretty calm. I really am impressed with what I do have. It'll just be a matter of trying to build up my music list again. Thats doable.

I am thinking of doing a fresh suse install though, everything is cool with the UB but the sound is really working for some reason.

The biggest plus to you about SuSE is that I have it and run it. I where SuSE puts things better than I know other Linux distros.

To be fair this is 100% my fault...I dont want to scare any others thinking of giving all of this a try.

ALrighty...5 iso's....5 discs...ya?

Correct-a-mundo.

Since you're a noob, go ahead and put KDE on when you do SuSE. If you like Gnome better we'll add it later.

DOn't those have to do with look and feel for the most part?

They won't affect what works, but they have bearing on HOW they work as well as what applications and utilities will be installed by default. They will also affect the look and feel.

As for the specifics of look and feel, there are many, many, MANY skins that you can use for either Gnome or KDE.

I take it I will no longer be able to browse through my secondary NTFS drive that I store pictures and music on that I created while with Windows?

Wrong! Linux can mount FAT16 and FAT32 read/write and it can mount NTFS read only.

How do I set that up then. I can't locate what used to be my D drive in WinXP NTFS. I know it is there because I made certain it was not used during the installation process.

Also, how do I set up 3D support on my Nvidia card?

* Open YaST from the System menu.
* Select System->Partitioner.
* Tell it you're an expert.
* When the "Expert Partitioner" opens you'll see a list of your devices and the partitions on them.
* Click on the partition in question. It will be of type "HPFS/NTFS" (since MS stole IBM's file system).
* Click "Edit" at the bottom of the screen.
* Set the "Mount Point" to /windows/D if it isn't already.
* Click Ok
* Mount any other Windows partitions you want.
* Click Apply

Gave me a "storage modification failed" error -3003

Won't let me do what you suggested

* From YaST (are you noticing a theme here?) select Software->Online Update
* Click Next to accept the update source it selected.
* Select the patches you want to install. Hint, you want pretty much all of them, especially the NVidia binary driver one.
* Click Accept
* Go take a leak, get a beer, whatever.
* Return to YaST
* Click Hardware->Graphics Card and Monitor
* In the "Monitor" section, check "Activate 3D Acceleration" at the bottom of the page.
* Make any other changes you like.
* You can set the various NVidia driver properties by clicking "Options" on the Monitor section if you're a hard-core tweaker.
* Click Ok
* Reboot to load the driver. This isn't necessary but it's easier than explaining insmod.
:)

Open a Konqueror window and type media:/ in the "Location".

Working on the 3D update now. What about my problem viewing my NTFS drive? Any other suggestions there?

Look at the post right above yours. :)

Gave me this...

Could not mount device.
The reported error was:
mount: can't find /dev/hda5 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab

Ok, open a Konsole window and run these two commands, then paste the results for me. If you aren't currently logged in as "root" (and you shouldn't be) then you will need to type "su" and enter your root password when prompted before you begin.

Also, still not getting the 3D option under hardware. it is greyed out even after the nvidia update install.

Sorry, that's -l as in "list"

Ah, I'll bet you have to reboot FIRST. Bad instructions on my part.

I did reboot actually. Seemed obvious to me. I am trying to reinstall the nvidia patch now.

Disk /dev/hda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 9774 78509623+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 9775 19457 77778697+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 9775 19457 77778666 7 HPFS/NTFS

Ok, as root run this:
It will open an editor window with your fstab file open. Add this line to the end of the file:

Then save and exit Kate (the editor).

Now, from the command line run:
Let me know what that does.

This all seems so simple and straightforward. I just don't understand why more people wouldn't want to spend 3+ hours configuring the new OS on their computers and needing an "expert" to guide them along when things go awry.

1. At least when you have issues it's possible to fix them
2. All of this information is readily available in the user's guide and on the web
3. You didn't do all of this s**t by yourself the first time you used Windows
4. You couldn't mount a non-Windows drive in Windows with or without the help of an expert

...and last but not least...

5. F**K OFF, TROLL

[edit] While we're at it, when was the last time you had Windows, all your drivers, AND all your apps installed and patched in under 3 hours? That's right, NEVER. Feel free to never stop by again.[/edit]

Uhm, are you using the LiveCD right now? If you are that explains why we are having issues making system changes. We can't make config changes to a read only drive.

More specifically, it's a bullshit DMCA issue.

Yeah. What he said.

Try one hour at the most. It's a point and click affair instead of having to memorize a bunch of linux commands and type them into a shell. I much prefer it. A super-skilled IT worker like yourself may even be able to do it in less time. There's nothing wrong with preferring Linux over Windows, but trying to push it as an easier install is, to be nice, reaching.

Do you actually believe that line of bulls**t? You can install Windows, Office, Outlook, Photoshop, Nero, etc. AND do all the patches in an hour or less?

ROFL

How many nickles do you have to bet on that one?

As for using the command line, if you would notice the note in the first post I have them use it not because that's the only way to do it, but because that's the only way I can see what they see. It's nice to have that option, which you don't in Windows.

Also, I think we've found out what his problem is. He's trying to make changes to a boot CD version of Linux. Well, you can't very make changes to a read only disk. These issues wouldn't be issues if it were installed on his HDD.

And please, please, please quote the post where I claimed it would be easier.

I can't imagine you've ever been called an ass... :rolleyes: So you admit then that Windows is a much easier install and takes a lot less time to install for the average user?