NEWBIES - Suse-11.0 Pre-installation – PLEASE READ

[oldcpu]

NEWBIES - Suse-11.0 Pre-installation Preparation – PLEASE READ

This thread is for newbies.

This first post is the first of a series of posts in this thread, which will hopefully provide helpful hints on how to install openSUSE-11.0.

Note: openSUSE-11.0 is scheduled to be released on 19-June-2008. Please wait until then, and then proceed to download your CD / DVD. [Before then you will get openSUSE10.3]. You may find things somewhat slow the first day or so, as the masses all try to download at once.

1. Where to find the openSUSE installation ISO file
Note, typically you go to opensuse web site, and download an ".iso" file.
Software.openSUSE.org

You then burn that to a CD or DVD (dependant on whether you downloaded CD or DVD version) the installation CD/DVD. This first post has some important hints on that.

Please note, if you decide to download SuSE-11.0, pay very close attention to the MD5 checksum.

2. Checking MD5 SUM on ISO FILE from Linux
The theory here is one downloads the appropriate .iso file(s). For those who already have linux, one then runs "md5sum file.iso" (or something like that) in a konsole, against the downloaded file (which in my example I called "file.iso"). This will give an md5 checksum value. One then compares that to the checksum that is on the download web site. If they don't match, you have a problem, and you MUST download again.

Typically, bittorent downloads are more reliable than FTP or HTTP downloads.

3. How to check the MD5SUM from Windows:
One completely free, MS-Windows application for running the md5 checksum on a number of different operating systems, is here on sourceforge.net:
md5deep

Another gui md5 checker for MS-Windows 95/98/NT (it works in Xp as well even though it doesn't say so). The file is md5.exe (248kB) and can be downloaded from MD5 GUI for Windows. It's under the gpl licence and you can download the source if you want.

4. Burning the CD/DVD
Next, when one burns, burn the CD/DVD iso file as an "image file". For windows users, in Nero, this does not mean selecting some iso option, but rather means selecting the "image" option (this is under "file > burn image").

When burning, please burn at the SLOWEST speed your burner will allow. YES, the slowest. If you have an old PC with a functioning burner that burns REAL slow, that is often a good PC to do the burn from, since you can burn at a slower speed. Also, choose a CD/DVD media that is of the highest quality you can get. Don't use some no name bargain basement brand CD/DVD that you know nothing about.

There is further excellent guidance, providing help on "burning the ISO image" on the opensuse wiki:
http://en.opensuse.org/Download_Help#Burn_...SO_Image.28s.29

5. Ensure BIOS is set properly
Also, on the PC where the installation is to be done, ensure in one's BIOS that the PC is set to boot from the CD/DVD drive before booting from the hard drive.

6. Check MD5SUM again from within installation CD/DVD
When installing SuSE-11.0, you may be given an option to check the MD5 checksum on your CDs (I know SuSE-10.2 & 10.3 had this feature). Take the extra hour (or more) to do this!! It will potentially save you many evenings later on down the road, looking for some ellusive problem that you can't find.

7. KDE-4.0.x NOT RECOMMENDED FOR NEWBIES
Please note KDE-4.0.x is still very experimental and it is not recommended for Newbies. It is intended mainly for developers and cutting edge hackers or those who live and breath on the cutting edge of the latest software updates. Newbies, during the install please select KDE-3.5.9 or Gnome desktops instead, in order to obtain more stability.

Further to the KDE-4.0x caution, please note the Live CD for KDE ONLY comes with KDE-4.0.x and not KDE-3.5.9. to get KDE-3.5.9 one must install off of the DVD and not the Live CD.

8. MS-Windows Users - you MUST defrag your MS-Windows partitions before installation of openSUSE. That is because if you have not already prepared a partition for openSUSE, then openSUSE installer will try to carve up your MS-Windows hard drive (allocating space for both MS-Windows and Linux), and a badly fragmented drive can cause problems.


Good luck to all.

========================================
Notes on CD Burning- I saw the following quote on another forum, and I think it provides a good explanation as to why one can have problems with a CD that to all extents and purposes appears good, yet one can't boot from the CD (or one gets errors in trying to read from some applications/rpms on the CD).

When you burn to a low speed, the data is written more "clearly" on the disc (higher speed writes tend to burn the data "fainter" and this can make reading slower). The problem is that most BIOS don't give the computer much time to read the disc before trying to boot from it. If the disc is faint, it may take longer to read, and then the computer will not read it in time to boot from it.

Such a read problem can happen to old PCs, old CD drives, poor quality CDs, and CD's burned at a high speed.

I recently saw the following on yet another forum, and I think it provides further useful technical information on the benefits to burning an Operating System CD/DVD at a slower speed:

Originally Posted by d i c k i e m i n t 5

The problem is not with the burner itself, it is the "lighter" burn on the CD/DVD. It does not matter what quality of disc is being used, a "heavier", ie slower burn will creat a more stable image and will last longer.

Not many people know this (you hum it son, and I'll play it) but the gel layer (literally a jelly) will flatten with time, and the burn will be lost as the holes/indentations will fill.

I confess to being somewhat skeptical about the statement that the quality of the disk doesn't matter, but I do think it useful to read the comment on the slow speed being desireable. My experience (and those of some collegues) is high quality CD/DVDs do make a difference, but I concede low qual CD/DVDs will work on occasion, and the advantage offered by hiqher quality CD/DVDs is not always consistantly superior. My view is one should do the best one can, to improve the odds of success.

[oldcpu]

This “stickie” thread is locked, to ensure this is easier for newbies to read.

Anyone who has corrections, and/or comments, and or suggested improvements, please add them to the new thread below:
http://forums.opensuse.org/showthrea...49#post1423749
or PM one of the moderators:

MANY MANY thanks to those who have contributed to helping out newbies to openSUSE.

[oldcpu]

If you have burned the .iso to a CD or DVD already, and you are having problems with that CD / DVD, and you wish to check the md5sum on the CD / DVD, then you can do the following (which I saw this on the following web site): http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Md5sum
==============================

To check the md5sum from a just burned dvd:
Ideally, one would just use
$ md5sum /dev/dvd

But trailing zero’s and nuls at the end can change the MD5 hash. So to calculate the md5sum we need to:
1) find the size of the ISO in bytes
2) run dd with this exact size in bytes: dd if=/dev/dvd | head --bytes= | md5sum
So for example if .iso file size is 3621957632:

$ dd if=/dev/dvd | head --bytes=3621957632 | md5sum

Edit: A slightly different method for checking the md5 on the dvd is described here:
openSUSE Forums - View Single Post - DVD to ISO

[oldcpu]

For newbies, who are migrating from an older suse, to openSUSE-11.0, here is some advice from the SuSE-10.2 reference manual, which is a useful reference for users who are updating (or re-installing) their SuSE for the first time:
========================

5.1 Updating the System

5.1.1 Preparations

Before updating, copy the old configuration files to a separate medium, such as streamer, removable hard disk, USB stick, or ZIP drive, to secure the data. This primarily applies to files stored in /etc as well as some of the directories and files in /var and /opt. You may also want to write the user data in /home (the HOME directories) to backup medium. Back up this data as root. Only root has read permission for all local files.

Before starting your update, make note of the root partition. The command df / lists the device name of the root permission. There is also df -h.

==================
For example, I typically make copies of my /etc/fstab, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /etc/cups, /etc/modprobe.d/sound, /boot/grub/menu.lst.
.

[oldcpu]

The openSUSE community has created a number of web pages, for the specific purpose of helping newbies.

It is definitely worth while for newbie SuSE users to take a look at these (below) openSUSE community URLs, which provide guidance as to how to improve one's SuSE, to go beyond the initial limitations in the "as delivered" version of SuSE provided by Novell-SuSE-GmbH:
http://opensuse-community.org/Welcome_to_o...E-Community.org

In particular I recommend looking at this page:
Repositories - openSUSE-Community

New SuSE-11.0 users, go for the SuSE-11.0 link:
Repositories/11.0 - openSUSE-Community

A guide on installing restricted formats (ie mp3, video codecs, etc ...)
Restricted Formats - openSUSE-Community

and for SuSE-11.0 (follow for "one-click" guide on installing openSUSE-11.0 multimedia):
Restricted Formats/11.0 - openSUSE-Community

and don't forget to look at the FAQ:
FAQ - openSUSE-Community

The above URLs also provide guidance re: playing mp3's and dvd's, installing/setting up Software Package Managers (such as Smart, Yast, ... ), one's wireless, etc ...

[oldcpu]

Here are some more important URLs for newbies:

Wireless under openSUSE
Ndiswrapper - openSUSE

ATI Graphics Driver Custom Install [Edit - this link still requires updating to include openSUSE-11.0]
ATI - openSUSE

Nvidia Graphics Driver Custom Install
NVIDIA - openSUSE

Intel Graphics Driver under Linux
Welcome to the Linux Graphics Driver from Intel site | Graphics

Installing a Webcam under openSUSE:
HCL/Web Cameras - openSUSE

Scanner working under openSUSE
YaST/Modules/Scanner - openSUSE

Checking for hardware compatiblity under openSUSE
Hardware - openSUSE

Basic openSUSE concepts for the Windows users migrating to openSUSE
Concepts - openSUSE

OpenSUSE Audio Troubleshooting
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE

NTFS under openSUSE
NTFS - openSUSE

OpenSUSE-11.0 Release Notes
openSUSE 11.0 Release Notes

General guidance for printing under Linux
* YaST/Modules/Printer - openSUSE
* http://en.opensuse.org/Concepts#Philosophy...printing_format
* OpenPrinting - The Linux Foundation

[oldcpu]

Newebies: Thanks to Kevin Dupuy, you can also see a full installation walkthrough on the openSUSE wiki:
Installation/11.0 DVD Install - openSUSE

... or for the Live CD:
Installation/11.0 Live CD - openSUSE

This is an excellent reference to point to, if you have an installation failure (after the GUI starts) and you wish to point to the failure location.
.

[oldcpu]

Here is an openSUSE top level Guide to 11.0
Guide to 11.0 - openSUSE

some interesting links in that page include:

* openSUSE 11.0 Release Notes
and
* changes since openSUSE-10.3
and
* Where to Buy openSUSE

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by oldcpu

* changes since openSUSE-10.3

Here is a good page giving various highlights of 11.0.
Product Highlights/11.0 - openSUSE

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by oldcpu

* openSUSE 11.0 Release Notes

openSUSE-11.0 documentation (both online HTML and pdf files):
OpenSUSE 11.0 Documentation/Manuals

And a general link to openSUSE documentation is here:
Documentation - openSUSE