Does anyone know of the where about of a list of these or failing that an example that will launch an X11 application? The app has run before on another installation and doesn’t look very qt so suspect it’s just using X. As it has ran it must be possible and the problem is that yast has installed it incorrectly. It’s the nvidia screen settings utility. The file is
/usr/share/applications/nvidia-settings.desktop just in case some one can paste a copy of one that works.
John
Are you asking about where nvidia-settings can be downloaded from?
https://build.opensuse.org/package/show?package=nvidia-settings&project=home%3Amalcolmlewis%3AGnome
The package ‘nvidia-settings’ is also available via Packman.
Not really Deano. The problem I’m having is that after installing the nvidia driver and the settings utility using yast the driver is fine but the utility will not launch. The .desktop files contain launch instructions. Just had a thought. This is the content of the one for YAST
[Desktop Entry]
X-SuSE-translate=true
Type=Application
Categories=Settings;System;X-SuSE-Core-System;X-SuSE-ControlCenter-System;
Name=YaST
Icon=yast
GenericName=Administrator Settings
Exec=/usr/bin/xdg-su -c /sbin/yast2
Encoding=UTF-8
This is the one for the nvidia utility as YAST has installed it
[Desktop Entry]
X-SuSE-translate=true
Categories=System;SystemSetup;
Name=NVIDIA X Server Settings
GenericName=Configure NVIDIA X Server Settings
Exec=nvidia-settings
Terminal=false
Icon=nvidia-settings
Type=Application
I suspect what is needed is the correct categories entry for an Xwindows application. Pre 4 KDE used the same set up but from memory the settings differ.
John
I just used the gnome link. It installed with kpackage and has also given me some video drivers nouveau in particular that I do not want. Worse still The launch now has no icon and doesn’t interface with KDE well at all.
Thanks for the packman. That may work out a little better.
>:) Question now is do I reboot and see if X still use the nvidia driver or remove nouveau. God know why it also gave me a radian driver…
John
There is a saying in some parts of the software world " Pay for monkeys and get monkeys" I wonder if this should apply not to just people but also software as well ? 
It was free.
How did you install the NVIDIA driver? When done properly, it should disable modesetting (KMS) and disable the nouveau driver (at least “prefer” the nvidia driver)
Which openSUSE are we talking about.
Seeing you use kpackagekit, are you running KDE?
This is how it should be done:
Add the NVIDIA repo.
Start softwaremanager, nvidia driver should be autoselected for install, otherwise select driver packages for install for your type of card
Reboot
Done.
Now you can start nvidia-settings. You can also install nvidia-dock to have the options in the systray that one finds on a windu machine.
I installed from an nvidia yum rpm repo using yast. I have already had an odd experience with kpackager. It’s offering me opensuse upgrades when yast is offering none. Accepting them killed a previous installation. I much prefer the detail in the yast interface as it tells me exactly what it is going to do and can group them.
I have posted exactly how I installed the nvidia driver for a 200 series card in hardware. Basically i posted that because some of the howto’s are out of date and there is all sorts of other info about much of which will put many people off.
I should add that I have been using suse plus kde from early kde3,x. I even paid for those prior to late suse 9.x’s. I use my machine for all sorts of things and often install things not available from the official repo’s. This often means compiling from source and chasing down libraries. Usually yast will provide the libraries. Based on what I have seen so far Kpackager just isn’t for me yet. The latest libs are a bit of a problem in a couple of cases as well. The apps are still aimed at 11.3.
Out of interest I think I will reboot and see if the nvidia driver stays.
One things for sure I must also find out more about .desktop files. I can’t understand why kde no longer offers the content of these for editing via a right click. This is not KDE. That sort of thing is why many people have used it.
John
I can’t understand why kde no longer offers the content of these for editing via a right click.
Where’s the problem? Rightclick → open with → Kate / KWrite/ …
I mean right click at the actual launch point. Ok they can be edited like that in their folders but they have to found as do the icons etc. Pain in the neck. The lot was offered at source via a right click in 3.
On my perverse gnome nvidia install and comments. Unless something has messed with my xorg.conf there is no way X should use any other driver. What kpackager seems to have done is checked against some sort of standard and decided to add what I have removed. Ok via an option maybe but as a default? Can’t think of any other reason why it has done it. It’s the sort approach Kubuntu have taken only that one is far far more extreme. Given the xorg.conf is correct why are all the comments kicking about on obliterating nouveau. It shouldn’t be needed. Just had my dinner so about to find out.
One more comment. I have tried a number (6) of distro’s and binned them recently. Suse has lot to offer over them. One aspect of that is yast. Some niggles but not a real problem if simple instructions are available to get round them. Kpackager is not really ready for anything other than a kubutu setup at the moment really. In my view while that route may look attractive it’s severely limiting and just another me too.
Suse also seems to be relatively stable as of old. That really is nice to see.
John
On 04/25/2011 04:06 PM, ajohnw wrote:
>
> Unless something has
> messed with my xorg.conf there is no way X should use any other driver.
do you have an xorg.conf file?
i don’t!
denverd@openSUSE11-3:~> locate xorg.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/11-mouse.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-synaptics.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-wacom.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-monitor.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-screen.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-vmmouse.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/60-vboxmouse.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-keytable.conf
/home/denverd/archive/xorg.conf.WORKINGfineIn10.3
/usr/share/man/man5/xorg.conf.5.gz
–
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[openSUSE 11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Thunderbird3.1.8 via NNTP]
Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern
by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi!
You will find my xorg.conf in a recent post in hardware along with just how I got there for an nvidia driver. Same should apply to any card / monitor
Suse put many empty conf files in a directory called xorg.conf.d I’m not sure why but they have a history of being a bit contorted compared to some. Have my doubts on that though. All much the same one way or the other. 
You might say there is always a catch.
John
Suse put many empty conf files in a directory called xorg.conf.d I’m not sure why but they have a history of being a bit contorted compared to some. Have my doubts on that though. All much the same one way or the other.
By default, with open source drivers at least, little or no X-server configuration is needed. However, the use of the proprietary nvidia driver may still require the use of the legacy /etc/X11/xorg.conf file (as with your situation). The configuration files residing in /etc/X11/ xorg.conf.d/ are part of the new X-server structure (but not usually required), and not specific to openSUSE alone. You had that explained to you already in another thread.
That’s fine Deano but perhaps a better way of putting it is that an os or cs driver may give the max capabilities of a particular card and monitor combination providing that the monitor is capable of giving the required information. In real terms it is more likely that the monitor that determines if a completely auto set up can be achieved as many people keep these for a long time. The biggest problem with the os nividia drivers really seems to be a rather large gap between the 2 that are available. Some distro’s do offer a solution to that. The std vesa driver on one for instance.
:\ Not that I’m changing.
All distro’s do have catches one way or the other but opensuse once more seems to be a sensible balance for me. At one point I actually seriously considered going for arch. This was on the basis that if I have to play in the console too much I may as well go the whole hog and finish up with a more or less vanilla set up. I’ve waited this long based on a short discussion about kde4 stability with a kde developer mentor and added 0.1 to be sure. I have also heard that opensuse has been offering the most stable capable kde set up for some time now.
I wasn’t aware that xorg.conf had in any way been replaced by the xorg.conf.d directory which as I understand it can contain separate rather than an all in one configuration files. I have looked and have seen this before but have failed to come up with any definitive information. All seems to relate to the single file which is still used by some distro’s. It’s all an irrelevant point anyway really. It seems either could be used to force a driver load.
John
On 04/26/2011 12:06 AM, ajohnw wrote:
>
> All seems to relate to the single file which is still used
> by some distro’s.
they are using older kernels/X and will also eventually have the same as
we do now, or do something else…like Ubuntu is leaving X and going to
Singularity or Unity or Oneness…or something i forget…
compared to those distros with an xorg.conf still, we are “out there” on
the edge…
(which might bring to mind a hint of why openSUSE is not without
warts…if you want no-warts look at Debian (not a dumbdowned spin
offs), Slack, BSD, etc…or one of the costly alternatives)
–
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[openSUSE 11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Thunderbird3.1.8 via NNTP]
Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern
by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi!
I did have a quick look at debian but I wont give a distro disc space if it can’t at least detect my adsl router is connected to the net. I have a thing about that sort of aspect. There is nothing unusual about my router other than it’s a bit higher end than many use at home. Installation wise it looks just like a standard ads router.
When I started using Linux/KDE at kde 3. something low there were web sites about that gave good insight into what the various main distro’s were at. Suse was regarded as a relatively easy route with few warts, the debian stable release more warts and a better balance in that respect, (some people want that) there is also their other release for the strong hearted. Mandriva concentrates on easier installation — and so it goes on. It’s a pity these web sites aren’t about any more. As far as KDE goes KDE4 upset much of this. My opensuse 10.3 came with some of it that died and were removed within mins of using them.
Talking purely suse one of it’s big advantage over others is yast. ( Yet Another System Tool) It’s been up to windows standard as far as users are concerned for a long time, just takes a tiny bit more thought. It’s downside and this applies to virtually all distro’s is that the software is not vanilla by any means. All parts have been played with by the distro distributors some more than others. I’ll say no more. The vanilla route is difficult to get to from scratch but arch gets near it.
Kubuntu is interesting. Most of the distro’s earn a living by selling and supporting server systems sometimes along with a lot of desktop software as well as a package. Having run several servers users are a pain at times. The ubuntu route seems to be trying to attack this area by offering relatively stable easily supportable packages that can even be user proof if needed. In some ways this is Suse’s traditional slot but I suspect ubuntu intends to sell more and make less on support. From using opensuse 11.4 I suspect Novell may be attempting to return to being more in line with suse’s former self. Just hope it doesn’t become a me too Kubuntu.
As to warts well remember that in real terms we are the testers. That can only be taken so far as the new owners of Mandriva found out many years ago.
John
Should have also added that 11.4 X is perfectly happy with a single xorg.conf file and I have come across nothing suggesting that this will change any time soon. If it did the entries really are just place in separate files. ( I hope or another hours on the net) A far few people play around with the content of this file. I upgraded my video card when I ran into trouble with the old one an NV. Several reasons, the work stetting it up, to give my motherboard a longer life before I have to upgrade that and lastly because it has an hdmi output, Some day I will have a play with that in one file rather than several. It’s quicker.
John
On 04/26/2011 01:06 PM, ajohnw wrote:
>
> Should have also added that 11.4 X is perfectly happy with a single
> xorg.conf file and I have come across nothing suggesting that this will
> change any time soon.
i don’t know when (or if) that will change…i know (or, it is my
understanding) that the newer X looks for xorg.conf and if found will
pay attention…which is exactly the reason that the fully functional
xorg.conf was safely archived off disk before i moved to 11.3 (on the
same hardware)…
–
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[openSUSE 11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Thunderbird3.1.8 via NNTP]
Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern
by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi!
Going back to the original question.
KDE provides the usual facilities for playing with this sort of thing. A right click on the application launch panel button offers “edit applications” which brings up kde menu editor.
The icon files can be edited directly once they have been put on the quick launch bar again via a right click. Also under file associations. Here for instance I searched rpm which bought up 3 applications, selected YAST and then edit. As this wasn’t working correctly for me I changed the entry to activate yast directly ( /sbin/yast2 -i %F ) and also to run as root.
There are currently a number of scewball aspects to all of kde’s package management at the moment so I’m not inclined to use any of them - even the pre command that was used above to launch yast…
This just leaves adding changing icons etc - :’( must be there somewhere.
More info is also available on freedesktop.org - Home. I would also advise looking to see what other .desktop files do before taking that source too literally though. There is also need for some care on exactly which .desktop file is changed. Yast for instance can be started in a number of ways.