i’m trying to install openSuse 11.0 on my suse 10.3 certified HP compaq 6830s laptop (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2008/connecting/ds_bn_6830s.pdf). This model has an ATI Radeon HD 3430 so i was expecting to have trouble with the GC driver, but not that early in the installation process :O.
i’ve downloaded and tried both the 64 bits and 32 bits live CDs, and get the same behaviour: after live suse is completely loaded , my system gets stuck on a black screen. That happens before any GUI appears. By pressing CTRL+ALT+F1, i get a login prompt, but i have no user account nor root password to input on this live system. :\
I’m currently downloading the DVD version but I’m afraid i’ll get stuck anyway.
You’ll need to use the DVD. You are right, your ATI graphics card needs a proprietary driver to be installed after openSUSE’s install is completed. The installation will probably use the open-source ATI driver, “radeon”, or possibly “vesa”. Worst case, ATI’s fglrx can be installed from the command line.
It isn’t working on the Live-CD because the X server isn’t being given the necessary driver. When you use “text” or “vesa” from the boot menu, that only affects the startup frambuffer. X is started at the end of the startup in order to run the apps.
Well, i received the DVD iso and managed to install suse 11.0 (nice installer BTW).
I can now boot into Suse in failsafe mode allright. I now have to install my ATI drivers and to setup my wireless connexion. Much more documented problems.
Conclusion: if you own an HP 6830s laptop, or more generally an ATI mobility radeon HD 3430, don’t try to install Suse v11.0 via the live CD, but use the DVD instead.
Is there any chance that this hardware be automatically setup in suse v11.1?
Unfortunately, no. The driver is controlled by ATI; the repository is on an ATI server. openSUSE cannot include it in the distribution because of ATI licensing rules. If the user wishes to download the source code and compile the driver, that is an option; there is a script on the ATI website to do this. But even with that method, it can only be done after openSUSE is installed.
The good news is that it is easy to do. Just go here ATI - openSUSE for a “1-click install”. Then there is one more step to configure the driver in a terminal window (on that same page). The 1-click will also add the ATI repository for you. All this can be done manually, too - here is the repository ATI Repositories.
Good luck.