For once, a clean install of an x64 build of M6 is possible…if you use the NET (mini) install image burned to CD. The KDE x64 live CD won’t boot due to errors in /dev/loop0, and an install direct from its menu fails for the same reason.
The issue with the NET x64 image is a minor one (the SHA1 has causes an error; however, an install from it (albeit in insecure mode) will still work without issues.
As far as the software itself, there is a single quibble (Network configuration), you can no longer have both a wired and a wireless adapter up at once, even with Wicd; you must choose one or the other.
FOSS display performance is seriously snappy; the default AMD radeonhd driver now supports kernel modesetting by default (as does the nVidia (nouveau) equivalent); further, it actually works with my HD3450 (which means that HD-series owners need not drop back to the FOSS radeon driver, or worse still, default to the closed-source Linux Catalyst driver).
This was my experience with both M4 and M5 64-bit KDE live CDs with my Radeon HD3450. This is good news.
But I am sorry to read the 64-bit liveCD won’t boot, as using that liveCD is my primary way of testing for compatibility on my 64-bit PCs where I do not actually want to install a milestone release on my 64-bit hardware.
I hope to download the openSUSE-11.3 M6 this weekend for testing.
> As far as the software itself, there is a single quibble (Network
> configuration), you can no longer have both a wired and a wireless
> adapter up at once, even with Wicd; you must choose one or the other.
>
Could you expand on this point? I find it difficult to believe this was an
intentional change.
Is a NetworkManager or ifup or wicd issue (or something else)?
I have reason to think this is Wicd’s default behavior, as having multiple connections is not typical (unless one of them is a VPN or tunnel, which is not monitored by Wicd or even NetworkManager by default). Network Manager would not allow me to start my wireless connection (which I use strictly for testing; I have a wired gigabit connection to the same router that is my default), which is why I installed Wicd in the first place.
WOW! This is a serious step back, what’s going on? I mean really, the purpose of livecd is to be able to try out a distro without actually having to install it. I’m not fond or possibly messing up a working system just to test and help with new versions.
What?
Although I haven’t used mutiple networks since leaving Mandriva, this is puzzling. When I used Mandriva I had all my machines tied to same router in both intranet and internet modes and some used wifi while others were on wired. The power of Linux is it’s networking, Am I right in understanding that Linux thru openSUSE is now a one only network connection of either wifi or a wired?
Having read a post of a user in a different M6 thread, I think it important to note this is a “pre-release/beta” forum, intended for users to test openSUSE releases and provide feedback to Novell/SuSE-GmbH.
The way to provide that feedback is via bug reports.
My post here was NOT triggered (yet) by the posts in this thread, but rather are triggered by another thread that has me making this statement, … but I want to say this NOW , in THIS thread, before this thread goes in a direction that I think totally inappropriate.
… In a direction that is NOT helpful.
If one does not want to write bug reports and participate, then my recommendation to such users, to avoid frustrations, is to NOT participate in the milestone releases. All that complaints (by users who won’t fully participate) do is cause a lot of FUD and annoyance, and frankly I don’t have the patience to put up with the FUD.
I do have (barely) the patience to put up with the milestone teething problems, but IMHO users really need to word their adjectives and explurlatives in their posts in a MUCH more appropriate manner.
Rants about milestone releases are not helfpul, and are incredibly annoying to those of us who are actually trying hard to provide positive contributions.
First off, despite how useful Wicd is, it is not officially part of the openSUSE distribution itself (though it is one of the distributions that Wicd supports).
Second, I did specifically state that the issue is not major (I did use the word “quibble”), as opposed to Network Manager’s behavior (which was previously reported as a bug).
Lastly, my comment about the step back was in reference to the three issues I did report (the error in the KDE x64 live CD, the SHA1 hash error in the mini/NET x64 CD, and the Network Manager issue with wireless connections).
I was basically trying to forestall any interim-build-related ranting by passing along my own experiences with the build in question…not trigger it!
I downloaded and burned the 32-bit build 577 (milestone6 of 11.3) liveCD KDE version.
I then used it to successfully boot to a 32-bit AMD Athlon-2800 w/2GB (Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard) w/ PCI nVidia GeForce 8400GS graphics.
It booted ok to the 32-bit liveCD. Checking the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file indicated the Noveau graphic driver was used. There was no /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Sound worked. Wired internet worked. As anticipated, special desktop effects with the Noveau driver did not work on this hardware.
I am typing this from a 64-bit PC, using the openSUSE-11.3 Milestone-6 build-0577 KDE4 liveCD. **It works on this PC ! ** Sound works. Internet works. PC is using the Noveau graphic driver. As expected, special desktop effects does not work with Noveau driver.
This PC is a 64-bit Intel Core i7 920 w/6GB (Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard) w/ PCI-e nVidia GeForce GTX260 graphics.
As noted, the 64-bit 11.3 M6 KDE4 liveCD works well on this hardware.
Well, the liveCD for 64-bit DOES work on the 1st 64-bit hardware I tried it on (with nVidia graphic hardware). I’ll try it on our 64-bit laptop (with Radeon hardware) on the weekend.
So caution is needed here in noting what works and what does not work.
In my case, nVidia supplies the chipset (nForce 7100/630i), not graphics (currently AMD HD3450 PCIe x16), as the motherboard is the ASUS P5N-EM. The CPU is the Intel Celeron DC E1200.
I am perfectly willing to concede that it may be configuration-specific (unlike Windows, Linux distributions can be finicky); however, that is the point of testing on as wide a hardware base as possible.
At some point I will try a re-burn on this image, to see if the error is repeatable or whether it was some other cause.
Its probably worth while, if you have not done so already, doublechecking that the md5sum of the downloaded iso file matches that of the md5sum posted on the Novell web site. Also when burning, burn to a +R or -R (not an RW) at the slowest speed your burner allows.
Assuming you did all that, and the problem is still there, then its likely helpful if you could write a bug report on this wrt your hardware. Guidance for writing bug reports is here: Submitting Bug Reports - openSUSE
Its late tonight, and I don’t have time to check the 11.3 M6 KDE4 64-bit liveCD on my other 64-bit bit PC, but I plan to do that tomorrow night. After the positive experience with my i7, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic it will work on my other PC.
I double-checked with a re-burn (to CD-RW, but a different disc from the same batch), and it apparently was a bad burn (the original burn was also in K3b, but in Kubuntu 10.04 RC x64) the first time around, as I’m posting from the re-burned live CD. (That is why I had not posted a bug report; I wanted to be sure the bug was repeatable, and not a one-off, as apparently my liveCD issue was.)
I’m off to the next stage (installation from the liveCD, which, by the by, had NO problems with NetworkManager, either) of the test regime.
I booted build 577 of the x86-64 Live CD and did an installation on a
VirtualBox VM without any difficulty. The VM has simple graphics that do
not mimic the complexity of the various high-end adapters by Intel,
nVidia or ATI, but this build was fine for me.
From what I see, this Milestone is just one step forward - no back.
My next step will be to burn the CD and try it on a real machine with an
nVidia adapter.
It is for just that reason that we need as wide a hardware net as possible when testing an operating system/distribution (any operating system or distribution, except one intended for a strictly closed hardware ecosystem, such as MacOS).
The liveCD (KDE x64) test went smoothly except for a repeat of the Network Manager issue (which is decidedly a settings issue; Network Manager is disabled by default) on installation (the default behavior of the live image itself is that NM is enabled by default). Is there a reason why NetworkManger is disabled by default?
I booted the 11.3 M6 64-bit liveCD on my 64-bit Dell Studio 1537, Intel P8400 w/4GB, w/ATI Radeon 3450HD graphics.
Sound just worked. Graphics booted with the Radeon open source driver (as evident in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file). The graphics came up with special desktop effects and was impressive. I had seen this behaviour before in M4. Resolution was the proper maximum resolution of the laptop.
Setting up the wireless Network was finicky. Not sure how easy it is to reproduce, but I suspect painful. I note that YaST > Network Devices > Networksettings does not work. No GUI is launched.
I tried to configure the wireless Network manager in the lower right corner, initially with no luck. Then I noted if I tried to configure two instances of the wireless Network manager in the lower right corner, it would either work, or it would crash, offering to restart. Upon restarting the wireless Network would then connect. Most bizarre, but I do have wireless working. Wireless on this laptop is an Intel Wireless 5300 AGN and it works better with the 2.6.34 kernel than it ever did with any previous kernel.
On 04/30/2010 12:36 PM, oldcpu wrote:
>
> oldcpu;2159149 Wrote:
>> … I don’t have time to check the 11.3 M6 KDE4 64-bit liveCD on my
>> other 64-bit bit PC, but I plan to do that tomorrow night. After the
>> positive experience with my i7, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic it
>> will work on my other PC.
>
> I booted the 11.3 M6 64-bit liveCD on my 64-bit Dell Studio 1537, Intel
> P8400 w/4GB, w/ATI Radeon 3450HD graphics.
>
> Sound just worked. Graphics booted with the Radeon open source driver
> (as evident in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file). The graphics came up with
> special desktop effects and was impressive. I had seen this behaviour
> before in M4. Resolution was the proper maximum resolution of the
> laptop.
>
> Setting up the wireless Network was finicky. Not sure how easy it is to
> reproduce, but I suspect painful. I note that YaST > Network Devices >
> Networksettings does not work. No GUI is launched.
> I tried to configure the wireless Network manager in the lower right
> corner, initially with no luck. Then I noted if I tried to configure two
> instances of the wireless Network manager in the lower right corner, it
> would either work, or it would crash, offering to restart. Upon
> restarting the wireless Network would then connect. Most bizarre, but I
> do have wireless working. Wireless on this laptop is an Intel Wireless
> 5300 AGN and it works better with the 2.6.34 kernel than it ever did
> with any previous kernel.
The Intel wireless guys would be happy to know that. For the first time
in the 11.3 cycle, I gave M6 access to /home. Once I had the new YaST
component installed, I could turn on NetworkManager. As soon as I did
that and unplugged the wire, my BCM4312 came right up with WPA2
encryption. No questions asked. Of course, I had prepared by installing
the firmware.
I tested the 32-bit openSUSE-11.3 M6 KDE4 live CD on two more PCs:
- 32-bit AMD Sempon-2600 w/1GB (Epox EP-8K7A motherboard) w/AGP ATI RV280 (Radeon-9200Pro) graphics. This booted ok, coming up at 1280x1024 max resolution for the monitor using the open source radeon driver. Special desktop effects could not be enabled (which surprised me, as they can be enabled on 11.2 with the xorg:x11 cutting edge Mesa and radeon driver). Sound worked. Wired Internet worked. Fonts good.
.
*] 32-bit AMD Athlon-1100 w/1GB (MSI KT3 Ultra motherboard) w/AGP nVidia GeForce FX5200 graphics . This is my sandbox PC, and it had problems with the 32-bit openSUSE-11.3 M6 KDE4 liveCD. It would not boot in any of the 800x600, 10247x768 nor vesa mode, each time hanging up when trying to run X (presumably the nv or nouveau driver failing ? ) . A text mode boot worked. Running startx would freeze the screen. I then booted then to safe Settings, only to watch that ‘hang’ after a clock setting. I pressed < ctrl-c> and it restarted / continued its boot and eventually booted to X at a low 1024x768 resolution. That turned out to be the nv graphic driver. Fonts were horrible on this boot. I’ll probably install 11.3 M6 on this sandbox PC, so it looks like I’ll have my work cut out for me here.