cant get to opensuse desktop screen

English Install/Boot/Login
1

installed opensuse 11 kde 4 and i cant get into the desktop screen.
all i get is a black screen with white words
starting with
net.ipv4.conf.default.promote_secondaries =1
net.ipv4.conf.all.promote_secondaries =1
etc, etc…

ending with at the bottom of the black screen

welcome to opensuse 11 (i586) kernel 2.6.25.5-1-pae (ttyl)
linux-1wim logon:
password

when i enter login name and password all i get is mon sept 1 and the tim 2008 on ttyl
have lots of fun…
os@linux-1wim.~>
on the right side of all the words actually its what openuse is doing but on the right side there are green word ie., done and reached
why cant i get into the openuses desktop screen ?
?

thanks

2

after getting logged in as you describe, as username*
type: startx

if that fails
reboot
login as root
then type: init 3

when you have a prompt again
type: sax2 -r -m 0=vesa

when you get a desktop, tell us what your video card is, or tell us anyway.

3

none of those commands work…

while i was waiting i tried and installed opensuse again
but now i get at the end of the words with black screen
os@linux-pxfr:~>

logon:
password:

os@linux-pxfr:~>

if i type start i get more words toward the end it says no screens found, connection reset by peer … unable to connect to x server then os@linux-pxfr:~> begins again just loops to os@linux-pxfr:~>

if i type in init 3 – no command found
i have an onboard ati chip but its disabled and i added a PCI PNY 64 mb card
GF4mx420

4

reboot and
When at the “Boot Options =”, (GRUB splash) you might currently have vga=0x332 (or similar) just delete everything in the line and type a 3 . This forces an init 3 at startup.

at the login prompt you quote do as shown in red but use your password
NB. password does not display as you type!

logon:root
password:yourpassword

now type
sax2 -r -m 0=vesa

reboot

if that doesn’t work
very strange

get back here for more help

5

after i type init 3 after the red colored
linux-pxfr:~# init 3

says INIT 3 switch to runlevel 3
shutting down service kdm
master resource control: runlevel 3 has been reached

then nothing happens… not even linux-pxfr:~#

so then i tried reboot and login as root
logon:root
password: my password
after i type sax2 -r -m 0=vesa

last line says
died at /usr/share/sax/init.pl line 653
linux-pxfr:~#

still nothing
what else should i try and is it my video card or something else

6

i tried and clicked on failsafe
i can get into the desktop from failsafe
but still cant get into the desktop screen normally

does getting into failsafe’s desktop help in any way or a good sign?

thanks

7

if you can login as failsafe do so

but you need to decide if you are going to use on-board graphics or a card
the card you have is not impressive - Is it Nvidia?

Post the contents of
/boot/grub/menu.lst

using failsafe for the time being is fine.

8

Is this your card?
HCL/Nvidia Video Cards - openSUSE

How to page here
NVIDIA - openSUSE
read carefully

install the Nvidia by oneclick may be possible
http://opensuse-community.org/nvidia.ymp

or the hard way:

The hard way

This is for those that want to have the latest NVIDIA drivers, and are not afraid to recompile driver after each kernel update. Or have updated your kernel from the DVD default version.
edit]
Prerequisites

  • compiler gcc,
  • program make and
  • package kernel-source

If you don’t have them installed you can do it using YaST.
–Specific instructions for installing kernel-source-- Login to Console and type: “su”, enter your root password, then, “yast”. Under software, go into Software Management, and Press F2 (Search). Search “kernel-source”. Select the module and press enter. There will now be a “+” in front of it. Press F10. It’ll install. Press F9 a few times to exit Yast.

edit]
Download NVIDIA Drivers

First of all, if you tried using the script then you can find the NVIDIA installer package in /usr/share/doc/nvidia If the installer package is not there go to NVIDIA Download Page, and get the latest drivers for your computer.

edit]
Install the drivers

If you are in runlevel 5, go to runlevel 3 by typing the following comand as root in one of the consoles (which you can access by pressing ctrl-alt-f1 [f1 up to f6])
init 3
Now go to the directory containing the drivers.
cd /usr/share/doc/nvidia
or
cd /the/path/where/you/saved/the/drivers/from/nvidia/website
Now simply type the following and follow instructions
sh NVIDIA-Linux-<arch>-<version>-<build>-<pkg#>.run -q

edit]
Configure X.org

Note: This does not seem to be required for v177.68 on opensuse 11.0 as it is done in the installer.
The next step is to configure the X.org to use the new nvidia drivers. To do this, type the following
sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia
Sax2 will start it’s configuration program in X. You can do more tweaking here, but this is your option. With 10.0 you won’t need to specify -m 0=nvidia any more, sax automatically detects and uses it if you activate 3D acceleration.

you will getter performance than onboard

9

my agp card is PNY geforce mx 420 64 mb so i guess its nvidia cause thats where i get the driver nvidia.com
my onboard is ATI but less mbs

  1. i cant download the nvidia drivers one click install, cant connect to the internet?
    my dlink wda 2320 wireless card needs drivers! its a ar5212/ar5213

if i can get to the desktop in failsafe why if its my video drivers that i cant do the same to get to get to the desktop normally

looked at ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.0/i586/
i looked at rpm’s on opensuse for nvidia but dont know which ones to download from another computer… my kernel has pae

  1. i cant post the contents of menu.1st , i cant open the menu.1st located at boot/grub… i dont know how to use the konsole to open the file, it wont let me open it

thanks

10

Then I suggest you somehow manage to download the standalone installer - I think this is the page you need but double check, I assumed you were 32bit
Linux Display Driver - x86

Notice the page also has instructions - like I posted earlier “The Hard Way”

BUT - You must make sure you have these packages

make
gcc
kernel-source
kernel-syms (maybe - add it anyway)

By far the simplest way is this: Once you have the driver, put a copy in /home/*username

Now, reboot and start in runlevel 3 as we discussed earlier
here - login as root
then type:
cd /home/*username

your prompt should show you in your home user dir
N.B.* You can use the Tab{TAB} key to auto complete long names such as the Nvidia installer.

Now type

sh NVIDIA{TAB}
the whole line should have auto completed - Now hit enter

The installer will start and you need to use the Tab key to select accept or Yes to everything.

Now when it’s done - reboot, try NOT using failsafe now.

If you have problems then try failsafe and post the early section of this from a terminal:
glxinfo

11

am i able to get online from failsafe, if so how do i connect to the internet?

i have a wda 2320 wireless card AR5212/5213?
Id rather get online first then install nvidia with the one click install

12

I don’t know how easy that will be. You may need to download drivers and add repositories to install wireless devices.

Your card is listed on this page
HCL/Network Adapters (Wireless - openSUSE)
and I see someone has added their input for suse 11, notice they link you to this page: Atheros madwifi - openSUSE

You could really do with being able to hardwire your box to get the Madwifi repo and drivers. Once you get wireless up and running you are away.
Wireless is not easy in Linux, simply because vendors only provide windows drivers.

This is the oneclick for Madwifi in suse 11: http://software.opensuse.org/ymp/openSUSE%3A11.0/standard/madwifi.ymp

There is a compile it yourself section Atheros madwifi - openSUSE
so if you could download the source and follow the install directions: SourceForge.net: MADWIFI
I had trouble accessing the Madwifi site so went to sourceforge.

If Madwifi does not work, try Atheros ndiswrapper - openSUSE

13

i gave up on adding video drivers they needed dependencies
so trying to connect and do it with a one click install
here is what i did to TRY toconnect
all in failsafe mode
uname -r = kernel 2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
installed madwifi-0.9.4-1.1i586
madwifi-kmp-pae-0.9.4_2.6.25.5_2.1-i586
lsmod | grep ath shows ath_pci 113056
so ath_pci is installed
i blackedlisted ath5k its in the black list at the bottom
rpm -q madwifi show madwifi-0.9.4.1
network set up in yast
general tab:
at boot time, firewall disabled
address tab:
device type wireless
set to DHCP
configuration name: ath0
hardware tab: module name: ath_pci
device name: ath0
iwlist scanning shows
ath0 scan completed
cell01 address xx.xx.xx.xx.xx.xx.
shows essid name
mode: master
my activity light on wireless card is blinking now why cant i connect?
are you sure i can connect in failsafe mode?
even rebooted no luck

14

I asked for the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst
earlier
that way we can see what boot options are being given to the kernel.

15

earlier i said i couldnt open it to see the contents?

dont know whats in there, dont know how to open it

16

In a terminal session, type sudo cat /boot/grub/menu.lst. This will display the contents of the file to the screen.

17

Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Tue Sep 2 08:16:54 EDT 2008

default 2
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1 (default)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_91360D8_V808Z7CA-part2 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-default
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1 (default)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_91360D8_V808Z7CA-part2 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-default
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1 (pae)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_91360D8_V808Z7CA-part2 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1 (pae)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_91360D8_V808Z7CA-part2 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmpnoapic maxcpus=0 edd=off x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader (fd0)+1:~>

18

now i know why i couldnt connect in global options, network settings it was set to traditional method with ifup, i changed it to user controlled with network manager and now im connected and my video drivers are installed … i followed this for my drivers from caf4926

installed these
make
gcc
kernel-source
kernel-syms (maybe - add it anyway)
By far the simplest way is this: Once you have the driver, put a copy in /home/*username
Now, reboot and start in runlevel 3 as we discussed earlier
here - login as root
then type:
cd /home/username
your prompt should show you in your home user dir
N.B. You can use the Tab{TAB} key to auto complete long names such as the Nvidia installer.
Now type
sh NVIDIA{TAB}
the whole line should have auto completed - Now hit enter
The installer will start and you need to use the Tab key to select accept or Yes to everything.
Now when it’s done - reboot, try NOT using failsafe now.
If you have problems then try failsafe and post the early section of this from a terminal:

thanks caf4926 for all the help and everything…

19

Happy you made it there in the end. Now just print a sheet with how to do it and keep a copy of the the Nvidia driver in /home/username
because whenever there is a kernel update you will need to re-do it (I’m not certain, but it may be needed after Xorg updates too)