Does tumbleweed perform distro upgrades automatically

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Hi,

I just migrated from fedora to OpenSuse. The main reason for this migration is Tumbleweed. I followed the instructions from Portal:Tumbleweed - openSUSE and I think everything went ok (by the way there wasn’t a /etc/zypper/vendors.d folder so I created one).

I am slightly confused with how the upgrading and updating will be taking place! Will I have to use zypper dup --from Tumbleweed every time I want to upgrade or will apper sort it out for me automatically? Also, I am slightly confused regarding this vendor business. I added Tumbleweed as a vendor but if I do zypper dup (without the --from switch) it will use the packman repositories and upgrade (or downgrade) packages changing them to the packman vendor. So what exactly did I manage when I added the Tumbleweed.conf file in the /etc/zypper/vendors.d folder?

Thanks in advance for any help

#2

On 02/29/2012 05:26 PM, mikefranky wrote:
> will apper sort it

i’ll not try to answer your major questions (because i’m not a
Tumbleweed user) but anyway feel the need to say:

do not use apper for any purpose…
it is broken on this distro (because it conflicts with YaST/zypper)…

suggest you right click and disable it…then always use YaST or
zypper…(how to do that for Tumbleweed, someone else can address)

–
DD http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat
What does DistroWatch write about YOU?: http://tinyurl.com/SUSEonDW

#3

Use this method, as per the sticky at top of this forum: http://forums.opensuse.org/content/55-how-upgrade-opensuse-12-x-tumbleweed.html

Simply put: just use zypper dup. And disable Apper. I’ve never used the vendors.d approach and I have a whole bunch of additional repos. I look at the messages that zypper gives me, a caution before pulling the trigger. No problems using this simple approach since Tumbleweed started.

#4

One other note; if you use a proprietary video driver you’ll need to install it the "hard “way”, which isn’t really so hard, after a kernel upgrade.

#5

Thank you all very much for your useful answers.

What exactly is the “hard way” of installing the video drivers?

I think I have managed to set up tumbleweed. However, the next time I rebooted my machine (after a zypper dup) I couldn’t log on to the kde desktop environment. I can log on GNOME but whenever I try kde I get an error complaining that there is some problem with my ksmserver.

Does anyone know what this may be?

#6

On 2012-02-29 21:46, swerdna wrote:
>
> Use this method, as per the sticky at top of this forum:
> http://tinyurl.com/875yb8o

A think to remember is that when a new standard release comes out, things
do not run very smoothly. At least, it happened when 12.1 was released, the
TW dup included all of it.

TW is not currently a separate version.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

#7

I tried installing the NVIDIA drivers using ‘The Hard Way’ which, it appeared, wasn’t so hard after all. However, it doesn’t work right.

For one, nowhere does it mention that you need to make the .run file executable.
Secondly, it never shares the possibility that the NVIDIA driver might have trouble finding things such as version.h and fail, despite your installation of kernel-devel and kernel-source and fail completely.
Thirdly, it asks you to blacklist nouveau after the installation, despite the fact that the nvidia driver requires the blacklist to install.

What I did, and I’m sure people will find me idiotic despite the fact that it works, is install the NVIDIA repository for 12.1 and install the package ‘the easy way.’ It works.

Andre

#8

Other readers are cautioned against using the 12.1 Nvidia repos in Tumbleweed

Hi silverslimer. It’s likely that the use of the 12.1 Nvidia community repos worked for you because the kernel for Tumbleweed and the kernel for 12.1 are the same at today’s date. Your method won’t work when the kernels diverge.

Regarding your difficulties with installing Nvidia “the hard way” (which I agree with you is really “the easy way”), I advise as follows:
I’ve never made the run file executable. It doesn’t need to be executable. I use this method, try it: http://forums.opensuse.org/content/38-swerdna-nvidia-opensuse-tumbleweed-hard-way.html
That article has advantages over whatever article you used:
1: it asks you to use the command “sh /root/nvidia/NVIDIA-Linux-etc_etc.run” which doesn’t require the run file to be executable
2: it asks you to prepare the blacklist file before running the run file

#9

I made a big error in my previous post. Don’t bother to answer it – I’ve deleted that post and re-posted below.
(the error was that I got the kernels mixed in my repos)

#10

Other readers are cautioned against using the 12.1 Nvidia repos in Tumbleweed

Hi silverslimer. I tried uninstalling my Nvidia “the hard way” drivers and used the 12.1 community Nvidia repos as an experiment. That caused my kernel to revert from the Tumbleweed kernel 3.2.9 to the 12.1 kernel (3.1.9 IIRC), which made my installation some kind of hybrid, but no longer Tumbleweed. (fortunately I made a backup before the operation so I could easily undo it all).

Regarding your difficulties with installing Nvidia “the hard way” (which I agree with you is really “the easy way”), I advise as follows:
I’ve never made the run file executable. It doesn’t need to be executable. I use this method, try it: http://forums.opensuse.org/content/38-swerdna-nvidia-opensuse-tumbleweed-hard-way.html
That article has advantages over whatever article you used:
1: it asks you to use the command “sh /root/nvidia/NVIDIA-Linux-etc_etc.run” which doesn’t require the run file to be executable
2: it asks you to prepare the blacklist file before running the run file

#11

I just realized that the reason ‘the hard way’ didn’t work for me was because the kernel version used by my Tumbleweed system is in the 3.1.9 range whereas the latest kernel-source is 3.2.9. Should I compile the new kernel myself or wait for Tumbleweed to do the update for me? Does Tumbleweed even update the kernel? Thanks!

#12

On 2012-03-03 22:46, swerdna wrote:
> made a big error in the previous post. Don’t bother to answer it – I’ll
> delete that post and re-do it.

Posts are not deleted. I can read it in full.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

#13

Your kernel is the kernel for 12.1 – because adding the 12.1 Nvidia repo will drag the Tumbleweed kernel back from 3.2.9 to 3.1.9 – see my last post.
No need to compile.
First attach the correct repos, as described here: http://forums.opensuse.org/content/55-how-upgrade-opensuse-12-x-tumbleweed.html
Then run the command (as root): zypper dup

You should end up with consistent versions for kernel and source (as revealed by a zypper search see below):


john@tumbleweed121:~> zypper se -s -i  kernel | egrep "desktop|source"
i | kernel-desktop       | package | 3.2.9-12.1 | x86_64 | Tumbleweed
i | kernel-desktop-devel | package | 3.2.9-12.1 | x86_64 | Tumbleweed
i | kernel-source        | package | 3.2.9-12.1 | noarch | Tumbleweed

Note the consistent 3.2.9-12.1

Once you have Tumbleweed properly installed (as above), you can set about fixing Nvidia.

#14

Everyone with NNTP access can read it of course…&*#!:wink:

#15

swerdna wrote:
>
> robin_listas;2445556 Wrote:
>> On 2012-03-03 22:46, swerdna wrote:
>>> made a big error in the previous post. Don’t bother to answer it –
>> I’ll
>>> delete that post and re-do it.
>>
>> Posts are not deleted. I can read it in full.
>>
>> –
>> Cheers / Saludos,
>>
>> Carlos E. R.
>> (from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
>
> Everyone with NNTP access can read it of course…&*#!:wink:

I can still see also other posts which you think you have deleted.

Luckily this time it was your own post,
containing false information.

A previous time it was mine,
containing valid information about zypper.

Carlos E.R. probably remembers that post, it was not that long ago and
he replied to it.

Vahis

http://waxborg.servepics.com
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) 2.6.37.6-0.11-default main host
openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) 3.2.8-11-desktop Tumbleweed in VirtualBox
openSUSE 12.1 (i586) 3.1.9-1.4-desktop in EeePC 900

#16

I just realized why the version for the installed kernel was not consistent with that of the source. It turns out that if you install the Tumbleweed repositories using the one-click install method, it neglects to add the very first Tumbleweed repository. As a result, certain things are updated but not everything. Once that’s corrected, the installation process for NVIDIA ‘the hard way’ becomes the simplest thing imaginable and definitely not something to shy away from.

Even without the NVIDIA 12.1 repository, Tumbleweed did not update to 3.2.9.