I am new to openSUSE but I have been using Ubuntu for a while. I tested Karmic for 6 months and then got really mad at Cononical for various reasons and decided to switch to openSUSE.
I downloaded the 11.2 RC2 on CD and found that it freezes a lot of a Thinkpad T43, so I would like to downgrade without reinstalling. Is this possible? I know that in Ubuntu you could edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file but is there a file like that in openSUSE?
Re-Install - The partitioning of 11.2 is not compatible with 11.1
or work on solving your problem in 11.2
I’m sure we can help
You could try and solve the freeze problem. Is this KDE4 you are running on 11.2 RC2 ? Does this freeze happen only when PC is plugged in? Only on battery ? Both ? Some users reported the screen save and the power save have caused problems. If this only occurs when the laptop is plugged in, try changing the characteristics of the power save so as not shut the PC down when Plugged in.
There may be other things you can try as well.
Is there any indication in /var/log/messages indicating why the PC froze? You will need to use root permissions to open that file.
The freeze typically occurs when I switch from any tty back to kdm. I think it has something to do with my configuration, because the freeze doesn’t occur when it is prompting for login, but does when I am logged in. I don’t think the “freeze” is really a freeze because the screen turns black, but the mouse is still visible and works. However, the trackpoint does not work, but the touchpad does. I am able to use the magic SysRq key, but am unable to switch to a tty. Ctrl+Alt+Del seems to do something (the hdd light flashes) but does not completely reboot. It doesn’t matter whether the computer is plugged in or not, the freeze still occurs. I have found that occasionally the freeze doesn’t occur, but it is relatively rare. But when the freeze doesn’t occur one time, it doesn’t occur no matter how many times I try.
What graphics in in that ThinkPad?
Check the hidden .xsession-errors file for clues.
Sometimes it’s handy to delete the current one first.
Update: When I use Alt+SysRq+K during the “freeze” I can successfully get back to the login screen, but going to a tty is no longer a logical option. I am able to go to one, and do whatever I need to do, but the display is pixilatted on the top and a still image of whatever was on the X server before on the bottom (nonfunctional though). There is a response, but an illegible one when I type characters.
it is an ATI Radeon X300.
I have checked .xsession-errors, and found this:
X Error: XSyncBadAlarm 154
Extension: 144 (Uknown extension)
Minor opcode: 11 (Unknown request)
Resource id: 0x0
I’m not sure what it is, but it came right before:
kdeinit4: preparing to launch /usr/lib/libkdeinit4_kcminit_startup.so
so I’m thinking this XSyncBadAlarm is the problem. I just have no clue what it means
Have you installed the ATI video driver for X300?
To find out what graphic driver is being used in openSUSE-11.2 you can type:
/usr/sbin/hwinfo --gfxcard | grep river
the output of that command was:
Driver Info #0:
Driver Info #1:
wow! according to that you are not using a driver ! 
… go figure !
I’m thinking you may need to use an openSUSE tool to configure a custom /etc/X11/xorg.conf file for your X300 since the automatic probe does not appear to be working well.
Boot your PC to run level-3 (type “3” (no quotes) in the grub boot menu so that “3” (no quotes) appears in the option line), continue to boot, and then login as a regular user. Then type ‘su’ (no quotes - enter root password) to get root permissions, and then type:
sax2 -r -m 0=vesa
(that is 0 equals vesa, and it assumes you have only one graphic device) and then configure your graphics in sax2 to something conservative. Then exit sax2 and reboot with “shutdown -r now”. That should give you slow, basic and reliable graphics.
If you want to try something more ambitious, instead try the free openGL driver:
sax2 -r -m 0=radeon
or
sax2 -r -m 0=radeonhd
those may or may not work.
The program sax2 creates a custom /etc/X11/xorg.conf file that openSUSE will use when you boot.
Now if you install the proprietary nVidia graphic driver (for the best performance) then for 11.2 use the “hardway” as provided guidance from here: ATI/The Hard Way - openSUSE . Note you MUST remove the old rpm with ‘fglrx’ in the rpm name prior to rebuilding the driver. For your x300 you need to go here to get the latest legacy driver: Graphics Drivers & Software
once all is installed/built (including installation of the newly created “fglrx****.rpm” ) you can then rebuild the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file with sax2 with:
sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx
… I think one can also build the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file with the command "aticonfig … " as explained in the openSUSE wiki one “the hardway”.
The problem is fixed. Thank you.
I did find that even with the driver installed, the output of
/usr/sbin/hwinfo --gfxcard | grep river
was still the same even with the driver installed. I did find that without grepping through it this:
Driver Info #0:
XFree86 v4 Server Module: radeon
XF86Config Entry: Option “MonitorLayout” “LVDS,AUTO”
Driver Info #1:
XFree86 v4 Server Module: radeon
3D Support: yes
Extensions: dri
so I’m not sure whether there was a driver installed to begin with or not. Well, I’ll never know about what it was, and now I know more about graphics drivers. Thank you.
This was supposed to read, “proprietary ATI driver”
Glad to read you had some success !
I confess in today’s day, when installing a version of openSUSE can be done in an hour, and all applications needed (if not custom compiled) in a second hour, such that the entire process can be done in 2 hours (with a high speed internet connection) the temptation to just re-install as opposed to fix a problem is very tempting. I myself have been guilty on 3 occasions in the past 2 years of re-installing (once on a sandbox PC setup due to a KDE3/KDE4 hiccup, and once with our family laptop when grub was broke, and once on my wife’s PC when grub was broke). But many times when one does take the extra time to figure out the problem, one is often in the long term better off.
I hope the freezes you experienced on your T43 do not come back with the different graphic driver.
The problem is back again. It will not come consistently, so I am not sure what is wrong. I am trying the proprietary driver, but I am not having much success. I am getting errors whenever I try to run the script to install the drivers that I downloaded from the AMD web site. I think it has something to do with XFree86 not being in my $PATH or it could be that it doesn’t exist. I am also having trouble with adding the repositories to install via those.
You speculated that the problem came about when you switched from tty to kdm. Is this still the case? Is this true for all users?
I had occasional freezes in my laptop when it had KDE-4.3.1 which I managed to trace down to the power save and also to the screen saver. I was able to fix it by disabling the screensaver power save (ie Kmenu > Configure Desktop > Desktop > Screen Saver ) but that was not enough. I then had to change the power save settings. I did that by “left clicking” on the battery/power symbol in the lower right corner of the laptop’s KDE desktop and select “more” which brought up a “power management - KDE control module” dialog box. I noted in that dialog box settings for AC Adapter and various battery levels. I also noted under each there could be “performance” or various “power save” levels. I then wen to the “Edit Profile” selection and changed the “Performance” for when the system is idle for more than X minutes to “do nothing”.
And that cured the hiccup I had with freezes.
Fortunately I was able to trace the freezes I had to happening ONLY when the laptop was running on ac power.
Should someone read this, because they tried an upgrade and have found the updated kernel won’t boot, then in past it was possible to install an old kernel with rpm, using live CD; then re-build an appropriate initrd (the early root file system that contains disk driver etc that the kernel needs to mount ‘/’).
With 11.1 the mkinitrd process changed to using, what the running kernel had, which caused me real issues, when I needed to change from libata to the old pata IDE disk drivers. If you are unlucky the Live CD, uses the wrong drivers, and you have NO way, but to install fresh using “brokenmodules=<driver>” or to compile and build a kernel yourself, with out the bad driver.
Best to prepare by installing ‘good’ fall back kernels yourself (simply rpm -i), which then remain, when updates update the latest version. Re-installing the GM version, or another convenient version from saved rpm’s, after the first update, should protect you.
If you get hit, please complain! The Debian ‘dist-upgrade’ actually keeps the kernel the same, leaving you to experiement with an ‘enhanced’ version later. This was noted in the Fate entry on “zypper dup” functionality.
The freeze occurs regardless of whether it is on battery or not.
and ? … did you check (say with AC power) if the setting I suggested works with AC power?
The Power management was already set to “Do nothing” when the computer is idle. So I’m not sure that was the problem.