First time install of Opensuse (after using Ubuntu).
Thought I’d give Suse a try. On my HP Pavillion DV1000, Suse was an outstanding Dr Jekyll. I was blown away. Everything worked out of the box - wireless, 3D (Compiz), Multimedia Keys. Every bit as good as Ubuntu, thought I; and on that computer it was.
So I thought I’d try it on my older HP ZD1000. Welcome to Mr. Hyde. No wireless support (Legacy Broadcom), but I got it working. But the Nvidia driver?
Nightmare.
[GForce4 448] 0186
When I loaded the 96XX drivers & enabled 3D, my windows borders disappeared. I uninstalled compiz and reinstalled with 1-Click. An hour later, choosing “Desktop Effects” from the menu now resulted in a delay and then nothing. I couldn’t even activate XGL from the command line. I installed the emerald theme manager. For some reason, this enabled the “Desktop Effects” applet. However, checking the advanced effects option still results in missing borders. Not only that, but Desktop Effects then unchecks itself. No compiz. I’m guessing this is because OpenSuse doesn’t support my card - which is odd because PCLinuxOS does.
It would be interesting to know how exactly you installed the driver. Did you use the .run-file or the NVidia-repository? I generally recommend the latter option, mainly because then you won’t have to reinstall the driver after a kernel update.
You might have to set up a xorg.conf, chances are HAL (which by default is handling hardware recognition since 11.2) is not setting up your gfx-card right, also composite-options might have to be set up separately.
I installed the driver through the repositories following OpenSuse’s instructions. I would provide the link but everyone probably knows it.
As I say, the 448 model of the GForce4 card wasn’t listed, so it’s possible that Suse doesn’t support it (odd, because the HP wasn’t exactly a niche computer).
As for setting up xorg.conf. Can you provide a link? If not, I can go googling.
No need to, I’ll give a short howto (without guarantee that it’ll work, but it should).
• End the current session
• Hit Ctrl + Alt + F1 to switch to tty1
• Log in as root
• Enter runlevel 3
init 3
• Launch SaX2 using this command:
sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia (0 is a digit, not a letter!)
• In SaX2 configure resolution, colour-depth, monitor etc. to your needs
• After finishing this and going back to the command line, re-enter runlevel 5
init 5
…then your login-manager will reappear; log into a regular user-session and see if things work out (work out = it lets you log into a session).
• Open a console, switch to root and add composite-options to the xorg.conf just created by SaX2:
I’m assuming that you’re using GNOME since you mentioned Compiz?
Since you also mention reinstalling Compiz using 1-click, I suspect that you’re not using the same version as the one that came with official openSUSE media. Anyhow you can try the following:
A)
1)Shutdown/Kill compiz
2)Delete /home/<your user name>/.config/compiz and try to start compiz again
If the above don’t work, try this:
B)
1)
rpm -qa '*compiz*'
######This will list all the packages installed
2)Remove all the package that is related to compiz.
3)Run this in terminal
su -c 'gconftool-2 --recursive-unset /apps/compiz'
and then Delete /home/<your user name>/.config/compiz
Then if you want to install the stock compiz that comes with openSUSE:
4)Remove any additional Compiz repository that you possibly added through 1-click
5)Reinstall Compiz from the official openSUSE repo. You should need compiz and simple-ccsm
OR
If the stock openSUSE version did not work or you want to try out the latest Compiz, then reinstall it using 1-click. Compiz Fusion - openSUSE
Just as a note, you do not need to enable XGL for nVidia card with nVidia proprietary driver. It does not make any sense as nVidia provide its own layer with the driver.
Edit: Ooops, gropiuskalle is faster than me to post a reply. But anyway you can try gropiuskalle’s suggestion first.
@michael_cheah: Still, your way might also do the trick. At this point we both do not know what the reason for this conflict is, so it’s good to have an alternative solution.
I tried gropiuskalle’s suggestion first. Progress… sort of.
Compiz Fusion Icon
:Windows Manger is Compiz
:Compiz Options → Both options unchecked.
:Windows Decorator → Emerald
If I choose to Enable Desktop Effects - The desktop will reload - desktop effects will appear and everything will be rendered correctly, then, in about 4 seconds, the desktop will switch back. .
If I try to reload the Windows Manger with the Compiz Fusion Icon, the same thing happens. It will switch over (the chosen Emerald theme will appear correctly rendered) then it will switch back, by itself, in about four seconds.
I just fixed the problem, and I have no freakin’ idea what I did. On a lark, after that last note, I decided to shutdown via command line. I “sudo so’d” and typed in shutdown now. I ended up back in a TTY session(?). I tried to shutdown from there but couldn’t. So I typed Init 5 and when I returned to the desktop everything worked like a charm - and still does after shutting down and restarting.
Which options are these? Sorry, I do not have Compiz installed here; I suppose one of this option is referring to direct rendering, and that should be enabled.
Edit:
I.Have.No.Idea.What.Happened.
But your howto paved the way, no doubt.
Oops, that came right when I posted the above - I am really glad it worked out, congrats!
Where did you choose that? Via the fusion-icon or KDE settings or…? Because I can not get rid of the idea here that you might mix up Compiz- and KDE-effects.
