Kinks to work out

So I’ve just installed openSUSE with KDE3.5 and I’ve got a few kinks to work out and a few questions. I’ve got an AcerAspire 7520-5168 which previously ran a Vista Ubuntu dual boot, now with Vista and openSUSE.

My problems are:

Neither wireless nor wired internet connections actually connect to the internet. I have an Atheros AR5007EG wireless network adapter and there was some weird thing I had to do to get it to work in Ubuntu - but my wired connection worked then and doesn’t work now.

I kind of want to get some of those compiz effects going (namely the cube, but I want to see what else it has to offer) and I recall having to install some extra program (which I never got around to) in Ubuntu. Is that stuff already installed and ready for me to test it out?

I’ve read some people have had to install a specific driver for nvidia GeForce 8400G graphics card to get 3d effects working properly. How do I install proprietary drivers?

My touchpad is not very responsive, I have to move my finger a few times back and fourth before I can actually get the cursor to move. This is very annoying. How can I fix that?

Ubuntu had 2 (possibly more) programs to download software from repositories. One was an add/remove program which was VERY handy for just starting out and getting rid of apps I’m never going to use. openSUSE seems to have a lot of programs and before I accidentally delete something important I’d like to see if any such add/remove application exists - but I was unable to find it. Does one exist?

Speaking of repositories, are there any I should add immediately?

I imagine I’m going to have to get the codecs for mp3s and dvd videos and what not. Where do I get them?

I think that’s it for now. I’ll post more when they come up. Thanks a lot for your help.

Yast is your config centre

Here are some useful pages:
NEWBIES - Suse-11.0 Pre-installation – PLEASE READ - openSUSE Forums

1-click-collection - openSUSE-Community

Linux HOWTOs and Tutorials: Suse Linux 10.0, 10.1 openSUSE 10.2, 10.3, 11.0

HOWTOs - openSUSE

Repos you should have
oss
non-oss
packman (everything multimedia and more)
vlc (but only add libdvdcss - then remove/disable the repo)

kde3 build service is a must
Index of /repositories/KDE:/KDE3/openSUSE_11.0

the xorg repo from build service may be useful too
Index of /repositories/X11:/XOrg/openSUSE_11.0

Manage your software via Yast - software - Software management
filter by Repo and scroll thru each in turn

Add libdvdcss from vlc then disable it
http://download.videolan.org/pub/vlc/SuSE/11.0

Packman: Index of /pub/linux/misc/packman/suse/11.0
update everything in there
you can do that quickly by going ‘update all in this list if newer avail’

do the same update all in kde3 build service

oops I missed UPDATES, but you should already have it.

Thanks guys. I’ll have a look through them. But does anyone have any idea how to get a LAN connection working? Just because it’s all fine and dandy to look and read through Vista, but I can’t do anything unless I can read this stuff in Linux.

Madwifi may be the way
Atheros madwifi - openSUSE

can’t you hard wire until you get up and running?

you will need to have these package I guess from the dvd
make
gcc+
kernel-source

You could always download the source code from madwifi
http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwifi-trunk/madwifi-trunk-r3867-20080924.tar.gz
save to a flash drive
boot back to suse and install

Yeah, that madwifi sounds familiar. I would just hardwire it, but that doesn’t work either. Is that what those packages from dvd are for? Or are they for the wireless.

the packages make, gcc+…
are to enable you to build packages from source code, they are not directly related to wireless, you just need them.
most of us would install them by default

just add them from the dvd once you boot back to suse
then you extract the package for madwifi
and follow the instructions
Atheros madwifi - openSUSE
print them out

Awesome. Thanks for your help. Any advice on the mouse problem or will I just have to download the appropriate driver?

Crap. All was well until I had to type

modprobe ath_pci

and it returned command not found. I have the appropriate package (module-init-tools) installed so I don’t know why it would return command not found.

Hi
Try using sudo and the path to modprobe


sudo /sbin/modprobe ath_pci


Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.0 x86 Kernel 2.6.25.16-0.1-default
up 9:53, 2 users, load average: 0.47, 0.32, 0.18
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 173.14.12

SalsaShark wrote:
> Crap. All was well until I had to type
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> modprobe ath_pci
> --------------------
>
> and it returned command not found. I have the appropriate package
> (module-init-tools) installed so I don’t know why it would return
> command not found.

Because it is found in a directory not in your path. This command also
needs superuser privilege. Try

sudo /sbin/modprobe -v ath_pci

When modprobe works without the -v switch, it is silent.

Larry

Ahh man, now it returns “FATAL: Module ath_pci not found”. I’m assuming since make and make install spent a fair bit of time doing something, that this means they didn’t do the right thing.

SalsaShark wrote:
> Ahh man, now it returns “FATAL: Module ath_pci not found”. I’m assuming
> since make and make install spent a fair bit of time doing something,
> that this means they didn’t do the right thing.

You need to do ‘sudo make install’ for it to work.

Larry

Hmmm, well I found a way to make those controls work. But there is still no wireless access anywhere…

That sounded dumb. The computer doesn’t say there is any access point anywhere, but I’m literally 5 feet away from the router. Moreover the light isn’t on.

SalsaShark wrote:
> Hmmm, well I found a way to make those controls work. But there is
> still no wireless access anywhere…

Does ath_pci need firmware? What does ‘dmesg | grep ath’ show?

Larry

ath5k_pci 000:05:00.0: registered as ‘phy0’
sdb:<3>ath5k phy0:failed to resume the MAC Chip
ath5k_pci: probe of 0000:05:00.0 failed with error -5
ath_hal module license "proprietary’ taints kernel.
ath_pci: HAL doesn’t support MAC revision 0xffffffff

SalsaShark wrote:
> ath5k_pci 000:05:00.0: registered as ‘phy0’
> sdb:<3>ath5k phy0:failed to resume the MAC Chip
> ath5k_pci: probe of 0000:05:00.0 failed with error -5
> ath_hal module license "proprietary’ taints kernel.
> ath_pci: HAL doesn’t support MAC revision 0xffffffff

Obviously, ath5k_pci (ath_pci) doesn’t support your hardware. I’m not
sure what you should do, but I would try compat-wireless. That is the
latest stuff from wireless-testing and is way ahead of the current
openSUSE kernel.

Larry

Alright, that sounds pretty good. Where can I get the compat-wireless stuff? Bear in mind my wired connection doesn’t work either.

You can download it from http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Download
on any system you want, sneakernet the compressed tar file to Linux,
and unpack and build.

Larry