Opensuse freezes after update 11.2 -> 11.4

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Dear all,

I installed some months ago Opensuse 11.2 64bit on my HP G62 laptop. Everything went fine except the inability to switch to consoles (Alt+F1, F2 and so on). But this was not a problem at all…

Yersterday I updated to 11.4 using zypper (disabling old repository, enabling new ones, zypper ref, zypper dup).
I rebooted and, after tue usual loading screen (progress bar) the screen went black and unresponsive (no ctr-alt-cancel, no power button). I had to keep power button pressed for 5 seconds to force poweroff.

I rebooted again in failsafe mode and: the screen become first black, then the background of kde appeared with only the mouse arrow (freezed), no icons no bars. I had to force poweroff here also.

Here comes info on my hardware:

  • Model: Hewlett Packard G62
  • Cpu: Intel i3 M350
  • Ram: 4GB
  • Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 (switches to Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD in battery mode)
  • Wireless: broadcom 4313

Please help!!! :’(

Mario.

2

Dear all,

I installed some months ago Opensuse 11.2 64bit on my HP G62 laptop. Everything went fine except the inability to switch to consoles (Alt+F1, F2 and so on). But this was not a problem at all…

Yersterday I updated to 11.4 using zypper (disabling old repository, enabling new ones, zypper ref, zypper dup).
I rebooted and, after tue usual loading screen (progress bar) the screen went black and unresponsive (no ctr-alt-cancel, no power button). I had to keep power button pressed for 5 seconds to force poweroff.

I rebooted again in failsafe mode and: the screen become first black, then the background of kde appeared with only the mouse arrow (freezed), no icons no bars. I had to force poweroff here also.

Here comes info on my hardware:

  • Model: Hewlett Packard G62
  • Cpu: Intel i3 M350
  • Ram: 4GB
  • Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 (switches to Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD in battery mode)
  • Wireless: broadcom 4313

Please help!!! :cry:

Mario.

So I suggest you need to do a clean install AND after that install, you may need to use the kernel load option called: nomodeset

The nomodeset kernel load option is present in failsafe (you could look to see how it was added), but doing an upgrade from 11.2 to 11.4 can cause many other issues and is not generally recommended, at least by me. So, reinstall everything and try the nomodeset kernel load option to see if it helps. You can type the command in, on the options line, just before you press the enter key on the standard load of openSUSE in the grub OS selection menu. If it helps, you can make in permanent by editing the /boot/grub/menu.lst file as root and saving the change. In kDE you would use the command:

Alt-F2 or menu Run Command: kdesu kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst

Thank You,

3

On 09/17/2011 06:36 PM, omar ita wrote:
>
> I installed some months ago Opensuse 11.2 … Yersterday I updated to 11.4 using zypper

sorry to tell, but there is no supported/approved/recommended upgrade
path between 11.2 and 11.4 which skips 11.3

which is why James from Austin suggests you now do a “clean” install of
11.4 (which means, at least, format the root directory…personally, at
this point i would save off all data and also format /home…)

the supported upgrade paths are outlined here:
http://tinyurl.com/35p966c and http://tinyurl.com/6kvoflv

–
DD
Caveat
openSUSE®, the “German Automobiles” of operating systems

4

Oh My Gosh!! :frowning:

Yes I’ve read that the upgrade was 11.3->11.4 but I also thoutght Zypper would have been able to do it, or would have at least warned me “hey guy, you can’t move from 11.2 directly!” :slight_smile:
Anyway, no problem at all, I’ll simply backup the home folder and go throught a fresh install. There’s always some kind of “romantic” in a Linux installation, I remember when I were struggling with text mode SuSE installation in the late '90 :smiley:

Thank you for the help!

P.S. I got a German automobile (Opel) so Opensuse is always the best choice :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

5

On 09/18/2011 12:46 PM, omar ita wrote:
>
> Yes I’ve read that the upgrade was 11.3->11.4 but I also thoutght
> Zypper would have been able to do it

i’m not sure but i think the one step at a time zypper is more likely
to not leave stuff lying around (to cause problems)…

> or would have at least warned me
> “hey guy, you can’t move from 11.2 directly!” :slight_smile:

THAT is a great idea…hmmmmm…but then zypper would always have to
check if you are trying to install something that is “dangerous” for
your system…and, how would it do that…and, how would it know you
intention was to . . . . makes my head hurt thinking about how to do that…

> P.S. I got a German automobile (Opel) so Opensuse is always the best
> choice :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

mine is an old mercedes…
had a bmw before, and loved it too!
never had an opal, thinking GM has too much engineering and accounting
influence! :wink:

–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Automobiles” of operating systems

6

Beside your update action over an unsuppored path (other help you there). I want to venture into

to switch to consoles (Alt+F1, F2 and so on).

It is only a minor remark, but to go to other logical screens the key combination is Ctrl-Alt-F1, etc. Thus when Alt-F1 was not a typo of you, you now know why it did not work.

7

So omar_ita we wish you success and hope you will come back and tell use the clean install did the trick.

P.S. I got a German automobile (Opel) so Opensuse is always the best choice

Not so sure what you meant by the above statement, but is was kind of funny that the very first car my brother had was an Opel. This was around 1970 in Dallas Texas and the car was used and not very good, but I can still remember my brother driving that little car around. Any way, good luck and come back with any other requests.

Thank You,

8

There should be no problem upgrading from 11.2 to 11.4. I have gone from 9.1 to 11.4 on a remote machine. KDE configuration mismatching is the major problem. Using run-level 3 and scheduling an auto reboot before “init 5” makes it doable.

Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 (switches to Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD in battery mode)

I suspect that this is causing the trouble. My laptop is similar (Radeon/inetral IIntel graphics) and I have to switch off the dynamic switching in the BIOS settings, otherwise a black screen etc. This remains true even with the latest stable kernel (3.0.4) --which will however greatly improve the Radeon perfomance, and may provide native support for your Broadcom wireless.

9

On 09/19/2011 09:56 AM, eng-int wrote:
>
> There should be no problem upgrading from 11.2 to 11.4. I have gone
> from 9.1 to 11.4 on a remote machine. KDE configuration mismatching is
> the major problem. Using run-level 3 and scheduling an auto reboot
> before “init 5” makes it doable.

just wondering: will you soon be adding to the referenced wiki/doc??

and, supporting here those who may find ‘hiccups’ in your method, and
then updating the wiki/docs as needed?

–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Automobiles” of operating systems

10

On 2011-09-19 10:08, DenverD wrote:
> On 09/19/2011 09:56 AM, eng-int wrote:
>>
>> There should be no problem upgrading from 11.2 to 11.4. I have gone
>> from 9.1 to 11.4 on a remote machine. KDE configuration mismatching is
>> the major problem. Using run-level 3 and scheduling an auto reboot
>> before “init 5” makes it doable.
>
> just wondering: will you soon be adding to the referenced wiki/doc??
>
> and, supporting here those who may find ‘hiccups’ in your method, and
> then updating the wiki/docs as needed?

There are many people doing that sort of thing and succeeding :stuck_out_tongue:

I did worse. I upgraded a two version jump, across machines,
and from 32 bit to 64. And here I am.

Only that success histories are not usually heard here, only the problems.

Instead of jumping at the word “he upgraded!” you should consider the
problem as you would handle a normal install that failed. He has a
problematic graphic hardware.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

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

11

On 2011-09-18 12:46, omar ita wrote:
>
> Oh My Gosh!! :frowning:
>
> Yes I’ve read that the upgrade was 11.3->11.4 but I also thoutght
> Zypper would have been able to do it, or would have at least warned me
> “hey guy, you can’t move from 11.2 directly!” :slight_smile:

Unfortunately, zypper is not clever enough to know that you are upgrading
across two versions. It only knows what repos you have active, and that you
request a distro upgrade. If the process were more automated, so that
instead of changing repos manually, you could tell it to upgrade to the
next suse version taking the appropriate measures, then things would be
quite different.

The thing is that a zypper distro-upgrade across two versions is “not
officially supported”, which simply means that if you find problems you can
not report them in bugzilla. It should not mean that you can not ask here -
except that the folks here hate upgrades (ducking :stuck_out_tongue: )

However, a DVD upgrade across two or three versions is supported.

> Anyway, no problem at all, I’ll simply backup the home folder and go
> throught a fresh install. There’s always some kind of “romantic” in a
> Linux installation, I remember when I were struggling with text mode
> SuSE installation in the late '90 :smiley:

I have done many upgrades, since version 5 something. So, trick: keep a
small test partition in the same machine, and test the target system
installed new on that partition; ideally while it is the factory version
(to report new problems). If it works, attempt the upgrade of the main
partition (after a backup).

If the upgrade has problems, you can compare with the other, working,
partition and find the problem.

IMO, it is possible that you will also have a similar problem with a new
install, your video card is problematic. I would try first the typical
remedies for video problems forgetting that it is an upgrade.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

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

12

On 09/19/2011 03:48 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> IMO, it is possible that you will also have a similar problem with a new
> install, your video card is problematic. I would try first the typical
> remedies for video problems forgetting that it is an upgrade.

i seldom (if ever) disagree with your assessment, but i do need to say
that i’m not familiar with ATI video problems causing a system freeze as
the OP reported…but, welll…lets see what happens…

–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Automobiles” of operating systems

13

On 2011-09-19 16:31, DenverD wrote:
> On 09/19/2011 03:48 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> IMO, it is possible that you will also have a similar problem with a new
>> install, your video card is problematic. I would try first the typical
>> remedies for video problems forgetting that it is an upgrade.
>
> i seldom (if ever) disagree with your assessment, but i do need to say that
> i’m not familiar with ATI video problems causing a system freeze as the OP
> reported…but, welll…lets see what happens…

I try to avoid ATI video cards, so I do not know how to troubleshoot them.
But there are howtos here and in the wiki, I understand, so I would try that.

However, he has both ATI and Intel chips. That could be a nightmare…

I have a doubt. When did KMS appear, on which SUSE version? Because the
upgrade from a version with the old graphic system to one with the new can
be very problematic.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

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

14

[QUOTE=robin_listas;2385536]However, he has both ATI and Intel chips. That could be a
The problem is not with ATI, it is power-saving feature of the Intel chipset. I have been following discussions on LKML and Phoronix, as my laptop falls into this category and power consumption is a big issue. I would very much like to use the integrated Intel graphics when on battery, but no linux kernel works unless I turn this feature off in the BIOS. The first time it tries to switch graphics drivers the system hangs with a blank screen – <SysRq> is ineffective. My BIOS only allows Radeon or dynamic switching, otherwise I would set up a choice between Radeon and Intel in GRUB. Radeon on 3+ kernels is good and 3D acceleration works well.

I have a doubt. When did KMS appear, on which SUSE version? Because the upgrade from a version with the old graphic system to one with the new can be very problematic.
From my (not so good) memory and investigating my archive drives:
KMS with DRM for Radeon was introduced in kernel 2.6.31 (openSuSE-11.2), but I do not think it was enabled by default until 11.3 (kernel-2.6.34). 11.3 was the end of xorg.conf, and SaX – the start of xorg.conf.d.

15

On 2011-09-19 19:06, eng-int wrote:
>> I have a doubt. When did KMS appear, on which SUSE version? Because the
>> upgrade from a version with the old graphic system to one with the new
>> can be very problematic.

> From my (not so good) memory and investigating my archive drives:
> KMS with DRM for Radeon was introduced in kernel 2.6.31
> (openSuSE-11.2), but I do not think it was enabled by default until
> 11.3 (kernel-2.6.34). 11.3 was the end of xorg.conf, and SaX – the
> start of xorg.conf.d.

Right. Then the upgrade from 11.2 to 11.4 is specially problematic :frowning:

–
Cheers / Saludos,

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