I am a newbie to Linux stuff but very familiar with Windows. I have made my new PC and and installed XP on a 500GB HD and everything works like a charm. Then I bought a new 320GB HD and removed the XP HD and tried to install Linux. I installed Ubuntu 8.04 Gnume and it worked fine but I had lots of crashes and system freezes so I decide to give OpenSuse a shot. I reformat my HD and try to install Opensuse 11 KDE 4.1 through DVD. In normal graphic installation it freezes at some point. I have repeated it more than 50 times. Either mouse freezes and the keyboard also freezes or the PC restarts itself or I get blue or green window. Then I tried Gnume and or KDE 3 and they are the same. Sometimes Freeze happens even before selecting the GUI. Then I tried text mode and I get the same crash. Then I tried text mode and safe Kernel and I was able to install it but the text is so blurry. I can not read the commad line in the command window. The PS2 mouse also does not work. If I use a USB mouse it works. My wireless card also does not work but it will be a later issuse that I am not worried that much now. I also checked the DVD and it is error free. Here is also the description of my system. I won’t buy if someone says I have memory problem. Either I am not installing it correctly or there is a bug in the software. Please help.:(:’(
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model iHAS220-0 pqi TURBO 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PQI26400 BIOSTAR GF8200 M2+ AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5000DOBOX SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD322HJ 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive A floppy drive from my old system
Let me summarize. You managed to complete the installation using fail-safe text mode but the fonts looks bad and the screen looks good?
You might also try the latest development iso of kde4 and see if things have improved. If the livecd environment looks better, you might try installing that.
I think you need to install the nvidia driver now. Post the driver section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf, the result of ‘lspci’ and ‘lsmod’, and any errors that you see in /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
Some of my responses might look stupid for expert Linux guys but bear with me. Believe me many people are in my shoes. I like the challenge of Linux and I hope I will be successful. I tried OpenSuse 11 KDE CD and tried to install it. First I did live CD and once I was able to bring up live CD but then when I clicked on install icon, it crashed. When I install on by selecting “safe Kernel” and not on failsafe mode, the resolution looks bad and as I said the PS2 mouse does not work and I can barely read the commands on command window.
More info: Today I was able to install i386 KDE 4 version using graphical installation and everything went fine and mouse also works but when I click on any item on my desktop like “my computer”, I get Plasma crash. Now I am trying to install the i386 beta version. I tried I386-64 version and I could not install it. I believe for some reason I can not install 64 bit version at least.
Please let me know if you want me to provide you more info so you can help me better.
Since your system is crashing when using the gui, log out of the graphical environment and choose ‘console login’ from the menu. Alternatively, Ctrl+Alt+F1 should give you a console window. Log in as root, check what driver is being used for your video card with ‘less /var/log/Xorg.0.log’. Start yast (works with arrow keys and tab key on console) and enable the Nvidia repository from there (you will need an internet connection for that). Then start the software manager and install the nvidia driver along with system updates. Rebooting should have you using the nvidia driver.
All of the above assumes you have an nvidia card, have an internet connection, and are not already using the nvidia driver. If you are, then try using either the ‘nv’ or ‘nouveau’ driver.
I tried to install OpenSuse 11 Beta i386 version but surprisingly it failed in the middle. I tried multiple times but I failed. Then I went back to re-install 11 i386 that I was able to do that but I could not install anymore. Either my PC froze or it rebooted automatically as if it was losing power. I also did firmware check and I realized that I have memory hole in 15M and 16M location and also both CPUS fail at higher frequecies. I am going to check to see what they mean to me. I also had some warnings that I believe are OK.
Firstly, do not install beta version. I dont know, for some reason the new beta version fails to read even the active partition on my comp, thoough the 11.0 dvd installs easy.
Secondly on you motherboard, load setup defaults and install 11.0 dvd without changing any option.
You also mention about getting plasma crash. This will occur inevitably, I have had a hard time with this.
Here is what I did.
Add KDE4.1 Factory, community, backports, nvidia and QT4 repositories as soon as your install finishes and update your system for KDE4.1.2, Nvidia drivers and libqt4 updates before going futher.
Thanks for offering me help. What do you mean by loading default setups? I turn on my PC and put on OpenSuse DVD and just click on Welcome and then on Install and nothing else. Many times I also tried Text version of the video. It has crashed 100 times. Only once I was able to install i386 version and then none of the icons on the desktop were clickable and then I got Plasma Crash. I did not have internet connection. Nothing. I run away from Ubuntu to get something better but alas. You also mentioned that maybe it is because I have NVidia video driver. I also see the same complaint on ATI video drivers. So what is left? !! Based on what you say, after successful installation I will just end up with a installed system that crashes intermittently because of Plasma crash. It is very discouraging. My laptop with Vista that every one hates Vista has never ever crashed in the last 6 months. It is always on !!. I have PhD in EE but with very very little or no knowledge on OS but if I can not be successful on installing a Linux OS after 2 weeks, 99% of the people won’t be able to do it either. I believe Linus OS is not mature enough. I will keep punching though.:\
By setup defaults I mean your CMOS. No overclocking on CPU, PCI bus RAM etc.
KDE 4.0 which is embedded in Suse 11.0 is very unstable. It requires updating your drivers an qt4 files and also upgrade to kde4.1.2. however once u r able to do that works like a charm.
I have a system on Suse 11.0, Kde 4.1.2 no crash for more than a month.
If you are interested to see what happens with mandriver better to try it yourself and not recommend it to ohers with problems.
They are unlikely to get much help here if they do
Dude, why do you always:
Grab the wrong end of the stick
Assume the worst in people
As it happens I have tried Mandriva, I don’t use it. But in my experience it’s hardware detection (at least for my system) was excellent.
As the poster seems to be having issues in this area, and in his/her own words -‘has tried 100’s of times’
It seemed fair to offer him/her a suggestion. That’s all it was.
Seeing what one distro can do compared to another can be useful. We don’t practice monogamy here do we.
Thanks. I will definitely try that and will let you know. I was very surprised with Nimblex. It detected everything in my system and everything worked. It is only 200M. I just used the live CD. I have not installed it yet. I am surprised why Ubuntu or Opensuse can not do that. Based on Nimblex it should not be a big deal.
There was something in your response that I liked it. You described your system. Maybe there should be a thread that everyone who is successful with OpeSuse, details his system so a new person who wants to build his system can copy one of the successful systems.