nVidia Driver Install (New Installs and Upgrades)
With due respect to the previous long thread on this topic,
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/how-faq-forums/unreviewed-how-faq/467398-simple-howto-install-nvidia-driver-opensuse-12-1-a.html
IMO the path I describe is the most efficient and improves on the methods described in that thread, eliminating some unnecessary steps, like the nomodeset setting.
Besides the big problem with nVidia nouveau (default) drivers, this post also includes solutions for a few other problems you may run into.
This post is also based on the following bug report I submitted a few days ago (may be worth a read)
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=745149
Credit and references:
SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE
How To Upgrade OpenSUSE 11.4 To 12.1 (Desktop & Server) | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials
Steps to upgrade from 11.3 (or any other previous) to 12.1
- Update your existing distro
$ zypper up
- Disable your existing repositories
$ zypper modifyrepo --all --disable
- Add only the openSUSE repos first. Only after you fully upgrade should you consider other third party or optional openSUSE distros
$ zypper addrepo --name "openSUSE-12.1 OSS" http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/12.1/repo/oss/ repo-12.1-oss
$ zypper addrepo --name "openSUSE-12.1 Non-OSS" http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/12.1/repo/non-oss/ repo-12.1-non-oss
$ zypper addrepo --name "openSUSE-12.1 Updates" http://download.opensuse.org/update/12.1/ repo-12.1-update
- Doublecheck you won’t have power and network interruptions, and full Internet access. Now you’re ready to do the BIG UPGRADE
$ zypper dup
- When it completes, you will still need to overcome at least the nVidia, and possibly systemd problems. At first after the upgrade completes, you will be presented with a command line asking for your root password. Reboot
$ shutdown -r now
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On bootup, when you are presented with your first graphical screen asking you to select openSUSE 12.1,** click F5 and select “sysvinit”** - That will disable systemd and return you to the “old” boot method used by your old distro. Also, select the “Failsafe” desktop.
-
From the Failsafe desktop,
-
Open YAST
-
Open “Manage Repositories”
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Select “Community Repositories”
-
Select “nVidia”
From a command, su to Root and do the following
$ zypper refresh
$ zypper update
If a driver is found automatically, then you can simply agree to the selection and skip the next steps that manually select and install a driver.
If zypper does not automatically find and list a new nVidia driver, do the following
$ zypper search nVidia
From the list, select an appropriate driver, most likely a “Desktop” – Or, if you’re a CUDA developer you may select the first driver without a machine use designation. Install the driver you selected
$ zypper in <driver name>
Reboot to a Normal (not Failsafe) desktop, remember you may still need the sysvinit option.
If you wish to permanently select sysvinit as default, use zypper or YAST to install the sysvinit package.
You’re golden! 