Configuring OpenSuse 10.3 Part 2

More on configuring a clean install of OpenSuse 10.3 on SuperSluggo.

INSTALLING NVIDIA GRAPHICS DRIVER

I found the “one-click” installation from the OpenSuse website didn’t work. By the way, to put this all into context, the version of OpenSuse I had installed was 64 bit. 64 bit processors have been around for a while, 64 bit processing is faster than 32 bit, and I think everyone should install 64 bit operating systems and force the vendors to provide the proper drivers. It is only a matter of time, the sooner they get going with this the better. 64 bit Linux does provide tools like the nspluginwrapper that can utilize 32 bit libraries (e.g. Adobe Flash Player has no 64 bit version but the 32 bit version can be used with nspluginwrapper), but come on Adobe and others: it’s the 21st century, write some 64 bit drivers!

Getting back to the graphics drivers, they are actually pretty simple to install. You need your kernel source code (get it from Yast, if it is not already installed. With my clean install it was already there). Then download the NVIDIA setup shell file from the NVIDIA repository or website. Run it with X closed down as root (reboot into runlevel 3, or log out of KDE or gnome and go to a pseudoterminal page (e.g. use Ctl-Alt-F6 after logging out):


sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-169.12-pkg2.run

There is a series of menus/selections. After configuring, restart X and it all seems to work fine, without messing around with /etc/X11/xorg.conf. The downside is that I will need to reinstall the drivers this way anytime I upgrade the Linux kernel.

PROGRAM SETUP

Of course I have to duplicate all the programs I have set up on the original Sluggo. This includes Qt4.4, KDevelop, svk, etc. for development. All except Qt4.4 were available through Yast, which seems easier to use than before. I had been using the Smart package manager on Sluggo, but I might stick with Yast for now on SuperSluggo. Adding community repositories such as the packman repository is really easy now, and Yast’s fabled slowness isn’t too big a deal on a really fast computer like SuperSluggo.

Next: SVK installation, TV card.

By mannd

I am a retired cardiac electrophysiologist who has worked both in private practice in Louisville, Kentucky and as a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver. I am interested not only in medicine, but also in computer programming, music, science fiction, fantasy, 30s pulp literature, and a whole lot more.

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