Installing SUSE 10.1 "Loaded" (non-YUM variation)

NOTE: This is a non-maintained page, kept here for reference. The recommended page is: openSUSE Linux 10.1 "Loaded" (with YUM)

 

This is a step-by-step walk-through for installing SUSE Linux 10.1 ("openSUSE") in my "Loaded" configuration, as described in: Moving from Gentoo to ... SUSE, Ubuntu, or Fedora Core?

Quick list of pros & cons:

Pros:

  1. Everything seemed to "just work" (once you follow the steps listed below).
  2. No manual editing of configuration files was necessary.
  3. Very nice "sysinfo:/" custom KDE extension; makes a nice "My Computer" replacement when you feel the need for one.

Cons:

  1. Would prefer to be able to use yum or apt-get for package management. SuSE provides rug, but it seemed a little flakey compared to yum and apt-get.
  2. Not obvious which of the multiple "update" tools to use to get the latest bugfixes (for the record, "rug update" seems to do the trick).
  3. Sun Java 5.0 makes things crash.

Prerequisites:

  1. A complete set of SUSE Linux 10.1 CDROMs (discs 1-5; I only needed 1-3, but it wouldn't hurt to have the whole set).
  2. Your IP address and nameserver addresses, in case something doesn't work with DHCP during network setup.

Instructions:

  1. IMPORTANT: Run these steps in this exact order. The default 10.1 installation has some bugs that need to be patched before moving on to later steps.

  2. Install SUSE Linux 10.1, accepting all defaults, except DO NOT run "Online Update" when asked (will run this later). I chose KDE as the window manager, but none of this is KDE-specific.
  3. Run YaST ("System"->"YaST (Control Center)", from the KDE menu) and click on "Installation Source":
    1. Select the line with an URL like "cd:///?devices=/dev/hdd". Disable this source by clicking "Enable or Disable" once.
    2. If the YUM update source it chose for you is slow, visit the SUSE Mirror List, find one that is closer/faster, and edit your primary YUM source to use that site.
      The URL should end with something like "../suse/update/10.1"

      WARNING: Some of the mirrors listed as "Complete" are actually not (e.g. sunsite.utk.edu missed 88 updates compared to mirrors.kernel.org). I recommend you browse several in the list and make sure to pick one that looks complete. Look in the directory for your architecture, e.g. suse/update/10.1/rpm/i586

    3. Go to the SUSE Repository Mirrors. Find one that is geographically close to you, and do two things:
      1. Click on the "Internet Installation Repository" link for the source you've chosen. Click "Add"->"HTTP ...." and add the server you chose. You can leave "Refresh" turned "OFF", since installation repositories shouldn't change. [NOTE: The URL should end with something like ".../SL-10.1/inst-source"]
      2. Click on the "Addon Installation Repository" link for the source you've chosen, and add it as above. You can leave "Refresh" turned "OFF", since installation repositories shouldn't change.[NOTE: The URL should end with something like ".../SL-10.1/non-oss-inst-source"]
    4. The well-known "packman" repository is where most of the multimedia packages come from. First, find a Packman Mirror near you. Click "Add" -> "HTTP ...", and add the server & directory name of the mirror, as above. Note that the directory name should end without something like "suse/10.1". Click "Yes" when prompted about whether to trust this installation source. Make sure "Refresh" is set to "On".
    5. Click "Finish" to save the installation sources and continue (be patient - it can take quite a while for it to complete this step).
      Alternative: If your network connection is slow, you can skip steps #1 and #3, and use your CDROMs instead of a Repository Mirror. The only drawback is that the Repository Mirrors contain some extra packages that are not on the CDs (example: wxPython).

  4. Run YaST->Online Update:
    1. Click "Accept" (do not select any additional patches!). This will update libzypp and yast2-online-update first, since there are apparently some bugs in the stock 10.1 versions. [Ignore any errors about "ZMD not running"]
    2. Run Online Update again, and click "Accept" again (it should have selected several more patches for you).
    3. Reboot, so that ZMD will reload (and also to load any new kernel that was installed).
  5. From YaST, click "Software Management", and install the following:
    Tip: You can search for and select multiple packages before clicking "Accept" to begin the installation.
    1. gcc
    2. kernel-source
    3. kernel-syms
    4. kdeadmin3
    5. expat
    6. java-1_4_2-sun
      [Hints: Search for 'sun' in YaST. I tried java-1.5.0, but it seemed to make Firefox crash frequently.]
    7. java-1_4_2-sun-alsa
    8. java-1_4_2-sun-devel
    9. java-1_4_2-sun-plugin
    10. w32codec-all
    11. acroread
    12. flash-player
    13. RealPlayer
    14. mplayerplug-in
    15. libxine1
      [Do a search for "xine" and UNCLICK "xine-lib" - DVD playback won't work if you install xine-lib instead of (or in addition to) libxine1]
    16. xine-ui

  6. Download libdvdcss; run (as root): 

    rpm -ivh libdvdcss2-1.2.9-1.i386.rpm

    You should now be able to play retail DVDs through xine or mplayer (I've never gotten kaffeine to work, but I prefer xine anyways).

  7. [OPTIONAL] Although I have no proof that AppArmor caused problems with any applications, I tend to distrust things like this (and SELinux), since they can make things crash and/or behave weirdly. So, I go into YaST->Novell AppArmor->AppArmor Control Panel and turn it off.
  8. NVIDIA drivers:
    1. Go to NVIDIA.com, click "Download Drivers", then "Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris Drivers". Download the driver; it will be called something like "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8762-pkg1.run".
    2. Log out of KDE, switch to a console (Ctrl+Alt+F1), and run (as root):
      init 3
      sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8762-pkg1.run

      Accept all defaults; answer "Yes" when it asks if it should update your X11 config file.

      init 5

      This will restart the X server. Run "glxinfo" and make sure it says "direct rendering: Yes" near the top.

    3. You have to reinstall the driver each time you upgrade your kernel. SUSE will fallback on the non-accelerated driver if you forget, so it is easy to overlook this step.

  9. If your system is like mine, your fonts are now tiny and unusable in GTK/GNOME apps (like Firefox). Here is how to adjust them:
    1. Check current display dpi with "xdpyinfo|grep resol". If it doesn't say "96x96", then do the following steps.
    2. Run "System" -> "Configuration" -> "SAX2".
    3. Next to "Monitor", click "Change", and select the "Display Size" tab.
    4. Calculate the screen size (in mm) to acheive 96x96 dpi as shown below, and enter these values in the "X" and "Y" axis boxes. For example, using 1024x768 resolution:
      • X = 1024/96*25.4 = 271
      • Y = 768/96*25.4 = 203
    5. Restart the X server and the fonts should be the correct size again ("xdpyinfo|grep resol" should give 96x96, or so).

    75 dpi is another common choice here - use whichever makes your display look best.

  10. Add the following line to your .bashrc or similar:

    export FIREFOX_DSP="aoss"

    This makes sound sync better with streaming sites like YouTube. It is still a little off, but not as bad as the default.

  11. Installing MS Corefonts:
    1. Download: msttcorefonts-1.3-118.spec
    2. Run (as a regular user):
      rpmbuild -ba msttcorefonts-1.3-118.spec

      Note: If the process gets stuck while downloading, then edit the .spec file and pick a different download mirror. The list starts at line 45.

      IMPORTANT: You must delete the % character when commenting a line in the spec file! Simply adding a # will not work.

    3. Run (as root):
      rpm -Uvh /usr/src/packages/RPMS/noarch/msttcorefonts-1.3-118.noarch.rpm
      SuSEconfig --module fonts
    4. See if the fonts are installed by doing:
      xlsfonts | grep ^-microsoft

      You should see a list of the corefonts displayed.

    5. I like to reboot now to ensure the fontserver sees all the new fonts (also need a reboot [or an X restart] if you made any changes using SAX2, above).
    6. Test the mscorefonts installation here: MS TTF Display Test. You should see a different font displayed by each name (starting from "Andale Mono").

Optional Stuff:

  1. jEdit:
    1. Download the Java-based installer
    2. Install (as root):
      java -jar jedit42install.jar
  2. wxPython:
    1. Open YaST->"Software Management" and install:
      • python-wxGTK
      • python-wxGTK-doc [OPTIONAL]
      • python-wxGTK-examples [OPTIONAL]
    2. [OPTIONAL]Test it out:
      cd /usr/share/doc/packages/python-wxGTK/demo
      python demo.py
  3. I like to add a few more commonly used Python modules:
    • python-crypto
    • python-devel
    • python-doc
    • python-sqlite2
  4. wings3d: Not available through YaST, had to install manually:
    1. Download from Wings3d homepage
    2. (As a regular user) Unpack & run, i.e.:
      gzip -d wings-0.98.32a-linux.run.gz
      sh wings-0.98.32a-linux.run
  5. GNOME: Since I install KDE as my default desktop during installation, I have to add GNOME afterwards. Here is the easiest way I've found to do it:
    1. YaST->Software Management
    2. In the "Filter" box (upper left), choose "Package Groups"
    3. Select the item: System->GUI->GNOME
    4. Right-click in the package-list frame and choose "All in This List"->"Install"
    5. Click "Accept"

This installs a LOT of packages - I wish there was a "gnome-meta" type package like the other distributions provide to give you a minimal GNOME base.

Sources:

  1. Hacking SUSE Linux 10.1
  2. Firefox, ALSA, Flash, YouTube, Google Video and SOUND!
  3. Optimal Use of MS TrueType Core Fonts for a KDE Desktop on SuSE
  4. Installation of MS TrueType Corefonts on SuSE 8.x/9.0