Another SuSE user

[Guest ThunderRiver]

Well, tonight or this morning ..I just installed SuSE 8.2 Pro on my machine dual booting with Windows 2003 Server. I was really looking forward to OpenBSD on this box, but I can't make it due to that 8 gig limitation.Upon first boot up, I now have two things in my To-Do list1. install nvidia driver for my Geforce FX 52002. install xvid/divx codec ... it really sucks that it doesn't come with the distro itself?Like Peachy said, nvidia driver should be easy to install, but what about codec?Anyone of you have much problems with it before?I know I have done it before back in SuSE 8.0 but that was last summer, so I wonder if there is a more advanced way to isntall it. Any codec pack?

[Bruno]

Hi ThunderRiverFrom what I remember, Zox, Greengeek and beeTee are the ones that are running SuSE at this moment. They will sure be able to provide you the answers to your questions.Glad the install went smooth ! Bruno

[Peachy]

Well, tonight or this morning ..I just installed SuSE 8.2 Pro on my machine dual booting with Windows 2003 Server. I was really looking forward to OpenBSD on this box, but I can't make it due to that 8 gig limitation.

This may be a little late, but had you considered placing a partition for BSD to use that's less than 8GB and at the front of the disk?For example, at work I had to develop a multiboot system for our main computer science lab such that students could choose Windows NT Server, Windows 2000 Server, windows XP Pro, Windows 98 SE, and some distro of Linux. One of our IT guys came up with a system before I started the job in which he was multibooting Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 98, and Red Hat 8.0 using GRUB to boot each one. When I took a look at it, I realized this was going to be difficult to add more OSes at a later date as well as fixing the grub.conf file each time. Using XOSL I came up with a wonderful solution. But, pertinent to this discussion, one of the limitations we came up against was trying to install Windows NT 4 Server. Because NT 4 can only read FAT and NTFS, not FAT32, you couldn't create a FAT system partition greater than 2GB. Also, NTFS system partitions were limited to 4GB during the install phase up until SP4 came out. Taking this into consideration it was obvious that you had to put the NTFS parition for NT below the 1024-cylinder limit and have a maximum size of 4GB. So, my point is, should not an 8GB or smaller partition work for OpenBSD?If you want, I could test this theory at work this week.

[zox]

Hey, I am glad you are trying out new version of Suse Thunder.Maybe we'll get you converted.I just successfuly loaded my images from Comapact flash card with USB reader "Image mate Sandisk" taken with digital camera and that was the last thing that kept me linked to Windows.It just works, mind you it did not mount card at first but hotplugging recognized reader and put entry in my fstab automagicaly, all I had to do is issue command mount -t vfat dev/sda1 (USB is recognized as scsi device) /media/Sandisk and off I go.So much for my card reader, now onto Divx.This was my main goal, get divx and xvid to work as I intend to purchase camcorder in next couple of weeks and want to encode all my digital videos to with Xvid codec (free and open source), which is the same as Divx but not commercial.I also wanted to play my divx and Xvid movies, as well as Quicktime and Windows media that I already have.I like Mplayer, and if you install one that comes by default with Suse distribution, it does not play all this formats, in other words it is crippled "due to licensing and patent issues".I downloaded Divx source code for Linux, read instructions, it is straight forward and it compiled without hickup in minute or two.Then, I downloaded Mplayer cource code from their website ( I uninstalled default Mplayer from Suse ) and there is nice instructions there too.I had to modify one line to include support for Divx, one line to support Xvid and Quick time.It was without any pain, plain and simple.Couple of minutes later, I had compiled Mplayer with full support for everything.From command prompt you can start Mplayer, by just typing Mplayer /xx/moviename or you can go back to Suse and install KMplayer which is KDE GUI for Mplayer, but make sure you do not install Mplayer with it, it will tell you about breaking stuff and bla bla but you don't care.Once you have KMplayer running, it will pick up your compiled Mplayer with full support for all codecs and all is grant.I love it

[Guest ThunderRiver]

hehe..convert? zox, I am already in both worlds. I have been using OpenBSD since last year, and the truth is that it never recognized my sound card, so I never used it as a multimedia station like I did with Windows.But then again, each time I get in Linux/BSD, I always complain about OpenOffice. I mean on a Pentium III 733 Mhz with 512 Mb of RAM, OpenOffice loads like an OS itself. With the same spec, I can load MS Office in less than 5 sec. Well, that just makes me apart from Linux/BSD world abit more. Fortunately, it is a great programming environment, so that's what I use my BSD for.I will try out your suggestion to recompile the Mplayer.ThunderRiver

[Guest ThunderRiver]

Well, tonight or this morning ..I just installed SuSE 8.2 Pro on my machine dual booting with Windows 2003 Server. I was really looking forward to OpenBSD on this box, but I can't make it due to that 8 gig limitation.

This may be a little late, but had you considered placing a partition for BSD to use that's less than 8GB and at the front of the disk?For example, at work I had to develop a multiboot system for our main computer science lab such that students could choose Windows NT Server, Windows 2000 Server, windows XP Pro, Windows 98 SE, and some distro of Linux. One of our IT guys came up with a system before I started the job in which he was multibooting Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 98, and Red Hat 8.0 using GRUB to boot each one. When I took a look at it, I realized this was going to be difficult to add more OSes at a later date as well as fixing the grub.conf file each time. Using XOSL I came up with a wonderful solution. But, pertinent to this discussion, one of the limitations we came up against was trying to install Windows NT 4 Server. Because NT 4 can only read FAT and NTFS, not FAT32, you couldn't create a FAT system partition greater than 2GB. Also, NTFS system partitions were limited to 4GB during the install phase up until SP4 came out. Taking this into consideration it was obvious that you had to put the NTFS parition for NT below the 1024-cylinder limit and have a maximum size of 4GB. So, my point is, should not an 8GB or smaller partition work for OpenBSD?If you want, I could test this theory at work this week.

Yes, it would work, but OpenBSD also pointed out that at later date if you compiile your own kernel or doing an upgrade to a newer version, you will run into a risk where the /root might be pushed over the 8 gig limit, which would also render the system useless as well.I own NT 4 as well, but I don't don't really use it because I prefer Windows 2003 over 2000 and over NT4.

[Guest ThunderRiver]

zox, perhaps you could post up all the links and howto's to make mplayer work with divx and xvid? Perhaps your summarized version will save me sometime to explore it myself? I am glad that XMMS now comes with 8.2, back in 8.0, XMMS didn't come with SuSE, so I had to compile it myself. Mplayer didn't come with SuSE 8.0 either.

[zox]

Thunder, I will prepare instructions for you, in the mean time can you give it a shot and see if this works for you.There is two independent RPM builders of Mplayer with all codecs, one is for Redhat, the other is for Mandrake.On the bottom of redhat page, there is link to src-RPM's, which should in my opinion work with Suse and with any other distro that supports RPM.Would you mind giving this a chance, if it works it would help and make easy installation of Mplayer for the future.I did not try this so it is up to you.The web page of Redhat one is http://www.piorunek.pl/~dominik/linux/pkgs/mplayer/On the bottom direct link:http://www.piorunek.pl/~dominik/linux/pkgs...-0.90-1.src.rpm - Mplayerhttp://www.piorunek.pl/~dominik/linux/pkgs...t-1.0-3.src.rpm - Fonts (optional)http://www.piorunek.pl/~dominik/linux/pkgs...n-2.0-2.src.rpm - Skins (optional)When you double click, Suse's instal tool will come up and just click button "Install with YAST".That should work in my theory

[Guest ThunderRiver]

zox, I am not choosing RPM this time. Do you remember which line you changed in Makefile before compilation?I am compiling MPlayer with GUI enabled from scratch. I will post back resultOT: Linux really needs to fine tune its code. Even on Pentium III, it still runs very slow. Launching an application takes minutes. I have 512 Mb of RAM, but SuSE seems to have worse performance than its former version

[zox]

Ok, here you go :)Be warned, I am not 100 percent sure of the way, since I was fiddling back and forth until I got it, but this is pretty much what I did (what i can remember anyway):Ok, here is Mplayer home page:http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design6/news.htmlHere is the most important document, Installation manual (everything is in there):http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu/DOCS/documentation.htmlHere you can download Mplayer in source from any of the mirrors:http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design6/dload.htmlOn this page you can also download all the codecs you need:http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/Download the Win32 codecs from codecs page and install them to /usr/lib/win32 BEFORE compiling MPlayer, otherwise no Win32 support will be compiled.Read instructions as to what you want to enable or disable, it's straight forward and matter of just putting "enable" or "disable".Compile MPlayer with --with-xvidcore=/path/to/libxvidcore.a--enable-qtx-codecs for Quick time, etc..I thinks that should do it.I did it long time ago now and never wrote info, but for next time I might come back to this as a reference :)It is very possible that I missed something, but please before compiling read install manual.It will help with troubleshooting since I am no geek yet :PI wish this helps you.My next try will be with source RPM's to try and avoid all hussle.

[Guest ThunderRiver]

Hehe. no hussle. I was going to supply --enable-guibut I never made it cuz it keeps saying that GTK is not detected or something, so I say, well forget it.So now I can watch everything using command line..works fine

[zox]

If you want to have some GUI, then install KMplayer from YAST, but make sure you uncheck Mplayer.It will tell you something about breaking consistencies and such, but don't worry.Once you have only KMplayer installed, just start it and it will pick up your Mplayer automagically :)I couldn't enable GUI like you.From KMplayer is just easier to navigate and open files since you can just browse and open Bin file and it will play, where in command line you have to give it couple of parameters to run VCD from Bin file.

[Guest LilBambi]

MPlayer is a great program!We generally use MPlayer from command line (or with predefined settings in mc) but there have been times when the GMPlayer works great too, like reading direct from DVD.We have run GMPlayer in KDE and IceMW. Liked it so much never went to KMPlayer. Don't remember seeing the problems with 'breaking consistencies' with GMPlayer zox. Is that something that is unique to the KMPlayer GUI interface for MPlayer? (we are running it on RedHat).

[zox]

Don't remember seeing the problems with 'breaking consistencies' with GMPlayer zox. Is that something that is unique to the KMPlayer GUI interface for MPlayer? (we are running it on RedHat).

LilBambi, thanks for tip for GMplayer, I'll give that a try.In Suse, default installation of Mplayer that come with Suse, doesn't have support for Divx, Quicktime, WMV, etc.. due to licensing restrictions and somehow they bound Mplayer with KMplayer so they always install together.If you want to play those movies encoded with different codecs, you have to compile your own version of Mplayer with those codecs support.Because neither Thunder, nor me managed to compile Mplayer with GUI, basically we run it from command line, which works great and I am not complaining.However, I found workaround if you want to use KMplayer for your GUI (KMplayer is just a GUI shell for Mplayer), you can just install it, but in Suse, since they are "bound" together it gives you message about consistencies if you pick only one of the two.You have to purposly break that bound between Suse default Mplayer and KMplayer in order to use KMplayer with your own compiled version.Phew,..I hope I didn't complicated matter further

[Guest LilBambi]

Yes, getting all the codecs and then compiling it yourself is the only way to fly with MPlayer ;)I didn't need as much for my MPlayer and GMPlayer so I used RPMs on my RedHat, but Jim wanted everything ... so he compiled his own MPlayer and keeps up on the changes as they come along. His compilation is much better than my RPM based installs ;)He also burns all the tar.gz's to CD and keeps the previous ones...just in case a new one doesn't work right so he can revert to previous working version.

[Guest ThunderRiver]

yaeh I don't understand why I could not get it to work. It is like a bug because I have the latest version of GTK installed according to SuSE, and yet, MPlayer says I don't have the GTK. How interesting? Today I even ran into incompatibility problem when I was copying some url from gaim and paste it to xchat, and it turns out that it doesn't work. Who knows why.

[Prelude76]

Guys, i'm gonna try this out. it's a SuSE-compiled Mplayer rpm with all codecs enabled, + links to all codecs needed.http://packman.links2linux.de/index.php4?action=128Also, i heard there's a way to manually tweak the /etc/rc.config file to add custom packages to the YAST installer. I wonder if there's a way to trick YAST into thinking the real mplayer is loaded, therefore not giving errors when Kplayer is installed. just a thought. if any of the more experienced suse users know how to do this, please post results. Also, I want to install Mozilla 1.4 thru Yast instead of default 1.2 version. Maybe it can be tricked this way too.SuSE's explanation is that they only support the packages shown (like mozilla 1.2) for 100% compatibility reasons.

[Prelude76]

http://packman.links2linux.org/index.php4?action=128For any SuSE users, i tried this out. If you want MPlayer to play most formats, visit this page, and load up the Mplayer rpm file, and also all (about 8) rpm packages shown below. It works perfectly. One or two movies still dont play, i'm gonna go to windows and find out which codec they use (not sure how to do it in linux) and report back. they might be divx 5.

[Guest ThunderRiver]

I actually tried KPlayer, but I find that the GUI actually slows down the movie playing dramatically, so I uninstalled KPlayer and goes back to command line ;)Mplayer in my system current support wmv, divx, xvid, mpeg2 (SVCD), mpeg (VCD), and some of the codec I haven't figured out how to enable are quicktime, realplayer 8/9ThunderRiver

[Prelude76]

i didnt try kplayer, though i read somewhere that if you have kplayer, it makes loading codecs into suse easier. i just downloaded the fixed mplayer and all codecs and most of my movies play. do you know any easy way in linux or windows how to identify the codec? i tried 7 movies, 5 played, 2 didnt in suse. i used aviinfo in windows and it said 'unknown divx codec'. the 2 movies that dont play, they might be the hacked mpeg2v3 codec from microsoft. Nimo codec pack in windows loaded everything, but its like i'm still missing some divx-related codec in linux.p.s.- my mplayer works great in GUI mode, no slowdown. but there is an annoyances if i drag the fast foward bar, screen flickers blue. but its not too annoying, not enough to go back to windows also, i heard you can include quicktime and real player into mplayer, but you need to tweak the config file and recompile from source. im clueless still how to do that, so i cant help much. another question. how do u compare your sound quality playing mp3s in XMMS in suse, and in WMP9 in Windows? something in suse just doesnt sound optimal. almost like too much background noise.

[beeTee]

I'm new to Linux as well as SuSE. So I'll just post here with Thunder and Prelude. although I'm sure my requests will be of a much more basic level.:unsure:Here I sit, very tired, and I can't figure how to update from files on a disk. I have a fresh install of SuSE 8.2 pro. I have a CD full of update files burned from our server at work. like ***.noarch.rpm and ***.wbm.gz. dating from the latest back into 2002. I'm sure it's something obvious, but I just can't find it at the moment!!! I'd like to get this accomplished, as I don't know when the next time I will be able to turn on my computer here at home any help will be greatly appriciated.

[Prelude76]

i noticed that different distros have their own .rpm installers.for example, i spent 3 days searching net for mozilla with anti-aliasing enabled (for beautiful fonts). some installed manually but didnt have anti-aliasing, and suse didnt recognize it. then found some redhat 8 rpms, and by doubleclicking the rpm from Konqueror, it launches Yast2, but then goes to list of programs (meaning its not supported). i finally found the obvious best place for rpms for suse, here:ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/mozilla/I went to 'expiremental/gtk2' and clicked on the mozilla 1.4b i586 rpm file (first one). it launched Yast2, and installed. they even have firebird builds there too.so basically, try to find rpms that say they are designed specifically for suse, and if they are, just doubleclicking the RPM file launches the Yast installer and configures it automatically. if its not, i heard you can do it thru command line (Bruno may help there) or theres also an apt2rpm program that greatly simplifies installed non-SuSE rpms. I havent tried that yet, as i've found suse-equivalent rpms for everything i needed so far.maybe zox or thunderbird can help more, i'm still learning on the fly. doing alright though.

[zox]

Prelude, those are some fantastic links.Thank you very much.I couldn't find so far much of a Suse community, although if I spoke German I would probably find it :)On the other hand, Mandrake seems to be a hit for Desktop.Mandrake community is the biggest and there are numerous forums online with help and everything.So once I get sick and tired of Suse, I'll probably ditch it for Mandrake.I am running Mandrake 9.1 on my server and it is flawless so far.

[zox]

beeTee,I am not really sure what do you want to update (maybe I didn't understand), but if you want to change your install path, you can easily do it through YAST in Suse.Start YAST, type in root password, click on Software/Change Source of Installation.You will get new Popup window where, on bottom left you click on "Add" button which reveals desired protocol, "FTP", "HTTP", "SAMBA", etc..I assume you want the bottom one "Local Directory", type in path to your directory or click "Browse" and pick your directory with updates.That is it.Now make sure you disable CD and enable your Local Directory and you are all set.you do it if you select CD in list that was there by default, click on bottom right button "Enable or Disable".As you click on a button, notice how you toggle "On" "Off" in front of the name of CD.make sure CD is "Off" and select your directory and enable it "On".I hope I didn't make it too complicated and I also hope I didn't miss the point entirely Anyway, good luck and tell us how you managed.

[Prelude76]

OMG ZOX! you rock!!!!I had trouble installing Mozilla Firebird. So i added it to a local directory as you said, then it popped up saying i needed an ILD something library as a dependecy. Yast2 is quite powerful! one thing, you Don't have to disable the CD source. i left both enabled, searched for firebird, it found it, and auto-installed installed the ILD library it needed from suse 8.2 CD2. wow. piece of cake.

[beeTee]

Start YAST, type in root password, click on Software/Change Source of Installation.You will get new Popup window where, on bottom left you click on "Add" button which reveals desired protocol, "FTP", "HTTP", "SAMBA", etc..I assume you want the bottom one "Local Directory", type in path to your directory or click "Browse" and pick your directory with updates.

I'll give this a shot next time I can get my computer on at home. I was pretty spent last night, so the obvious just wasn't registering I'm at work now, so I'll just have to study up here a bit more. Hope I can get a chance soon.I thought that there was a "general" update, analogous to "windows update" that took care of the "basics". I guess not. I won't get to try again until Sunday at the earliest.

[Bruno]

Hi beeTee,Any luck with updating that way ? Looks clever to me, getting your updates on a high speed connection at work and burning them to CD for later install at home.SuSe seems to grow on you, I can see you´re having fun ! Bruno

[beeTee]

Gday Bruno,Yes, I like learning with SuSE, but there hasn't been any time. and when I do get "on", it's after a 12 hour shift and a couple hours with my daughter before putting her to bed. I'm like silently chanting, come on, come on, get sleepy, get sleepy, tired eyes, youaregettingVERYsleepy..... Then I run upstairs and sitdown and watch the monitor blur in front of my eyes!! So I'm breaking all the rules as far as changining configurations/settings after a certain hour is concerned !! I can't find the things I just found, etc, etc, and if I do, then they don't make much sense (kinda like me at the moment!!). I know it's going to take a while. I just have to remember, that I've been working with/learning with windows for 10 years, it'll take some time to get funky with Linux. Right now, it's getting funky with me. Hows Adam this morning? THe Alps were showing themselves this morning on the way to work. and the autobahn is empty at 0615 Saturday morning. gotta love it.

[Bruno]

beeTeeAt least you have the ¨hunger¨ to learn, that is a good start. Having a good rest and strong coffee before venturing in to something new does help ;)A´dam is rainy and grey, good weather to spend the day at the computer. :DLove the Alpes, did lots of hiking in Austria and Switserland, makes you feel small and great at the same time. Bruno

[Prelude76]

'tis rainy here in Canada too. computer weekend anyways, for any SuSE users, just add a general folder in /home/ (i made /home/new installations/ ) and put your downloaded RPMs in there. then add that directory the way zox described. but you dont need to disable the CDrom. i have mozilla 1.2 in CDrom from SuSE, and i downloaded Suse's 1.3 version, and they BOTH show up in YAST2, and you can simply 'check' the version you want installed.p.s. - Mozilla Firebird installed, but was so buggy it was unusable. and mozilla 1.4b isnt ready yet. can't delete bookmarks for some reason, so i dumped it and loaded mozilla 1.3 and it works very nice.also, load up Evolution from the CDs. D*** sweet emailing program. just like Outlook XP.hey, does anyone know how to make mozilla's "send link..." to automatically open Evolution email? there was an option in 1.4b, but didnt load anything, and this version 1.3 doesnt even have the menu item for "send link..."