FAQ

From openSUSE-Community

[edit] Installing openSUSE

[edit] What are the different installation methods?

The information below is for openSUSE 11.1:

• 2 Live-CD, in KDE 4 or Gnome flavor -- in x86, x86_64 and PPC and versions.
• 1 DVD -- in x86, x86_64 and PPC and versions. The DVD contains more packages than the Live-CD. The retail DVD, being a double-layer, contains more packages. The following languages are included: English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Chinese (Simpl. & Trad.), Japanese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Dutch.
• Language Add On CD -- in x86, x86_64 and PPC and versions. Contains extra language packs for other languages. These are af, ar, az, bg, bn, br, bs, ca, cy, el, eo, et, eu, fa, fy, ga, gl, he, hi, hr, is, kk, ko, lt, lv, mk, mn, ms, nds, nn, pa, ro, ru, rw, se, sk, sl, sr, srLatn, ss, sv, ta, tg, tr, uz and vi.
• 1 CD Mini-ISO -- in x86, x86_64 and PPC and versions. This is a small, roughly 70 Megabyte ISO which can be used for a netinstall. There's more info on this at INSTALL_Internet
• Installation without a CD. This installation method doesn't require a CD or DVD, but relies on you mounting the ISO and then booting to it. Some great instructions for this are available on the openSUSE.org wiki: Installation_without_CD , it will of course help that you have a fast connection here.

All the ISOs are downloadable from Download

[edit] openSUSE and Software

[edit] Software Repositories

[edit] I'm a beginner and I never heard about "Package Management" before. Can you explain me ?

People often ask how to install packages in openSUSE, and it is sometimes hard to explain. The purpose of our guide Pkgmgmt101 is to be an introduction to the package management in openSUSE, and give the minimum amount of information for a newcomer to get going.

[edit] What other software repositories can I enable and add?

We recommend that you add the online openSUSE package repository as well as the Packman repository. For more information on these and a quick howto, see Repositories.

[edit] Are packages X, Y, Z available anywhere? How can I search for packages?

The vast majority of packages will be available in the standard recommended repositories, which we have a tutorial for adding (here: Repositories). However, there are hundreds of other packages available through the Build Service as well. There is a package search which will search the standard online repository, Guru, Packman, as well as the Build Service, here: http://packages.opensuse-community.org

Package_Search holds information on adding this search capability in your web browser.

[edit] "A ZYpp transaction is already in progress"

If you get this error at any time, make sure that all programs that might be using the package management system have been closed down. This includes Zypper, Smart, and most YaST processes. If you are sure that none of these are running, then one of them might be misbehaving. To kill the offending process, execute:

[edit] Restricted Formats (MP3/MPEG-4/Encrypted DVDs/Quicktime/Realmedia/Flash/Java)

For a guide and help on getting any of these restricted formats working on openSUSE, take a look at our guide at Restricted Formats.

[edit] Specific Softwares

[edit] How-To upgrade to the Latest KDE?

openSUSE always provides the latest version of KDE, should you want it. There's a wonderful guide for setting this up at KDE/Upgrade

[edit] Can I get Compiz running on openSUSE?

Sure. Compiz is available on the openSUSE CDs and in the Build Service, with always the latest packs available; there's a guide and more information on Compiz available at Compiz

[edit] How-To integrate Mozilla Firefox?

[edit] ... with KDE?

Here is a guide on setting up kprinter, kdialogs, kpdf and other KDE integration into Firefox: http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/HOWTO_Integrate_Firefox_with_KDE

[edit] ... using the Oxygen theme?

If the os specific themes still do not give a nice integration, non official themes may be worth a try:

KDE 4 Oxygen theme: http://ramonantonio.net/kde-firefox/

[edit] ... using OS specific themes for Firefox 3?

As of Firefox 3 Beta 4, separate themes have been created for Mac OS X, Linux, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows Vista. When running on KDE or GNOME, Firefox 3 displays icons from the environment; thus, when the desktop environment icon theme changes, Firefox follows suit. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#Themes)
However, some themes have been made with a certain OS look and feel, this is to say that you can use i.e the XP theme on any Firefox:

• Vista theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/6839
  
• XP theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/7119
  
• Proto: see http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=646268

[edit] How-To install Aircrack-ng ?

See Aircrack-ng recompilation tutorial.

[edit] Hardware

[edit] Can I find a list of supported hardware around?

There is a nice Hardware Compatibility List available. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it contains a lot of information which may be of help.

[edit] Keyboard

[edit] How can I enable dead keys (i.e. for accents èàúŕ)?

Keyboard variant can be dynamically changed with the setxkbmap command. For example:

setxkbmap -variant "nodeadkeys"

turns dead keys off and

setxkbmap -variant "basic"

brings them back.

For a permanent configuration:

Since openSUSE 11.2: openSUSE does not use any xorg.conf from 11.2 on. Instead, everything is automatically handled with HAL. Thus you have to adjust you keyboard settings in the following file:

/etc/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-keymap.fdi

Here you can, for example, set xkb.variant to 'basic' in order to have all deadkeys enabled.

Prior to openSUSE 11.2: Configuration for X11 was done in etc/X11/xorg.conf. In the secton "InputDevice" where a keyboard is set as Identifier, you can set the following option:

Option "XkbVariant" "basic"

[edit] Graphics Card Drivers

[edit] How do I get the ATI/NVidia binary drivers up and running?

See NVIDIA tutorial or ATI tutorial.

[edit] Wireless

[edit] Is there a list of supported wireless cards available?

Sure, take a look at http://linux-wless.passys.nl/

Any card with a "green" status has native Linux drivers available. The majority of them can be compiled into the SUSE kernel by hand, but some, like Atheros and acx100 based chipsets, only need a few RPMs to be installed. Check in a non-OSS SUSE repository to locate RPMs, if any.

[edit] How can I get my Wireless card up and running?

For SuSE-10.0 and earlier versions, where proprietary Linux wireless drivers were made available by the manufacturer, there is a reasonable chance that an older wireless card will work immediately (after being configured within YaST by the SuSE user). For SuSE-10.1 and newer SuSE versions, and also for newer wireless cards, if a Linux wireless driver was proprietary, then SuSE may need additional rpms (such as the madwifi rpm, or may need to use the ndiswrapper), followed by configuring the card/driver with SuSE YaST.

For wireless cards where no native linux driver is available, it may be necessary to use ndiswrapper. A how to for ndiswrapper is located here: http://nextgen.no-ip.org/~andrew/linux/ndiswrapper/

[edit] Fonts

[edit] How to enable subpixel hinting (font smoothing) ?

See SubpixelHinting.

[edit] How can I use Microsoft fonts in Linux ?

See http://www.oooninja.com/2008/01/calibri-linux-vista-fonts-download.html

[edit] Communicate

[edit] My question isn't answered here or I'd like more help.

There are several methods for you to get more support, or just discuss a little more with the openSUSE community. This includes:

• The openSUSE Wiki
• Mailing lists
• IRC: #suse on irc.freenode.net
• Forums
• Usenet discussion groups

Join us! More detailed information is available at: Communicate

[edit] External Links

• SUSE Linux FAQ
• OpenSUSE.org Users FAQ