OpenSUSE Linux Rants

Zonker, you rock, brother. Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier has provided us with a nice explanation of enhancing openSUSE 11.2. He talks about adding repositories and packages. It’s a little more user-friendly to new users than my quick summary: OpenSUSE Linux: Quick Zypper Tutorial.

Aimed at new users, he provides a nice detailed article on repositories, packages, and how to use zypper to manage them from the command-line.

Excerpt:

“So you’ve got that shiny new openSUSE 11.2 system up and running. Now what? The default repositories have plenty of software, but there’s much more for openSUSE in community and semi-official repositories that you might find useful.

“openSUSE comes with an enormous amount of software in the official repositories. But, sometimes you just need something that isn’t in the default release. Either because the package isn’t offered through the official repos, or because you want to track software that’s ahead of the current release.”

Take a look at Enhancing openSUSE 11.2: Adding Repositories and Packages

I stole this straight from Joe Brockmeier’s blog, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This is a really cool list.

He has a list of the things that are unique about openSUSE over other distributions. Here’s the list he provided:

• YaST
• Zypper
• openSUSE Build Service
• The “Slab” menu — now upstream in KDE, but still unique to openSUSE / SLED on GNOME
• Default install “full of useful software”
• Forums (I was thinking of the distro itself, but it makes sense that the support and such from the forums is a good reason to use openSUSE.)
• Direct participation in upstream development of GNOME and KDE, and the choice of both in openSUSE
• “Polished” desktops — I do think we ship very well-polished versions of GNOME and KDE
• One-click install
• Retail box – Our retail box is a great way for beginners to get started with openSUSE
• Security features (AppArmor, SUSE Firewall)
• Mono integration – done very well in openSUSE
• Software Repos in the openSUSE Build Service (I’m a Gwibber fan, which lives in the “FunkyPenguin” repo)
• Some people like the DVD image with lots of software vs. live CDs with a minimal selection
• Several people mentioned stability, though this is hard to quantify and in my experience, stability is usually a benefit of Linux in general
• Dual-arch x86_64 implementation — so you can easily run 32-bit apps on 64-bit openSUSE
• Two-year lifespan — a reasonably long lifecycle for a release, not too short, but not aimed at mission-critical areas where a system will just run until it dies on
• the same OS version
• Server support — openSUSE makes a very good server distro
• An awesome mascot (really, Geeko wins that one hands down)

Nice work, Joe! Head on over to his blog entry to read the whole posting.

Basic system packages are missing in the text-only install (and minimal graphic install) of OpenSUSE 10.3, from what I can tell. I installed a machine using the minimal graphical install. When finished, I found that basic packages like ‘man’ and ‘ping’ and ‘vim’ and some other basic commands were missing. The ‘crontab’ was missing, for the love of all that is holy.

Searching around, I found advice on how to install the missing packages, which is useless, because I’m already slightly familiar with package installation with YAST. What I would like to find is a plausable explanation for why such basic packages are missing from the text-only install. ESPECIALLY when such packages were installed in the text-only installs of previous versions of OpenSUSE.

Seriously, this is one of those “slap me in the face with a 2×4″ duh types of things. Why on the face of this planet would they make such a decision? If there is a good explanation, I am dying to know the answer. Anyone with some insight is more than welcome to share their thoughts.

Anyone wanna help me out here?

INTRODUCTION

Now and then, you will likely need to familiarize yourself with a technically scientific process called “Fiddling With the Kernel.” There is quite a bit of documentation on this topic. I don’t want to go too far into the specifics of which options to set and how to tweak everything.

What I hope to do here is introduce you to a general overview of the steps involved with upgrading your kernel. I can hear it now, “You mean I can upgrade my kernel without knowing what CONFIG_INIT_ENV_ARG_LIMIT or CONFIG_USB_EHCI_ROOT_HUB_TT or CONFIG_SOUND_TRACEINIT means?” Why yes, yes, you can. I did this very process only yesterday, and I realized that I had done this process a number of times successfully. Thus, it seemed only fair to release it into the wild in hopes that someone else may benefit from it.

What on earth would possess someone to do something like upgrade a kernel? Well, let’s say you are using an RPM-based distro, such as OpenSUSE 10.x. You need the kernel source header files so that you can install the Nvidia driver for your new ultra-sick Nvidia card. You may need to compile the ndiswrapper kernel module. You may need to install VMware, which compiles a kernel module. Easy, right? Just install the kernel-source package that matches the kernel version you are running.

K, what if you have a newer kernel installed that the newest kernel-source package available? Or, what if you were anxiously awaiting some feature of the kernel that was just released, and you don’t want to wait for it to be available from a repository? There could be a host of reasons why you’d want to upgrade your kernel. This is a gentle introduction to one way of doing this.

Please be aware, though. You will usually not want to put a brand new kernel onto a production box, unless you have an exact reason in mind. Also, understand that you are doing this stuff at your own risk. Like I said, I did this yesterday, and have done it many times before. If you do it and your computer turns into radioactive hazardous waste (which it really shouldn’t do), don’t come crying to me.

All that disclaimer-ish junk out of the way, let’s get on to the cool stuff.

What will we be doing?

Step 1. – Download and unarchive the kernel source code
Step 2. – Prep and compile the kernel
Step 3. – Install the new kernel
Step 4. – Set up Grub
Step 5. – Reboot into the new kernel

GET THE KERNEL SOURCE

First things first. We’ll need the latest release of the kernel source code, available from none other than http://www.kernel.org/. On this page, you are looking for where it says, “The latest stable version of the Linux kernel is:”. Just to the right of the date on that line, there is a hyperlinked “F”. That is the Full source to the kernel. Right-click, copy the link.

Then, open a terminal and switch to root (with ‘su’). Change over to the /usr/src/ directory. Then, download the source using ‘wget’. When you’re done, unarchive it. This process should look something like this:

[1314][scott@linux:~]$ su
Password:
linux:/home/scott # cd /usr/src
linux:/usr/src # wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2
--13:14:20--  http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2
           => `linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2'
Resolving www.kernel.org... 204.152.191.5, 204.152.191.37
Connecting to www.kernel.org|204.152.191.5|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 46,737,783 (45M) [application/x-bzip2]

100%[=============================================>] 46,737,783   578.56K/s    ETA 00:00

13:15:36 (604.56 KB/s) - `linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2' saved [46737783/46737783]

linux:/usr/src # tar -xvf linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2

Then you hang for awhile until the source decompresses.

PREP AND COMPILE THE KERNEL

Next, we need to make sure we have everything installed as necessary. Depending on the machine and what you already have installed, you may need to install one or more packages. Here are a few of the packages I have had to install to make things work properly:

gcc – this is the compiler – you won’t get far without this
nfs-kernel-server – on pre-OpenSUSE 10.3 boxes, use nfs-utils
oprofile – about this package
ncurses-devel

An easy way to see if they are installed or which need to be installed is with the rpm command. Install missing packages with yast. Recheck to make sure everything is there:

linux:/usr/src # rpm -qa gcc nfs-kernel-server oprofile ncurses-devel
gcc-4.2-24
linux:/usr/src # yast -i nfs-kernel-server oprofile ncurses-devel
linux:/usr/src # rpm -qa gcc nfs-kernel-server oprofile ncurses-devel
gcc-4.2-24
nfs-kernel-server-1.1.0-8
ncurses-devel-5.6-41
oprofile-0.9.3-25
linux:/usr/src # 

If one of the packages doesn’t show up, go ahead and use YAST to install it. Also, note that the one package is nfs-utils on OpenSUSE 10.2 and older, and nfs-kernel-server on OpenSUSE 10.3.

Next, we need to compile the kernel. Put away the defibrillation paddles. Contrary to popular belief, this step does not cause cardiac arrest (at least it didn’t in the lab rats we trained on kernel upgrades).

In your terminal, make sure you are in the directory with the kernel source code, something like /usr/src/linux-2.6.24/. Make sure you are working with a clean directory. Then, we are going to grab the configuration of the kernel that is currently running. This is as simple as:

linux:/usr/src # cd linux-2.6.24/
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # make mrproper
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # zcat /proc/config.gz > .config
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 #

Just about every time a new kernel comes out, new configuration options appear in it. If we were to just jump right in and start compiling the kernel now, it would stop when it reaches each new option and ask us what we want to do with it. Fortunately, there is a simple way around this. Unfortunately, the cost of simplicity is that you are accepting the default values for these options. But again, the object here is to keep it simple. If you’re feeling leet and hardcore, you can always go back and fiddle.

To get around this problem, we run make menuconfig just like if we were going to go in and hand-tweak the kernel. Instead of doing a thing, however, we tab over to EXIT and hit ENTER. We make sure to save the configuration.

We are ready to compile the kernel and all the modules, done by running this commandline:

linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # make ; make modules ; make modules_install

Because we have left everything with default settings, we will be compiling here for a long time. Actual time spent depends on your hardware specs.

INSTALL THE NEW KERNEL

When all the compiling finishes, you need to do two more things. You have to install the new kernel and configure grub to use it upon restart.

Next, we have to get our new kernel installed. We just copy a few files and create an initial ramdisk. We will copy the kernel image and System.map to /boot. We can then generate an initial ramdisk from that kernel and System.map file. Finally, I also like to back up .config to /boot as well, just so everything is in the same place. To accomplish all of this, these are the commands you will execute:

linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # cp arch/`uname -i`/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.24
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # cp System.map /boot/System.map
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # cp .config /boot/config-2.6.24
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # mkinitrd -k vmlinuz-2.6.24 -i initrd-2.6.24

Kernel image:   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24
Initrd image:   /boot/initrd-2.6.24
Root device:    /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 (/dev/sda2) (mounted on / as ext3)
Resume device:  /dev/sda1
Kernel Modules: processor thermal scsi_mod libata ahci pata_atiixp fan jbd mbcache ext3 edd sd_mod usbcore ohci-hcd uhci-hcd ehci-hcd ff-memless hid usbhid
Features:       block usb resume.userspace resume.kernel
Bootsplash:     SuSE (800x600)
36561 blocks
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 #

Because I don’t really care to type all of that out every time, I have created a script that will do all of this for me:

#!/bin/sh

# EDIT THE KERNEL VERSION AS NECESSARY
KERNEL_VERSION=2.6.24

# REMOVE THESE FILES IF THEY ALREADY EXIST (I.E., IF WE ARE DOING THIS AGAIN
# FROM A PREVIOUS ATTEMPT)
# THE -f IS SO WE DON'T GET ALERTS IF THE FILES AREN'T THERE
rm -f /boot/bzImage-$KERNEL_VERSION
rm -f /boot/System.map-$KERNEL_VERSION
rm -f /boot/config-$KERNEL_VERSION

# COPY THE KERNEL OVER TO /BOOT AND BACK UP THE SYSTEM.MAP AND .CONFIG FILES
cp /usr/src/linux-"$KERNEL_VERSION"/arch/`uname -i`/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-$KERNEL_VERSION
cp /usr/src/linux-"$KERNEL_VERSION"/System.map /boot/System.map-$KERNEL_VERSION
cp /usr/src/linux-"$KERNEL_VERSION"/.config /boot/config-$KERNEL_VERSION

rm -f /boot/System.map
cp /usr/src/linux-"$KERNEL_VERSION"/System.map /boot/System.map

#MAKE THE INITIAL RAM DISK FOR THE NEW KERNEL
mkinitrd -k vmlinuz-$KERNEL_VERSION -i initrd-$KERNEL_VERSION
rm -f /boot/System.map

You should now have a kernel compiled very closely to the one your system is currently running, but with the newest kernel source. The compiled kernel image should now be in /boot, along with an initial ramdisk to go with it. All we have left is to set up grub to see the new kernel. Then, we can reboot into it.

SET UP GRUB

This is one of the easiest steps. We are going to open up a text file, copy and paste a few lines, change just a bit, and save the file back out. So go ahead and edit /boot/grub/menu.lst in your favorite text editor. You will see something like this:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Dec 30 21:00:56 MST 2007
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

Copy the section that begins with the line “####Don’t change this comment – YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###” and ends at the line “initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.12-0.1-default”. Your version number may be different. We are just duplicating the original kernel entry. We are not going to edit that one directly, because we want to use it to get back into the system in case things go south.

You should now have something that looks like this (the green is what I pasted as a new entry):

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Dec 30 21:00:56 MST 2007
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

Now, for the edits. Go to the ‘title’ line of that section you pasted. Change the title to reflect the new kernel, maybe something like this: “title openSUSE 10.3 – 2.6.24 [TEST]“. Then, we’re looking for the line that starts with “kernel”. Change the version on the end of “vmlinuz” to the correct version. In this case, it is 2.6.24. Then, change the line that starts with “initrd” the same way. These two paths are pointing to your new kernel image and your new initial ram disk image, respectively.

If you want to make sure that you have the paths correct, you can use file. If you have the correct files, this is what you will see:

linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # file /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24: Linux/x86 Kernel, Setup Version 0x207, bzImage, Version 2.6.24, RO-rootFS, root_dev 0x802, swap_dev 0x1, Normal VGA
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # file /boot/initrd-2.6.24
/boot/initrd-2.6.24: gzip compressed data, from Unix, last modified: Sat Jan 26 19:44:58 2008, max compression
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # 

If the files do not exist, you will see this:

linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # file /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24: cannot open `/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24' (No such file or directory)
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # file /boot/initrd-2.6.24
/boot/initrd-2.6.24: cannot open `/boot/initrd-2.6.24' (No such file or directory)
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # 

At this point, you should have the right paths to these two files and that you have them in your menu.lst file correctly. It might look something like this (the green bits are what I have changed):

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Dec 30 21:00:56 MST 2007
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.24 [TEST]
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24 root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.24

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1200BEVS-_WD-WXEX07392815-part2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-default

With this step, we’ve opened the grub configuration file and made a copy of the entry running the current kernel. Then, we’ve changed it to give it a new title, and pointed it to the new kernel and initial ramdisk. Save the file and exit.

REBOOT INTO YOUR NEW KERNEL

All that we really have left now is to reboot into the new kernel. We still have the original installed and working. The grub configuration for the original is still intact. Because of this, if we have any problems whatsoever, we can just reboot and use that kernel instead. So, we can reboot with this command:

linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # shutdown -r now

Broadcast message from root (pts/2) (Sat Jan 26 20:32:20 2008):

The system is going down for reboot NOW!
linux:/usr/src/linux-2.6.24 # 

When the grub menu comes up, make sure you select the entry called “title openSUSE 10.3 – 2.6.24 [TEST]” (or whatever you called the new one). You should be able to boot just fine off this kernel (this process has always worked for me). If not, reboot and select the original one when the grub menu appears. This will get you back into your original kernel.

From our friends in Germany:

With the new year beginning we kick start major development into the next version of openSUSE: openSUSE 11.0 (roadmap). A very early alpha version, Alpha 1, is now available for download and testing.

The Beautiful New Look of the Installer

Despite many other products being developed in parallel to Factory, we have seen a heavy stream of development on it, so it is really worth a try if you have time for testing. Note, however, that it is not suitable for production systems.

Changes since openSUSE 11.0 Alpha 0

We have seen 1026 package check-ins since Alpha0 and countless bugs fixed. The main changes against Alpha0 are:

• Sat Solver integration
  • Michael Schroder’s “sat solver” library is now the default package solver for libzypp, so make sure you doublecheck the selected packages – there might be suprises ahead. Please note that we need test cases for things that look funny to you (wiki link)
• Heavy changes to the appearance of the Qt installation (ported to qt4)
  • Note that it’s still in draft state and your feedback is welcome
• KDE 4.0.0
• perl 5.10
• glibc 2.7
• NetworkManager 0.7
• CUPS 1.3.5
• Pulseaudio

Most Annoying Bugs

Due to the huge amount of changes, there are also several noticeable bugs:

• The new solver does not yet have a “ignore this requirement” choice, i.e. it’s not possible to create a broken system. We’re still discussing if this is a bug or a feature
• the CDs lack a huge amount of software. Many packages had to be taken out to make way for others. The CDs should still have a a completely working desktop, however.
• the Qt port and its theme are early releases and create noticeably more flickering and drawing glitches, e.g. the progress bar is only visible on some installations
• jpackage packages are broken and one package will complain during installation – just ignore
• the installation crashes at the end when creating the x11 proposal: in this case, your desktop will still have a working X config, it just might not be the perfect one. You may need to call sax2 after it happens
• PPC cannot be installed as the bootloader config can’t be written out. However, you can get a working PPC system when updating from alpha0

Media and Download

Please refer to software.openSUSE.org/developer for direct links to all the available media.

Have a lot of fun!

30,000 desktops and 18,880 servers is quite a huge amount of machines to migrate. But that’s just what Elcot (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu) has done over the past couple of years. It all started with one little laptop and SUSE Linux. But as people saw just how easy it is to use, how well it works, and how economical it is, they just had to have it, too.

It’s all part of the Linux movement gaining increasing momentum, about which I wrote a couple of days ago. This particular migration took place in India.

Here is a quick excerpt from the story:

“That day, Elcot’s managing director, C. Umashankar, walked into his office in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and was handed a brand new laptop. He recalls promptly giving it back to his PA. ‘I asked him to load Suse Linux on it. I guess he was surprised. But when the installation — complete with drivers and wireless networking — only took 45 minutes and very little external effort, there was a new confidence in my PA.’ That confidence spread quickly. And with it came more penguins. Within weeks, the Rs 750-crore(Can$192 million)Elcot was undergoing a enterprise-wide migration to Suse Linux. A year later, Umashankar and his team had moved 30,000 computers and 1,880 severs belonging to some of the state’s schools to Linux — creating possibly the largest Linux rollout in India.”

Read more about one of the largest Linux migrations in India history.

So yeah, how you been? Me, good. Tryin’ to keep everything together… survivin’…. etc. K, let’s get to it.

Back in March, I bought myself a new laptop. The specs are on that link, but the hardware of interest to this article is the wifi card. It is a Broadcom BCM94311MCG. I’m not a wireless fan, so I didn’t worry about setting it up until recently, when I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday. Her card is the same as mine, but to use it, she had to boot into the Windows partition. As the truly informed can attest, this is unacceptable.

I set out to get the wireless working on my laptop so I could get Windows off hers. Go me.

The exact specs of the wireless card, as listed by 'lspci -v' are:

0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 0007
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at ecffc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [58] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable-
Capabilities: [d0] Express Legacy Endpoint IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel

That’s the bad boy that we’re going to get set up with wireless in this very article on an openSUSE 10.3 laptop. Let’s have a moment of silence.

A basic outline of what we’ll cover: 1) First, determine the driver currently running the wireless card. We will then instruct the system never to load that driver ever again (and make a few threats just in case). 2) Second, we are then going to set up ndiswrapper to run the card. 3) Third and finally, we will set up the system so that when we reboot the machine, ndiswrapper is automatically loaded and we can hop on our wireless connection easily.

The kernel module that serves as the device driver for this wireless card is called ‘bcm43xx’. As root, remove it from memory, as in this example:

[2338][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # rmmod bcm43xx

Now, we have to politely instruct the system to refrain from loading this module ever again. To do this, we are going to ‘blacklist’ the module. As root, edit /etc/modprobe.conf.local . Add this line to tell it to never load the bcm43xx module:

blacklist bcm43xx

Ndiswrapper is a way to use a Windows driver in Linux. Thusly, the first thing you need to do is grab said Windows driver from this link. Download it to somewhere that you will remember. When it is done, go there, and extract the file (can be done as regular user):

[2339][scott@laptop:~]$ tar -jxvf bcmwl5.tar.bz2
bcmwl5/
bcmwl5/bcmwl5.inf
bcmwl5/bcmwl5.sys
[2339][scott@laptop:~]$

Next, as root, let’s install ndiswrapper using YAST with this simple command:

[2340][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # yast -i ndiswrapper 

Now we need to get ndiswrapper to run the wireless card. This is done as root as in this example:

[2341][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # ndiswrapper -i /path/to/bcmwl5.inf

You can use ndiswrapper to make sure it worked like this:

[2342][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # ndiswrapper -l
bcmwl5 : driver installed
        device (14E4:4311) present

If you see something like that, you are golden.

Next, we need to write a config file for ndiswrapper. This is done with the following command (as root):

[2342][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # ndiswrapper -m

Remove all CAT-5 cables from your machine, and then let’s start up ndiswrapper (as root):

[2342][scott@laptop:~]$ su
Password:
laptop:/home/scott # modprobe ndiswrapper 

It’s just about set up. Now, we need to make sure it will work properly when we reboot. We also need to put in the wireless networking configuration for this adapter.

Now obviously, when the machine reboots, we want to ensure that ndiswrapper is loaded and used to run this wifi card. To do this is absolute cake. Go into YAST, go into the Network Devices, and then into the Network Card. Select the Broadcom wifi card in the list of adapters. Click CONFIGURE. In the HARDWARE tab, there is a drop-down box called “Module Name”. Type ‘ndiswrapper‘ in there. Click NEXT to configure your wireless network settings for this adapter.

If you have set up the wireless access point, you should know all the configuration details that should be entered into this screen. If you don’t, you can ask your system administrator to help you figure it out. In any case, fill out this screen with all the appropriate information.

Click NEXT again, and then FINISH.

Take all CAT-5 cables out of your machine, and reboot. When it comes back up, use iwconfig and ifconfig to see if you have an IP address. Head to google and search for something. If you are able to do this, you are in great shape. As such, we are done here.

Job information is as follows. Please contact Jana directly.

Position: Sr. SUSE Linux Architect/ Analyst
Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 14+ Months
Rate: Negotiable
Location: Peoria, IL
Job ID: 10-5-OSTA

Background:
Provide technical expertise, consultation and guidance for the development, deployment, support, as well as performance tuning for Linux (SLES 9/10sp1) for the power and x86 processor chipsets.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBIBITIES include but not limited to:
The candidate will be expected to have experience with network based enterprise deployments of SUSE Linux enterprise server.
Must possess a deep technical knowledge of SUSE Linux Enterprise server and have hands-on experience in deploying and troubleshooting systems in a large scale enterprise environment
Must possess a deep technical knowledge and have hands-on experience with driver integration for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for both Intel and Power based platforms
Must possess an expert level of knowledge for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server provisioning tools
Must possess excellent interpersonal and communication (both written and verbal) skills with the ability to interact effectively in a working team environment

MANDATORY SKILLS/EXPERIENCE:
Experience with provisioning enterprise Linux server builds using YaST or other automatic network based server build solution required
Experience with Bash shell scripting required
Experience with Setup and creation of a network deployment depot
Experience with implementing, configuring, maintaining and troubleshooting SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Experience with System p Virtualization technologies (Power 5 + virtual I/O)

Special Requirements:
This individual will normally work first shift, although they need to be shift-flexible. They will be expected to work additional hours when required, including 2nd shift, 3rd shift, weekends and holidays. This individual will be expected to be on a rolling call list to provide after hours support. They will be asked to carry cell phone and/or pager.

The external associate will provide knowledge transfer to existing team members whenever possible. Recommended activities include:
Providing mentoring and guidance to team members on their areas of expertise
Attending and actively participating in Action in Review (AiR) and/or Action Oriented Debrief (AOD) sessions (Lessons Learned sessions)
Communicating lessons learned or best practices to team members
Submitting lessons learned or best practices for publishing within knowledge repository when the potential for reuse in other areas exists
Creating any documentation necessary to support, sustain, or reinforce knowledge sharing activities and ensuring it is stored where the team can access it if the associate transfers to another assignment. (ex: job aids, process and procedure, reference documentation, contact lists, background on strategy decisions, etc.)

For more information, please contact:

Jana Schoberg
Resource Manager/ Technical Recruiter
WiseChoice IT
414.773.0670 – phone
414.607.2066 – fax
janaschoberg@hotmail.com – email
www.wisechoiceit.com – website
www.linkedin.com/in/janaschoberg – LinkedIn

Acquiring and retaining new users is how we are able to help grow the Linux user base. Contributing to this requires helpful and informative how-tos, much like those supplied by my good buddy Falko Timme. He has written many many great howtos and tutorials on good, better, best, and PERFECT ways to use Linux. One of his most recent posts includes “The Perfect Desktop – OpenSUSE 10.3 (GNOME).”

Excerpt:

“This tutorial shows how you can set up an OpenSUSE 10.3 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge.”

Take a look at this well-written post, as it is packed with excellent information. We’ll forgive him for recommending Gnome over KDE.

Read the entire post here.

One thing that this latest release of OpenSUSE Linux has demonstrated to me is their willingness to listen to the community. What were the major gripes with prior versions of OpenSUSE? The package manager and multimedia codecs were definitely two of the primary ones. Delighted was I to find that both of these things and a slew of others were the major points of improvement of OpenSUSE over previous versions.

These improvements were brought about through a survey posted earlier this year (results posted here). The successful execution of a survey does not end when the data is gathered, but when the results of the survey have an effect on the project. Team OpenSUSE posted the survey and over 27,000 people responded. Don’t be surprised that the outcome of that survey reflects heavily in the final GM release of OpenSUSE 10.3.

Well, everyone, they want your opinion again. There is a new survey, this time about YaST. So please spread the word. Blog about this survey, announce it wherever possible. Let’s further the cause, and get everyone’s input on how you use YaST, which parts are more important to you, and things of that nature. Show your support to the OpenSUSE folks and let’s give them as much great input as we can!

I wanted to take a moment and post a list of the major improvements from OpenSUSE 10.3 over previous versions.

1. Improved boot times – down to just about half of what it used to be (27 seconds from 55 seconds)
2. One-Click Install – installs your RPMs and adds their associated package repositories
3. Package Management Overhaul – ZMD removed, replaced with improved libzypp, zypper, and OpenSUSE Updater
4. Compiz and Compiz Fusion – many added features, effects, and functionality for your 3D accelerated desktop
5. KDE 4 – option to check out the developments in the KDE 4 Desktop Environment
6. Gnome 2.20 – Tomboy sync between computers, evolution attachment reminder
7. 1-CD Installation/Multimedia Support – One CD for KDE installs, one CD for Gnome installs – no more 5-disc downloads
8. Codec Installer – ability to install needed codec support with the click of a button
9. Virtualization – many developments in OpenSUSE’s virtualization support
10. Tons of other sweet stuff – updater tool, repository merge (packman and guru), XFCE 4.4.1 availability, localization, OpenOffice 2.3, community repositories already available, KDEPIM enterprise branch, Giver, and KIWI

That is a very quick summary, more details as follows:

OpenSUSE 10.3 – Improved Boot Times

OpenSUSE 10.3 will include some great improvements to the init boot scripts which will dramatically decrease the time your computer takes to boot up. These come as the result of many different tests and research.

Tests done using a Sony Vaio VGN-FE11S, with completely default installs, local users, and IP configured via DHCP.
10.2 => 55 seconds
10.3 Beta 1 => 27 seconds!

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – One-Click Install: Hassle-Free Installation of Software

Once you click on 1-Click Install you are guided through a wizard that guides you through the simple process of installation the application. It will automatically add the repository for you and install the package.

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – New Package Management

OpenSUSE 10.3 is set to contain a new, significantly improved and more mature package management stack by default. ZMD, the package management component causing problems in SUSE Linux 10.1 and to a lesser extent in OpenSUSE 10.2, has been completely removed and is now replaced by the new libzypp and its tools.

new tools

zypper, an advanced, featureful command-line tool
OpenSUSE Updater, a software updater applet that notifies you about software updates

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – Compiz and Compiz Fusion

Compiz and Xgl are two classic examples of where SUSE engineers have revolutionised the Linux desktop. OpenSUSE 10.3 will contain the latest Compiz 0.5.4 installed by default, and Compiz Fusion – the result of a merge between the Compiz and Beryl communities – will be available in the official online repository for all to get through YaST.

features

1. having native KDE window decorations while still running compiz
2. Blurring of windows (such as inactive/background windows)
3. The ability to highlight particular areas of the screen or to just draw on any part of it – useful for presentations
4. The animation plugin produces beautiful window effects on window transformations.
5. Added cube effects, incl. viewing all desktops at once
6. Added accessibility features and functionality

CompizConfig Settings Manager

Compiz Fusion has a completely new manager for handling its plugins and settings, as well as all settings belonging to Compiz itself: ccsm. It has a more accessible and intuitive design while still retaining all the same configurability.

window navigation

There are now a couple of possiblities, a Ring Switcher and a Shift Switcher. The Ring Switcher rotates the Windows as you press Super+Tab, and the Shift Switcher focuses onto one window while placing the others to the side; you can then shift which window is focused, while throwing the others to the side.

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – KDE 4

The old component-style of packaging for KDE has also gone, and applications are now in separate individual packages. Games are the first components to be included in KDE 4. If you would like a LiveCD with KDE 4 on it, see the KDE Four Live CD.

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – SUSE-Polished GNOME 2.20

The new Note Synchronisation feature allows you to synchronise your notes with all the computers that have Tomboy. If you mention an attached file in an email you are sending, and forget to attach it, Evolution will now pop up a little reminder asking you if you really wish to send the email without an attachment. There is also considerable work done on the new GTK+ front-end to YAST.

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – 1-CD Installation & Multimedia support

In the past, OpenSUSE releases were primarily provided over 5 open source software (OSS) CDs, 1 optional non-oss add-on CD, or the 1 DVD which was the sum of those CDs. Though you only needed 3 of the first 5 OSS CDs for a default KDE and GNOME installation, it was not seen as an ideal scenario. Now the 5 OSS CDs have been commpletely dropped, and in their place comes two new CDs.

1 OSS CD for a complete KDE installation

1 OSS CD for a complete GNOME installation

An extremely nice feature in the installation of OpenSUSE 10.3 is the new default option of adding repositories before the installation. OpenSUSE has always had a default installation for each desktop environment, but it has also always given you the choice of installing exactly what packages you want from the given media.

OpenSUSE 10.3 – OpenSUSE Codec Installer

Now, with a completely default OSS installation, if you try to play an MP3 (in Amarok or Banshee) you will get a nice little dialog informing you that you have attempted to play an audio file that is currently not supported. It also gives you the option to install the additional codecs providing you with MP3. This link will take you to a place where you quite simply only need to click on one link, and, using One-Click-Install grab the GStreamer Fluendo codec for you and install it (not available in RC1, but will be in the final release), leaving you ready to play MP3s straight away!

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – Virtualization

VirtualBox – VirtualBox is a wonderful new open source virtualisation product, with a huge range of capabilities, and excellent documentation. As well as having nice enterprise features, for the regular openSUSE user it can be a great tool for trying out new installations or live CDs of openSUSE, and even other operating systems and distributions altogether.

Xen 3.1 – openSUSE gets all the enterprise Xen virtualisation features, such as full support for Xen 3.1 virtualization on both 32- and 64-bit x86-based architectures with the capability to host 32-bit virtual machines on 64-bit virtualization host servers. It also features support for both paravirtualization and full virtualization on the same server, leveraging both Intel VT and AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) processor capabilities. Also, a fully graphical and command-line virtual machine management tools for easy virtual machine (VM) administration and configuration, as well as tools for VM installation and lifecycle management.

VM YaST Module – To help with setting up and configuring Xen, openSUSE even has a nice Install Hypervisor and Tools (in the yast2-vm package) module which can do a lot of the work for you. After the install has finished you’ll have two extra YaST modules to create and manage virtual machines.

Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) – Also in this release is the latest Linux kernel virtualisation infrastructure, KVM. KVM itself is to be considered experimental, but it is progressing very quickly. The latest versions come with reports of even better performance and Windows Vista support.

more information here

OpenSUSE 10.3 – A Plethora of Other Great Improvements

OpenSUSE Updater as an Upgrade Tool too – ‘updates’ refers to patches, ‘upgrades’ refers to package versions – the OpenSUSE Updater tool does both of these important tasks

Guru Repository Merging into Packman

Xfce 4.4.1 – An impressive lightweight desktop environment – somewhere between window managers and full-blown desktop environments like KDE or Gnome

OpenSUSE Community Translations – The community is now able to participate in localization efforts

Redesigned Network Card Module – The new one is simpler, clearer, and better reflects the more common situations and usage of the network card module

OpenOffice.org 2.3 – bunches of new features – really there are too many to list

Community Repositories – added new Community Repositories module which provides you with a nice list of the main official OpenSUSE repositories, popular repositories from the OpenSUSE Build Service, and other repositories added by the community from other locations.

KDEPIM Enterprise Branch – This version contains a whole bunch of fixes and a few handy new features such as the Favourite Folders container

Giver – Easy Local File Sharing – To transfer images, files or even folders, all you have to do is drag it onto the person you want to send it to. They will get a small dialog asking them to accept or decline receiving the file. If they accept, it’ll pop up right onto their desktop. Simple!

KIWI – Unlike other system image tools, KIWI is completely configurable and has a very clean design. You can specify exactly the packages that you want, and you can build a full range of images including Live CDs, Installer Images, virtualisation systems like QEMU/VMware and Xen images, network (pxe) images and more. It is even now used as the base for LTSP in OpenSUSE.

more information here

Full details are available from the OpenSUSE Sneak Peeks page.

If you have any additional information or corrections to this list, please let me know!

YOU CANNOT MISS THIS PARTY!

We are having an OpenSUSE 10.3 RELEASE PARTY on the Novell campus. It will be in the Open Source Technology Center (building A) on Thursday at 6:00 PM. Alrighty, you have been tasked with spreading the word and bringing all your i-would-use-linux-but-i-only-know-windows-and-dont-know-how-to-learn-linux-unless-you-teach-me friends! We will have install servers available, and you may even get an earful of what’s new in OpenSUSE 10.3 from yours truly.

UPDATE: According to my sources, “Novell is going to cover pizza and soda.”

Click image for larger version

Image legend:
1. North-bounders coming in on I-15 take this exit (exit number 263, I believe).
2. South-bounders coming in on I-15 take this exit (exit number 263).
3. This is building A where the Open Source Technology Center (OSTC) is.

For those using Google Maps or Google Earth, the address is:

Novell
1800 Novell Pl
Provo, UT 84606

Everyone come.

From the homies out in Germany:

Hi!

After quite some rebuilds and testing, I’m happy to announce that RC1 looks 

brilliant and I’m hoping you’re looking forward as much as I did to update
all your computers to it.

Important Changes Since Beta3
=============================
 * libzypp 3.24
 * a second DVD9 titled "all the rest" (for the retail box)

 * Virtualbox 1.5
 * OpenOffice.org 2.3RC3
 * countless bug fixes in every component
 * 485 packages submitted

 * 535 bugs RESOLVED/FIXED
 
A more detailed list of changes is available via
http://en.opensuse.org/Factory/News .

Most Annoying Bugs
==================
 * Online update opens an annoying popup with the progress. We’ll prepare 

   an online update for it, so it will only affect the first update
 * On some machines we have problems with the kernel and ACPI - investigating,

   more data would be helpful
 * GNOME is not yet final - we will update this right after RC1 and prepare

   a RC2. This one will be internally, but you can get the update through
   Factory

 * 32bit PPC machines have a problem with dependencies that try to install
   64bit RPMs.

 * The bootloader config is not written out correctly on some updates
 * The sudo config on the live CD is broken

We’ll keep http://en.opensuse.org/Bugs:Most_Annoying_Bugs_10.3_dev updated
as we go.

Call for Testing
================

If you want to help testing our standard test cases, please coordinate with
others and subscribe to opensuse-testing!

(http://en.opensuse.org/Communicate/Mailinglists)

There is no focus area, please use the product as if it was final and you 

wanted to use it for real.

Please note that the live CDs will contain an installer, but that installer is 

still under development, so you can test it, but be more careful than with 
the normal install.

Media and Download
==================
openSUSE 10.3 RC1 for i386, x86-64 and ppc is available as different media

sets:
 * 1 DVD containing OSS and NonOSS software
   languages supported: English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish,

   German, Chinese (Simpl. & Trad.), Japanese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian,
   Polish, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, Dutch
 * 1 CD with a default KDE installation (not for ppc, English-only)

 * 1 CD with a default GNOME installation (not for ppc, English-only)
 * 1 AddOn CD with only NonOSS packages

 * 1 AddOn CD with language packages that are used for extra languages (only
   to be used with DVDs!)

 * DVD containing the sources corresponding to the media
 * 1 Live CD for both KDE and GNOME

openSUSE 10.3 RC 1 is available for immediate download from
 * http://software.opensuse.org/developer and
 * http://en.opensuse.org/Development_Version#Downloads (which also includes

   links to Delta ISOs)

Greetings, Stephan

– 
SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg)

– 
To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-announce+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxx
For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-announce+help@xxxxxxxxxxxx

After a few weeks’ worth of work, family vacations, my father having a stroke, and the full-time job of having a 2-year-old and 3-month-old (not to mention work and all that other stuff), the great news has arrived!

Announcing full access to the ebook library for everyone who wants it! There were many people who contacted me about the YAST book, “YAST – Installation and Management of Software”. The common theme was, “We don’t want to have to wait through the course to get the free ebooks, we want them NOW! Because I like to give people what they want, I have made it possible for everyone to get every ebook on this site in 2 clicks. Hopefully that’s up to par for what you want. You can request these books from the form in the left nav of http://www.suseblog.com/.

Here is the current run-down of ebooks available here (and a nice, fat plenty more are on their way):

You will find the form to get the ebooks in the left nav on suseblog.com, my openSUSE Linux blog. There are a number of other ebooks on the way. These won’t take as long to get finished, so we’ll have some new ones for you shortly.

For those who have not yet checked out the free “Intro to Linux” course, that is also still available, moved over to the right nav on suseblog.com.

Enjoy!

Hey, everyone. Stephan Kulow has announced the latest beta of OpenSUSE 10.3, as follows:

Hi!

AJ used to write here, that he’s glad to announce. I can’t say I am - I am 

relieved I can announce openSUSE 10.3 Alpha6 to you. I didn’t have a chance
to put too much testing into more than the i586 DVD5 and the KDE CD. But I 

didn’t want to wait any longer either. So I’m left with hoping the best.

Important Changes Since Alpha5

==============================

* Linux 2.6.22
* libzypp 3.11.8
* gcc 4.2
* Continued splitting of packages to reduce size

* Introduction of x86_64 CDs for both KDE and GNOME

This is a first alpha release containing the new refactored libzypp software 

management library. The goal was to deliver a working version for this alpha, 
so expect rough edges, unusal slowdown and behavior, for example YaST 

integration is really alpha quality. All bug reports are very welcome.

A more detailed list of changes is available via

http://en.opensuse.org/Factory/News .

Most Annoying Bugs
==================

* Network setup is still broken (e.g. Bug 292401) 

* Public key for checking release-notes.rpm is unavailable (Bug 292402) 
* Registration is broken (Bug 292404) 

* GNOME 2.19 is W.I.P. (Bug 292706 and Bug 292837)
* "Add default repositories" crashes the installation (Bug 292643)

As mentioned above, this might be the first alpha we release with known alpha 
quality.

Call for Testing
================

* libzypp/zypper
 
 Give this good testing. The integration into yast needs testing, zypper

 needs testing, updates would be good to test.
 Please note that the zypp development team collected a huge collection of

 test cases and these pass. So while the new libzypp version didn’t get much
 real life testing, our hopes are high it will work out for you.

* GNOME

 The desktop doesn’t give a good impression to first time users at the moment. 

Media and Download
==================

openSUSE 10.3 Alpha6 for i386, x86-64 and ppc comes as different media

sets:
* 1 DVD containing the contents of the 5 CDs and the NonOSS AddOn CD

* 1 CD with a default KDE installation (not for ppc yet)
* 1 CD with a default GNOME installation (not for ppc yet)

* 1 AddOn CD with only NonOSS packages on it
* 1 AddOn CD with language packages that are used for extra

  languages (the DVD contains support for english, french, italian, spanish,
  german, chinese, japanese, czech, danish, norwegian, khmer,

  hungarian, polish) (the DVD has support for installation in all
  languages, just extra packages are only on this extra media)

* DVD/CDs containing the sources corresponding to the media

We have created Delta ISOs from openSUSE 10.3 Alpha5.  Please use them

for download.

The DVDs and the source media are only available via bittorrent.

Please report all bugs you find on in our bugzilla as explained in
http://bugs.opensuse.org, discussion is most appropriate on the

opensuse-factory@xxxxxxxxxxxx mailing list.

To download media, please use the links provided at:
  http://en.opensuse.org/Development_Version#Downloads

Greetings, Stephan

Download it. Take a look. Love it. Live it. OpenSUSE.