Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Getting nVidia working on OpenSUSE 11.2

This guide will be a combination of code and clicks.. if you know what I mean..

1. Open a terminal. Type

su -c 'hwinfo --gfxcard'

This will tell you what sort of card you have

2. Go to

YaST -> Software -> Software Repositories -> Add

Protocol: HTTP
Server Name: : download.nvidia.com
Directory on Server: /opensuse/11.2

Just put nvidia if it asks for the name of the repository..

3. Go to

YaST -> Software -> Software Management

to install the NVIDIA driver. The appropriate NVIDIA packages will be
autoselected, if your card is supported.

4. Install the drivers that come up as highlighted (there were two files for my GeForce MX400).

5. Press Ctrl + Alt +F1

6. Type "su" into a terminal

7. Enter password

8. Type "init 3"

9. Do "su" again plus password

10. Type "sax2 -r"

11. The last command will load a window where you can set the settings for your screen.

12. Save and finish doing settings.

13. Type "exit"

14. Type "init 5"

15. When desktop loads again you can set what you want your system to do - Compiz etc.

Note: I found that Youtube now works great in Fullscreen - used to be choppy.
Note: When I set Desktop Effects at the end of this runthrough I found that my terminal window goes white when I bring it to the front. I disabled all desktop effects to stop this happening.
Note: When I tried the 1-click install method on the OpenSUSE site it destroyed my system. This is my second attempt. Had to completely reinstall OS.

Reference: I got all this from 3 main pages..

1.

Nvidia Installer HOWTO for SUSE LINUX users

Note: I just changed the bits that said 11.1 to 11.2!!!

2. Linux Shortcuts and Commands (the first command!)

3. Configuring Graphics cards (the configuration bit)

Good luck.

PS I have not shut down and restarted my system yet... Let's hope it's all good.
I'm gonna try Chromium BSU next. I know that needs proper drivers.

Note: Good page for configuring Fedora 12 here

Distro Review: Fedora 12 | Adventures In Open Source





No comments: