Techie
NVIDIA 177.82 Linux Drivers Released (openSUSE 11)
New drivers for NVIDIA based cards have been released
Release Highlights
Added support for the following new GPUs:
Quadro NVS 450
Quadro FX 370 LP
Quadro FX 5800
Quadro FX 4800
Quadro FX 470
Quadro CX
Fixed a problem on recent mobile GPUs that caused a power management resume from S3 to take 30+ seconds.
Fixed a problem with hotkey switching on some recent mobile GPUs.
Fixed an image corruption issue seen in FireFox 3.
Download x86 here
Download x86_64 here
To install simply run:
Assuming you’re running x86_64
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-177.82-pkg2.run
You can uninstall the previous version of the nvidia driver by running:
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-177.82-pkg2.run –uninstall
ps. I would give a report on it, but like I said in my posting a few minutes ago.. my Beta 5 box is blah’ed up.. and NVIDIA driver doesn’t seem to be working correctly due to the new kernel.. I suspect it to work fine on openSUSE 11.0 / 11.1 Beta 4 and earlier.
My beta 5 woes - :(
Boy Oh Boy.. have I been having some issues after updating to the second sync of Beta 5 this morning.
#1 OpenOffice will not open anything over smb protocol.. Bugzilla 443467
#2 With Compiz when I close krdc (on KDE 3.5.10) it kills my whole X session (this is with xrdp and dmx packages installed) Bugzilla 444249
#3 KSnapshot kills my X session much like krdc (on KDE 3.5.10) Bugzilla 443819
#4 xrdp isn’t working with KDM due to pam issues, also when I have gdm I am still getting other errors Bugzilla 441750
#5 After installed the newest sync of beta 5 (as of this morning) the Kernel 2.6.27.5-2.2 seems to have killed my NVIDIA driver, and NVIDIA driver will not work as previous (I suspect kernel upgrade did it, as the other packages installed don’t seem to have anything to do with it) Note: This actually seems to be a compiz issue, where GLX will not stay loaded
#6 Ok.. not really a bug.. but some direction would be nice: removal of emerald or fix for emerald to work with NOMAD patch for X to get xrdp working Bugzilla 431846
All in all, this build of Beta 5 .. has given me quite the headaches..
How are other fairing with Beta 5?
The sad state of emerald for compiz & its possible demise
As some of you may know, emerald is a very nice themer for compiz. However, recently a major patch was applied known as the “nomad” patch. The patch was applied on Tuesday Sept 16th and has ripped havoc for people who use Emerald.
So you’d imagine someone just needs to fix emerald. However, emerald is no longer maintained which means, unless someone really steps up it’ll just be a memory.
So what are the choices for openSUSE 11.1?
Remove compiz-emerald to keep the number of bug reports down
Find someone to maintain emerald (alot harder then just removing it)
Applying a home built hack patch to keep in 11.1 and gracefully remove from 11.2 with correct notification to the community.
Revert back to compiz pre-nomad patch (not sure about the regressoins of this).
I personally have reverted back to the “pre-nomad” version of 0.7.8 (you can modify the spec file, and just remove the patch2) .. and am keeping emerald (as I like having control of the size of my taskbar etc.. since I think all the KDE Decorations waste tons of desktop space.
Edit: Does anyone know the version of Compiz / Compiz Emerald on Ubuntu 8.10 and if it works? If it does, why can’t the patch there be used for openSUSE emerald? If they opted “not” to use the NOMAD patch, why do we “have” to? < Dunno why I just thought of that.
openSUSE 11.1 YaST preview - What’s the next step?
With the latest builds of YaST, I would have to say it is far from “Yet another Setup Tool”. I consider it “The ultimate Setup Tool”. That’s right, I think YaST which ships with openSUSE is the most complete, and comprehensive configuration / management tool. Furthermore in openSUSE 11.1 YaST is being shipped with many enhancemnts in the printer, software repositories, partitioner and more.
In this writing I’ll just show you some screenshots of the newly redesigned yast module gui’s. However later I will show more detail on how to use several of them including the newly revamped printer, partitioner one etc.
So lets start off with the printer module.
Software Repository module
Partitioner module
So there you have some quick previews of the revamped modules. Now.. onto the real wonder.. that being “What’s Next?”.
I think YaST as a standard setup tool across multiple distributions would be the “right step” for the normal home user. To put it in Windows terms, it’s like Control Panel on crack. Zonker talks about splitting YaST from openSUSE for it to be forked to other distributions in this posting of his.
Sorry this isn’t a more in depth review of the individual modules, like I said earlier, that’ll come later (as long as time permits).
So here’s a poll.. just wondering if you think YaST should be ported or not:
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Remembering and using the forgotten screen for remote administration
A co-worker was overlooking my shoulder today while I was working (blasted.. I hate that) and he saw me going through several screens in one shell window and was wondering how I was doing it.
I told him I was just using screen. *silence* … yeah screen..
After another moment of awkward silence, I realize that most people have forgotten about screen. Why use screen when you can just have tons of shells? Why run screen if I can just use that cool 3D compiz thing and put them on different desktops.
Well kids.. (my birthday was on the 4th.. I turned an ancient 27 years old.. so I can address others as kids now), screen has many other functions then just letting me run something in a different window. Have you ever had to ssh to a server, do some functions.. then realized it’s time to hit the bar with your buddies? Well then, screen would have been your friend there. Instead of telling your friends “Hey, I gotta sit here at work and finish something up, because I can’t log off and break this”, you could say “Hey, wait up a minute, let me start this and packup and leave.” How you may wonder. Easy, with screen, here’s how:
ssh to the server needing something done (lets just say a zypper update for the simplicity of this).
Now type:
screen -S zypper
This will bring you to a new prompt.
Now type:
sudo zypper up -y
This will update all our packages saying yes to them
Now just press:
ctrl+a then d
You’ll see something that says [detached] and you’ll be thrown to your original prompt.
Now you could log off (log off you say.. you’re nuts.. I’m updating).. Well your screen session is detached and still running, you can log off and it will still be running.
So now you’re done with your binge drinking, sobered up (I do not recommend working on production servers drunk as a skunk) enough the next morning to log back onto the server and check it out. So you ssh back to the server, and you’re at your prompt… but now what?
Now you can list your sessions with:
screen -ls
(Note: or screen -list)
Now you’ll see something like so:
There is a screen on:
11679.zypper (Detached)
1 Socket in /var/run/uscreens/S-bkevan.
Awesome.. so it is still there (did you think I was lying to you?). But how do I get it back?
Simple, you just have to reattach. You can reattach by doing a:
screen -r zypper
(Note: I used zypper since that’s what I named it when I ran screen -S (-S allows you to name the session)).
(Note: You can also recover the screen using the PID at the beginning of the line from the screen -list output.. in this case 11679).
Once you reattach to the screen session you’ll see that it’s done and that you were still able to have a fun night with your friends.
Also note there are many more other functions of screen and I highly recommend checking them out with:
man screen
If you want to know more about it.. leave a comment, throw me an email.. do what ever.. just let me know.
Kernel tcp_output “work around” implemented for openSUSE 11.1 Beta 5
As some of you may have followed there is a bug in the 2.6.27 Kernel branch that was introduced when the order tcp output was changed when cleaning up some code. Here is the original commit that introduced the bug.
Ilpo jarvinen clears up some rumors about the bug:
There are some analysis which are claimed to be “very good” circulating around
which tell you that Linux now enabled timestamps in 2.6.27. Sadly that is a
_false_ claim, the timestamps were _not_ enabled for 2.6.27 (or -rc1). Don’t be
fooled wide-spreadness of the claims, sadly multiple distros seem to repeat and
support the false claim in their “semi-official” documentation. Timestamps have
been enabled already for a very long time before 2.6.27…
The real change that happened from 2.6.26 to 2.6.27, as described in the commit
which fixes this particular bug, was a change in the _order_ of the TCP options
(timestamps are tcp options). The order change was not intentional, not that it
should have broken something. The correct fix is to restore the original
ordering. …It is very easy to verify with tcpdump if 2.6.26 does send
timestamps or not (hint: look into SYN packet’s TCP options).
In the original bug report.
Want to know more about this issue, check this page out
Note: I realized that I called the issue a “bug” however it really isn’t a bug in the 2.6.27 kernel, but the non compliance of other hardware in the way it handles the tcp_output, since they shouldn’t care about the order (which is the standard).
Sorry I couldn’t write up more about it.. a bit busy today at work.
Upgrading pidgin to 2.5.2 (also GIMP and more) on openSUSE 11.0
I was reading a thread on the openSUSE forums where someone asked for the newest version of pidgin, but the answers given were quite “blah” to me.
I added posted basiclly this same thing in the thread:
Add the GNOME Community repo:
sudo zypper ar sudo zypper ar Index of /repositories/GNOME:/Community/openSUSE_11.0 GNOME\ Community GNOME\ Community
Update the pidgin package:
sudo zypper in pidgin
(This is install)
or
sudo zypper up pidgin
(This is update)
Why don’t you just update all the packages included in the GNOME Community repository? Some of the packages in this repository are Tomboy and GIMP. To do this just run:
sudo zypper up -t package -r GNOME\ Community
(note: I am using the Repository name I added with the zypper ar
Lotus Notes Error “Network operation did not complete in a reasonable amount of time” Resolution
I was working from home yesterday (had a dentist appointment to get my root canal crowned, and 2 fillings) and ran into an issue with Lotus Notes when I tried to send an email. Basiclly it failed with “Network operation did not complete in a reasonable amount of time”. But wait, pings never get lost, reverse dns is fine (wasn’t sure if notes did a reverse check when you sent or not) and my connectivity within VPN is perfect. So I pull out wireshark (which is a great packet troubleshooting program if you’ve never used or heard of it) went to send my mail and got:
So I checked out the packet and found:
So when I send the packet it has an MTU size of 1500 and I never get it back. My guess is it hit the firewall, went through (with some possibly destination information) and got blocked on its way back. The re-transmissions were obviously because the client didn’t get the packet back.
So I lowered my MTU for my vpn device tun0 (you can find your device that vpn is on by running ifconfig or /sbin/ifconfig if /sbin is not in your $PATH).
To lower your MTU run:
sudo ifconfig tun0 mtu 1300
started a sniff, resent and all was good.
openOffice bug in openSUSE Beta4 Fixed
The bug in openoffice that shipped with opensuse Beta4 has been fixed and an update has been released to the 11.1 update repository.
If you have 11.1 Beta4 installed and don’t have the update repository you can add by running:
sudo zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.1/ openSUSE\ 11.1\ Updates
Then just run:
sudo zypper up -y
And you should be good..
Wish it would have shipped WITH Beta4, hopefully they stay on track for the 13th to ship RC1. I think it’s in their BEST interest to get rid of the Beta4 images with this bug ASAP. Maybe even a Beta4a or at least replacing the damaged package (OpenOffice_org-libs-core) in the images / oss repo.
Have a good one folks
Using openSUSE zypper for package management (adding, removing, repository management)
First a quick introduction on zypper. Zypper is a command line package and software repository manager that will do about everything you need. Zypper will allow you to install a package from a repository, a local RPM, protect (lock) a package, add and remove repositories, let you run different query types and even more if you wanted it to.
First, lets go over the basic and most used options of zypper:
zypper help # This will give you the help and usage list
zypper help command # This will give you the help option of a specific zypper function
zypper lu # This will list updates (use the -t switch to change what package type)
zypper up # This will update patches by default (you can update packages by using -t package)
zypper in package # Install application named package
zypper rm package # Remove application named package
zypper se package # Search for application named package
Now there are some of the most used uses of zypper. So lets go into more detailed usage. First we will work with repositories:
Repositories
Listing, adding and deleting a repository.
To list your repositories:
zypper lr
Note: to get more details on them run it with the –detail switch (note that’s 2 -’s and not 1 big -).
Example output of zypper lr:
figure 1
To add a repository:
sudo zypper ar http://location/of/repository Name\ Of\ Repository
To remove a repository:
sudo zypper rr Name\ Of\ Repository
Note: you can also remove a repository by the repo number from the zypper lr output. (Figure 1)
Now that we have repositories, what are other things we can do with them, here we are going to look at enabling and disabling a repo:
Note: with these you can use name of repo or number gathered from lr output in figure 1
Enabling a repository:
sudo zypper mr -e Name\ Of\ Repo
Disabling a repository:
sudo zypper mr -d Name\ Of\ Repo
Renaming a repository:
sudo zypper nr Name\ Of\ Repo New\ Name\ Of\ Repo
The last great overlooked zypper tool is to export/import your repo list:
zypper lr –export /location/of/saved/repo.repo
You can later import this repo file on this or another machine by running
sudo zypper ar /location/of/saved/repo.repo
Bonus: To force a refresh of all your repositories run:
sudo zypper ref –force
This sometimes helps if you have a cached issue.
Ok, now we have our repositories and we’ve enabled em. Now lets get to managing our packages:
Installing a package via the name:
sudo zypper in bluefish
This would install the bluefish application.
Installing a package via a requirement:
sudo zypper in libnm-util.so.0
This would install NetworkManager-glib
Installing a local rpm package:
sudo zypper in /location/of/rpmpackage.rpm
Installing a package from a specific repo:
sudo zypper in education:bluefish
This would install the bluefish package from the education repo.
Force the re-installation of a package:
sudo zypper in -f bluefish
Bonus: You can install a package pattern using:
sudo zypper in -t pattern pattern_name
You can get the pattern names from:
sudo zypper se -t pattern
Now lets remove those pesky files we just installed:
sudo zypper rm bluefish
This will remove the bluefish package
Bonus: You can remove and install an application together
sudo zypper in bluefish -fslint
This will conclude this poriton of the zypper tutorial. I’ll do a part 2 which will include queries, searching, updating and distribution updating. Part 2 will hopefully be followed up later this week.
openSUSE 11.1 Beta4 Reminder - OpenOffice
This is just a quick reminder to people that are considering the upgrade from 11.1 B3, or 11.X to 11.1 Beta4 that openoffice is broken.
So if you rely on openoffice and this is a production box, to not upgrade until RC1.
How to Mount an ISO Images in Linux (openSUSE)
I’m sure by now everyone has heard of an ISO image. But some may not know that with Linux you can mount it quite easily without burning the image to a CD.
This is actually made possible by an option of the mount command, if you haven’t used the mount command simply type:
man mount
To find out some of its uses (please spare the obvious jokes from that command).
The option of mount that allows us to mount an iso is the loop option. Loop will actually create a device in /dev/loopX for the mounted iso.
I’ll stop the blabbering and give you the command to mount an iso image using the mount command:
sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 /location/of/filename.iso /mnt/iso
For the above command to work, I would have to have a directory in /mnt called iso, which can be made by running
sudo mkdir /mnt/iso
.
I think my next set of writings will be around the usage of RPM.. Or maybe just make a single comprehensive RPM usage list.
Software Respositories in Linux (openSUSE & SUSE) explained
So many of the more advanced users know exactly what a Software Repository (a.k.a repo). So I hope to help explain what it actually is.
A repo is a central location from which packages can be downloaded and installed onto a computer. This could be a location avaliable to the public (ie. http://download.opensuse.org/download) or a location that is avaliable through a subscription (ie. Customer Portal for SUSE Linux Enterprise products).
You still may be scratching your head and wondering “why do I want them, where do I get them, and how can I use them”. You are using repositories if you know it or not.
openSUSE’s YaST gives a great tool to help you manage your repositories through a GUI (Graphical User Interface). To check out this tool open YaST –> Software –> Software Repositories, this will open your repository management tool.
Here you’ll see repositories already configured, but how & why? If you know it or not you are already using repositories. During your installation the update repository was setup. This repository is where you get your updates, patches and fixes for your distribution.
So why am I telling you about these repositories? Because repositories can be used to enlighten your openSUSE experience. I’ll walk you through a setup (using the zypper command line utility) of a repository so I can install bluefish (a great opensource alternative to dreamweaver). So without further ado here we go:
Open up a konsole, terminal or xterm.
Now lets add the repository using zypper by running the following command:
sudo zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_Factory/ Educaton\ Factory
(Note: I am using the Factory Repository, you should use the repository associated to your openSUSE distribution, these repositories can be found here.
After running the zypper ar above, we get the following output:
Adding repository ‘Educaton Factory’ [done]
Repository ‘Educaton Factory’ successfully added
Enabled: Yes
Autorefresh: No
URI: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_Factory/
Yup, it was as easy as that to setup a new repository (Go to the YaST GUI tool for Software Repository management now, and see that it’s in there).
(Bonus: you can run:
zypper lr
To list your configured repositories.)
Now that I have the Education repository configured I can install bluefish by running:
sudo zypper in bluefish
And i’m done. So how does this help you? It gives you the opportunity to install MANY applications that weren’t setup in the oss or non-oss repository.
To find where your application repository may be, you can search http://software.opensuse.org/search which is also the location you can do a 1-Click install.
I hope that helps you understand what a repository is and how to set it up. If you still aren’t sure, or this wasn’t clear please feel free to leave a comment as I always work to fix my postings to make them more accurate and more informational.
RealPlayer dropped from openSUSE, here’s why
On the opensuse factory forums Alberto wondered why RealPlayer was dropped from openSUSE and pointed to this novell bugzilla report
I can’t believe that it’s because of the cost issue (as RealPlayer’s website doesn’t say there’s a cost but you do have to sign a license with them). Here are some of the portions of interest from RealPlayers Licensing FAQ:
2. What are the requirements for distributing the RealPlayer or RealJukebox on my CD?
Complete the on-line registration form, agree to the terms in the license agreement and submit your registration. Once your registration is approved you will be given the location where you can download a RealPlayer/RealJukebox specifically for distribution.
Granting of a license to distribute the RealPlayer/RealJukebox is subject to RealNetworks’ approval for quality assurance and appropriateness of material and software bundle. Granting of a license is also subject to all United States laws and trade policies.
3. How much does it cost to distribute the RealPlayer/RealJukebox on my CD?
Distributing the RealPlayer is free for Windows, Mac and available Unix platforms.
Honestly, I am glad Novell has done this, and hope all others do to. It should send a big enough message to other companies that have freely distributed software that “it should be allowed without an agreement, as long as it isn’t modified”.
if you really want realplayer 11 you can download it from real.com
Installing Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer on Linux (openSUSE) with CrossOver
In light of my download of CrossOver I thought I’d go over a quick overview of installing IE and Office on openSUSE.
I am assuming that you’ve already purchsed, registered and downloaded 9the rpm version) crossover-pro from CodeWeavers.com so here we go:
Open up a terminal / console / xterm and:
sudo zypper install /location/of/codeweaver.rpm
or
sudo rpm -ivh /location/of/codeweaver.rpm
The installation of codeweaver crossover pro is now completed (simple enough)
Now lets go on ahead and install Microsoft Office and IE (You must have a legal copy of MS Office to run the application on your Linux box).
To do this run:
sh -c “/opt/cxoffice/bin/cxinstallwizard”
That will bring up a window like so:
In the menu chose Internet Explorer (or Office, which ever you are going to install).
If choosing office, you can choose to install from the CD-ROM or from the installer file. To change to the installer file choose the option:
Other installer file:
and just browse to the location of the setup.exe
Now it’s just like a regular installation of Microsoft Office.
If installing IE it’s even easier, it asks a few simple steps and you’re done.
Sorry this walk through is quite choppy, i’ll probably fix it up later and beautify it, but it’s halloween and many other festives to enjoy.
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Ben Kevan's Blog
- NVIDIA 177.82 Linux Drivers Released (openSUSE 11)
- My beta 5 woes - :(
- The sad state of emerald for compiz & its possible demise
- openSUSE 11.1 YaST preview - What’s the next step?
- Remembering and using the forgotten screen for remote administration
- Kernel tcp_output “work around” implemented for openSUSE 11.1 Beta 5
- Upgrading pidgin to 2.5.2 (also GIMP and more) on openSUSE 11.0
- Lotus Notes Error “Network operation did not complete in a reasonable amount of time” Resolution
- openOffice bug in openSUSE Beta4 Fixed
- Using openSUSE zypper for package management (adding, removing, repository management)