openSuSE 11.1 - Install Review
I wanted to "kick the tires" of 11.1 a bit before providing a first review of my experience with the 11.1 install. For this install:
Hardware Setup:
The following provides the hardware and software configuration for the machine at the time openSuSE 11.1 was installed. openSuSE was installed to /dev/sdc and replaced an install of openSuSE 11.1 Beta5.
M/B: K9N2 SLI Platinum
CPU: AMD Phenom 9850 Black Box Quad Core (125W)
GPU: evga eGeForce 8800GT
RAM: 4G OCZ Platinum
Drives: Two Seagate 500G (ST3500630AS),
sda,sdb RAID1 on SATA 1,2
Current Install of 11.0 x86_64
One Seagate 500G (ST3500630AS),
sdc on SATA 3
11.1 x86_64 Install Location
DVD: LG GH22LS30 on SATA 4
PSU: HEC Zephyr 750 (750W)
UPS: CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD on usb (Bus 01/Dev 05):
Case: Antec 182SE, 3 120mm fans
Packages Installed (A very large number):
- complete server application install
- complete kde3 (with manual selection of nearly all kde3 packages)
- complete kernel, web, c/c++, java, and perl development packages
- open office, killustrator, and
- host of other packages.
(I will provide the full list after I run yast again).
Install Time Required:
34 minutes actual install time (After manual selection of packages)
Installation Review:
This will by my shortest install review ever, because -- there were NO install problems at all. Damn, nothing to bitch about ;-(
I haven't fully finished configuration of everything yet but at present I have only run across two issues:
(1) Yast install failure to configure grub to boot my 11.0 dm-raid install which according to the feedback on Bugzilla, the problem has already been identified from the y2logs submitted and will be corrected after Christmas: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=445602
(2) Nut ups package released with wrong permissions (somewhere) resulting in failure to start. This is being worked on the nut-list and should be resolved shortly.
The nut issue is what I view as a normal nit associated with any release of any distro. The grub issue, despite the impact to some, is the same type of nit. The problem was identified and a fix was developed during testing of 11.1 beta5. As a new fix, it too needed some tweaking.
The impact for those who want to keep 11.0 on a bios raid install when they install 11.1 to a separate drive might be a little surprising, but I have already done a separate post so that issue is contained in the list archive in an way that is easy to find. See post titled: "11.1 Yast Installer leaves 11.0 on dm-raid Unbootable" 12/20/08 4:56 (CST)
Overall this was one of the cleanest, fastest installs, that had no problems during the install that I have ever done. With 11.0, my first install crashed, and in the remaining 5 or so Installs of 11.0 I did, I experienced crashes once more for an install failure total of 40%. I haven't done that number of 11.1 installs, but if my first install was any indication, there won't be anything else to write on that issue.
Other Nit (singular) Found so Far
kickerrc omits the parameter "MenuEntryHeight=" causing the traditional kde menu to be very cramped. This has been a problem since (10.0?). KDE4 omits this parameter as well. For a discussion and work-around, visit the 11.1 QuickFixes link "KDE MenuHeight" at the top-right of the page
No doubt, there are more nits to be uncovered. As far install and initial setup, 11.1 has been one clean release. Good job to all the openSuSE team.
Killing Beagle
To my surprise, after telling the installer not to install beagle or libbeagle during package selection, the dreaded-dog somehow snuck onto my computer. Killing beagle is a Number 1, must do with every install to prevent the machine from being brought to its knees every time I log on. To solve this, also under 11.1 QuickFixes, see: "Killing Beagle".
KDE sudo Fix
The incompatability continues between sudo in KDE and kdesu. As a result, after properly configuring sudo, you are still prompted for the root password in KDE for every application requiring root privileges. To solve this, also under 11.1 QuickFixes, see: "KDE sudo fix". See also, Related Bugs.
Setting 11.1 Up as a Server
From the testing I've done, all of the core server packages shipped with 11.1 are rock solid for server use. (BIND, apache, MySQL, php, ssh, vsftp, pptpd, Samba, NSF, etc..) I have prepared a fairly exhaustive server setup page that will walk you through configuring a fully-functional opensuse server. See: openSuSE Server Setup
madwifi RPMS for Laptops with Atheros Wireless Chipsets
At the time of release of 11.1, there were no working madwifi rpms available for 11.1 meaning a large number of laptop users were left holding the bag (or ethernet cable actually). Fortunately the madwifi-trunk svn release builds and works perfectly, at least on my Toshiba laptops. I have created a repository with the binary and source rpm packages. Note: I only have 256K of upload capability at my site. I am not a rpm builder by trade, but the rpms were properly built from the proper madwifi spec file using the latest svn release of madwifi. Hopefully they will work as well for you as they have for me. Also, given my upstream bandwidth limitations, if somebody else would care to host the rpms, it would help greatly.
You should simply be able to add the following repository as an install source for yast and install madwifi. Let me know if something isn't working and I'll do my best to fix it. These should be considered temporary RPMS until the Build Service RPMS are released. See my madwifi page for additional help on using the driver. (currently under construction) Many laptops simply cannot use the new default ath5k.ko kernel module, but instead, require the original ath_pci.ko module. These RPMS provide both:
- openSuSE now has working madwifi rpms - use the madwifi repository
- Tips for configuring madwifi on openSuSE
The madwifi project now has SUSE RPMs for openSUSE 11.1 too.
http://madwifi-project.org/suse/11.1/
Again, let me know if you run into trouble. The drivers are working fine for me. I even hosted a web server on my laptop running the drivers and used ssh to the laptop to build the rpms to post.
No CD Device Found Issues
When attempting to run applications that use the cd/dvd player like Amarok and k3b, as a regular user, 11.1 suffers from a bug that prevents a regular user from mounting the CDROM resulting in an error similar to "no cd device found". If you experience this problem, try logging in as root and using the application again. If you succeed here, you have confirmed the problem.
This bug, a policy kit error, was introduced in 11.1 RC1 and was apparently missed before the final version was shipped. The nitty-gritty is:
Problem is caused by commit e72cb4437700b4b34ac5c6de0e30dff8bb0ed89e which adds the "removable-block" access control type to volumes. As long as a CD drive (e.g. /dev/sr0) as no medium inserted hal only has one device object in it's tree and that is /dev/sr0 with access control type "cdrom". If one inserts a medium that device obtains a child with the same device name (/dev/sr0) and with block.is_volume set. That one gets access control type "removable-block". I guess the behavior is undefined if the same device appears multiple times with different access control types. The fdi file needs to be modified to not set "removable-block" on unpartitioned disks where the drive has access control and the same name as the volume.
The problem should be fixed by now so do an online-update before using the work-arounds. See: Related Bugs "Can't Burn CD / DVD" for more details
The simplist work-around is to add yourself to the cdrom group either by editing the /etc/group file or by using yast to do the same thing. Using a simple editor, just add your username to the end of the following line in /etc/group:
cdrom:x:20:david,<next_user>,<your_username>
To accomplish the same thing in yast, go to 'Security and Users' --> User and Group Management. Once there, <select your username> --> edit --> Details --> select 'cdrom' under Additional Groups. Click finish and then log out and log back in or restart.
If that doesn't work, several additional work-arounds exist to resolve this problem. One of the better ones is Solved : K3b Problem with Normal User on openSUSE 11.1 Good luck.
