Installing Suse Linux on Laptop: Step-by-Step Guide

[physicsCU]

I want to install Suse Linux on my laptop, but I need some help.

1. I need to partition my laptop's hard drive. How can I do this?
2. I need help installing actual linux
3. I need some sort of primer for linux.
4. Drivers? Patches? Security software?

Thanks!

P.S. -- Could I install it on an external hard drive and run it from there? If so, how?

 

[ranger]

want to install Suse Linux on my laptop, but I need some help.

1. I need to partition my laptop's hard drive. How can I do this?
2. I need help installing actual linux
4. Drivers? Patches? Security software?

Whats you current hard drive configuration? SuSe's install program has a partition tool. When it comes to installing SuSe, it is not as hard as you may think. Pop the disk in and set your BIOS to boot from it. This would launch SuSe install program. Just a few clicks (pretty straight forward) and you are done. No need for anti virus or anything of that sort. You could use a firewall though. SuSe linux has great hardware dection!

P.S. -- Could I install it on an external hard drive and run it from there? If so, how?

Of course you could. I guess the external drive should pop up in available disks in the actual intall program when you have to choose your target drive.[I'm not quite sure of this though] You can only boot from it if your BIOS supprots booting from usb devices. So make sure your BIOS supports this before you install to an external HD.

Suse is an excellent choice. What version are you installing?

 

[physicsCU]

OK, sounds good, i may need to make sure my hardware will be recognized.

I will check the BIOS to make sure I could boot from it too.

I am thinking about version 10, buying it since it has so many great programs on it that i would need anyway.

 

[ranger]

I am thinking about version 10, buying it since it has so many great programs on it that i would need anyway.

You could also download it if you wish (via bit torrent network). I got SuSe 9.3 in that way. SuSe does have a great list programs.
http://www.knetdome.com/bt/?torrent=suse93

This also has 10 and 9.2.

 

[physicsCU]

I think I would feel more comfortable buying it with added support and such, this is mostly for school and also my first experience with linux, but i will check out that site.

 

[RunDMC]

Check to see if SuSe has a 'Live CD' version (Ubuntu, Dynebolic, etc do) this let's you boot into the system, checking hardware works, etc on the way. A nice, gentle introduction to the system.

SuSe is particularly good if you intend to use European keyboard layouts/languages, etc. Otherwise, perhpas consider Ubuntu?

Either way, good luck with your switch. There are plenty of forums about with help notes.

 

[physicsCU]

I am American. The majority of professors in my department use SuSe, that is why I am looking at it.

I may need to do a live CD approach, just to check everything out first, but from what I have been reading, the only issue is going to be the wireless card, which i do need to get worked out, as I use wireless a lot.

My only concern with a live CD is not having the time to just let the download run.

 

[sid_galt]

I have downloaded Suse Linux 10 32 bit and I want to install it on my PC, dual boot it on the same hard disk as XP.
Is Suse dual boot compliant or should I install Grub first and then install Suse?
If installing Grub first is a good idea, which version should I go for?

 

[xPAGANx]

I have downloaded Suse Linux 10 32 bit and I want to install it on my PC, dual boot it on the same hard disk as XP.
Is Suse dual boot compliant or should I install Grub first and then install Suse?
If installing Grub first is a good idea, which version should I go for?

Suse is dual bootable. It will install grub for you and configure your dual boot setup automatically in most cases.

In fact, I think it even resizes your windows partition as well.

 

[-Job-]

Yep, i installed SUSE Linux 9.3 as my second OS, and installation was very easy and straightforward. It also installed the boot manager which allows you pick which OS to boot up. Unfortunately my other OS is Win 2003 which is acting as a web server now so i can't just turn it off and boot SUSE which is a pity.
Is it easy to update SUSE 9.3 to 10 or what happens there?

 

[xPAGANx]

Yep, i installed SUSE Linux 9.3 as my second OS, and installation was very easy and straightforward. It also installed the boot manager which allows you pick which OS to boot up. Unfortunately my other OS is Win 2003 which is acting as a web server now so i can't just turn it off and boot SUSE which is a pity.
Is it easy to update SUSE 9.3 to 10 or what happens there?

I imagine it is as easy as booting with a version 10 disk and selecting upgrade. I haven't installed version 10 myself, but previous versions had the capability.

 

[physicsCU]

Wow, this topic seems to grow everyday.

I have the software on the way (download wasn't feasible), so I will let everyone know my experiences.

I think I will be screaming at the computer getting wireless to work, but I think I am prepped for it.

I will update this thread when I have everything working, so wish me luck!

 

[ceptimus]

Difficult to get Suse 9.1 to work with wireless. Perhaps they've improved this for version 10 though.

 

[-Job-]

I got wireless to work most of the time. Of course sometimes when i go to edit the network adapter settings the Operating System just completely freezes.

 

[sid_galt]

I installed SuSe LInux 10 32 bit today. Installation was a breeze and looks like everything is going fine.

Does anyone know why Ubuntu and Mandriva are more popular than SuSe? Do they have extra features or what?

 

[physicsCU]

for suse linux 10.0, i think i have to use the ndiswrapper thing. no biggy though.

does anyone know how to set it up so that ndiswrapper module loads when i hit the button on my card to turn the card on?

from their site, i could only figure out how to load the module on start-up or load it from the shell. I prefer to hit the button, everything loads.

i might just have to have it load on start-up. not a big deal, i use wireless almost exclusively anyway, just curious.

also, how do i unload it?

EDIT: sid galt, did you get wireless working? let me know how that went.

 

[sid_galt]

Well, I don't use wireless. The DSL Internet installation was easy though.

 

[physicsCU]

Ah. I use cable internet, so no software is needed on my end.

I guess i will be charting new ground for those of us on this forum then.

 

[ranger]

Do they have extra features or what?

I'm not positive as to why this is so. Perhaps in Germany, SuSe is the most popular distro. Of all the distros I've tried, this includes Mandrake and Ubuntu, SuSe has some great features. Yast just rocks. It also shipd with way more programs.

 

[sid_galt]

I have some free unpartitioned space on my hard drive and have SuSe LInux 10 installed. Is there any way to make a Linux partition out of the space?

 

[physicsCU]

Well,

I got linux installed, but have some major issues.

I can't boot normally, can't shutdown normally, trying to get battery monitor and hibernate/stand by to work.

Once I get those issues worked out, I will work on the internet.

 

[ranger]

I can't boot normally, can't shutdown normally

What do you mean by that?

I will work on the internet

How do you connect to the internet?

 

[physicsCU]

What do you mean by that?



How do you connect to the internet?

In order to boot, I have to go through failsafe mode, log in, then type startx. then it works. but there is no shutdown options in the menu. I have to konsole it, using su -> shutdown -h now

I connect normally through wireless, i am on my desktop right now, if i need internet on it, i run upstairs to the wireless access point and jack in.

 

[ranger]

In order to boot, I have to go through failsafe mode, log in, then type startx. then it works. but there is no shutdown options in the menu. I have to konsole it, using su -> shutdown -h now

Is failsafe the only boot up option available? What happens when you try other boot options? What window manager do you use. I use KDE and to shutdown, I go to the K menu > logout> shutdown.

I connect normally through wireless, i am on my desktop right now, if i need internet on it, i run upstairs to the wireless access point and jack in.

Do you know if SuSe has detected you NIC?
When you run the lsmod command can you see the module for your NIC loaded?

 

[physicsCU]

Is failsafe the only boot up option available? What happens when you try other boot options? What window manager do you use. I use KDE and to shutdown, I go to the K menu > logout> shutdown.



Do you know if SuSe has detected you NIC?
When you run the lsmod command can you see the module for your NIC loaded?

I can boot normally into windows, but when i try to boot normal into linux, it hangs on a black screen. It starts to load, then hangs. If i go through failsafe mode, it loads everything that it is supposed to load. How do i get modules to load on startup? I am thinking i have to add startx maybe?

I guess I was used to windows for logoff and never even looked there!

Suse has detected NIC, i connected last night just fine. Its just wireless since I have to use ndiswrapper. But i wanted to be able to start up and shut down without problems first.

 

[ranger]

At what point does it hang on the black screen? Can you even see if it loads anything? Such as IDE, Network, etc. Does it look as if the screen is about to refresh, but instead of showing a GUI, it goes blank? What kind of graphics card do you have? Is it an an board card?

 

[physicsCU]

At what point does it hang on the black screen? Can you even see if it loads anything? Such as IDE, Network, etc. Does it look as if the screen is about to refresh, but instead of showing a GUI, it goes blank? What kind of graphics card do you have? Is it an an board card?

It runs about 8-ish lines of some code real fast, then blanks. So its pretty quick. I couldn't even tell you what they say it goes so fast. Its not even close to bringing up a GUI.

Like I said, I have an ATi Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP. Its integrated into the laptop mobo.

And where do I get APM/ACPI stuff so that I can hibernate/stand by? I read something somewhere about changing the powersave config file to do it. Think that'll work?

 

[ranger]

Ah yes, now that you mention APM, I think I know what's going on. When your kernel tries to load APM it locks up. Thats why I think that you have to boot in failsafe.

I did some searching and found this

power save package. They tell you how to edit the config files.

 

[physicsCU]

I understood the second document, but not the first.

I found some other things to try first, I will do those, and then get back here.

 

[physicsCU]

OK, by typing apm=off acpi=off at GRUB, she boots correctly now.

I still need to edit APM/ACPI though

when i go into the power control area, it says stuff about apm kernel drivers.

will that second document help me?

 

[ranger]

when i go into the power control area, it says stuff about apm kernel drivers.

What stuff? Your kernel probably may not have been compiled with apm support.

 

[physicsCU]

OK, so how do i fix that?

 

[ranger]

Okay before we go ahead and recompile the kernel I need to know what errors you got in the control area.

My knowledge is fairly limited when it comes to recompiling a new kernel. But read http://www.kernelnewbies.org/faq/.

 

[ranger]

I also found this.
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Getting_APM_Suspend_to_Work

Its for gentoo though, but the basic theory is the same.

NOTE: The emerge command is gentoo specific.

 

[physicsCU]

I will take a look at that.

Its difficult since I don't have wireless working on that computer at this time (I know how to do that, just wanted to get some other stuff working first). Once I get that up and going, I will post the exact error message.