SuSE 10.x For Windows Users
Contents
Introduction
I am no guru, but I am passionate about showing people how they can move to an Open Source operating system. Personally, I tried to switch from Windows to Linux many times over the past 6 years before i was finally able to break free of Windows for good. I have tried many distros(Redhat, Slackware, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Mandrake, Linspire) and ultimately abandoned all of them before trying SuSE Linux 9.2. Now I am doing all I can to help others make that same transition. This guide will detail the precise steps I have taken to configure numerous machines to be fully functional and comfortable for the average Windows User.
Things to Consider
It is important to note that I made this guide from my perspective. Which is the perspective of a KDE user on SuSE Linux 10. I find the KDE desktop environment to be much easier to work with than GNOME. I find this especially true coming from Windows. Also, I refer to specific apps in this guide, like Amarok and Kaffeine. You are of course free to use whatever applications you like, but doing so could make this guide useless for you.
Some Basics and Terminology
The KMenu is the equivalent of the Start Menu from Windows. It is accessed via the green SuSE icon in the lower left hand corner of your screen. You can access it via the keyboard by pressing Alt+F1.
YaST is very much like the control center from Windows, but better of course. You can complete many tasks with YaST including:
- install/update/remove software
- setup the firewall
- configure your network connection
- add/remove users
- and much more
You can start YaST by:
- Open the KMenu
- Click System -> Control Center (YaST)
The Kicker is the Grey bar that stretches across the bottom of your screen. It is roughly the equivalent of the Windows Taskbar. Naturally, it is in fact much cooler than the Windows Taskbar ever thought about being.
The Konsole is a terminal emulator for KDE. This is a command prompt that is purely text. Do not let it intimidate you, it is really not that bad once you learn a few commands. You can access Konsole by clicking the computer monitor looking icon in the Kicker.
su stands for Super User, it will allow you to use commands only available to root. After running it in a Konsole, It will ask you for the ROOT password, after entering your root password, that Konsole session will have root privileges. If you want to get back you your regular user account after using su, you can just type exit.
Setting Up SuSE 10
The following will be a chronological guide detailing the steps I take to configure a fresh SuSE 10 install to be as functional and Windows user friendly as possible.
Feeling At Home
Military Time to 12 Hour Time:
Right Click the Time/Date -> Date & Time Format -> Times & Dates -> Time Format
Add a Firefox Icon to the Kicker
- Right Click a blank spot in the kicker
- Click Add to Panel -> Application -> Internet -> Web Browser -> Firefox
Adding YaST Sources
SuSE Linux 10.1
*UPDATE* If you are running SuSE Linux 10.1, please disregard the rest of this section(Adding YaST Sources) and choose one of the following options. YaST method: pros: you maybe familiar with it already. cons: it is quiet possible you will fall victim to the one of the great many bugs plagueing the YaST package managr in 10.1. If you still wish to use this method despite my warnings please read my article: ‘Adding Installation Sources to SuSE Linux 10.1.”
Otherwise, the new preferred package manager for SuSE Linux 10.1 is Smart. To be honest, even if YaST package manager worked 100% as intended, I would still use the Smart Package Manager because of its speed. The best part of using Smart in 10.1 is that the sources have already been added for you. For instructions on installing Smart, please read my article: ‘Installing Smart Package Manager in SuSE Linux 10.1.’
SuSE Linux 10.0
YaST Sources are online repositories for packages. They allow you to keep your software up-to-date, as well as finding applications like Mozilla Thunderbird that were not included on the DVD or CDs. Please follow these directions and be sure to add all of the sources there. You will need to use a terminal emulator like Konsole and the ’su’ command. Once you have added the sources from the link above, you can goto:
YaST -> Install Sources
There you can manage the YaST sources you have added. I organized my sources so that the sources that do not change are at the bottom and they are also set not to refresh. Turning on ‘Refresh’ for a source will mean that every time you run Software Manager, that source will be refreshed. Refreshing can take some time, but is needed in order to have the most up-to-date list of available packages. You can see the sources I am using and how they are setup in this screen shot of my YaST sources.
Add MP3 Support for Amarok with Xine
Be sure that you have added the Packman and KDE supplementary YaST Sources at least. I suggest adding them all.
- Yast -> Software Manager
- Search for XINE
- Toggle Xine-lib to the trash can, this will uninstall it
- Install LibXine1 and Amarok-Xine by checking the boxes next to them
You can start Amarok by:
- opening the KMenu
- clicking Multimedia -> Audio Player
Once in Amarok:
click Settings -> Configure Amarok -> Engine -> Sound System -> Xine
Congrats, now you should be ready to play some tunes.
Watch an encrypted DVD
Follow the link below and grab the most recent rpm of libDVDcss:
http://download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/
The file you need should be named something like this: libdvdcss2-1.2.9-1.i386.rpm. It should download to your user Dir if you use Firefox, click on the blue house icon in the Kicker and you should see the file.
SuSE Linux 10.1
right click the file -> Open with Install Software
SuSE Linux 10.0
right click the file -> Actions -> Install with Yast
Now, this next step depends on your setup, Put in a random DVD Title and you should see a window pop up offering to start Kaffeine(video player) and play the DVD. Hit Open and If it the DVD plays, you are done and can stop reading. If you get an error about not being able to access DVD://, you can find out how your DVD drive is referenced by:
- Opening a Konsole
- Type: more /etc/fstab
- Note how your drive is referenced
For me, this was /dev/cdrom. Next, you will need to do the following in Kaffeine:
- Click settings -> Xine Engine Parameters -> Media
- Change the default dvd device settings, /dev/dvd, to match your configuration
You should now be able to watch your DVDs.
*Note, if you have problems, be sure that you have the LibXine1 package installed.
works :)~
thanks
thanks! Everything works great!
helped a whole lot, tnx spin!
K!LOS
thanks. I hope that work in a powerpc
Saludos desde Santiago de Chile, Latinoamerica
Great hints for beginners, I also like your “commands cheat sheet”.
…and for those wimps (like me) who are still afraid to stay too far from Windows while working on Linux - you may install VMWare workstation virtual machine emulator. Within VMWare emulator you may install and run full blown version of any Windows operating system + any Windows-specific tools inside it. Beleive it or not - it runs almost as fast as original Windows even in full screen mode. You may also emulate other Linux distributions or other versions of Windows at the same time all together in other VMWare “windows” and connect them with network and do all kind of amazing things. Here are installation instructions:
http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/15963.html
Regards,
Gleb
I’m doing an italian translation of this guide.
I’ll keep you informed when it will be published
thanks for your article,
well I have been useing GNU/Linux for 3 months and I find it really fascinating,I’ve chosen Suse distro because it is really the easiest Distro that I can manage especialy after 15 years using £$$%£$%$£%,
Anyway, I just got a quick question, is there any way to upgrade from 10.0 OSS to 10.0 final release with out loosing all the data created under the OSS, would be great to reply with a hint.
thx
MO,
Glad you are enjoying SuSE, if you would like to install non-OSS packages like Adobe Acrobat, Flash, Sun Java etc, please use this part of the article http://spinink.net/suse-for-windows-users/#sources t0 add additional YaST sources, one of which will be the ‘SuSE 10 Gold Master Extras Source’. This source contains the non-OSS packages that come with Novell version of SuSE Linux.
Wow, fantastic information for people trying to use linux instead of windows. I wanted to copy some files from windows into my linux. At first I tried copying in a floppy/CD and transferring after restarting to linux. Now I found an easy way. I went to Yast –> Partition –> Expert, then gave a mount point to windows managed FAT partitions. I did not format the partition as data will be lost.
Now I am browsing the mountpoints like any other folder!! Eventhough the information is trivial I wanted to share it with anyone who wanted to access their windows harddisk from linux.
Thanks for your help, I was pulling my hair out
Spin is our messiahh
thanx for saving us…. everything works now.. excpet my brain of course.. hehe but thats a no no..
anyway the best guide for linux suse is here without doubt.. keep posting..
sayonara..
Just found your site surfing. I’m a windows user and just installed Linux Suse 10. First time using Linux. WOW! I was so negative about Linux. I like your site, it looks to be informative. I’ve been messing around here on Suse for a couple hours. How do I remove the floppy icon from my desktop. Thanks Ronan
Thanks, Spin! Great work! Have you got pointers for the font settings in SUSE 10. I am using Dell i700m Laptop 12.1″ screen 1280×800 res. Fonts are a bit odd and fuzzy. I have config the res using the 855resolution rpm nd got he res to max. But fonts still hurt my eyes.
Thanks again
I considered myself a seasoned linux user, until Suse10 came along! Couldn’t use MPlayer or play mp3’s on the system and wondered where the multimedia packs had all gone to! You saved me reinstalling 9.3 again! Thanks.
Found you while trying to sort out skipping problems with Amarok on SuSE 10.Your site info corrected the problem in 10 minutes and has given so much more, a functional Kaffeine and I will be getting Myth TV running this week. Thanks.
Thank you!
I’ve been struggling for weeks to get music to work on my new Linux computer. You’re a lifesaver!
Awesome site! Thanks for the info. I just loaded SUSE and LOVE it! But there are definitely little things to it that drive me crazy that I could not figure out. One being the clock time. Thank you so much, nice site!
SuSE10-no vidio from any player, tried answers in here does not work for me ,more/etc/fstab brings up blank in console?
Great guide. I have had a lot of trouble with multimedia, the repositories are quite right. They have crippled the system and haven’t given sources.list anywhere
Thanks a lot!
you saved me in play MP3 files with Amarok and is a awesome guide.
WOW,WOW,WOW,………..what else can I say ,the biggest help that i have had .A great place for newbs like me ,and a great resource to fall back on ,Thank you for your efforts .Great site and Information,gotta pass this one on ,so get more bandwidth …………Thank You ,Spin!!!!!!!
Hello, Very Good Information. THANK YOU…YOU ARE MY HERO!!:):D…XD
My main problem seems to getting my Printers to work in Linux. Epson Stylus CX5400 and HP 245. I don’t know how to install the drivers to get these to work?.
Jim
Jim,
I personal DETEST printers under any enviroment. So personally, I am worthless on that topic. However, you should be sure to check out http://www.linuxprinting.org/. Also, are you aware of the recent class action lawsuit against epson?
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1790
I translated this guide to Swedish at http://wiki.linuxportalen.se/index.php/SUSE_f%C3%B6r_windowsanv%C3%A4ndare
Great work!
Thanks
Wow one step Guide for blond, dsylexic color blind end Suse users not geeks, worked wicked sPiN- tks for the link
thanks for this help. my son in college put SUSE 10.0 on my computer and i’m trying to understant it some. i am 56(old)for all this stuff. unfortunately i’m 100% disabled trying to live on $1500 per month with no health insurance and a 2 yr. old baby so i don’t have money to help with(I owe taxes). my son is only a sophmore and his student debt is already $18,000. god bless you for your kindness.
[…] Xgl with KDE or Gnome. (novell.com) SUSE 10/10.1 for Windows users. (spinink.net) The ‘perfect’ webserver setup. (howtoforge.com) Three ways of upgrading to SUSE 10.1.(spinink.net) Setting up VMware. (opensuse.org) Windows to SUSE migration overview. (opensuse.org) Remote management with FreeNX. (opensuse.org) ATi and nVidia driver installation, and other post install tips. (thejemreport.com) […]
Dear Friend,
I must admit that certain things were not quite clear for me. I am a strict windows user, but I read your artcle and started to think installing SUSE as it is a NOVELL product a company I appreciate. However I have ONE very important question, SUSE is proposed as SUSE FOR WINDOWS, does it mean that Windows MS Office, Word, or Excel or other applications can be erad under Suse for Windows or NOT? Is not Linspire better as it declares to read 100% Windows applications. I am waiting your kind reply with greatest interest…
All the best
OLIVER
Oliver,
On Linux we use Wine (Windows Emulator) to run windows applications. Certain companies such as CodeWeavers has CrossOver Office which enables you to run Office etc and other companies like Cedega which enables you to run some games. All of them uses wine. Linspire will most probably also use wine. Wine is free.
I run Office 2003 on my Suse and it works greats. Please keep in mind that different architectures will bring different problems - especially on the x64 platform.
Thanks a lot.
It works very nice.
In SuSE Linux 10.2 is works perfectly. =)
MFG Roady
i have a r51 ibm thinkpad notebook .i have installed suse 10.2 but m not able to use my wireless which is somewhat like intel ipw2200 b…can u help me out
Saurabh,
Thanks for your comment, If you wish to use an intel ipw2200 wifi adapter you need to do a couple of things. First you need to visit this link and add sources.
http://opensuse-community.org/Package_Sources
Then once this is added, you need to goto Yast -> Software -> Software Manager and search for ipw, you should find the ipw-firmware. Install this and then use Network Manager or Yast -> Network Devices -> Network card to configure your wifi adapter.
Wow, running openSUSE on t22 thinkpad 900mhz p3 256ram 8xdvdrom and 3com 575card — dvd didn’t work initially but loaded libxine1 and libdvdcss and kaf plays splendid now. Also initially took about 10-20 min before idle — disabled Zen and now idle within 2 min of boot. everything is running smooth. and I am impressed. I have been wanting to run linux for a long time now and after the old 98 wouldn’t go anymore. SUSE rescued me. As a mature starving student, I could not afford a new operating system and am glad for this thinkpad has never run finer. THANKS OPENSUSE! I took a couple of pascal courses 20 years ago and feel the urge to engage myself again soon.
one more chore - need to find a wireless card any suggestions anyone.
Ok i’ll be anal a bit, but su do not stand for superuser, but for switch user or substitute user.