SuSe 9.2 install hangs with 6800

[mzand]

Very excited to get my new dual opteron 248 system, nVidia GeoForce 6800 SLI graphics card.

I am trying to install dual boot Win XP and SuSe Linux Pro 9.2

I am unable to complete the installation of SuSe Linux Pro 9.2. YAST works fine until setting graphics card and monitor settings in sax2. When I go to test the settings, I get the blank screen of death or a corrupted screen and the machine hardlocks. Re-booting I get GRUB, can boot WinXP, but am unable to SuSe boot at level 3, failsafe mode, etc.

Hardware:

MB: Tyan 2895 K8W
CPU: AMD Opteron 248 x2
Graphics: nVidia GeoForce 6800
Memory: 4 Gb EEC DDR
Monitor: Viewsonic VP191b

From other posts, it seems to be a driver issue with the nVidia board, although I applied the nVidia driver download during the install. sax2 detects the board and assigns it code 0x00c1. I have tried assigning the monitor VESA or LCD 1280 x 1024@75 Hz and 60Hz, but no joy.

Any help would be appreciated.

mszand@rochester.rr.com

[beebelo]

Originally Posted by mzand

YAST works fine until setting graphics card and monitor settings in sax2. When I go to test the settings, I get the blank screen of death or a corrupted screen and the machine hardlocks. Re-booting I get GRUB, can boot WinXP, but am unable to SuSe boot at level 3, failsafe mode, etc.

I don't have much experience with Linux, but the same thing happened to me (with a different nVidia graphics card). Here are some suggestions:

1. Boot off the install CD again, and make sure you are installing the kernel-sources in the "Developer Packages". You will need that stuff, and SuSE didn't do it by default (for me). Going by memory here, but you will also eventually need "make", "gcc" and "binutils". I think I ended up installing most of the developer packages just to be sure...

2. When setting up your display stuff in sax2, unclick the higher res modes. There will be a message like 'starting in 1024x768 resolution', after you unclick the higher ones, underneath the selection box. In my case, sax setup in yast kept trying to make my system start in too high a res. Later, when you've gotten through the installation of the correct driver, you can begin to experiment with resolutions again. That SaX2 display "Test" was constant trouble for me. I've learned it's better to work with the text files directly (after you get through the initial installation.)

3. Your driver is not installed correctly, if you did it in yast. You have to do it manually. Go and download the latest driver from the nVidia site (it's now 7174). Print out the README.TXT -- it's HUGE, but you need to read it thoroughly and have it handy. (Print the HOWTO also, but it *does not* contain everything you need to know!

4. I am still having annoyance problems with mine (like spontaneous reboots when browsing screen savers in KDE). It's doubly difficult, being new to Linux.

5. Time and patience are also needed ....

Have lot's of fun!
;o)

[SquireSCA]

Boot Linux into a console, not an X session.

Navigate to where you downloaded the NVidia driver to, in my case:

cd /home/dave

Log in as root(su) and type in the following 3 commands:

1) sh NVIDIA*
2) modprobe nvidia
3) sax2 -m 0=nvidia

That's it, throw the rest of that install guide away. When sax2 launches, go in and set the max rez of your monitor, and the lower resolutions that you want available, test it, exit, and log back into Suse and restart the x server...

[beebelo]

Originally Posted by SquireSCA

1) sh NVIDIA*
2) modprobe nvidia
3) sax2 -m 0=nvidia

That's it, throw the rest of that install guide away.

What if you have more than one .run file fitting the wildcard "NVIDIA*" ?

Anyway, just an fyi: nVidia says the install README has been corrected/improved with version 7174, and in fact I had no problems installing off those directions. It is all done at the command prompt.