Foobar'ed my GUI....

[Wakou]

Well I was very proud of myself, having installed openSuse 11 from DvD without too many probs. After a lot of head scratching, I got both of my USB WiFi sticks working, including one using ndiswrappers which I had never done before. Thinking to tinker about with some eye candy I told YaST to toddle off and find some nVidia drivers. About a hour of intensive downloading ensued, including a new kernel (!) which I had not requested..

(went from 2.6.25.5-1.1 to, I think 2.6.25.5-2.01)
Now I reboot and there is no GUI. I am a total Linux noob. I have tried startx; kde4; kde4_init; startkde; I have tried nvidia-xconf (?) I dont know how to proceed. I have to reboot to Windows now. the system seems to complain about there being no display one of the response was $display not set. I tried to look at xorg.conf by
pico xorg.conf
nano xorg.conf
type xorg.conf
no results

How can I roll back?

[gogalthorp]

Log on as root

edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file (note case counts)

joe /etc/X11/xorg.conf

find the line that says device "nvidia" or "nv"

replace nvidia with vesa this will use the default generic driver

save and exit joe (note joe is a nice simple text editor and is easier to use then vi)

type
init 3
this will make sure all X related process are killed ( note X is the graphics system on which most GUIs are built)
type
init 5
this will restart X and start your default GUI

Try installing the NVIDIA compiler by hand (is is called the hard way but it isn't)
Go to NVIDIA site down load their installer and follow their instructions.

Not you will need to install the kernel-source and the gcc compiler this can be dine from Yast.





type

[Wakou]

Thanks Gogalthorp, I tried but ... no dice. Good old MS eh?
Is there any way I can get back to where I was?
I tried to use vesa in xorg.conf..
then SaX2, it seemed to work, but then booted to a blank screen with a white console window and an X as a mouse cursor. I must have shut down and rebooted 50 times today.
Reminds me of 20 years ago with win 3.1

[gogalthorp]

Hmm not sure what you have done here. Setting the driver to "vesa" should work.

I suggest you reinstall. This will get you back to the start.

boot the cd/dvd and select install.
when you come to the partition scheme select to manually change.
be sure the scheme is pointing to the correct partitions. For the partition that holds the /home directory be sure that it is marked NOT to format. This will preserve your data and settings. Be sure the one pointing to root IS formated. Proceed withthe install.

Note if the above does not work rename the .kde4 or .kde or the .gnome directory in your home directory.

first move to your home directory
cd /home/yournamehere
then rename use the move commend mv

mv .kde .kde.back

note the leading period this indicates a hidden file.

try the init 3 then init 5 again

[scrarfussi]

boot up with your disk inside and select repair instead of install select automatic repair this will check for all problems and sort it out for you

[Wakou]

Thanks to both of you, I already tried the repair option, but as the kernel is different (? at least because files have been updated online?), it says it cannot repair a different version. I have not worked out how to get online from a console before the repair so it cannot contact the repositories. I left XP overnight running bittorrent and now have a shiney new 11.1 DVD, I think a deep breath, and clean system might be my weekend project. I am a bit unhappy about leaving a problem unsolved like this, but I have tinkered about with xorg.conf. I have some other questions, I will start a/some new thread/s....

What is in the .kdex directories? Can I switch to Gnome on a system set-up with KDE4? I tried, when the system was working to update from kde4 to KDE4.2. with partial success, as it complained about loads of files not being installed, and the uninstall a load of stuff. After this, help/about DID show kde4.2 though.


ps.. Also downloaded an e-book last night, and in the intro, "Why you might need a CLI" is the case:

GUI is broken or not installed —If no graphical interface is available, or if the
installed GUI isn’t working properly, you may be forced to work from the com-
mand line. Broken GUIs can happen for lots of reasons, such as when you use a
third-party, binary-only driver from NVIDIA or ATI and a kernel upgrade makes
the driver incompatible.

I must read on.............................


ps, unfortunately, this was only an example of why one might use a CLI, and no further info is given....

[gogalthorp]

You can have as many different GUIs as you can stand LOL. They just need to be installed. From the DVD, not the cd, you can chose to install any or all available GUI. You can also install later from the repositories via Yast.

The .kde / .gnome directories are where your configuration for that desktop is stored. Each user account has it's own .kde or .gnome directory. Actually there are 2 .gnome, .gnome .gnome2 I think. I run kde. There may be two for kde also in 11.x since you have the option to install the older kde 3.5 as well as the newer 4.1. The would be .kde and .kde4

I think what happened to you was that you started the driver install via the one click method, but at the same time a kernel update came in so you ended up with the wrong video binary. In any case it did break something. I still do not understand why dropping back to the "vesa" driver did not work for you. Did you put quotes around it? Any way good luck on your new install. If you wish to preserve any personal data or setting follow the instructions in my previous post. If not just do the install. Just pay attention to which partitions the install is installing to. Most likely it will select correctly but it is always good to be sure.

I'm closing this thread.