Pre-Installation openSuse Guide for noobs

[Solomon]

This thread is for newbies to openSUSE to provide basic guidance in burning your installation CD/DVD and installing openSUSE. This is for simple and not complex setups.

[1] Where to find the openSUSE installation ISO file

Click Here to to go to openSUSE website and download the ISO image.

You then burn that to a CD or DVD (dependent on whether you downloaded CD or DVD version) the installation CD/DVD. This first post has some important hints on that.

Please note, if you decide to download openSUSE-11.1, pay very close attention to the MD5 checksum.

[2] Checking MD5 SUM on ISO FILE from Linux

The theory here is one downloads the appropriate .iso file(s). For those who already have Linux, one then runs "md5sum file.iso" (or something like that) in a konsole, against the downloaded file (which in my example I called "file.iso"). This will give an md5 checksum value. One then compares that to the checksum that is on the download web site. If they don't match, you have a problem, and you MUST download again.
Typically, bittorrent downloads are more reliable than FTP or HTTP downloads.

[3] How to check the MD5SUM from Windows:

One completely free, MS-Windows application for running the md5 checksum on a number of different operating systems, can be downloaded from here : http://forums.techarena.in/attachmen...calculater.zip

[4] Burning the CD/DVD

Next, when one burns, burn the CD/DVD iso file as an "image file". For windows users, in Nero, this does not mean selecting some iso option, but rather means selecting the "image" option (this is under "file > burn image").

When burning, please burn at lowest possible speed. VERY SLOW. Also, choose a CD/DVD media that is of the highest quality you can get. Don't use some no name bargain basement brand CD/DVD that you know nothing about.
For more details Click Here.

[Solomon]

[5] Ensure BIOS is set properly

Also, on the PC where the installation is to be done, ensure in one's BIOS that the PC is set to boot from the CD/DVD drive before booting from the hard drive.

[6] Check MD5SUM again from within installation CD/DVD

When installing openSUSE-11.1, you may be given an option to check the MD5 checksum on your CDs (it is called a "media check" on the initial installation menu). Take the extra hour (or more) to do this!! It will potentially save you many evenings later on down the road, looking for some elusive problem that you can't find.

[7] Installation Menu

If you have a simple PC setup, with only a single MS-Windows partition on your drive, then likely you can leave the "Use Automatic Configuration" selected. BUT if you believe you may have to change the location of the openSUSE boot manager GRUB in your Master Boot record then you MUST deselect "Use Automatic Configuration". If you do not, you will NOT be able to control the location of your boot manager GRUB.
In particular, Thinkpad Lenovo owners- PAY ATTENTION to this. You may need to deselect "Automatic Configuration" and then follow the guidance in the openSUSE 11.1 Release Notes.

[8] Desktop Selection

Your two main desktop choices under the automatically installed Linux X Window System are GNOME or KDE 4 . Both are good. Surf the web for more info. Alternatively, if you like KDE but wish to try the older more proven KDE-3.5.10 , then select "Other" and choose KDE3.5. (You also have a choice of Xfce , or minimal X window or minimal server (text) installation).

Please note the Live CD for KDE ONLY comes with KDE-4.1.x and not KDE-3.5.10. To quickly get KDE-3.5.10 one must install off of the DVD and not the Live CD. There are ways to obtain KDE-3.5.10 via CD (using the KDE-4.1.x CD as an install CD for 3.5.10) but that is outside the scope of this stickie.

[9] And lastly for Windows Users

You MUST defrag your MS-Windows partitions before installation of openSUSE. That is because if you have not already prepared a partition for openSUSE, then openSUSE installer will try to carve up your MS-Windows hard drive (allocating space for both MS-Windows and Linux), and a badly fragmented drive can cause problems.

Good luck to all.