May 2005 - openSUSE Users - openSUSE Mailing Lists

SCSI RAID recovery
by Robert Amodeo 19 Jan '06

19 Jan '06

I have a fileserver running SuSE 8.0 with 2 IDE Drives and a SCSI RAID (RAID5). The system boots up to one of the IDE drives, and the SCSI RAID drive runs as a mounted filesystem (/dev/md0). (all filesystems are REISERFS). Problem: The SCSI RAID drive has crashed (won't boot up), and I need to recover it (repair it, through some utility). Further: The software does not seem to want to mount the disks, even though the SCSI BIOS (Adaptec) recognizes the disks, and they are listed as OPTIMAL. I tried to repair the disk(s) (with reiserfsck), but it produced an error message: reiserfs_open: bread failed reading block 2 reiserfs_open: bread failed reading block 16 reiserfs_open: neither new nor old reiserfs form found on /dev/md0 The literature suggested that this error message is hardware related (either a disk is physically damaged, or maybe the RAID isn't recognized), but again, the disks are recognized (and therefore, so is the SCSI Card). I tried to boot up with SuSE CD 1 in Recovery mode, but not sure what to do there (i.e., after the root prompt - just run reiserfsck?). Literature suggests there are plenty of tools to handle disk recovery, and especially RAID support, I can't find reference to them anywhere. The installation of the RAID was trivial (using the YAST2 partitioning GUI window on startup), and yet recovery seems to be a mystery. This can't be right. Does anyone know where there are "decent" and "usable" recovery tools? OR ... does anyone know what "specifically" to do in this case? Can I re-partition without formatting, and recover the existing data? Any help is appreciated - I'm sure I'm missing something "obvious", but can't find "obviously" what to do in the literature, docs, etc. Thank you. Robert Amodeo School of Engineering and Applied Science University of California, Los Angeles

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9.3 Review
by David Johanson 06 Jan '06

06 Jan '06

Linux Magazine (Linux Pro in the US) has a 4 page review of the 9.3 release in the June 2005 issue, pgs 44-47. "Novell's Suse Linux 9.3 is a feature-rich, and robust Linux distribution. At first glance, the new version does not seem much changed from 9.2, but a lot of work has gone on under the hood. The distribution is definitely good for new users. If you already have Suse Linux 9.x or a similarly recent system, the update is only worth the effort if you are unhappy with your current setup. If you use external media on a regular basis, the update is definitely a good idea. . . . " dave -- David C. Johanson Linux Counter # 116410 Powered by SuSE Linux 7.3 People who behold a phenomenon will often extend their thinking beyond it; people who merely hear about the phenomenon will not be moved to think at all. -- Goethe

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help for sight impaired people
by Doug McGarrett 09 Dec '05

09 Dec '05

Some weeks ago I inquired here about assistance for those who have difficulty seeing, as I am one, at present. I am effectively blind in the left eye and have cataract in the right. Some of this may be ameliorated in the future, some will probably not be. Nothing came back at all. The font in K-Mail out-going is about 8 point on my 17" screen, as is the font on the message names for the incoming mail. I have not been able to change this, altho the actual incoming message font I was successful in changing. I do not have access to my Windows machine at present, due to mechanical failure, and this is the only way I have to communicate. Is there no way to make SuSE Linux friendly to optically-challenged users? Please, someone, reply. --doug

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PC running (SuSE 8.2 Pro / WinME) bootloader lilo -> grub
by Mick Higgins 08 Dec '05

08 Dec '05

Hi List, I have belatedly made the change from lilo to grub carefully converting my lilo config to grub'ese. It seems to work as expected. However, I have a couple of questions which I cannot track down in any off-line source (man, info, howto's etc.) and I am not able to trawl google or list archive with a time-limited unmetered dial-up connection at present. 1. In lilo I always used the boot-floppy option so as not to upset WinME. How do I do something similar in grub? 2. When the bootloader menu appeared in lilo I could interactively overide the default runlevel (ie: boot to runlevel 3 not 5) when necessary. How is this achieved in the grub menu? I will accept a URL to the appropriate list archive entry or web page. Apologies if this has been dealt with before. -- ** Message sent via KDE KMail v1.7.2 on SuSE Linux v8.2 ** Please reply in the format that this message is sent. ** Thanks.

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Time
by jim 13 Nov '05

13 Nov '05

Why is it everytime you boot into Suse10, that the time is different, the time zone doesn't change. Jim

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stable,updated,zero-cost,FLOSS virus software
by David Storrs 17 Oct '05

17 Oct '05

What are people using for anti-virus software? I've got BitDefender running on my machine, but I'd like to find something zero-cost that has a nice GUI so that when I set up boxes for friends and family, they can use it. Regularly (and automatically) updated virus definitions are a must, here. Dave

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icewm in SuSE 9.3
by eddieleprince 15 Sep '05

15 Sep '05

I've installed icewm from yast but I cannot seem to access it. Does anyone know how to change the display from kde to icewm? There doesn't seem to be any options in the login screen or the yast sysconfig editor that lists it as a choice for selection. Thanks Eddie

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remote X vrs VNC
by lerninlinux＠comcast.net 22 Aug '05

22 Aug '05

While I realize VNC can be used on multiple os's, I saw a snip of an article that POed me. It claimed that you couldn't graphically remotely administer a Linux machine before VNC. I assume it was a newbie (as am I), but one who didn't know about X, or Webmin, and came from a PC Anywhere background. I have used VNC at my brothers, but haven't messed with x remotely; what are the benefits/limitations of either, relating to a Linux installation. Has anyone messed with X remotely going either way from a X.org machine to Xfree or vice versa. Trying to learn from others mistakes before I fiddle TIA Randal

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AMD Opteron Laptops... Suggested ones for SuSE?
by Steve Kratz 18 Aug '05

18 Aug '05

Anyone out there used any of the AMD Opteron laptops, and how well have they worked with SuSE Linux?

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9.3 install on Compaq 3017CL notebook hangs or fails to find hard drive
by Randall J. Parr 04 Aug '05

04 Aug '05

Have Compaq Presario 3017CL notebook with SuSE 9.2 installed and running fine. Trying to install/upgrade SuSE 9.3. When booting from the DVD and selecting "Installation", the system hangs while "Initializing". When booting from the DVD and selecting "Installation w/o ACPI" or "Installation - Safe mode" the installation ask for keyboard, etc. but then says it can find no hard drive. I did not experience a problem like this when installing SuSE 9.1 or SuSE 9.2 on this system. Any idea how to get past this? Boot parameters to try, etc.? Thanks R.Parr, RHCE Temporal Arts

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