On 08/05/2018 06:15 PM, don fisher wrote:
On 08/04/2018 11:05 PM, David C. Rankin wrote:
On 08/04/2018 10:43 PM, don fisher wrote:
I have read discussions concerning the wisdom of Opensuse not running current kernels. But I recently purchased an Alienware 13 3 that is near EOL, so it is not real bleeding edge technology. Neither the wireless nor Ethernet are supported, and now I find the the graphics chipset is not supported either. I was able to use a USB wireless transmitter, but I cannot get around the display hardware.
message about wireless in dmesg is: ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2
Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2500 Gigabit Ethernet Controller is not configurable, except with a patch into the /sys directory found on the internet.
Message about the graphics chipset from the Nouveau list is:
"GP106 is supported, you must be using an older kernel (since yours says "unknown chipset")".
How dangerous is it to download on of the kernels from the Opensuse search site. Kernel.org says the latest stable release is 4.17.12. Under search/42.3/community packages, there are a few offerings shown at this revision level. How bad is it to install one of these kernels?
Don
Don,
It's not dangerous at all. openSuSE has long had the KOTD (kernel of the day) repository and the stable repository that offer the latest kernels. You can simply add the repo to your yast repositories and install and test the kernel, e.g.
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/stable/standard
You can check your /etc/zypp/zypp.conf and make sure you have multiversion for the kernel enabled (I believe it is by default). That way when you install the new kernel from stable -- you will still have your current kernel installed on your machine. If things go south, just select the old kernel at the boot screen by selecting (I forget what the link is called, it is something like "Advanced Options" that is listed either below, or when you expand the highlighted boot entry at the boot screen). The 8sec countdown timer will stop when you do, so you can take your time and pick through the available kernels to boot.
Just confirm in /etc/zypp/zypp.conf you have:
multiversion = provides:multiversion(kernel)
and
multiversion.kernels = latest,latest-1,running
which keeps the running kernel, the kernel with the highest version, and the kernel with the next highest version by my read of the comments (though it is unclear if 'running' and 'latest' apply to the same kernel, the setting is evaluated by /sbin/purge-kernels, not libzypp)
Either way, you will still have your current and stable installed -- which you can boot to your old kernel in case of emergency and just delete the new stable one if it doesn't work out.
I checked and stable is 4.17.12 -- so if your hardware is supported by the latest kernel -- you will be in luck. Good luck.
I am afraid I failed. I was able to add the repo and download a 4.17.12-2 kernel, but not even the serial port or mouse would work. I used Yast to remove the package, but that did not work either because it still shows up as the default kernel to boot.
I choose a 4.14.60-1 kernel from the 42.3 search options, and at least the Ethernet works. Wireless still is on the rocks, and I do not know how to evaluate the video in Linux. The external port still dead. Are there any NVIDIA packages for linux that allow evaluation?
Is there a clean way to get rid of the 4.17.12-2 kernel parts left in /boot and /lib/modules? I can just delete them, but I am always afraid grub will get angry with me.
Don
This appears to be a knowledgeable group so I hope you will forgive me for going a bit off topic. I mentioned the error message: ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2 Can someone tell me what the hw3.0 designation is, and the firmware-5.bin designation. I have seen mention of both boards and chips. Is the hw3.0 the board revision number and the firmware-5 the software revision number? I could not find this info after many hours on google. I have been trying to find a pair that would work, but do not know what I am pairing up. Thanks, Don -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org