SuSe 9 annoyances

[MadMan2k]

Thanks to GroundZero3, I was able to try linux for almost the first time (I had used LNX-BBC before), but I experienced some trouble right off the bat.
I installed it, no hitch, then I tried to resize an image in the GIMP, and the machine froze. The cooling is perfectly fine, I can run CPU-intensive programs for a long time in Windows without it freezing, and the computer had only been on for a few hours at the time of the crash. So anyway, I rebooted, tried the operation again, and it worked. I had a copy of Windows 95 installed as a secondary OS before I installed SuSe, and then installed XP over the top of 95. XP hijacked the boot loader, and didn't even give me the option of booting into SuSe. It happened that I found a superb deal on a new hard drive I had been considering, so I purchased that, and installed 95, then XP (it doesn't like DOS), then SuSe in a seperate partition. SuSe booted perfectly fine, but when I chose XP from the boot loader menu, it displayed the message: "NTDLR missing or corrupt". I don't know if it's worth the trouble getting XP and SuSe to dual-boot, if even possible, and I can't have 2 hard drives in this case unless one of the sticks out the side (HP mini-tower).
Another problem I have with SuSe is that when I load mozilla, which takes far too long compared to Konqueror, it won't let me type anything into the location/address bar. Not to mention the fact that when I log out after booting with KDE, and log in using Gnome, I can't log back out or the machine will freeze again. Or the fact that my graphics card works fine in 2D, but the 3d acceleration functions appear to be non-existant to Linux, or that my back/forward buttons and scroll wheel on my mouse (Intellimouse optical) are unusable in Linux, and
I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble for a 'superior OS',
Maybe I should have started with Mandrake or Red Hat, which were suggested by a lot of people for one wanting to gain experience in Linux?

[VHockey86]

I've found that windows and linux dont play well with each other if Windows is installed AFTER linux. I'm sure theres a "better" way to fix it, but you might want to try wiping the hdd clean (or at least the OS partitions), install windows, then install suse after u get windows xp up and running.

[cunokyle]

Installing windows first is definitley the way you want to go.

[Ptrper]

I definitely agree, Windows should be installed first, then you can use GRUB as the boot loader, which I find to be more attractive than MS's BL.

As for being able to use your mouse, you need to configure it in YAST.

Gimp, yeah I gotta say things aren't so hot.

As for learning Linux, don't expect it to be Windows out of the box. Although Linux has come a long way, there is still a learning curve.

On a different note, I just found out today that my company is looking at using Linux in one of our departments to cut down on costs. Now if I could onlyfind a way to get into that group....

[CMonster]

Linux is a "Superior OS" only in its structure and the power it gives you over the configuration. It is not necessarily faster or easier.

It sounds like you are experiencing some compatibility problems with hardware resources -perhaps you should list what hardware you have?

I do not belive that you would find Redhat/Fedora any easier or Mandrake for that matter -but you may want to give Mandrake a try just for comparrison.

Gimp is awesome -you just have to know what you are doing.

My only beef with Linux is printing -the lack of a "complete" unified interface across applications and the lack of easy D&D photo layout.

Long ago Linux forced me to transition to quality (read "supported") hardware and I have never looked back -

[MadMan2k]

It seems the reply I made last evening was lost...
Anyway, I decided it wasn't worth the trouble and incompatibility to keep using SuSe as a primary/everyday OS, and reinstalled XP. I did like the selection of arcade games included with suse, I'll have to try and find counterparts for windows.

[Ptrper]

Aaawww,

don't give up yet. It took me a couple tries before I started to get familiar with it. If you don't believe me, just ask CMonster. He'll tell you how easy I used to quit when I got frustrated.

Hope you decide to try again in the future.

[bfcx]

if you dont want to deal with bootloaders and ntldr missing, just make a linux boot floppy, and just put the floppy in when you want linux, take it out when you want windows, saves a lot of headakes. Most installs ask to create a boot disk, just do that and skip writing the boot loader to the harddrive.

[cunokyle]

Originally posted by MadMan2k
It seems the reply I made last evening was lost...
Anyway, I decided it wasn't worth the trouble and incompatibility to keep using SuSe as a primary/everyday OS, and reinstalled XP. I did like the selection of arcade games included with suse, I'll have to try and find counterparts for windows.

giving up so soon?

[MadMan2k]

I don't have a floppy drive :/
I'll probably put it on my old HD, and just stick that in when I want to use SuSe. Who knows, maybe when I get a new computer, there won't be any incompatibility issues.