Some notes based on my experience of installing SL on my SuSE Linux system. It is
probably not a comprehensive compilation of notes and it is not even close to a HOW
-TO but I am hoping it has value to some. I can still recall what it is like to be a
nOOb to Linux. In 1994 when the community was not as accessible for a user not in a
collegiate environment. Information came from books, magazines and fellow
enthusiasts. Occasionally I would brave the newsgroups when I could afford to have
internet access.
==========
SL Version
==========
1.9.0(21) Apr 4 2006 16:39:31
=================================
Installed on two separate systems
=================================
System #1 (hand built)
----------------------
Abit VA-10 Motherboard / AMD 2500+ / 1Gb RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 / 128 Mb RAM
System #2
---------
Hewlett Packard Laptop Pavilion dv8000t
Intel Centrino Core Duo, T2300 / 1 Gb RAM
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 / 512 Mb RAM
SuSE Linux OSS 10.1 / Gnome Window Manager / Kernel 2.6.16 installed on both systems
=================
Required Software
=================
NVIDIA's Linux Beta Driver http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Be sure to select the one for the architecture of your system such as 32 or 64 Bit.
Based on the selections from NVIDIA the IA32 works on 32 bit systems but there are
two different drivers for Intel and AMD each. Both of my systems are 32 bit so I
used the Linux IA32 driver for both. If you have uncertainity I would suggest you
research the differences on wikipedia. "Trying" a video driver is not really a good
idea because the wrong one may damage your hardware.
nvidia-xconfig
--------------
This is suggested but not required. To use it requires that you have the kernel
sources installed and a the gcc compiler. If that previous sentence did not make
sense to you then don't download this software.
Second Life Linux Alpha Version
-------------------------------
I am sure you know where to get this.
====================
Installation Process
====================
I will not re-iterate the NVIDIA instructions [http://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-
installer-HOWTO.html]. This document is well written and needs no explanation.
In order to install the video driver into your Linux system it is necessary to run
it from a command prompt. If you login to your Linux system at a text prompt you
will only have to log out of SuSE Linux. Otherwise you will must set the system run
level to 3.
Setting Run level 3
-------------------
Select Applications->System->YaST [You will be required to enter the root password
if you are not root. Hopefully this is necessary because running as root is
dangerous]
Select "System" On the left side panel pf the YaST Control Center
Find & Select the "System services" icon in the right panel
Select the "Expert Mode" radio button and wait for the window to change over
A drop down box labeled "Set default runlevel after booting to:" will appear. From
that list select the item "3: Full multiuser with network"
Select "Finish"
Close the YaST Control Center
Log out / Restart Linux
The login prompt will now be a text , no graphics should be on your screen.
Login as root. These priveleges are necessary for the driver installation.
Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the NVIDIA driver.
[At this point it is advised that you follow the NVIDIA HOW-TO]
My installation errors were:
1 - XServer running (that should not happen if you did the preceeding)
2 - failed to build driver (One installation did not have the kernel sources
installed)
3- failed to build driver because I did not have the latest NVIDIA driver version.
Resetting run level to 5
At the command prompt type startx
X Windows should start. Watch carefully because you should see the NVIDIA screen for
a brief second (or slightly less). This indicates that your installation was
successful.
Using the instructions above for setting the runlevel this time select "5: Full
multiuser with network and display manager" after switching to "Expert mode". By the
way, since you started X from the command line as root you will not be propmpted for
the root password when starting YaST.
Restart your computer.
If you view the graphics settings the color depth will be displayed as 24 bit.
However, this color depth still works for SL on the NVIDIA card. I believe there is
post somewhere in this quagmire of threads that explains it as Color depth 24 bits +
2^3 (
bits for R G B = 32 bits. =============
Installing SL
=============
Download SL Linux alpha. Place it in a location that you have permission to write to
and can locate with a file browser. I chose a location under my home bin folder
because I know that I have adequate permissions and since I am the only user access
to the game is not an issue.
There should be a desktop icon for your home in the upper left corner of the screen.
Select this and a file manager will open. For KDE users you might see an icon of a
blue house along the bottom taskbar.
Locate your downloaded copy of SL. Right click on the file and select "Extract
here". This will result in the creation of a SL folder under your current bin
folder. Simply select the new SecondLife folder and locate the "Secondlife" file.
Double click it and you should be ready to login to SL.
[Essentially right clicking and extracting is the same as using the bunzip2 and tar
utilities from a command prompt. Its just simpler to explain as a right click
]The information contained here is for the benefit of those who are trying to run SL
on a Linux system. I am a Linux enthusiast but far from an expert. If these
instructions require correction please share your knowledge. Keep these forums
informed, contribute when you can so we can all gain. In turn, these forums are a
great source of information. Should you experience a problem other than something I
covered here your best solution is within this community. Thank you for reading this
far. Good luck!
~Bo Black~
Since I previously had the nvidia driver installed (it gets removed by the upgrade) I had to adjust my display properties in X (using sax2) to get the picture right. After that the install instructions provided by NVidia worked perfectly.