[tlug] openSUSE network connection

[Raedwolf Summoner <rarooam@example.com>]

As a follow-up to the saga of attempting to install
the NVIDIA driver on openSUSE, I have experienced a
wide range of problems. I'm now wondering if I should
attempt a motherboard swap. (How hard can it be?)
But given what a few "simple" installations have shown
me, it is best to expect the Murphy's law caveat that
if anything can screw up, it will. With Ubuntu on my
laptop, I have experienced none of these problems, so
I am hopeful that perhaps a new m/board...

Right now I am experiencing some problems with
SUSE 11.0. Upon booting, the network inexplicably
declares that it is disconnected and nothing I have
tried so far using the YaST GUI gets it re-connected.
Rebooting doesn't help. Any suggestions?

My current "patch" is to reinstall. It is, so far, the only
reliable method. (/home is on a separate partition) But
then, eventually it does it again.

No other distro does this to me, and SUSE 11.0 didn't
use to before I "upgraded" to 11.1 and couldn't get
the NVIDIA driver installed and went back to 11.0.

I now can't get the video driver installed in 11.0 either
and don't know why. I tried to go back to 10.2 (where I
originally started) and the distro wouldn't install. Other
noshows (that refuse to run after installation) are Ubuntu,
SUSE 11.2 (which lets me log in before it gives me a white
screen), and Mint Linux, an Ubuntu downstream distro.
I have reinstalled all the above multiple times with
identical results.

Strangely enough, Debian, the Ubuntu upstream distro,
installs  and runs with no problems, though it does not
install the NVIDIA driver, and while recognizing the HP
printer/scanner, experiences erectile dysfunction when
it comes to actually installing it -- both while wearing
the gui and with the bare terminal.

Mandriva is the only distro that properly installs the proper
video driver with no problems. It seems Mandriva deserves
its reputation for graphics tools. (Their artwork is awesome,
too.) I have to install the Mandriva distro without using the
common /home partition, because Mandriva screws up SUSE
so badly that I have to re-install SUSE if I let Mandriva use
/home.

Unfortunately, they don't have a Japanese version. Otherwise,
I'd probably go with Mandriva.

--Ralph

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