GRUB: boot manually when messing up linux partition

I have a multiboot PC (XP+OpenSuSE) and messed up the linux partition by making a bad choice in the windows disk management.
So after restart, there was no grub menu, just a grub prompt...
To be able to boot windows (which is the first partition in my case) I followed these steps

Load another boot loader to boot unsupported operating systems

If you want to boot an unsupported operating system (e.g. Windows 95), chain-load a boot loader for the operating system. Normally, the boot loader is embedded in the boot sector of the partition on which the operating system is installed.

1. Set GRUB's root device to the partition by the command @command{rootnoverify} (see section rootnoverify):

   grub> rootnoverify (hd0,0)
   

2. Set the active flag in the partition by the command @command{makeactive}(5) (see section makeactive):

   grub> makeactive
   

3. Load the boot loader by the command @command{chainloader} (see section chainloader):

   grub> chainloader +1
   

   `+1' indicates that GRUB should read one sector from the start of the partition. The complete description about this syntax can be found in section How to specify block lists.
4. Run the command @command{boot} (see section boot).

However, DOS and Windows have some deficiencies, so you might have to use more complicated instructions. See section DOS/Windows, for more information.

OpenSuSE 12.1 on a Dell D630

Everything just works!

No hardware troubles, all multimedia keys respond, hibernate OK, switching to external display, Bluetooth, audio, WI-FI,...

I used the DVD, 64-bit version and have an Intel Graphics Chipset and 2GB of RAM.
Gnome 3.2 is very nice, especially when you are a Google user.
The online accounts feature is very good! You should give it a try.

Easier SSD install

Great tip from David, a collegue at work.

To avoid the extra grub configuration when installing linux to an external SSD, USB-stick or HDD, just make sure it is the only disk during installation.
Just remove the internal HDD or disable it and start your install.

Easy but bullet-proof!

Enable extra HP elitebook 8560p keys with XFCE

The HP 8560p has some extra keys to enhance certain funtions, see image

Only the first key (Wireless switch) works OOTB.
To enable all the others, configure your XFCE keyboard shortcuts as indicated in the following screenshot. (First 3 lines)

Should do the trick!

Enable two-finger scrolling in XFCE (horiz + vert)

By default, two-finger scrolling is enabled on XFCE on OSS11.4 when you have a Synaptics touchpad that has this feature...
But only vertical scrolling is enabled, to also get horizontal two-finger scrolling you have to add 2 lines to the following file (as root!):

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf

The lines in bold do the magic!

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "touchpad catchall"
        Driver "synaptics"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Option  "HorizScrollDelta"      "0"
        Option     "VertTwoFingerScroll"      "1"     # multitouch
        Option     "HorizTwoFingerScroll"     "1"     # multitouch
EndSection

Just log out and back in...

Installing OSS 11.4 on an ExpressCard SSD

Using an HP 8560p I finally managed to install (and boot) OSS 11.4 to an ExpressCard 34 SSD.
The biggest problem is not the actual installation itself but making sure that the computer wants to boot from the SSD.

I started by booting from x86-64 DVD and installing OSS to /dev/sdb as the SSD was recognized as a second hard drive. Following the standard installation options and indication Gnome as default desktop, the procedure was pretty normal. The only thing that was a bit annoying was that the HD 6470M is not recognized OOTB so the second part of the installation is text-based.

After the first real reboot, the problems began... The computer does not want to boot from the SSD, you don't even get the boot menu or even an error.
Several tries later I found one scenario that did work.
When installing, do not choose the Gnome or KDE option, but enable all options and choose the "Text based only" one.
Also, when configuring the boot loader (GRUB), make sure you install it to the root partition (and not to the MBR) and also set /dev/sdb as the first hard drive.

I don't know why but that was the only way I could boot from SSD.
Even setting the same GRUB options when choosing XFCE or LXDE did not work. Only text-based worked... (If somebody knows why, please let me know)

Anyway, it is not so difficult to switch from text-based to XFCE (or Gnome...)

• Make sure you have a working internet connection (plug in the network cable because wireless will not work yet)
• Install all updates (do this several times until no new updates are shown)
  

  zypper update
  

• Reboot the machine because there must have been a kernel update
• Install fglrx package to enable HD6470M recognition

zypper ar -f http://linux.ioda.net/mirror/ati/openSUSE_11.4/ fglrx
zypper in fglrx64_xpic_SUSE114

• Install XFCE meta package

zypper in patterns-openSUSE-xfce

• Set the display manager to gdm

  vi /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager
  change DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm" --> DISPLAYMANAGER="gdm"
  

• Reboot

Power saving tip.. Spin down the normal hard disk after booting from SSD

 echo "/sbin/hdparm -B1 /dev/sda && /sbin/hdparm -S1 /dev/sda" >> /etc/init.d/boot.local

btw, the HP8560p works very well with OSS 11.4...

Stop the pc speaker beep or buzzer on opensuse 11.4

This is a collection of tips to stop your machine from beeping when causing an error in console-mode or when rebooting in gnome or even when pressing ctrl-alt-backspace to kill X...
Some changes require a reboot so don't forget.

1. Remove the pcspkr module and stop it from loading
   
   go to a root terminal
   
   

   rmmod pcspkr
   echo "blacklist pcspkr" >> /etc/modprobe.d/50-blacklist.conf
   

   
   
2. Set the console bell off
   
   go to a root terminal
   
   

   echo "/usr/bin/setterm -blength 0" >> /etc/init.d/boot.local
   

   
   
3. Set the zapwarning option to off
   go to a root terminal and add the following section to /etc/X11/xorg.conf
   
   

   Section "ServerFlags"
     Option       "ZapWarning" "off"
   EndSection
   

4. Mute the beep channel using alsamixer
   
   You do not need to be root for this. Just open a terminal and type:
   
   

   alsamixer
   

   
   You will see the mixer for pulseaudio, press F6 to change the soundcard.

Choose HDA Intel PCH and press Enter. Now you will see the BEEP channel

With the up/down arrows you can change the volume but setting it to 00 will not help. You have to MUTE the channel by pressing M, just like the following screenshot

I also fizzled with the /etc/init.d/halt script to remove some sound settings but this did not change anything, so I will not go into detail...