FakeRAID -- Suse 11.3 does not like it!

MD is linux software raid, a consistent full-fledged native solution.
DM can provide some minimal support for those proprietary legacy fake-raids,
created by various firmwares.
> You can check that by running "cat /proc/mdstat".
Ok, I'll do this as soon as I get to that box again. 
However, if md was active then some mdX partitions would appear in
/proc/partitions. But they didn't. Also, the installer didn't say anything
about md, but kept talking about dm (which is correct, AFAICS)

The issue I see with your setup is if the controller fails you will loose your RAID. 

RAID 1 is mirrored and gives some small amount of extra uptime or servers and such, but is not a real backup solution . You really need to backup if the data is important. 

I have a RAID controller on my motherboard, but I only use a JBOD for my data drive, which is
backed up to a RAIDed NAS (Which in turn is backed up).

Source 

Suse does not like it!

I have attempted to force RAID detection at the command prompt: as root, ran dmraid -ay. This returned the error "No raid disks". Is it perhaps that it is loading sata_nv instead of AHCI drivers for the sata disks? Perhaps I need to pass a kernel argument like dodmraid? 

-------------

The newer Kernels and or Suse seem to have a problem with some implementations of fakeraid. It is a coin toss wither it works or not in 11.2.

Unfortunately, I feared the above and didn't want to believe it but I reached the same conclusion after many hours spent trying diverse methods on my old ASUS A8V Deluxe, 1GB RAM, AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4400+.
This MB has a Promise FastTrak 378 and the VIA VT8237. I used both in various RAID configurations, with several different openSUSE versions, starting from SUSE 10.0 up to openSUSE 11.0 (all of them x64 as well as all versions in my discussion below).
I am now trying to revive the PC and make it a server (internet proxy and content management for the kids, file and multimedia server for the home network, etc). So, I got 2 x 2Tb WD HDDs (RAID1)together with some old 2 x 250Gb WD HDD (RAID0)and a 60Gb Maxtor (single UDMA).

Since I hope to put this together once and not touch it for a couple of years, I wanted to get a head start with openSUSE 11.3 (milestone 7) so I don't run out of updates too soon. Also, I want to use FakeRaid so besides safety(1) or speed(0), the Acronis TI boot disk understands the partitions and can backup/restore.
Well, openSUSE 11.3 install fails miserably - 1st time ever I can't install openSUSE at all! Tried both DVD and LiveCD KDE and it can't even format any partition, in any combination using dmraid, regardless if RAID 0 or 1. I tried some workarounds for partitioning and formatting (see below) but 11.3 can't mount the partitions already prepared.
Went back to 11.2 and there are problems with the partitioning during DVD install. However, the LiveCD KDE4 has some success, even though it occasionally freezes during the formatting.
On 11.2 & 11.3 I tried both EXT3 & EXT4 but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Tried 11.1 and it only froze once out of quite a few partitioning/formatting attempts.
I also tried some other distributions with mixed results:
- Mandriva PWP 2010 - works fine 1st try, no problems.
- Ubuntu Server 10.04 - doesn't even access the partitions to format or mount (diverse errors).
- CentOS 5.5 - no problem whatsoever.
I am still determined to use openSUSE (as on my other 3 systems) and after multiple trials and errors, I came up with a rough plan that seems to work on 11.2, for the most part:
- Boot with a LiveCD
- Check dmraid status #dmraid -r -this should list the correct array name and number of drives (i used a MHDD disk to clear boot info and erase 1st 100MB when had conflicting dmraid info caused by moving HDD around; #dmraid -rE didn't work all the time).
- Activate dmraid #dmraid -ay
- Verify with #dmraid -s
- Partition disks #fdisk /dev/mapper/via_yourarrayhere (or pdc_yourarrayhere)
- Make sure to assign correct partition types (83 Linux; 82 Swap)
- Reboot for good measure (had problems with system "confused" on how many partitions)
- Open YaST2 / Partitioner and format all partitions. Try one at the time to prevent partitioner from locking up.
- Once all partitions formatted, start the install script (from the desktop).
- During install, select expert partitioning but don't format or change type. Just assign mount points.
- Make sure the boot order is recognized correctly by Grub (changed order in BIOS if not) and select MBR for location (didn't try the default booting from partition, might still work)
- Continue normal installation. The system should install correctly, even with multiple dmraid partitions.
I hope this helps someone.
I am very frustrated with this situation. Regardless if is the kernel fault, or dmraid, or YaST partitioner module fault, this should not happen!
The main reason I switched to Linux is Vista didn't support my relatively older hardware but Linux did.
One shouldn't have to trade system functionality for "new features". Don't want to keep buying new hardware just to keep up with the OS updates!

Quick update:
1 - Installed latest BIOS update from ASUS (even though "beta"). The revision description says nothing about storage but I wanted latest possible.
2 - Switched PNP OS in BIOS to "No".
After "1" & "2" was able to install openSUSE 11.2 straightforward, twice - no workaround needed.
Recently, I got the final release DVD for 11.3 x86_64 and installed OK using the existing partitions (format only). This worked fine with both RAID 0 and RAID 1 partitions.
Since I didn't test all the combinations possible I can't say what is the fix but I lean towards "2" above. 

I guess enabling PNP OS in BIOS causes the OS to mis-configure resources.

Grafik-Treiber ATI Catalyst

openSUSE – proprietären Grafik-Treiber ATI Catalyst 11.4 als RPM installieren

OpenSUSE -NTFS partition mounted for rw access

Source

Example of an entry from my fstab file for an NTFS partition on partition 1 of the first drive (all on one line):

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD5000BEVT-60ZAT1_WD-WXN509S27952-part1     /windows/C     ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0

The first string  

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD5000BEVT-60ZAT1_WD-WXN509S27952-part1

specifies the partition to be mounted by its ID code. You have the option to specify it by device (in this case sdb1) instead of by the ID code. 

The second string /windows/C is the path to the mount directory. 

The third string specifies the driver to be used: ntfs-3g. 

The fourth string users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 lists the options to apply to the mount. In short, these options (selected by the openSUSE developers) give read-only access for normal users and read-write access for the root user. 

Note: option users doesn't work; it's a developers mistake; ignore it. The final string 0 0 is an admin string.

Many users, if not most, prefer to have write access to the NTFS partitions. That simple adjustment is covered in the next paragraph.

Allowing write access to the read-only mounts created during installation

I mentioned above that the default installation leaves normal users with read-only access to their partitions. It's a simple adjustment to make the drives writeable. You change the options string to it's simplest form, from this:

users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8

to this

defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8

The file fstab is a text file and the easiest way to alter a text file is with a text editor. Open a console window and enter one of the following commands to open the file for editing:

Gnome users:
gnomesu gedit /etc/fstab

KDE users:  
kdesu kwrite /etc/fstab

And replace the long options with these: defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8. If you find a locale option that differs from locale=en_US.UTF-8, keep your locale option.

That was the quick fix for giving write permissions to partitions mounted read-only by the openSUSE installation program. There are other options for mounting NTFS partitions and these are covered below.

Mounting NTFS partitions permanently (with a line in fstab)

This section is for NTFS partitions that aren't already permanently mounted. If your partition was already automatically mounted during installation of openSUSE and all you want is to allow write access to it, read the sections above to make it writeable.

Tip #1: in most cases we don't have to use the locale= option. I'm going to leave it out from now on.

Suppose that you want to mount a partition permanently in a folder you create for it (e.g. mount_point), located anywhere you like in your filesystem, say at /path_to/mount_point.

To mount your NTFS partition permanently, add your version of the following line into the file system table, fstab. [and leave the last line in the file as a blank line.] Recommended option for world-writeable mount:

/dev/sdb1    /path_to/mount_point    ntfs-3g    defaults    0 0

When you reboot, the partion will mount into the folder /path_to/mount_point with permissions drwxrwxrwx, i.e with read/write access for everybody, in the style of Microsoft's insecure filesystems.

Here's an alternate option for fstab: If you want the permissions to be linux-like, you can specify a particular owner for the mount folder and its contents with this sort of line in fstab:

/dev/sdb1    /path_to/mount_point    ntfs-3g    uid=1000,gid=100,umask=0022    0 0

Tip #2: The numerical form above appears all over the net, but I've found that names work just as well so I recommend using names for openSUSE versions 11.x because it's much simpler:

/dev/sdb1    /path_to/mount_point    ntfs-3g    uid=suzette,gid=users,umask=0022    0 0

In this example the "umask" with octal value 0022 produces permissions drwxr-xr-x on folder mount_point, for the owner=suzette (1000) group=users (100), just like normal openSUSE user permissions. If you change the umask option to umask=0027, the permissions become drwxr-x--- and only suzette can read the mount's contents.

[Tip #3: If you want to find a user's UID & GID, run the terminal command: id suzette]

Mounting NTFS partitions temporarily (using the command line)

OpenSUSE -audio report scripts

S.T.A.R.T. - SuSE Terminal Audio Reporting Tool
Audio Lost
Source

To create the following script, Copy and paste the text  at bottom as the file alsarset into your home area bin folder (~/bin/alsarset).
Run the following terminal command to make the file executable:

$ chmod +x ~/bin/alsarset

To use the alsarset program, open another terminal session and type

$ alsarset

DO NO RUN the script as root, but as normal user. The script, when it sees you are not root, reruns itself, with the sudo command, asking for the root password. The script then runs the Alsa Stop and then the Alsa Start and completes. As the script exists the second run, it drops back as a normal user and runs kmix. It does work, if done right.
#!/bin/bash

#: Title : /home/james/bin/alsarset
#: Date Created: Sat Oct 30 09:45:27 CDT 2010
#: Last Edit : Sat Oct 30 10:12:27 CDT 2010
#: Author : J. McDaniel
#: Version : 1.00
#: Description : Stop/Start Alsa, reload kwin
#: Options : none
# Written for the openSUSE forums on Saturday October 30, 2010
# Copy and paste this text as the file alsarset into the ~/bin folder.
# Run the terminal command: chmod +x ~/bin/alsarset, to make the file executable
# Open up a terminal session and type: alsarset, to start the program
#
# Check to see if we are root, Do not run as root since we need to run kmix as a normal user
#
tput clear
echo
echo "Reset (Stop/Start) Alsa Sound Sound System - Start KMIX (For KDE Desktop Systems)"
echo

if [[ $UID -ne 0 ]]; then
echo "Root User Permissions are required, Please Enter the ..."
echo
sudo $0
echo
read -p "Alsa Sound has been Started. Press to reload KMIX (CTRL-C to Abort)..."
echo
/usr/bin/kmix
exit 0
fi
echo
read -p "Press to Stop Alsa Sound System now! (CTRL-C to Abort)..."
echo

/etc/init.d/alsasound stop

echo
echo "Alsa Sound has been Stopped. Just Select NO to Removed Sound Devices Window."
echo
read -p "Press to restart Alsa (CTRL-C to Abort)..."
echo

/etc/init.d/alsasound start
exit 0
# End Of Script

OpenSUSE -changing from CRT to LCD monitor

http://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html
openSUSE 11.3-AMD64

It is recommended to use YaST for installation of the NVIDIA driver. There are several reasons for this. 

First, it's simple. 

Second, and this is the most important one, you won't need to recompile the nvidia kernel module after a kernel update.

Update your Kernel via YOU (YaST Online Update). Use
  YaST - Software - Software Repositories - Add
  Protocol: HTTP
  Server Name: : download.nvidia.com
  Directory on Server: /opensuse/11.3
to add the NVIDIA http server as additional installation source.
Now use
  YaST - Software - Software Management
to install the NVIDIA driver. The appropriate NVIDIA packages will be autoselected, if your card is supported. These are either
  a) x11-video-nvidia + nvidia-gfx-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
or
  b) x11-video-nvidiaG01 + nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
or
  c) x11-video-nvidiaG02 + nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
If no additional packages are autoselected, your card is not supported by the driver (RPMs) at the moment. It needs to be mentioned that 'xen'
is excluded from the kernel flavors supported by the Nvidia drivers.
People who aren't afraid of recompiling the nvidia kernel module or even reinstalling the nvidia driver each time the kernel has been
updated and want or need to use the latest and greatest nvidia driver can use the following steps 1-4. The others should use the
instructions above using YaST and skip the steps below. 
1) Kernel sources must be installed and configured. Usually this means installing the 'kernel-source', 'make' and 'gcc' packages with YaST2. 
2) Run the following commands 

# echo "blacklist nouveau" > /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf

 ## recreate initrd without KMS, if the use of KMS is enabled in initrd
 if grep -q NO_KMS_IN_INITRD=\"no\" /etc/sysconfig/kernel; then
   sed -i 's/NO_KMS_IN_INITRD.*/NO_KMS_IN_INITRD="yes"/g' /etc/sysconfig/kernel
   mkinitrd
 fi
3) Reboot your machine.
4) Use the nvidia installer for 260.19.12.
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.12.run -qIMPORTANT: You need to recompile and install the nvidia kernel module after each kernel update.
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.12.run -K

SuSE:Configuring graphics cards
Source

CRTs typically run at 80 or 85 Hz to avoid flickering. LCDs, on the other hand, run nicely at 60 Hz, as flickering is not an issue. Some support higher resolutions, for compatibility sake, but others don't.

This problem might happen when for some reason X doesn't have enough info to change the frequency, and keep sending a higher frequency than the monitor supports.

By default X doesn't create a xorg.conf file anymore in opensuse 11.2, but running sax2 will generate one and, if it exists, X will use it.

You could also try to set your monitor to a lower frequency/resolution with your DE tools (there's one in KDE control panel, IINM, don't know about Gnome/others) just to switch monitors, so you can reconfigure it.

Now, if you intend to switch monitors on a regular basis I think you'll need to use xorg.conf to configure both. 

FIRST:

Boot Into Run Level 3

At start simply type 3 at the grub screen. 

Or if started:

Apllication luncher - yast - system - system services (runlevel) - (use expert mode)

there under were you select the simple and expertmode is an option to set the runlevel after booting.

Running in runlevel 3 you can then use the "startx command to start X

Or open up a console, login as root and type:

# init 3

That is the same as the YaST way.

Or

# nano /etc/inittab

In run level 3 you have to login first which means you can'nt have the OS start it for you automatically when it boots, however, you can add startx to your startup script for bash, (if you are using bash) and have it startx automatically once a user logs into the system. This can be done manually for each users .bash file or you can place it in the global /etc/bash file in order to have it executed for all users.

THEN:
Login and reconfigure your graphics
# sax2

missing libraries in OpenSuSE

When you have an issue with some missing file, you can query which package provides that file (among all the packages provided by all the defined repositories).
To do this you can use zypper from the command line, for example:

Code:

zypper wp libstdc++.so.5
zypper wp libgd.so

where the wp command of zypper stats for what-provides.

Full virtualization on Phenom?

To check if the CPU supports full virtualization use command
#grep vmx /proc/cpuinfo
or look for info with
#cat /proc/cpuinfo

NTFS-3g error: Hal.Storage.mount-fixed

org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.PermissionDeniedByPolicy:
org.freedesktop.Hal.Storage.mount-fixed
auth_admin_keep_always <-- (action, result).
Source

Hal is the hardware abstraction layer, which to my knowledge knows no policy by itself. That is usually the domain of "udev". Have a look at
http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Customizing_UDEV
http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/udev8.html
http://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/util...tplug/udev-FAQ
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/...er07/udev.html
But maybe, just maybe, it is faster to have a look at your file ".hal-mtab-lock". What does it contain? "cat /etc/mtab" lists the mounted devices as you probably know. Why not renaming that ".hal-mtab-lock" for a test and try to access your DVD-drive...
-------------------------------
Windows-Partitionen einbinden
Bugs in Hal?
mein Fall:/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part2 / ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part8 /DATEN ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=de_DE.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part11 /IMAGES ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=de_DE.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part9 /MMEDIA ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=de_DE.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part10 /VMs ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=de_DE.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part1 /Win2k3 ntfs-3g defaults,users,locale=POSIX 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part3 /WinXP ntfs-3g defaults,locale=POSIX 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part7 /home ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/sdb9 /media/data1 ntfs-3g defaults,locale=POSIX 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3250310AS_6RYFZQM8-part6 swap swap defaults 0 0

/dev/sdb9 wird gemounted ohne Probleme!

The Problem with Multimedia & Linux distros

Source

I love Linux, but why does playing music have to be soo tough?

oldcpu

Global Moderator of openSuSE forums:

Why?? To avoid being sued. Novell is a big fat juicy target for those seeking to make money by suing an operating system supplier for illegal provision of codecs without payment of royalties.
In many cases private users are free to download and install codecs, but its not legal for operating system suppliers to provide the codecs.
Also, from what I have read its not the policy of Novell/SuSE-GmbH to provide proprietary software, drivers, nor codecs (and the MAJORITY of audio formats are in a proprietary format). This is because of the "open" in openSUSE. Note the emphasis on "open". That is because Novell/SuSE-GmbH in openSUSE try harder than most other distribution packagers to provide a distribution that follows the free open source philosophy:
Free Software Philosophy - openSUSE
... which means no automatic playing of most music as such music is stored in proprietary formats. Fortunately there are work arounds and ways to download and install codecs and applications to play such music, BUT its up to the openSUSE community to provide those means. And by "openSUSE community" I mean users like YOU and ME to contribute and find a way to make it easier. If we do not do this, (ie YOU and ME and other's like us), then NO ONE ELSE will.
caf4926 is doing his best in this guide to make this music installation easier for you in a Linux distribution (openSUSE) that places VERY HIGH importance on Free open source software and NO PROPRIETARY software, codecs, applications.
--------------------------------
Useful Terminal Commands & Solutions to Low Resolution Issues
Useful Guides for Ubuntu - Install Anything - Ubuntu:Chronicles

Multi-media Subarea (OpenSUSE)

Welcome to the openSUSE Forums multimedia section!
This is our multimedia thread area, where support for multimedia is provided. This is intended to include questions about media applications, codecs (DVD, music, video, pdf) configuration (usage, bugs), etc ...
If you have sound working, but can not play many audio/video formats, it is possible these are proprietary formats that are not supported "after a fresh install" by openSUSE. More information on the openSUSE approach for packaged audio/video support can be found here:
Restricted Formats - openSUSE
OpenSUSE users can have 1st rate multimedia with the appropriate 3rd party applications and codecs installed. Information on installing 3rd party applications/codecs can be found here:
Multimedia - openSUSE-Community
More information for installing 3rd party "restricted formats" on different openSUSE versions can be found here:
Restricted Formats - openSUSE-Community
Note it often makes the above significantly easier if you have setup your repositories per this wiki here:
Repositories - openSUSE-Community
If you have a problem getting your sound card to work, please go here:
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE
If that that does not help you get your basic sound working, please post in this "multimedia" sub-forum, providing in your post the following information:
* provide the URLs (of a summary webpage) that are created by running the two diagnostic scripts noted here:
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE
* in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: uname -a #and post output here
* in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: rpm -qa | grep alsa #and post output here
* in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound #and post output here
* in addition in openSUSE-11.1 run the script /usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh and post here the output URL. Just the URL.

---

openSUSE-community.org/Restricted_Formats

In openSUSE 11.1 all our codec handling will be done using One-Click-Install. This provides a simple wizard to guide you through everything, and you have to install absolutely nothing extra to be good to go!

Restricted Multimedia Formats (MP3, MPEG-4, etc.)
Note: Different copyright and patent laws apply differently depending on what country you are in; if you are unsure about a particular restriction or patent, you might consider applying for legal advice. This site does not offer legal advice. For more information about why some formats/codecs are restricted and why they don't ship out-of-the-box on openSUSE, read Restricted Formats.
To go through a simple wizard guiding you through the installation process of some additional multimedia codecs where necessary, simply click on one of the links below:

If you are using the KDE Desktop Environment 1-click installation codecs-kde.ymp Note: On 32-bit systems there'll be a dialog asking for about architecture change for libxine1 from from i586 to i686, accept that change.

If you are using the KDE Desktop Environment Command line installation Instead of using the 1-click you can install the codecs using a root terminal instead. Simply copy/paste the commands. Add the required software repositories (one line command: zypper... ): zypper addrepo http://ftp.skynet.be/pub/packman/suse/11.1 packman zypper addrepo http://suse.linuxin.dk/repo/11.1 libdvdcss Install the packages (one line command: zypper... ): zypper install ffmpeg flash-player gst-fluendo-mp3 k3b-codecs libdvdcss libxine1-codecs phonon-backend-xine w32codec-all amarok-xine

If you are using the GNOME Desktop Environment: codecs-gnome.ymp

his will enable you to have:

• Flash
• Java
• Latest Amarok (with MP3 Support) for KDE, or Helix-Banshee for GNOME users
• Encrypted DVD (libdvdcss)
• Extra xine codecs, for MPEG-4 etc. (libxine1)
• K3b with MP3 Support (k3b-codecs)
• Win 32 Codecs (w32codec-all)

..as well as the option of installing many more applications (select Customise mode at the screen), including:

• Opera
• VLC
• ..and more

---

TROUBLESHOOTING

Sometimes things are not installed correctly. When that happens, you will find that you cannot play mp3, mp4, wmv using totem. At that point key to making it work correctly may not be so obvious. Here is what I did to get things working after the default install attempt went badly.

The key was to DISABLE all repositories but the packman and libdvdcss repositories... then remove all of the gstreamer packages and totem. Then do the install using the link from http://opensuse-community.org/Restricted_Formats/11.1. After this, re-enable all of repositories that you disabled before and then install totem. At that point everything works.

CARL'S PAGE
openSUSE 11.1_Install Slideshow

Restricted Formats -OpenSuSE 11.1

opensuse-community.org

In openSUSE 11.1 all our codec handling will be done using One-Click-Install. This provides a simple wizard to guide you through everything, and you have to install absolutely nothing extra to be good to go!
One-Click Install: Hassle-Free Installation of Software
openSUSE contains thousands of packages that are often spread across various repositories. Great places like the Packman project, Guru’s RPM site and of course the openSUSE Build Service provide thousands of packages for openSUSE users. The problem, however, is frequently the hassle of locating the package, adding the repository that contains it, and then finally installing the package. This can be a tiresome process particularly if you are intending to use many packages from different repositories (say, in the Build Service).

One Click Install removes this hassle.

After installing openSUSE 11.0

Things to do...

Setting up repositories:

For my machine I added the following repositories for my final build:
http://download.videolan.org/pub/vlc/SuSE/11.0 (VLC Media, restricted formats)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/STABLE:/Desktop/openSUSE_11.0/ (KDE 4 Stable) Note: if this was not my workbox, I would actually do Unstable to get KDE 4.1
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine/openSUSE_11.0/ (Wine, for windows emulation)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Backports/openSUSE_11.0/ (KDE Backports, updates to Amarok and other KDE Applications)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/XGL/openSUSE_11.0/ (Compiz Fusion, staying up to date and hip with the most recent Compiz builds, I highly recommend since it’s constantly developed on)
http://ftp.skynet.be/pub/packman/suse/11.0/ (Packman, xinelibs / codecs and so much more)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/mozilla/openSUSE_11.0/ (Firefox, recent builds of Firefox)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/GNOME:/Community/openSUSE_11.0/ (Gnome Community, I use for Pidgin and GIMP)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/OpenOffice.org:/STABLE/openSUSE_11.0/ (OpenOffice is an important application for me since I use it daily for word processing or spreadsheets, keeping it up to date allows for the best compatabilities with people using restricted formats like xls/doc)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education:/desktop/openSUSE_11.0/ (Education - For Bluefish)
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE3/openSUSE_11.0/ (KDE Stable repository, not sure why because not many changes should happen to the 3.5.9 family)

Here is a quick screenshot of my repositories:

(Note: I am running KDE, if you are running GNOME, I highly recommend the following repo:
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/GNOME:/STABLE/openSUSE_11.0/)
(Note: If you are running an NVIDIA card, setup the following repository:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.0/)
(Note: If you are running an ATI card, setup the following repository:
http://www2.ati.com/suse/11.0/)
(Note: If you are running a wireless card that has a requirement for MadWifi, setup the following repository:
http://madwifi.org/suse/11.0/)

Setup your Video Card (if you have more configurations to do, ie Nvidia / ATI)
Install the packages that are associated with your NVIDIA / ATI card.

For me I downloaded the NVIDIA Driver from nvidia.com and installing running:
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.08-pkg1.run
Since I had some issues with the 173.14 driver.

...

openSuSE infos

openSUSE 11.0: Package installation 743% faster for default patterns

openSUSE 10.3 Goldmaster... (Libzypp)
How to install perl modules

One Click Install (ymp) :
Thunderbird

Rechner ausschalten mit openSUSE 10.3
Migration eines openSUSE auf ein RAID5

"Media Center" edition of openSuSE
SuSE-art.org
Software Groupings for Installation - or Patterns

The YaST package manager groups the packages into various groups. Until 10.1 we used a concept called "selections" and switched with Alpha3 of openSUSE 10.2 to "patterns". Full details of patterns are are available at the openSUSE wiki.

eliminar ZMD en openSUSE 10.2
Docking Station Support in openSUSE 10.2
(Dockutills)

openSUSE and Microsoft
Novell&Micro$oft collaboran - Los clientes ganan? O será M$?
Propietary Software and openSUSE

An Interview of Andreas Jäger
"S.u.S.E" to "SuSE"

SUSE Linux 10.0 Final released
LSB comments
Commenting on Seb Payne's openSUSE ideas