So, continuing with my last post about things to do after an openSUSE installation, now its the time for “Adding Games”, but first, some clarifications about two things:

One: You can add Codecs and other stuff with a 1-click-package, avoiding to use Zypper, I just expose the zypper method because I think its a bit more short :-P, but that its just matter of taste. So, if you are running openSUSE 11.3 with KDE use this ymp, and if you are using GNOME use this other. If you are on a older version of openSUSE, just go to this page and select your version.

Two: The broadcom-wl package its on Packman, so you have to add that repo (Via YaST -> Repositories), before you can install that package.

After this, now we can keep going.

Adding Games

So, the question: “¿Why a lot of games that are popular in the FOSS community aren’t by default in openSUSE?” For example, OpenArena, Battle for Wesnoth, aTanks, BlobWars, Crack Attack, LBreakout2, Torcs, SuperTux,… Well, because those games are on its own repo called “Games”.

To enable this repo just go to: “YaST -> Software Repositories”, then will show you the repos management window, you push “Add”, and then select “Specifying URL”, then in the name “Games”, and the URL “http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/games/openSUSE_11.3/“, “Next”, if he ask you something you say yes (import gpg signature and stuff), then you get back to the main window and then you hit “Accept”.

In the URL, change the number of the version if needed, and done… You have now a LOT of games available via YaST 😀

Next to come: Adding 3D Acceleration.

Every time that I make a new openSUSE installation, I always add some additional stuff to get an even better user experience, that’s why I enumerate here the things that i suggest to you do after a successfully openSUSE installation.

Read well, read again, so you will not be lost. All the commands that I show here between double quotes (“) for the time of the execution will go without the quotes and with the text in bold just like that.

Wireless cards suppport

Although in the Linux kernel there are a lot of wireless cards supported by default, there are others “rare” that need a little more of work, so the first thing that you must do is execute this in a command line interface: “/sbin/lspci“, to get the list of your devices and then look for a line like this:

04:01.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC (rev 01)

In my local desktop i have an Atheros Wireless Card that the kernel detected and put working by default. The same can happen with Intel an another ones around. If your luck is to have an Broadcom, like BCM43xx (the xx could be any number), you will need to plug your machine into a LAN, and then execute “su -c ‘install_bcm43xx_firmware’ “, this will ask you for your root password (normally its the same that your user password), and then this will going to install some files (the firmware) to get the working the B43 module. After the installation, just reboot your machine, now it should work. If not, you have some of those really weird Broadcom, so you must install the proprietary controller with: “sudo zypper in broadcom-wl“.

Audio and Video Codecs

Of course that you can play those divx, xvid and wmv video files, and your mp3 files with full support, all you must do its go to: “YaST -> Software Repositories”, then will show you the repos management window, you push “Add”, and then select “Community Repositories”, “Next”, select the “Packman Repositories”, “Next”, if he ask you something you say yes (import gpg signature and stuff), then you get back to the main window and then you hit “Accept”.

Then you execute in the command line: “zypper in libxine1 libxine1-codecs win32codecs“, and done. If he ask something about “providers change” you say yes.

Next to come: Adding games.