i installed ubuntu and i now have an operating sytem that i can do nothing with but look at. the internet does nor work my ethernet is recognized but does ot function at all my video card isnt properly utilized (3d acceleration) and im really dissappointed because it really is like a dead end.

however all that aside ive decided to try out opensuse and dump ubuntu. i want to know if i can overwrite ubuntu with opensuse. i have three linux partitions one is the root for the install then a 1gb swap and a 40gb home directory. if i got opensue could i just overwrite the data in these partitions and replace everything with opensuse? (by the way how is kororaa???) also does opensuse have gru support (i dont want an unbootable system) i currently have grub on my mbr (thanks to ubuntu)

Patience, little one So Ubuntu doesn't do quite what you expect out of the box...how about investing 5 minutes and getting it to work?
As root, does ifconfig give any information about your network card? It might just need an IP address and to be told the default route to the gateway.

is this the ip address (from windows router config screen) or the ip address given by the router.

woo-sah im calming down i just want to ditch "winblows" already

1) Does your router use DHCP, or do you need to assign a static IP address. Click on "System" - "Administration" - "Networking". Most routers use DHCP, so click on "Ethernet Connection" and then "Properties". Make sure that DHCP is being used. When you installed Ubuntu, did the installer detect your network card?

2) What sort of graphics card do you have. I have instructions for installing the proprietary drivers for Nvidia and ATI. You can find more details on the Ubuntu Wiki and Google.

3) If you want to install OpenSUSE, then you should be able to install it over Ubuntu. You should be able to preserve the contents of your home directory so you don't lose any data. Suse will install GRUB to the MBR with no problems, and should detect Windows like Ubuntu did.

I hope this helps
--Ian

1.i do use dhcp but have a "wan" pppoe setup and i dont remember my network card being detected in ubuntu (nevertheless i think it was detected)

2. i have onboard 6100 video (dont need a discrete card) its actually pretty solid)

3. does opensuse function the same way that ubuntu install does (root install drive, home directory and swap) and if i alread have grub it will be written over by the grub from opensuse? (should i remove ubuntu partions, exactly what steps do i take) im sorry for asking these nOOb questions but i cant afford to screw things up i appreciate your patience

1) OK - in a terminal, enter the command "ifconfig" (without the quotes), and see if it has anything about eth0. In the network settings window I pointed you to before, does Ethernet Connection appear?

3) The Suse installation should be very similar to the Ubuntu installation - just put the CD in and reboot, and the installer will start. You don't need to remove your Ubuntu partitions, just reuse them. In the Suse installer, make it use the same partitions for the same purpose. It will install GRUB to the MBR.

--Ian

sorry i cant use my linux box right now computer but i can tell u that eth0 does appear and is listed as active

after failed nforce driver install etho is gone from config page

im grateful for your attempts but i think its time to go back to windows. this just isnt working out

try another distro, such as Slackware

Here's what I recommend, after my first experience with Lindows OS turned sour;

You can overwrite Ubuntu with Suse, in fact using the same partitions but i would recommend reformatting / (or any partition besides /home for that matter). Suse is a solid distro and makes better use of hardware in my experience than many smaller ones, Ubuntu included. I have recently installed Ubuntu and was fairly disapointed at the results. There's no reason to go back to Windows, however. If you're persistent you'll find something you like and can work with, but you have to give it a chance to be better.

Hey guy don't get disillusioned, download the new Mepis, It's a 'live cd" so you can try out your hardware, and you can install from it too! and best of all it's so easy to configure for newbies-plus a great support forum.
There are many distro's out there that have "live cd's" try a few of them to get a feel for which distro will meet your needs.

will i be able to use applications from other distros universally. (use a program from ubuntu with suse for example?)

Ololad8, there's no single reply, it's both yes and no.
There are two ways of installing a program :
- use a precompiled version for a precise distro. Now each distro has sources for tens of thousands of precompiled packages, you enter the program name in a search field, click two times and they're installed, even simpler than using windows. So it's distro-specific, but all large-audience programs are provided with every major distro.
- you compile the program from the source, it will be often painful for a beginner, but the same source will allow the installation on ANY Linux machine.

Now, about using another distro (don't go back to windows !) :
- instead of going through the pain of trying every linux distro to see if your computer works well with it, you must know that now you can use a live-CD instead. That will boot the distro without a harddisk installation, so you can see if it recognizes allright your hardware.
If it's all recognized, then you can install it on the harddisk
I'd suggest Mandriva One for starters of a Live-CD, it's one of the closest to windows distros, for instance.

thanx sabinou but if i may just ask you a quick question, it would be appreciated. i just installed rpppoe and im ready to configure it. i have my username and password dns numbers and evrythng else. i just wanted to know if i had to do anything differently if i had a router