Contents
Abstract
YaST allows you to configure hardware items at installation time as well as on an already-installed system. Configure audio hardware, printers or scanner support or learn which hardware components are connected to your computer by using the YaST Hardware Information module.
![]() | Graphics card, monitor, mouse and keyboard settings |
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Graphics card, monitor, mouse and keyboard can be configured with either KDE or GNOME tools. |
Use the YaST hardware information module if you want to know more about your hardware or if you need to find out details like vendor and model of a certain piece of hardware to be able to properly configure it.
Start YaST and click
+ . Hardware probing starts immediately and it will take some time until you see the hardware information tree in a separate window.In the hardware information tree recursively click on the entries to expand the information about a specific device.
Click
to save the output to a file.Click
to leave the hardware information overview.YaST detects most sound cards automatically and configures them with the appropriate values. If you want to change the default settings, or need to set up a sound card that could not be configured automatically, use the YaST sound module. There, you can also set up additional sound cards or switch their order.
To start the sound module, start YaST and click yast2 sound & as user
root
from a command line.
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The dialog shows all sound cards that are already configured.
If YaST cannot detect your sound card automatically, configure it manually as described in Procedure 2.1, “Configuring a New Sound Card”. For this, you need to know your sound card vendor and model. If in doubt, refer to your sound card documentation for the required information. During configuration, you can choose between various setup options:
You are not required to go through any of the further configuration steps—the sound card is configured automatically. You can set the volume or any options you want to change later.
Allows you to adjust the output volume and play a test sound during the configuration.
For experts only. Allows you to customize all parameters of the sound card.
![]() | Advanced Configuration |
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Only use this option if you know exactly what your are doing. Otherwise leave the parameters untouched and use the normal or the automatic setup options. |
Procedure 2.1. Configuring a New Sound Card
In the YaST
dialog, click .Select your sound card vendor and model and click
.For a reference list of sound cards supported by ALSA with their corresponding sound modules, see http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main.
Choose one of the setup options and click
.If you have chosen
, you can now your sound configuration and make adjustments to the volume. You should start at about ten percent volume to avoid damage to your hearing or the speakers.If all options are set according to your wishes, click
.The
dialog shows the newly configured or modified sound card.To remove a sound card configuration that you no longer need, select the respective entry and click
.Click
to save the changes and leave the YaST sound module.Procedure 2.2. Modifying Sound Card Configurations
To change the configuration of an individual sound card (for experts only!), select the sound card entry in the
dialog and click .This takes you to the
where you can fine-tune a number of parameters. For more information, click .To adjust the volume of an already configured sound card or to test the sound card, select the sound card entry in the
dialog and click . Select the respective menu item.For playback of MIDI files, select
+ .
When a supported sound card is detected (like a Creative
Soundblaster Live
, Audigy
or
AWE
sound card), you can also install SoundFonts for
playback of MIDI files:
Insert the original driver CD-ROM into your CD or DVD drive.
Select /usr/share/sfbank/creative/
.
If you have configured more than one sound card in your system you can
adjust the order of your sound cards. To set a sound card as primary
device, select the sound card in the 0
is the default device and thus
used by the system and the applications.
To enable or disable the PulseAudio sound system, click
+ . If enabled, PulseAudio daemon is used to play sounds. Disable in case you want to use something else system-wide.
The volume and configuration of all sound cards are saved when you click
/etc/asound.conf
and
the ALSA configuration data is appended to the end of the files
/etc/modprobe.d/sound
and
/etc/sysconfig/hardware
.
YaST can be used to configure a local printer that is directly connected to your machine (normally with USB or parallel port) and to set up printing with network printers. It is also possible to share printers over the network. Further information about printing (general information, technical details, and troubleshooting) is available in Chapter Printer Operation (↑Reference).
In YaST, click
+ to start the printer module. By default it opens in the view, displaying a list of all printers that are available and configured. This is especially useful when having access to a lot of printers via the network. From here you can also and configure local printers.Usually a local USB printer is automatically detected. There are two possible reasons why a USB printer is not automatically detected:
The USB printer is switched off.
The communication between printer and computer is not possible. Check the cable and the plugs to make sure that the printer is properly connected. If this is the case, the problem may not be printer-related, but rather a USB related problem.
Configuring a printer is basically a three-step process. First specify the connection type, then choose a driver, and name the printing queue for this setup.
For many printer models, several drivers are available. When configuring
the printer, YaST defaults to the one marked
recommended
as a general rule. Normally it is not
necessary to change the driver—the recommended
one should produce the best results. However, if you want a color printer
to print only in black and white, it is most convenient to use a driver
that does not support color printing, for example. If you experience
performance problems with a PostScript printer when printing graphics, it
may help to switch from a PostScript driver to a PCL driver (provided
your printer understands PCL).
If no driver for your printer is listed, you can try to select a generic driver with an appropriate standard language from the list. Refer to your printer's documentation to find out which language (the set of commands controlling the printer) your printer understands. If this does not work, refer to Section 2.3.1.1, “Adding Drivers with YaST” for another possible solution.
A printer is never used directly, but always through a print queue. This ensures that simultaneous jobs can be queued and processed one after the other. Each printer queue is assigned to a specific driver, and a printer can have multiple queues. This makes it possible to set up a second queue on a color printer that prints black and white only, for example. Refer to Section “The Workflow of the Printing System” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference) for more information about print queues.
Procedure 2.3. Adding a New Local Printer
Start the YaST printer module with
+Click
in the screen
If your printer is already listed under Specify the
Connection
, proceed with the next step. Otherwise, try to
or start the .
Enter the vendor name and the model name into the input box under
Find and Assign a Driver
and click .
Choose the driver marked as recommended that best matches your printer. If no suitable drivers is displayed
check your search term
broaden your search by clicking
add a driver as described in Section 2.3.1.1, “Adding Drivers with YaST”
Specify the Default paper size
Enter a unique name for the printer queue in the
field.The printer is now configured with the default settings and ready to use. Click
to return to the view. The newly configured printer is now visible in the printers list.If no suitable driver is available in the
dialog when adding a new printer, no PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file for your model is available. For more information about PPD files, refer to Section “Installing the Software” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference).Get PPD files directly from your printer vendor or from the driver CD of a PostScript printer. For details, see Section “No Suitable PPD File Available for a PostScript Printer” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference). Conversely, you can also find PPD files at http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/, the “OpenPrinting.org printer database”. When downloading PPD files from OpenPrinting.org, keep in mind that it always shows the latest Linux support status, which is not necessarily met by openSUSE.
Procedure 2.4. Adding a PPD file
Start the YaST printer module with
+Click
in the screen
Click Find and
Assign a Driver
section
Enter the full path to the PPD file into the input box under
Make a Printer Description File Available
or choose
the file from a dialog box by clicking on
Click Add New Printer
Configuration
screen.
In order to directly use this PPD file, proceed as described in Procedure 2.3, “Adding a New Local Printer”. Otherwise, click .
By editing an existing configuration for a local printer you can not only change basic settings as connection type and driver, but also adjust the default settings for paper size, resolution, media source, etc. You can change the identifier of the printer by altering the printer descriptions.
Procedure 2.5. Editing a Local Printer
Start the YaST printer module with
+In the
screen, choose a local printer from the list and click .Change the connection type or the driver as described in Procedure 2.3, “Adding a New Local Printer”. This should only be necessary in case you have problems with the current configuration.
Make this printer the default by checking
.
Adjust the default settings by clicking +
sign. Change the
default by clicking on an option. Apply your changes by clicking
Network printers are not detected automatically. They must be configured manually using the YaST printer module. Depending on your network setup, you can print to a print server (CUPS, LPD, SMB, or IPX) or directly to a network printer (preferably via TCP). Access the configuration view for network printing by choosing
from the left pane in the YaST printer module.In a Linux environment CUPS is usually used to print via the network. The simplest setup is to only print via a single CUPS server which can directly be accessed by all clients. Printing via more than one CUPS server requires a running local CUPS daemon that communicates with the remote CUPS servers.
Procedure 2.6. Printing via a Single CUPS server
Start the YaST printer module with
+Launch the
screen from the left pane.Check
and specify the name or IP address of the server.Click
to make sure you have chosen the correct name or IP address.Click OK to return to the
screen. All printers available via the CUPS server are now listed.Procedure 2.7. Printing via multiple CUPS servers
Start the YaST printer module with
+Launch the
screen from the left pane.Check
Specify which servers to use under General
Settings
. You may accept connections from all networks
available, from the local network, or from specific hosts. If you
choose the latter option, you need to specify the hostnames or IP
addresses, as well.
Confirm by clicking
and then when asked to start a local CUPS server. After the server has started you will return to the screen. Click to see the printers detected by now. Click this button again, in case more printer are to be available.If your network offers print services via print servers other than CUPS, start the YaST printer module with
+ and launch the screen from the left pane. Start the and choose the appropriate type. Ask your network administrator for details on configuring a network printer in your environment.Printers managed by a local CUPS daemon can be shared over the network and so turn your machine into a CUPS server. Usually you share a printer by enabling CUPS' so-called “browsing mode”. If browsing is enabled, the local printer queues are made available on the network for listening to remote CUPS daemons. It is also possible to set up a dedicated CUPS server that manages all printing queues and can directly be accessed by remote clients. In this case it is not necessary to enable browsing.
Procedure 2.8. Sharing Printers
Start the YaST printer module with
+Launch the
screen from the left pane.Select
. For more detailed configuration, additional options are available:Check
and enable browsing mode by also checking .the network interface to be used by the CUPS server. If you want to share your printers via specified network interfaces, add those in the input box below.
In case you like to restrict access to your CUPS server to certain networks or IP addresses, specify these via the two input boxes.
Click
to restart the CUPS server and return to the screen.Regarding CUPS and firewall settings, see http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_and_SANE_Firewall_settings.
You can configure a USB or SCSI scanner with YaST. The sane-backends
package contains hardware
drivers and other essentials needed to use a scanner. Scanners
connected to a parallel port cannot be configured with YaST. If you
own a HP All-In-One device, see Section 2.4.1, “Configuring an HP All-In-One Device”, instructions on how to
configure a network scanner are available at Section 2.4.3, “Scanning over the Network”.
Procedure 2.9. Configuring a USB or SCSI Scanner
Connect your USB or SCSI scanner to your computer and turn it on.
Start YaST and select
+ . YaST builds the scanner database and tries to detect your scanner model automatically.If a USB or SCSI scanner is not properly detected, try
+ .To activate the scanner select it from the list of detected scanners and click
.Choose your model form the list and click
and .Use
+ to make sure you have chosen the correct driver.Leave the configuration screen with
.An HP All-In-One device can be configured with YaST even if it is connected to the parallel port or is made available via the network. If you own a USB HP All-In-One device, start configuring as described in Procedure 2.9, “Configuring a USB or SCSI Scanner”. If it is detected properly and the succeeds, it is ready to use.
If your USB device is not properly detected, or your HP All-In-One device is connected to the parallel port or the network, run the HP Device Manager:
Start YaST and select
+ . YaST loads the scanner database.Start the HP Device Manager with
+ and follow the on-screen instructions. After having finished the HP Device Manager, the YaST scanner module automatically restarts the auto detection.Test it by choosing
+ .Leave the configuration screen with
.openSUSE allows the sharing of a scanner over the network. To do so, configure your scanner as follows:
Configure the scanner as described in Section 2.4, “Setting Up a Scanner”.
Choose
+ .Enter the hostnames of the clients (separated by a comma) that should be allowed to use the scanner under
+ and leave the configuration dialog with .To use a scanner that is shared over the network, proceed as follows:
Start YaST and select
+ .Open the network scanner configuration menu by
+ .Enter the hostname of the machine the scanner is connected to under
+Leave with
. The network scanner is now listed in the Scanner Configuration window and is ready to use.