Installing with Mandrake 10.1 [SOLVED]

[Guest the_old_one_]

Hello everyone

 

I am a green user of mandrake linux. In fact I migrated my business laptop to linux when I got a virus in my XP which destriyed all the info I had. Yeah, I know I shouldn't done that but it has forced me to learn a lot by force as business has to go on, and I need to keep on

 

So, after some look up, I ended installing mandrake donwload version 10.1 in my laptop. So far is ok, it still has some inconsistencies but at least it is virus free!

 

while I remember some of DOS and some pascal (from my long time ago past days at the university) still I am not familirized with all the commands as these have a lots of parameters

 

This is not a critic! Linux is hard but I am confident I will master it with some help (yours is welcomed of course). I think this is very powerful, while still not totally ... compatible. I even bought a new hard disk for my home PC to install a linux on it to practice at home

 

Now to the point. First, I don't know how to install anything different from what comes in the packages.

I do not know where to install them (directory tree is different and I do not know which one I can touch, and which ones I can't or shouldn't

 

for example, if I want to install the new KDE 3.3, how do I do that??? I downloaded all the packages separatelly but what now? where should I install it? will it wirte over the old version?

[SpikeyKlitske]

Welcome to the club, and yes i am confident that other me and all the other users will do our best to help you. To answer your basic question: howto install software? u can use the mandrake control center: Star>System>Configuration>Configure your computer and select Software management.

 

Use this tool to install available packages that come with mandrake. You can also add additional packages to this library by using easy urpmi using this link http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

The site is pretty much self explanatory. Once you have set your urpmi to also use contrib and main pointed to a mirror in your vicinity you can add even more programs. In order to use that u can type in a console (most often as superuser or su).

 

You might want to read the howto's on that subject for more help. Another tip would be to familiarize yourself with some basic bash commands.

 

Finally don't forget to issue a search on this forum if you have any specific questions installing software. Most likely somebody b4 you already dealt with it.

[Crashdamage]

Here's a little tutorial I wrote and post on Usenet sometimes...there's also help in Tips & Tricks, on Mandrake's website, Google, etc, etc.

 

Basic urpmi:

 

By using Mandrake you have a terrific utility for installing RPMs that

other distros don't: urpmi - the Mandrake package handler. It will

easily and automagically take care of finding, downloading and

installing software and its dependencies. The "Software Installer" in

Mandrake Control Center is a GUI frontend for urpmi, but it's very easy

to use urpmi from the command line. To easily make the best use of

urpmi, whether by the GUI installer or urpmi from the command line,

first go here:

 

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

 

Follow the easy directions to setup your online package sources.

Choose them carefully, staying with sources for your particular

Mandrake version. You'll want to add the main sources for your version,

the Contributors sources, the PLF repositories, and maybe a few others.

Warning: Add the Cooker sources at your own risk. Cooker is beta stuff

still in testing for the next release and may or may not cause you

problems.

 

When you've finished setting up your source mirrors you can start using

the real power of urpmi. You can install/uninstall a package by simply

using the GUI installer, or in a terminal, 'su' to root, then:

 

# urpmi -v <packagename> ('-v' for verbose output is optional, but I

like the extra info it provides)

 

where <packagename> is normally just the 'simple' version, i.e. using

the email client Mutt for example, instead of:

 

# urpmi -v mutt-1.4i-4mdk.i586.rpm

 

Use:

 

# urpmi -v mutt

 

Then urpmi will automagically go to the 'Net sources you choose, find

and download the latest available Mutt RPM for your version of

Mandrake, grab any other packages needed to resolve all dependencies

and install everything in the correct order. If urpmi can't complete

the install, either because all the required software isn't available

on the source mirrors you choose or possibly some other conflict(s), it

will stop the install process before actual changes are made and give

you some info about the problem.

 

Similarly, for packages you've downloaded and saved, just navigate to

the directory where you saved them:

 

# cd /mysaved/rpm/ishere

 

Then (for this, you may need to use the full packagename):

 

# urpmi -v <packagename>

 

Uninstalling a package is simply 'urpme' instead of 'urpmi'.

 

Be aware that while using RPMs compiled for other versions of Mandrake

or for other distros sometimes will work fine, they may not and the

possibility for problems exists. So always try to use RPMs for your

distro and version whenever possible, which in the case of Mandrake is

almost always. If you must use a RedHat or other distro RPM, it's best

to try a test install first, as in:

 

# urpmi -v --test <packagename>

 

This does a "dry run" to check if the package(s) can be sucessfully

installed but without actually changing anything on the system. If all

is well, remove the '--test' switch to install normally.

 

It's important to always install RPMs, not from tarballs, when using

any rpm-based distro like RedHat, Suse or Mandrake. Why? Because if

you always install RPMs, then Mandrake's urpmi (or Suse's YAST, or

whatever) is able to keep track of everything installed on your system

and so keep everything correctly configured - no reinstalling the OS

due to screwed up system files from incorrect or conflicting library

versions, etc. But if you install packages from source tarballs, then

urpmi cannot keep things straight since it has no info about the

installed tarballs or their contents. Obviously, this could easily

lead to trouble.

 

Sometimes a particular piece or a newer version of software may only be

available as a source tarball. No problem - it's still very easy make

your own RPMs from source with a handy utility called checkinstall,

included on the Mandrake CDs. I won't go into more detail about

checkinstall here. Google for more info about it.

 

This should be enough to get you going. For more info, open a terminal

and type 'man urpmi" or do some Googling. Lotsa info available.

[Guest the_old_one_]

Wow!

 

Nice tips you gave me, now trying to implement these and see how do I fare

 

Thanks very much for your help

 

I'll mark the thread solved - Artificial Intelligence

[SpikeyKlitske]

np your welcome