Sane Install

[rogerh]

Newbie trying to get scanner to work. I currently have Sane 1.0.13 currently on Mandrake 10.0 system, but doesn't seem to be all there (3 disk install), so I have downloaded Sane Backend 1.0.15. Ran ./configure on 1.0.15, and it was recommended that the 1.0.13 be removed prior to install. Took a look at the Mandrake deinstall tool, and it looks like deinstalling 1.0.13 via the deinstaller will rip out all sorts of software that I will probably still need. Not sure how to proceed with the install to retain appropriate program interdependencies and still remove the 1.0.13 (and insert 1.0.15 in its place). Probably simple but beyond my limited knowledge. Any suggestions would be appreciated. i would prefer not to end up crippling my system........

 

Regards -- Roger

[Crashdamage]

Not sure what you mean by "doesn't seem to be all there"...

 

Try installing the xsane package, either by Mandrake Control Center > Software Management > Install

or in a terminal:

# urpmi -v xsane

 

If that doesn't get you going, post your problem and/or error mesages back here.

 

Not a good idea to install from tarballs except as a last choice. The same is true of any package management system, not just .rpms. Use MCC or urmpi and install from .rpms.

[arctic]

before you run the urpmi command, set up your software mirrors if not already done so with easyurpmi

http://www.mandrivausers.org/easyurpmi

[rogerh]

Went ahead and ran the urpmi - that ran, but I got a message that the database is now locked, and the RPM manager on the control consol thinks so too..... Appears that the control console thinks that I am accessing via another means, which I assume is the urpmi. What next?? Does usage of urpmi preclude the operation of the control console rpm??

[Crashdamage]

Again, you're not quite clear. Just what do you mean by "control console rpm"??? Usually "console" refers to a terminal window, but I get the feeling that in this case you really mean the Software Manager in Mandrake Control Center, which is just a GUI frontend for urpmi.

 

Anyway, you probably have 2 instances or urpmi running at once - one from the GUI in in Software Manager, another in a terminal (the '# urpmi -v xsane'). One has nothing to do with running the other, except you can't do both at once. As root simply type:

 

# killall urpmi

 

That should do it. If not, post the *actual* error message here so we can better tell what's going wrong.

If you want more detailed instructions on how to use urpmi, just ask.

[rogerh]

Thanks, and I will try to be more specific.

 

I did indeed mean the Control Center, and that is now unlocked now that I have rebooted. I did, as suggested in the Easy Urpmi instructions, enter the 'urpmi.removemedia -a', and I have lost access to my install disks on the Control Center. Help I could use:

 

1) how to I re-enable my Mandrake 10.0 official disks in the Control Center Media Manager?

 

2) more detailed instructions on how to use urpmi, and if equal functionality can be had via the Control Center (since my use of the console is a work in progress, and currently a bit on the risky side).

 

I must have locked up the media manager prior to running urpmi.addmedia, and so there is not a mirror site on the Control Center Media Manager either (complete backwards progress). I will run urpmi.addmedia again, and hopefully that will at least load the download site.

 

Thanks for your help -- Roger

[polemicz]

Rather than add your 10.0 cd's to your urpmi media list I would recommend that you use easy urpmi to add main and contrib (and obviously your updates), unless you have a very slow connection. A number of packages can't fit on the cd's, but are on main and contrib (at least with 2005). Also have you checked to see if your scanner is supported?

[Crashdamage]

1) how to I re-enable my Mandrake 10.0 official disks in the Control Center Media Manager?

Well, actually I wouldn't if you setup online sources through 'easy urpmi'. Or unless you're on dial-up.

 

2) more detailed instructions on how to use urpmi, and if equal functionality can be had via the Control Center

Most urpmi functions are there in MCC's Software Managment, but not all of them, and urpmi is really very easy to use from a terminal anyway.

Below I'm going to include a little tutorial on urpmi usage I wrote and post on Usenet now and then. It's gotten a good response there and sems to help new users out quite a bit. Hopefully it will kinda sum up the basics of urpmi for you here in one place. It's intended for raw n00bs, even newer than you, so you can just skip by parts you might already know like how to 'su' to root, but pay attention - don't skim it TOO fast...

 

**Basic urpmi setup and usage**

 

Urpmi will easily and automagically take care of finding, downloading and installing software and its dependencies, if any. The "Software Management" utility in Mandrake Control Center is a simple to use GUI frontend for urpmi, but it's also very easy to use urpmi from the command line.

 

To set up your online sources for installing/updating software you need to know how to 'su' to root, which is very simple. Just open a terminal and do this:

 

$ su

Password: <type.your.root.password>

#

 

Note that the cursor changed from '$' to '#' indicating you now have 'root' administrator rights, so be careful! If you don't fully understand the 'su' process or root permissions some simple Googling will explain it.

 

Now to setup your online software sources. Go here:

 

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

 

Follow the directions to setup your online package sources. Choose them carefully, staying with sources for your particular Mandrake version. You'll probably want to add the main sources for your version, updates, 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 now install/uninstall a software package using your newly-setup online sources either by using the GUI installer in Mandrake Control Center, or better, manually from the command line.

 

To install manually open a terminal and 'su' to root, then type:

 

# urpmi -v <packagename> ('-v' for verbose output is optional, but I like the extra info it provides)

 

Note that usually <packagename> can be just the 'simple' version. Using the email client Mutt for example, instead of typing the full package name:

 

# urpmi -v mutt-1.5.6i-2mdk.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/is.here

 

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. Think of this as similar to installing Windows software where installing something on Win98 but meant for XP (or vice-versa) may not work. The software should be compiled for use with the distro and version it's installed on. So always try to use correct .rpms for your distro and version whenever possible, which in the case of Mandrake is almost always. If you must use a .rpm from another version or distro, it may or may not work.

 

But unlike Windows, urpmi allows you to do a 'test' installation instead of having to just try it and see what happens. To do a test install, do this:

 

# 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 (.rpm), not from tarballs, when using any .rpm-based distro like RedHat, Suse or Mandrake. This is also true of '.deb' package based distros such as Debian or Ubuntu. Why? Because if you always install .rpm packages (or .debs), then Mandrake's urpmi (or Suse's YAST, Debian's apt or whatever package manager) is able to properly keep track of everything installed on your system and so keep everything correctly configured and updated. But if you install any packages from source tarballs no information about that package or the files it installed are entered into the urpmi database. You then have a situation where urpmi cannot properly keep things straight since it has no info about the installed tarballs or their contents. The chances of installing from tarballs breaking anything is fairly slight, but it can happen, so why risk it if you don't have to?

 

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. In a nutshell, checkinstall makes a simple .rpm package by replacing the traditional compile and install commands:

 

./configure

make

make install

 

With:

 

./configure

make

checkinstall

 

I won't go into more detail about checkinstall here. Google for more info about it or install the checkinstall package and type:

 

'man checkinstall'.

 

This should be enough to get you going. For more info, open a terminal and type 'man urpmi" or maybe do some Googling, particularly 'easy urpmi'. Lotsa info available.

Edited June 18, 2005 by Crashdamage