How do I mark mplayer for non-installation w/ apt-get/ aptitude/ dpkg?

NirvanaII · 04-10-2011, 11:53 AM

Yes, so the story is I uninstalled mplayer w/ apt-get (and with it mplayerthumbs + mozilla-mplayer) for the purpose of running a 'make install' on an SVN version I compiled - that worked out fine. Now I want to reinstate mplayerthumbs + mozilla-mplayer, but of course in doing so, mplayer is marked as a dep. How then do I mark mplayer to be ignored using the aforementioned package managers?

Additionaly, why isn't dpkg referencing my sources list?

Code:

[stuart8.5@mepis1 ~]$ sudo dpkg -i --ignore-depends=mplayer install mplayerthumbs mozilla-mplayer
[sudo] password for stuart8.5:
dpkg: error processing install (--install):
 cannot access archive: No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing mplayerthumbs (--install):
 cannot access archive: No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing mozilla-mplayer (--install):
 cannot access archive: No such file or directory
Errors were encountered while processing:
 install
 mplayerthumbs
 mozilla-mplayer

TobiSGD · 04-10-2011, 12:22 PM

Dpkg's only purpose is to install and de-install packages. Downloading is done by apt-get/aptitude/synaptic or any other frontend for apt.
The correct way to get rid of the dependency for mplayer in my eyes is to package your build from the SVN in the correct way and then to install that package.

NirvanaII · 04-10-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

The correct way to get rid of the dependency for mplayer in my eyes is to package your build from the SVN in the correct way and then to install that package.

I don't know exactly what you mean by this - or what it means in practice - but am all ears if you are willing to explain - thanks.

So while I still don't know the solution to my problem, I have worked around it by performing a download-only operation for the three .debs with apt-get, installing mplayerthumbs and mozilla-mplayer with the above command within /var/cache/apt/archives.

TobiSGD · 04-10-2011, 04:16 PM

It is simple to explain, but not so simple to do in a proper way.
If you compile software from source, you can install it without giving the package-manager knowledge of the installed software. This is the way you are doing it. But a better option would be to make a .deb-package from that software. You can use a tool like checkinstall, but I don't know if that includes dependency-handling.
You also can package that software manually, you can learn how to do that here.

NirvanaII · 04-10-2011, 04:29 PM

Oh, right I see what you mean. Yes, I agree that would be an elegant way of doing things. Checkinstall reads like just the thing to use if indeed it checks for dependencies - I shall look into that at a later time. Thankyou for your help, TobiSGD.

Out of curiousity, i'd still like to know if there is an option do ditch dependency checking / mark packages to be ignored for apt-get and aptitude, if you or anybody else knows.

NirvanaII · 04-10-2011, 05:13 PM

Okay checkinstall worked! Easy to use too. So long as you give the same .deb name as recognised by apt-get then the build can be passed off as the required dependency. Here's a howto I followed for anyone else wanting do the same:

http://www.falkotimme.com/howtos/checkinstall/index.php