i feel completely helpless - can't even save a file
 

i use linux lycoris. right now i use no other os - explanation here.
i downloaded corel9, gkrellm and - as a try - racer. now i have two .tgz and one .tar.bz2 file open in the archiver. i want to unpack the data - that won't work. i don't even get an error message! it simply doesn't happen anything...
chosing "save as..." i come to a screen with two lines: "location" and "filter". in the upper right corner "often used directories". if i simply press okay, nothing happens and the window stays open. if i write "gkrellm" into location, the window closes, the question "save as .tar.bz2?" is asked and then it says the location is not valid. but if i fill in the other fields, nothing happens at all, the window stays open without reaction. so,

1) how do i extract files from the archiver?
2) how do i save files?
3) if this miracel thing may work, can i just simply execute these programs afterwards or do i need some extra-stunts, too?

i lost all my data on my w98se system and all i ask for now is a stable and working os. i have no installation-cds for windows here in norway and i am willing to learn using linux.

best regards
ungua

well, if you try to save to someplace thats not available for saving like "/" for example I dont think it will let you
as for the tar.gz you can use unrar I believe, like "unrar myfile.tar.gz" and look at the sites for the files you have to see what thier directions are for installing the applications in question
they should have some sort of info on it.

thanks for replying
 

i try to save the gkrellm for example at /home/ungua/gkrellm/ - removing the last slash lets the window skip back to ungua/.
type it in at the command prompt? the archiver as an inbuilt extract button that doesn't work like i tried to describe above. to use a console i need to know first where the files are located - and i don't even know that.
but i'll check the sites though i think the problem is more on my (os'-?) site.

regards
ungua

no information to find. lycoris.org offers this one, no help at all i guess:
regards
ungua

how and where do i use the command "make" or "make install"? i tried the command prompt which doesn't know these commands. i also get "somewhere" pressing ctrl+alt+f1; i'll be asked for a password then which i obviously didn't enter myself... :( i had to restart to get out of "somewhere" again. :confused:

regards
ungua

"make" is a program that follows a set of rules defended in a file called "Makefile" (it has to be located in the same directory you are in)

anyways, I'm not sure, but did your distro install the development tools (gcc, make, ... and a few other tools that most programs don't need, but some do) ... for some reason some distros don't do it by default....

so first install the development tools, looks like your distro uses the rpm system (ew), so use that to install the dev tools, you should also use that to install any other piece of software, as i hear installing thing behind its back makes it mad and it destroys your system .. :)

don't understand a word... :D it's not that worse but i guess i just stick to my university task, deliver my works and format my hdd on thursday. so i'll have a try with suse... :newbie:

regards
ungua

i prefer Mndrake over SuSE... but that my preference... I'm a newbie tooo... give Mandrake a spin... maybe u'll like it too...

thanks for posting! i downloaded mandrake, too, but i was quite unaware of the fact that cd 1 & 3 are 10.1 community release and cd 2 is 10.0 official release. so i guess they are not compatible?
this was due to two aborted downloads. the borrowed notebook downloaded all night so it came to a time out. afterwards i had to choose the files again and didn't see my mistake at first hand...
right now it's like i just have to get up to find a new problem... :confused: :mad:

regards
ungua

Just for future ref, here's how to find a file (if you know the name):
login to a cmd line (aka xterm) window as root user, then use:

find / -name 'filename.whatever' -print 2>/dev/null

substitute your filename for filename.whatever

To unzip a file.tgz or file.tar.gz

tar -zxvf file.tgz
or
tar -zxvf file.tar.gz

To uncompress a .tar.bz2 use:
tar -xjvf file.tar.bz2

HTH

hi chrism,
the tar line has no effect in my command prompt or root konsole. but all of a sudden the extracting worked - i just tried over and over again because i was so desperate. i don't understand anything... :(

regards
ungua

Ungua, I highly suggest you take a look at the Rute tutorial at http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/ if you have not already. It will give you a lot of information about working effectively on the command line. Remember, Linux is different from Windows, and cryptic to the uninitiated. It took me several weeks to really learn to use the command line effectively, so stick to it, ask questions when you're confused, and your labor will be rewarded. Good luck!

that was a really cheering post - thank you. i'll have a try after delivering my university task.

regards
ungua

Maybe i should have pointed out that you have to check you are in the dir that contains the gz/bz2 file before you run the cmd. That's the info that the find cmd will give you.

Hi ungua,

After reading the linked post where you describe your Windows 98 woes, I am wondering whether that data was really overwritten. Since you seem to have tried installing more than one operating system, it's possible. Normally though, the partition software used during installation will not rewrite a partition unless you tell it to. Lycoris undoubtedly used a graphical interface, and I don't know if you understood what went on, or whether Lycoris actually overwrote your data. So maybe, just maybe, that data is not gone. Don't get your hopes up, but let's see.

In the other thread you mentioned that you used Knoppix. Start the computer back up wîth Knoppix again. (Who knows? Maybe you're reading this using Knoppix. :))

Do you have just the one hard-drive? If so, the way Linux will want to name the device is "hda". Partitions on the device will start with numbers: first partition is hda1, second is hda2. Later you might learn that all partitions are not equal: primary partitions and logical (or extended) partitions are different, and hda1-hda4 are primary, while logical partitions are hda5 and up.

Now with Knoppix running, open up a console window and type in the following:You should see several new lines, with the last saying "Command (m for help):" Enter m to see the options, or just enter p. Entering p will write (on the screen) the partition table of hda, which is your hard-disk. Note: You could actually use fdisk to repartition your hard-disk, so don't play around with the menus too much, just use the p option to view the partition table.

The rows of the table represent the partitions on hda. On the left-hand side of the table you will see "Device names". On the far right-hand side is the kind of file system the partition is formatted with. If a Windows partition is still around, it would say something like FAT or FAT32. (It would possibly say NTFS for Windows 2000 or XP.) Your old system would most likely have had this correspondence:

C:\ => /dev/hda1
D:\ => /dev/hda2

Therefore, I would expect -- though it need not be so -- the old D:\ partition to exist at /dev/hda2. If it does exist though, I would also expect Knoppix to have an icon for it on the desktop.

Hope this helps. If it doesn't, at least you'll now know how to always see what partitions you have, even if you were to go back to Windows! [impressive voice] I know you won't though.

Here is a document you might find useful as general documentation:
http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/

By the way, since you are willing to read and learn about Linux and are interested particularly in stability, you might consider checking out Debian as well. It is very stable and completely open source. (This has the benefit of the Debian software being completely free, but also that a community stands behind it instead of a company -- this means no official support system, but enthusiastic members like you find on this forum.) Debian does have a reputation for being difficult for beginners to install, but there is also a new installer. Plus, once it is installed the packaging system will save you a lot of headaches. The Debian packaging system is in my opinion much simpler and powerful to use than normal packaging systems. With it, you can easily install and uninstall the freely available software. (Of course it is not always 100% easy to understand, no empty promises.) Of course some of the programs you are used to you might have to pay for, but more than likely there are open-source programs that you can learn that will work as good or better -- even much better in some cases. Well, it's just a thought. I started with SUSE because someone introduced me to it, and I bought SUSE 8.0 Professional. I decided to give Debian a go -- at first because it was free, but the more I tried it the better I found it to be. The packaging system lets me keep my system as up to date as I want, and there's so much to learn! :)

Hey, I flew from Bergen once, in Flight Simulator though. And I happen to know somebody on a different forum from there.

Sei guten Mutes!
Mike