packages and ./
 

i am having so much trouble instaling packages
first of all the self installing ones
they ask for the root password i give it
then it does the preparing system update thing
then after its done i cant find what ive installed
the only one of those i got to work was aim and yahoo messanger
then there are the ones the want me to put them it ./ but thats locked
the only place that it will let me put files into that i have found is ./home/jason
i am runing rh9
i am so lost
:Pengy: :newbie: :cry:

could you, please, be a little bit more precise? are you using rpm to install the packages or do you build from source? what do you mean 'you cant find what you've installed'? can't you start any installed programs by typing the name on the command line?

as normal user, you can only write to your home dir (/home/jason). what is supposed to be put in /?

you said: 'the only one of those i got to work was aim and yahoo messanger' .. did you get any error messages on the other ones? what else did you want to install?


cheers

Sounds like you are using rpms. I dont really recall, but if you are having trouble installing something you should try

/sbin/su -
your password
rpm blah blah
exit
(hit) enter

now you can use the program at the command line by typing the name of the program. or try man program_name to look at directions.

If you are not using an rpm, then it is a little more involved. Only a little though.

installing from source

tar -zxvf foo

cd /directory/of_foo/

cat README | less
cat INSTALL | less

read the files above to see if you need to do anything special

maybe look at ./configure --help

then

./configure
make
/sbin/su -
your password
cd /directory/files/were/in
make install
exit

and you are done. Well, if all was detected/dependencies were met anyway. then try man program_name or just type the name of the program at the command line.

ive tried both kindes
the rpm ones and the spource kind
From Source:
[root@66-231-198-136 root]# tar zxvf Wine-20031212.tar.gz
tar (child): Wine-20031212.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

From Binary
[root@66-231-198-136 root]# rpm -iv wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm
error: open of wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm failed: No such file or directory

and then anything that self installs i cant find in the redhat menu and cant find in ./

"can't you start any installed programs by typing the name on the command line?"
nope maybe i dont know the right way to do it
i use "run program"

the site for amsn told me to put it in ./amsn and it wont let me
aim and yahoo self installed but the differance was shortcuts were put it "applications/internet/more internet applications" for both of them

ive been trying to install all kinds of thing ex: wine, amsn, a java script plugin, files that r supose to make some of my usb stuff work, xmule, and overnet

"Linux IS userfriendly - it is just selective about who his friends are"
well it doesnt like me

[root@66-231-198-136 root]# /sbin/su -
-bash: /sbin/su: No such file or directory

it may be /bin/su - I never notice.

Well are you loggin into a gui? Do you use the command line? and where are your files located? In a directory that you have access to?

this is my guess. you have logged in at the root user, right? then you have also jumped to a different area in the file system.

try typing ls

is the file you want to tar -zxvf still in the list that is printed out?

now ./ is not a directory. it is your current directory err.... it is how you make a shell script run which is NOT located in a directory that is in your PATH environmental variable. sound funky? dont even worry about it...

the point is that ./ when typed before a shell script that is in the directory that you are currently IN will make the shell script RUN.

[jason@66-231-198-136 jason]$ /bin/su -
Password:
[root@66-231-198-136 root]# rpm -iv wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm
error: open of wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm failed: No such file or directory
[root@66-231-198-136 root]#

ya i do u have rh9

"and where are your files located?"
-what do u mean there on my hard drive along with my os rh9

"In a directory that you have access to?"
-what?

"this is my guess. you have logged in at the root user, right?"
-right i put in my root password anytime it asks for it

"then you have also jumped to a different area in the file system."
-what do u mean i different filesystem all i have hooked up is this hard drive with only rh9 on it


[root@66-231-198-136 root]# ls
anaconda-ks.cfg install.log.syslog upgrade.log.syslog
install.log upgrade.log
[root@66-231-198-136 root]#


"is the file you want to tar -zxvf still in the list that is printed out?"
- ???? im lost

In / i have the folders: bin, boot, dev, etc, home, initrd, lib, lost+found, misc, mnt, opt, proc, root, sbin, tmp, usr, var,


and im still very lost

Sorry if I didnt make myself clear...

when i say filesystem I (maybe im misusing the term) mean the directories / /usr /home /var etc and how they are structured. For example usr, home, bin and a few others branch off of the root (/) directory.

Anyway when you want to use for example

rpm

the file that you will rpm has to be in the directory that you are currently in.

So first type

ls (hit enter)

If the file that you want to rpm is in that list then you can

rpm -stuff filename (sorry I dont remember how to use rpm)

this is the same for tar.

Now if the file you want to install is NOT listed when you type ls then type

cd /path/to/file

You need to go to the directory where your file is located. Do you see what I am saying?

For example when you typed ls here:

[root@66-231-198-136 root]# ls
anaconda-ks.cfg install.log.syslog upgrade.log.syslog
install.log upgrade.log

you can see that you have these files in front of you. if you try to use rpm or tar by typing

rpm -stuff #filename# or tar -stuff #filename#

where #filename# (hash marks just for emphasis) is not one of the anaconda-ks.cfg, install.log.syslog, upgrade.log.syslog, install.log, or upgrade.log files then it wont work. (Well it also wont even if you use one of these filenames because these are not rpm or tar files):D

Therefore you have to go to the location where you can see the filename that you want to tar or rpm in the list from ls.

so if your stuff is locate in /home/your_user_name then you need to cd to that place first and then try using tar or rpm.

Sorry if I am condesending. I dont mean to.

[root@66-231-198-136 root]# cd /home/jason
[root@66-231-198-136 jason]# ls
acroread-5.08-2.i386.rpm mplayerplug_in.so
acroread-plugin-5.08-2.i386.rpm my computer.bmp
amsn N59-3034.jpg
amsn-0_83.tar.gz nethackQT-3.4.3-i686-1jto.tgz
B145-1510.jpg newuser_files
btmgr-3.7-1.i386.rpm newuser.html
centericq-4.9.8-i386-1.tgz NFS Underground 2nd.zip
config.log overnet0.51.2
contact.dat P450-8503.jpg
Downloaded patch-2.6.0.bz2
DRG-C-S-ULTRA.jpg RISINGbloom1280.jpg
ed2k-gtk-gui-0.6.1.generic.i386.rpm RISINGblossom.zip
enlightenment-0.16.5-1.i386.rpm rp8_linux_sparc_cs1.bin
evolution rss_glx-0.7.4-1.i386.rpm
feather2.jpg RWTI-Cintre2.jpg
Feather 2.zip Screenshot.png
fnlib-0.5-1.i386.rpm share.dat
foobillard-2.9-i686-1ht.tgz Shinra.zip
Hackers manifesto spikes.jpg
Hacking Spikes project.zip
I800-3002.jpg temp
incoming theme
j2re-1_3_1_09-linux-i586.bin TSD-80AS-P.jpg
j2re-1_3_1_10-linux-i586.rpm.bin TXTs
k3b-0.10.3-i686-1.tgz U10-1905.jpg
KNOPPIX_V3.3-2003-11-14-DE.iso U10-8304-main.jpg
known.met up2date-3.1.23.2-1.src.rpm
ks.cfg uploadq.dat
lbreakout2-2.5beta_3-i686-1jto.tgz usbview-1.0-1.i386.rpm
Linux OpenSource.zip wine-20031212
log.txt wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm
M17-1800.jpg Wine-20031212.tar.gz
M17-5602.jpg xmms-mp3-1.2.7-21.p.fr1.src.rpm
MBM-KTLAN.jpg xmms-mp3-1.2.7-21.p.i386.rpm
[root@66-231-198-136 jason]# rpm wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm
RPM version 4.2
Copyright (C) 1998-2002 - Red Hat, Inc.
This program may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU GPL

Usage: rpm [-a|--all] [-f|--file] [-g|--group] [-p|--package] [--specfile]
[--whatrequires] [--whatprovides] [-c|--configfiles] [-d|--docfiles]
[--dump] [-l|--list] [--queryformat=QUERYFORMAT] [-s|--state]
[--nomd5] [--nofiles] [--nodeps] [--noscript] [--addsign]
[-K|--checksig] [--import] [--resign] [--nodigest] [--nosignature]
[--initdb] [--rebuilddb] [--aid] [--allfiles] [--allmatches]
[--badreloc] [-e|--erase <package>+] [--excludedocs]
[--excludepath=<path>] [--force] [-F|--freshen <packagefile>+]
[-h|--hash] [--ignorearch] [--ignoreos] [--ignoresize] [-i|--install]
[--justdb] [--nodeps] [--nomd5] [--noorder] [--nosuggest]
[--noscripts] [--notriggers] [--oldpackage] [--percent]
[--prefix=<dir>] [--relocate=<old>=<new>] [--repackage]
[--replacefiles] [--replacepkgs] [--test]
[-U|--upgrade <packagefile>+] [-D|--define 'MACRO EXPR']
[-E|--eval 'EXPR'] [--macros=<FILE:...>] [--nodigest] [--nosignature]
[--rcfile=<FILE:...>] [-r|--root ROOT] [--querytags] [--showrc]
[--quiet] [-v|--verbose] [--version] [-?|--help] [--usage]
[--scripts] [--setperms] [--setugids] [--conflicts] [--obsoletes]
[--provides] [--requires] [--info] [--changelog] [--triggers]
[--last] [--filesbypkg] [--fileclass] [--filecolor] [--fileprovide]
[--filerequire] [--redhatprovides] [--redhatrequires]
[--buildpolicy=<policy>] [--with=<option>] [--without=<option>]
[root@66-231-198-136 jason]#

k now i think i understand a bit more
but now what

it was cool on my termanal it was cooler coated

this is a package that i cant find once it installs
mplayer-gui-1.0pre3-1.i386.rpm

Hmmm Mplayer gui. My guess is that you have installed the gui for Mplayer. When you normally use mplayer from the command line you type

mplayer -commands blah blah

Type man mplayer

These "man pages" are your best friend.

Look for gmplayer...or something similar (Ive never used it...im a command line freak) will be in the man page for mplayer. That is how you run mplayer using the gui.

ya im to much of a newbe for comand line i need the gui

[jason@66-231-198-136 jason]$ su -
Password:
[root@66-231-198-136 root]# man mplayer
No manual entry for mplayer
[root@66-231-198-136 root]#

Hey dont cut yourself short. The command line isnt really that hard anyway.

It looks like you havent been able to install mplayer properly, but I dont know anything about rpm since I dont use it. I am afraid that I cant help you much. if you type mplayer and you get some kind of error that it wasnt found then you probably have to get the rpm for that and install it. Of course I would recommend just getting the tar and using that. Really, its not too difficult.

well ok what about wine

these r the dif wine files ive downloaded i havent been able to get it to work
Wine-20031212.tar.gz
wine-20031212-1fc1winehq.i386.rpm

ive tryed to install it and when i try to use it says its not in the root menu
how do i get it into the root menu????

the other thing i cant seem to get to work is amsn
this is the file i downloaded for that
amsn-0_83.tar.gz

DAZED AND CONFUSED