I wanted to install software on ubuntu 8.04 on networkless computer.
So I got the debian files & copied them to /var/cache/apt/archives
Then I ran
#apt-get install ffmpeg

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package ffmpeg is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package ffmpeg has no installation candidate

Then I ran
#apt-cache pkgnames
Among these I found ffmpeg.
I edited /etc/apt/sources.list
Commented cdrom & uncommmented lines beginning with deb or deb-src
Still not solved.

I ran ( after connecting to internet )
#apt-get update;apt-get install ffmpeg
It worked.
(Question)What should I do so that software install possible without internet connection ( obviously needed debian files I have ) ?
I have noticed that OS downloads gpg of security,updates & packages.gz files from repository.

You need to get each and every needed dependencies. then

I do it this way presently but I want to copy the required debian files to /var/cache/apt/archives then let system install them in required order without me bothering about it.
Actually after apt-get update I copied required debian files to /var/cache/apt/archives & ffmpeg installation occured without downloading a single byte.
But What is alternative of apt-get update ?

apt-get update only updates/refreshes your repository lists.
apt-get upgrade , upgrades your currently installed packages.

If you have a computer with no internet access you could look into using "apt-offline". This will allow you to get the required packages with another computer which is connected.

Also look at: this

Regards,
Stefan

1 members found this post helpful.

to propofol
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/ap...g-scanpackages
was very useful.Thank you.

TIP FOR ALL USERS TO INSTALL OFFLINE.ALTERNATIVE TO APTONCD.ESPECIALLY IF COMPUTER HAS NEVER BEEN ONLINE (like mine) so no chance of 'apt-get update'
(0)for 'dpkg-scanpackages' get debian files libtime*,patch*,dpkg-dev* files from iso & do 'dpkg -i' on all three one by one.
(1)Whenever I want to install a software on standalone computer then I get required debian files (if you also want to know link of debian files so that you can 'wget' them then see TIP at the end ) & copy them to /root/debs
(2)I comment all lines in /etc/apt/sources.list and add
deb file:/root debs/
(3)now run
(4)#apt-get install softwareName
Advantage is
(1)i got debian ffmpeg files from medibuntu and .deb file for gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg,gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly,gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad,build-essential
NOTE:-In conflict of common files between gstreamer & medibuntu.The later prevails.
(2)Now i install ffmpeg,gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg,gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly,gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad so that
I get all audio video files playing (by default in totem) and ffmpeg can transcode to all formats(that is why medibuntu was preferred).

TIP
I get packages.gz and sources.gz from http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/<your distroname>/<main,multiverse,restricted,universe>/<binary-i386,source>
and store them in folders main,multiverse,restricted,universe in /root then add required lines to /etc/apt/sources.list. Thus a computer can install softwares without smelling internet ever.
If you find this post useful than thank me by pressing thumbs up button ( in the same way I have thanked useful posts ) .Thank you.

0 members found this post helpful.

question
i wanted to install build-essential from cdrom (without using physical disk) by mounting iso image to /cdrom.
But
#apt-get install build-essential
says press enter when media inserted.
How can we use iso file to tell system that cdrom is in place ?

0 members found this post helpful.

Please see my previous unanswered question also
(Question) I want the computer to keep Packages.gz offline.so i downloaded
http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/<type>/source/
http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/<type>/binary-i386/source/
& stored them in local folders.Is it correct ?
I know that dpkg-scanpackages will give error of debian files not found.
I am not interested in updating my distro.
Main thing is there were other options like debian-installer,installer-i386.
Which one is suitable for apt-get ?
My computer is 32bit.