slackpkg
 

Well, I'm here again. I have tried to install slackpkg - and read tons of info on how to uncomment a mirror - and yet, I don't understand a thing.I am sorry if I seem a bit dense - it is just that I don't know what commands to use and how. Is there anyone who is prepared to spell it out for me step by step? I will be extremely grateful for a little help on this matter.

bookie

There is slackpkg package in slackware ftp. Get it, then use installpkg to install it.

Edit /etc/slackpkg/mirrors and add ONE mirror of your choice.
Then run slackpkg update.

After that run slackpkg install name or slackpkg search name or slackpkg upgrade name. Do not forget to run slackpkg update that slakcpkg could update his list of packages.

update
 

Hi Alien Hominid, I appreciate what you've said-it's just that I don't understand the Edit /etc/slackpkg/mirrors. I have installed slackpkg. The uncomment a mirror came up when I first tried to run the program. I have tried the edit bit but can't seem to get any where. Do I need to cd to the directory first? If so tried that - got the t-shirt. I haven't had to edit anything up to now - and I am still feeling my way so to speak. Can you please give me the command structure as if you are speeking to an absolute idiot.
bookie

You must be root to do this.

cd /etc/slackpkg

Edit the mirrors file. Select a mirror that is closest to you. Only one is needed or slackpkg won't work. For example, if you live in the USA, you would see something like this.

# USA
#http://www.somesite.com
#ftp://somesite.org

Remove one of the hash marks and it will look like this:

# USA
#http://www.somesite.com
ftp://somesite.org

Note: These are not real sites, only examples.

slackpkg will use ftp.somesite.org as it mirror in the USA region.

save the file and exit.



run slackpkg update. This will compare the packages currenly installed
and any available updates.

Next, run slackpkg upgrade patches. This will create a menu of available packages to be updated, select one or all packages and press enter.

Slackpkg will download and install the new packages. Note: Slackpkg will prompt you about keeping or overwriting some configurations files for some packages.

END

update
 

Hi dv502, yes Iknow about selecting the mirror - it is how I can't understand. I just can't understand what you all mean. Can you be even more descriptive - as in show me stage by stage.
Sorry, sorry, sorry I do appreciate that you are trying to help. Just missing something.........

bookie

more info
 

Ok I did as you asked. I looked at the site nearest me in Sweden and removed the hash sign - saved and closed window. The thing is - when I run update it says I need to select a mirror?!! I have done that!!! The mirror selected is it the one I should have downloaded the slackpkg from?

bookie

more info
 

Ok, I have looked in the mirrors.new file and they have a number of listings - slackware11,current, and slackware 10.2 I have tried the "sunet" in slackware11 -that didn't work. I even rebooted - no dice. I then chose current - no dice. I will say that I installed pportide.i kernel but upgraded direct to 2.6.17.13 kernel on the cd2. Everything went ok. Should I have installed slackpkg before upgrading my kernel? Sorry to be so intense. Trying to improve my way of downloading and installation of packages from the fresh install.
bookie

Here again
 

I seem to be asking myself questions and answering myself. No pun intended. I have been a bit of an idiot. I moved slackpkg .tgz which I downloaded from slackware's on site. I moved it to its own directory that I created before installing it. What I hadn't realised is that I was trying to uncomment in that directory and not the one that had been installed. I used package handler to see if my slackpkg had installed correctly with all its files. The strange thing is three files have a red cross beside them. Everything in etc was crossed out?!!Is that normal or is it a glitch in the installation? The original .tgz has all its files but not after installation. Or what I mean is - you can't open the etc files.

Should I re-install or has anyone any ideas?
bookie

Post the file in Question :)
 

why don't you post your /etc/slackpkg/mirrors file here
that could shed some light on the subject

:cool:

slackpkg works in either the 2.4 or 2.6 kernels. These are the steps I followed
and it work the first time. Since you are using slackware 11, you need to use the slackware 11 mirrors. Check carefully, you didn't select more than one mirror. If you did, it will not work - also don't remove the hash mark in front of the country, this
migjht confuse slackpkg.

If a mirror site didn't work , try another one. Remember to put back the hash mark
in the site that didn't work.

If all else fails, try reinstalling slackpkg. First use the pkgtool command to
list and uninstall packages.

Next, run installpkg slackpkg.xxx.tgz to reinstall.

Good luck

update - now we are getting somewhere
 

Thanks guys, well, I have been a bit hasty. In package handler I could open /etc/slackpg. I took the hash away as you have said and tried again. Success!!! Update went well. Next problem I ran slackpg upgrade patches as suggested and had this result - not forgetting I said that I did an imediate upgrade from pportide.i 2.4.33.3 to 2.6.17.13 as you can see in my list below. What do you guys suggest I do now?

bookie


root@Nollan:~# slackpkg upgrade patches

You have a broked /var/log/packages, with two versions of the same package.
The list of packages duplicated in your machine are show below, but don't
worry about this list, when you select your action, slackpkg will show a
better list:

kernel-headers-2.4.33.3-i386-1
kernel-headers-2.6.17.13-i386-1
kernel-modules-2.4.33.3-i486-1
kernel-modules-2.6.17.13-i486-1

You can (B)lacklist or (R)emove these packages.
Select your action (B/R):

Sorry, I have no idea to your new problem. It seems you have problems with the 2.4 and 2.6 stuff existing in the same system with similar packages. When I upgraded to 2.6, I had to remove the 2.4 modules, 2.4 sourses and 2.4-ide. This was done using the pkgtool command. I guess you can remove the 2.4 stuff as suggested by slackpkg, So it won't download packages for both the 2.4 and 2.6
kernels.

Here is an audio podcast from inuxreality.com. An audio walk through on installing slackware 11, upgrading to the 2.6 kernel, removing old 2.4 stuff and using slackpkg. The link is:
http://www.linuxreality.com/podcast/...e-1-slackware/

Both mp3 and ogg formats are available. You
can download and listen to it.



Good Luck

update
 

Hi again, I had already made a choice to try somthing else before I received your latest post - sorry. I went into /var/log/packages and removed the 2.4.33.3 headers and modules to see if that would solve the problem. I ran slackpkg upgrade again and received the following info on slackpkg's uses:


slackpkg - version 2.60

Usage: slackpkg update [gpg] download and update files and
package indexes
slackpkg install package download and install packages
slackpkg upgrade package download and upgrade packages
slackpkg reinstall package same as install, but for packages
already installed
slackpkg remove package remove installed packages
slackpkg clean-system remove all packages which are not
present in slackware distribution.
Good to keep the house in order
slackpkg upgrade-all sync all packages installed in your
machine with the selected mirror. This
is the true way to upgrade all your
machine.
slackpkg install-new install packages which are added in
slackware distribution.
Run this if you are upgrading to another
slackware version or using current.
slackpkg blacklist Blacklist a package. Blacklisted
packages cannot be upgraded, installed
or reinstalled by slackpkg
slackpkg download Just download (do not install) a package
slackpkg info package Show package information
(works with only ONE package)
slackpkg search file Search for a specific file in the
entire package collection

You can see more information about slackpkg usage and some examples
in slackpkg's manpage. You can use partial package names (such as x11
instead x11-devel, x11-docs, etc), or even slackware series
(such as n,ap,xap,etc) when searching for packages.


I then ran slackpkg upgrade slackware and received info on how to upgrade most of my packages including 2.4.33.3 kernel - but not 2.6.17.13 I don't know if that is so significant.
When I originally upgraded to 2.6.17.13 I had help of slackdaemon with the following info on how to install the kernel from cd 2


The test kernel you are using may not have the necessay modules
installed for those particular network cards. Try installing one of the stable kernels on CD2. These are the specific steps

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt -o ro
cd /mnt/extra/linux-2.6.17.13
installpkg kernel-headers-2.6.17.13-i386-1.tgz
installpkg kernel-generic-2.6.17.13-i486-1.tgz
installpkg kernel-modules-2.6.17.13-i486-1.tgz
mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.17.13 -m jbd:ext3 -f ext3 -r /dev/hda1

(The mkinitrd command assumes you chose ext3 filesystem and that your root partition is /dev/hda1) If you chose the reiserfs filesystem type this instead:

mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.17.13 -m reiserfs

then finally type lilo and reboot.




This all went well - but there wasn't any info about removing traces of the old kernel headers, modules, etc.

This is of course not slackdaemons fault. I was wondering if there is more info after installation to remove old files before rebooting into the new kernel?

Did you click on the audio link I gave you.
It tells how to install slackware 11 with the 2.6 kernel and then remove the 2.4 kernel and modules.
Slackpkg works fine on my computer, it worked the first time I use it. Sorry it didn't work for you.

Anyway, listen to the audio podcast it is an excellent how to on slackware.

If I think on something, I'll post it here.

reply
 

Thanks again dv502, I appreciate all your help on the matter. Started listening to the audio link but it was very long and my girlfriend already thinks I'm to much of a computer freak, so I will listen to the audio when I have a little more time. Women! They expect a little attention aswell??? Trying a different approach at the mo - installing huge26.s which is already 2.6.17.13. The only downside is you need more modules from the second cd, and because I opted for reiserfs I will need to build an intrid or something like that? I do not want to give up on slackpkg. Could use a little more info on how to use slackpkg. I read about slackcurrent - do you know anything about that.Can one have to programs that use a similar format? If you have any ideas on the above - be much appreciated.

bookie

Hi bookie,

I have not heard of slackcurrent. Right now
slackpkg is the one slackware uses to update installed packages and security fixes. But if slackcurrent has worked for you, by all means use it. The 2.6 modules is on the third disc. Yu need to download cd 3.

This disc has extra software you can install. No need to compile. These are
precomiple binaries. All you need to install them is with one command.

installpkg package-name.xxx.tgz

I hope you get a chance to listen to the rest of the audio, as he explains installing the 2.6 kernel and removing the
2.4 kernel sources and modules.

Which is probably causing slackpkg to
conflict with packages for the 2.4 and 2.6
sources.

later...

A little upgrade problem
 

I have used the slackpkg on slackware cd2. That version was a little old, so I downloaded the latest and upgraded the pkg. My problem is that slackpkg want me to upgrade the slackpkg.conf before I can update. I am not sure how I should do this? Any ideas.

bookie

Late update
 

Hi again, almost forgot to post result of all the problems. Well, I listened to the audio that dv502 suggested and then removed the old kernel modules,ide,and headers. Slackpkg seems to be working fine now.

I have a little querry regarding the use of slackpkg. When you have updated your packages slackpkg gives you some options regarding files to be over written or removed:
(K) keep the old files and consider .newfiles later
(O) over write all the old files with the new ones. The old files will be stored with the suffix.org
(R) remove all the .newfiles
(P) prompt k,o,r selection for every file.

What do you want to do?


Being a novice I really don't know what to do for the best. Can someone advise me, please!

bookie

It depends...
 

For example, if you had samba all setup with your workgroup name and shares. And
lets say slackpkg had a update of samba
available. If you selected overwrite, slackpkg will replace your original
configurationn file(s) for samba with a newer default version. Which means you have to repeat setting up samba again.

slackpkg has updated the packages, it just wants to know if you want to keep the
configuration file(s) or replace them
with newer ones with default values.

If slackware is a fresh installed and you ran slackpkg, I would overwrite the old files.

If you had slackware for quite sone time,
and install programs, configured services like samba, apache, mysql, etc...
then I would keep the the original configurations files.

Anyway, if you elect to overwrite. slackpkg will make a backup copy
with the org suffix. So the configuration file for samba is /etc/samba/smb.conf will make a backup copy to /etc/samba/smb.conf.org

Good Luck

Thanks dv502
 

Well, now I understand a little more.
Thanks again.
bookie

You should edit the slackpkg blacklist file and uncomment the entries pertaining to the kernel and headers. You don't want it to mess with those. That's something you should only do manually.

reply
 

Thanks for the extra info masonm.

bookie

You're welcome bookie. Glad to help out.