Hey,

I'm band new at Linux and just isntalled Mandrake 10.1 with a KDE interface on the advice of a friend, I've managed to download and install firefox, but anything else can't seem to be installed. When I double click an RPM file, it opens up a window which asks me if I want to install, when I click yes, nothing much seems to happen. I think the files are getting installed somewhere else on the computer, but everytime I run KDE's file search, it crashes.

any advice?

Greg

Welcome to LQ!
Mandrake 10.1? I think that is the same as 2005LE, which I have been very happy running for a while now.
But it was very important to get the updates..... I hope you are on braodband - there was about 500MB of stuff to be downloaded.

Please use the "Search" button on this site to search for "easy urpmi", so you'll understand the concept.
Then go to one of the easy urpmi sites and update your sources, basically this means entering 10.1, your architecture eg i586 for intel pentium class, select [proceed to step 2] check all the boxes, choosing mirrors near you.... You'll end up with a set of commands that you can copy & paste into a terminal (as root!). (Select the text in your browser, middle-button to paste it into a terminal window, press return key to execute that command. Look for errors (eg "not found" = go back to easy urpmi & choose a different mirror)) You'll have to do this for each of the commands, and the lines are quite long & complex so copy & paste is the way to go.

Now your mandriva knows where the software is on the internet, do the following in a terminal window (as root):
urpmi --update --auto-select
Leave it alone until it finishes. Then logout completely, and back in again. Performance & stability should be much improved. To install further software (as root):
urpmi firefox or whatever the application is called
update-menus (just to make sure the application appears on your menus)


HTH

I've done as you say, but when I copy over the first line, it tells me bash: urpmi.addmedia: command not found
. any ideas?

EDIT: Sorry, wasn't running root, I'll try it out now.