Which SlackBuild failed - libdvdread or MPlayer? From SlackBuilds.org?

MPlayer from Slackbuilds.org

Cute. Similar to Picnic or an "ID ten T error."

As I've said before, it is exactly that attitude that is going to keep Linux what it is, a geek OS for hobbyist.

sorry for the hijack, but...

if I use the mplayer slackbuild from slackbuilds.org and I didn't have libdvdread installed, I won't have dvd support for mplayer? Might want to add something about that to the Mplayer Slackbuild readme then...

If that were the case, we'd add it. However, that's not the case.

In response to question about which one failed:
What was/were the error(s)?

I disagree with your assessment of the likely outcome of the attitude displayed by rworkman in that post, but I do agree that the it is (as far as you can judge such things on a written forum) not entirely friendly.

While I'm at it...

I don't mind being corrected, but I thought the guardian of what is "official" and "unofficial" insofar as these terms apply to Slackware packages, is Patrick Volkerding. Namely, if it's included in a release it's "official," if not, then not.

Has Pat anywhere indicated that user contributed packages from the likes of LinuxPackages are "unofficial" and to be avoided, while packages compiled using SlackBuilds from SlackBuilds.org are recommended and "official?"

I'm sure Robby will forget more than I will ever know about Slackware but castigating sites other than his own and peremptorily dismissing queries from those less knowledgeable or skillful than himself is hardly edifying.

cwizardone, as far as i can see robbie is trying to help you with your problem, maybe the PEBKAC thing was just his way of saying the problem is coming from your end and not the slackbuild script, maybe you messed your system up installing/uninstalling programs and removed a needed library file? as far as im aware, the slackbuild scripts from slackbuilds.org are built on clean systems and should build working packages on all similar systems. i have learned to be tolerant of people on the internet, because what may seem offensive to me, could be nothing more than a normal expression to them (especially from people in the states they have a more robust way of using language over there). robbie has helped me in the recent past, and im a noob too. incidentally i just built mplayer for slack 11 over the weekend using a slackbuild.org script and it works perfectly (although again thats for 11, i cant vouch for 12) so thanks robbie

Yep, you've got it.

No, and that's not been stated or implied. In fact, the SlackBuilds.org site *clearly* indicates that its contents are not official and are not supported by Slackware.com.

I didn't castigate any site - I simply stated that the errors experienced by one of the posters were consistent with those caused by using unofficial packages having other dependencies. I did not make any value statements about those unofficial packages; however, I personally don't support unofficial packages other than my own (nor should I be expected to do so). Therefore, my recommendation is to remove them and work with a "stock" Slackware system, in which I am certain that compiling the application (regardless of whether with "my" product or not) will work.

I didn't dismiss anything. As I stated, there are a few different problems detailed in the other thread referenced by the poster. Those problems have different causes, and regardless of whether it's "politically correct" or not, most appear to be due to user misconfiguration. To sum up: the original poster in this thread has not clearly stated what *his* problem is, so pardon me for not wanting to use my time speculating about potential solutions only to find out that I was solving the wrong problem.

If you are talking about the hplip problem it is all laid out in the previous thread, so it is not necessary to repeat it. I've followed HP's instructions to the last period mark and tried suggestions offered in that thread. The result is always the same, hp-setup cannot see any hp devices connnected to the system, and, yes, they were connected and turned on.
At this point I've worked around it, so it is not a priority.
As to the MPlayer issue. I maybe not be an expert on Linux, but I've been using it off and on for 12 years, starting with a Slackware distribution purchased from Walnut Creek CDROM and I've been using PCs for the last 20 years. What I don't know about hardware, software, and Linux could fill a mountain of books bigger than Everest, but I do know enough that such comments as PEBKEC are uncalled for, and, again, reflect an attitude that is one reason why Linux, as good as it is, will never make a real, sizeable, dent in the unfortunate monopoly enjoyed by mickeysoft.

There are at least three separate issues in the other thread, one of which is not even pertaining to Slackware 12.0 (the one about net-snmp being installed or not). Are you still on Slackware 11 or are you on 12.0 now?

Second, you mentioned this:
To diagnose this, I'd need to see what happens when rc.hplip is started. Does it spew some sort of error message? Is the HPIOD process actually running? If memory serves correctly, that's a python app, so maybe some of your python installation is missing or modified - there's no way to know without more information. Either way, that was on 11.0 - are you still on 11.0, or is this still occurring with 12.0? A lot has changed since then, so there *is* a good reason for you to (re)state *exactly* what problem(s) you are having.

Finally, you stated this in that thread:
In other words, you installed the official HPLIP package (which you should have done to start with) and it worked.
You later mentioned some other problems, some of which were corrected by adding yourself to the scanner group (which should have been done anyway). Also, as it turns out, it seems that your printer is natively supported by cups and your scanner by sane (both without HPLIP), so that likely (but not certainly) explains why HPLIP fails to find them.

Quite frankly, I think you're a bit too sensitive. The PEBKAC comment was not meant in a derogatory manner - it's just a fact. I have PEBKACs all the time, and so does everyone else here - they're a fact of life.
Additionally, the fact remains that unless proven otherwise, I think your problems were largely the result of you - again, that's not meant as a criticism, per se, just reality. I think you probably have/had remnants (or even all) of your from-source HPLIP compile still in /usr/local, and since /usr/local is looked at before /usr, those things were being found before the packaged versions. The unofficial packages you tried most likely required net-snmp (which explains your early troubles with them). If you have other unofficial packages on your system (yes, sometimes even things built from "my" site - SlackBuilds.org - although less likely), they can accidentally introduce other incompatibilities. This is *especially* true if you replace any official packages (which is *not* an option from SlackBuilds.org, but is from elsewhere), or even if a rogue package overwrites something that's in an official package. It's a somewhat complicated issue, and bugs caused by things like that are exceedingly difficult to figure out, so that's why you get so much probing from me about unofficial packages.

I have a proposal, though. I've now spent approximately 35 minutes reading through the other thread in detail and drafting this response, and the total amount of time spent on this entire thread is well over an hour. If you find my attitude too condescending (even though I didn't intend it that way), then I'm sorry, but you know, it gets quite frustrating for those of us who (for the most part) post here not *with* problems but to *solve* problems, to have users refuse to provide the information requested. If you don't trust my judgment on solving problems, just say so, and I'll save us both some time in the future.

rworkman, thank you for taking time to reply, and for providing a clear exposition of your views.

I'm still not in total agreement with them but I at least have a better understanding of your position. I would genuinely like to thank you and others who assist with the distribution.

We can all learn.

Disagreement is okay with me - I'm not always right either :-)

On that point, agreed in full.

As to hplip.
I've done a fresh, everything including the kitchen sink, install of Slackware 12 and hplip 1.7.4a was installed at that time...and, hp-setup still doesn't see any HP devices attached. And hpiod and hpssd report 'OK' on boot up.
hplip never has worked, regardless of what I have or have not tried. Since the Slack 12 install I've done nothing regarding the printer or scanner.
However, KDE printer manager can find and install the printer and Xsane sees the scanner. As Xsane doesn't do a very good job and it is very SLOW, I would prefer to run HP's own software in the hope the devices will run as well under Linux as they did in XP.

As to asking and not answering, well, I work for a living and don't have hours to spend browsing web sites, but some rainy Sunday I'll try and see if I can lend a hand.

cwizardone, please try this command "modprobe ppdev" and restart the hplip service. It should work. If it works, you can add it in your rc.local file.