Desktop installation question...

**coderonline** · 12-25-2007

Hi All,

I am an inexperienced Linux user.I have an old P2 233mhz laptop & i was planning for a OS that runs good on low memory.My friend advised me to go for Arch Linux.I have installed it succesfully.

I downloaded xpde-o.5.1.tar.gz & xfcee4-4.4.2-installer.run to have some kind of desktop environment.I have burned these into a CD.I am finding difficulty installing it directly from a CD.

First I have mounted my CD using the mount command.So the CD is mounted.Now i want to install either xpde-o.5.1.tar.gz or xfcee4-4.4.2-installer.run from the CD directly.Can someone help me in the installation of any of these....???? I want to know the command for installation directly from the cd....

Thanks.

***Dapper Dan*** · 12-25-2007

I've never used Arch, but use its "mother" distro Crux, but I think I might be able to help... Are you in the same diretory on the cd where the two are? If not you need to 'cd' to them...

Code:

cd /media/cdrom

Or maybe...

Code:

cd /mnt/cdrom

Once there, do:

Code:

ls

to make sure the two packages are there. Become root:

Code:

su -

(it will ask for password. Enter it and press enter). On XFCE I think you'll need to do either:

Code:

./xfcee4-4.4.2-installer.run

...or:

Code:

sh xfcee4-4.4.2-installer.run

Don't know what it does from there... The other is a zipped and tarred package. We have to unzip and untar it. There are other ways, but this is how I learned...

Code:

gunzip xpde-o.5.1.tar.gz

This will give you an unzipped package called, "xpde-o.5.1.tar." We have to untar it...

Code:

tar xvf xpde-o.5.1.tar

This should leave you with a directory called xpde-o.5.1, or something like that. "cd" to inside that directory and do the ls command to see what's there. Usually there is a file called, "INSTALL." open it with your favourite editor and read the instructions for compiling. I hope this helps...

**coderonline** · 12-25-2007

Hi Dapper Dan,

First of all i need to thank you explicictly for the following,

1) The instructions were lucid & clear to follow.
2) Your patience for giving such a detailed reply.

Actually i tried the following,

cd /mnt/cdrom

ls ( Now i got a list of all the files in CD )

Then,

sh xfcee4-4.4.2-installer.run

Now i thought i made it but finally got this message,

"verifying file integrity....ok
Extracting the installer...ok
checking for usable c compiler.....gcc
checking for usable c++ compiler..g++
checking for GNU make...make
checking for package config tool...pkg-config
checking for GLib(GModule)>=2.60....not found,see/root/xfce.installer_log for details "

So i downloaded the latest version of GLib 2.6.6 version....burned it in my cd( multisession cd )...

Now i put the cd in my laptop running Arch and again i mounted it using the command that you gave....

Then i typed ls

But i dont see the contents...Even i tried ls -l...

I get in the next line as total 0 ....What is it....I am not able to see the contents....I rebooted my machine...tried...still i find the content empty...

I checked the CD in my windows desktop machine & am able to see those contents.

Is the content that i burnt not getting recognized in Arch Linux
Since i burnt it in the same cd as a multisession format in windows ..???

Am sorry if am posting too long and also if my question is silly....But
surely i ll learn to tweak Linux in some time to come....So till that time the linux command interface ( especially Arch ) drives me mad....

So should i burn these contents onto a new disk....I dont ve one right now as i ve exhausted all my blank cd's...???

***Dapper Dan*** · 12-25-2007

If you can see the files in Windows then they have to be there. Did you mount the cd as you did before?

Code:

mount /mnt/cdrom

Code:

cd /mnt/cdrom

Code:

ls

**coderonline** · 12-25-2007

Hi Dapper Dan,

Thanx again for that answer....Ya i am able to see the contents in the cd....So thats my mistake....

& again,

To install glib-2.6.6.tar.gz i tried the command that you gave me.....

gunzip glib-2.6.6.tar.gz

Then i get "gzip:glib-2.6.6.tar:Read only file system"

Then i run the tar xvf glib-2.6.6.tar.....

It tries to extract....But at the side i see "cannot open:No such file or directory"

"tar : Error exit delayed from previous errors"

I also googled for some time regarding this.....

So I understood that i need to create a directory in root....then copy the glib-2.6.6.tar.gz file from CD-ROM to that directory....

So i unmounted the cdrom....

Now i created a directory called GLib using the mkdir command.....

Am trying to copy the file glib-2.6.6.tar.gz from the cdrom to that directory "Glib"...So how do i do this...???

I mounted the cd again & then used cp command.....But i got an error...It says destination operand missing....I tried several different combinations...It failed...????

So what do i do now???? Or is there a way that is much better than this as you could suggest ????

Since i took time by reading various posts to accomplish simple things such as these on my own but still could not carry out....i feel a bit frustrated....Also i i read a link pointed by you....regarding new users experience on linux....I understand that & hope that i would be better someday....

***Dapper Dan*** · 12-25-2007

To be honest, I just don't know much about Arch. ozar, one of the moderators here, uses it so I'm sure he can point you in the right direction. I found this nice instruction on how to install XFCE on Arch, but you'll need an Internet connection to use the pac-man installer.

You say you are an inexperienced Linux user. You DO know Arch is a distro more suited for advanced users? We'd be happy to help you along if you want to stay with it, but in my opinion, you really should start out with an easier distro. Ubuntu is a good choice for new Linux users. If you like XFCE, there is even a version that uses that Desktop Environment called Xubuntu. I'd seriously have a look at it. Once installed, your new adventure with Linux will be far less frustrating. If hardware restrictions won't allow for Xubuntu, another distro that works well on older hardware that is also user friendly is Damn Small Linux. Then, as you gain experience you could try Arch again later on.

**coderonline** · 12-25-2007

Hi Dapper Dan,

Thank you for the reply... i understand that i should start with much easier form of linux....like Ubuntu....Actually it was my friend who suggested to go for Arch....I like Ubuntu & I had it in my desktop machine before in a dual mode with win xp & i enjoyed it.....But actually i feel am learning a lot in this command mode form of Arch linux.....Thats y still i would like to keep it & am not frustrated by it....I jus use my laptop for learning purpose....i hav a desktop running Win Xp & Open Solaris 10 b66 in dual mode & so Win Xp gives me all the other pleasure of desktop computing......So i want to retain Arch...& i would like to learn & actually Arch serves the purpose of learning for me .......Am not gettin frustrated & all.....I also would like to go through some kind of experience which people went through when the initial version of Linux was released in the early 90's....In this way i feel it would be a better learning experience....

oz · 12-25-2007

You can install packages locally (not from a repo) using pacman with the following command:

Code:

pacman -U /path/to/package/package_name-version.pkg.tar.gz

I've only installed packages using this command with the file directly on my hard drive, but I suppose it should work with the file residing on a CD, too. What might happen though is that pacman might try to fetch any dependencies not included in your package directly from the Arch repos. Hopefully, everything needed is included with your package(s).

Edit: Just wanted to add that you should try to install packages that are built specifically for Arch if possible. You can use ABS to build your own Arch packages.

**coderonline** · 12-26-2007

Hi Dapper Dan & ozar,

I tried the command

"pacman -U /path/to/package/glib-2.6.6.tar.gz " after i mounted my cd-rom,

I get something like

"warning:current locale is invalid; using default "c" locale
loading package data........

error:failed to add target '/path/to/package/glib-2.6.6.tar.gz'( could not find or read file')

I also used this procedure,

mount /mnt/cdrom

cd /mnt/cdrom

Now i have it on the screen like " [root@myhost cdrom]# "
So now i type,

ls

gunzip xpde-o.5.1.tar.gz

After this i get some message like ,

"gzip: xpde-0.5.1.tar: Read-only file system

Now the screen again appears like

" [root@myhost cdrom]# "

Now i typed as

tar xvf xpde-o.5.1.tar

Then it seems like installing....It shows up in the screen like a program compiling as follows,

"tar : xpde/src......../desktop properties.conf:cannot open file or directory"

These kind of messages come for the next 10 or so lines & finally it comes like...

tar :Error exit delayed from previous errors

Then again the screen appears as,

" [root@myhost cdrom]# "

All i wanted to do right now is.....I have the glib-2.6.6.tar.gz in my cd-rom....
I have mounted the cd-rom.....I need to know what command or procedure....to follow to install that glib-2.6.6.tar.gz....

I need some help....Plz...

oz · 12-26-2007

Arch is truly meant to be a distro for users with full, high speed internet access. If you don't have that, you should consider going with different distribution. If you do have it, you should use pacman to install Xfce directly from the Arch repositories. You can also find a version of Xpde in the the Arch AUR repos.

Otherwise, you'd need to install the Xfce.run package like shown in this HowTo:

Installing Xfce

If you want to install the Xpde package from source, here's a HowTo (post #2) for doing that:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...are-linux.html

Keep in mind that you must have root privileges to install software under Linux.

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