Help me! I'm spoiled by Win98 but i want Linux!

[Lord C]

quote:Originally posted by Lennon:
YEAHHHH!
Mandrkae 9.1 iso finished......

Lucky bugger! I cant find a mirror for love-nor-money!

[Calum]

doesn't mandrake 9.1 come with apt installed? i ask because you mentioned mandrake update. i haven't used 9.1, so i am just going by hearsay. sorry i didn't add much to what was being said, and would you believe, i was just on my way back here to change it from 'super' user to 'substitute' user, but somebody had beaten me to it!

[slave]

No but it comes with something called urpmi which is similar.

[Lennon]

Hey guys, is something so wrong with ME or my OS? Nothing will work, bz2 or gz. I unpack them properly and then:
I run ./configure and i see no error messages. Then make, and i still get the messages such as:

filename.c:419: warning: return type defaults to 'int'
'list' undeclared (first use in this function)
'config' undeclared (first use in this function)
parse error before ')' token
parse error before '*' token

then going to root and typing make install produces same results  
going to root before typing the first make produces no results either
I tried unpacking with -xzvf and -xjvf switches both types, nothihg.

I mean... i really love Linux with what it already has, even though its hard to learn, but no matter how much i love it i can't use it if i can't install programs... so plz. anyone...  

And i know about urpmi, but it wont compile stuff for me, it will only install rpm thingys...
Hoping for a reply.

[Doogee]

im not totallypp sure but it looks like whoever wrote that program doesnt really know what theyre doing (thats why the code wont compile) or you are missing something the program relies on, this is called a dependancy (remember that word, youll be using it alot hehe)

[emh]

Lennon, just so we can help you a bit more, could you tell us the last part of the terminal output of one of the programs you were trying to compile?  My gut reaction is to concur with Doogie, that the program you tried to install wasn't made very well.  However, there might be missing packages that configure didn't detect as well.  Telling us the last part of the "make" output can help us help you figure out what is wrong, especially if, as you say, it seems to be happening with every tar.gz file you've tried to run "make" on.

By the way, referring all the way back to the RPM you told us you had right in the message right after my last message, this is actually what's called a source RPM, identified by "src.rpm" at the end.  You can't install this like a regular RPM.  What you have to do is log in as root, go to the directory that the src.rpm is in, and type "rpm --rebuild packagename.src.rpm"  Then it compiles and creates RPMs that can be installed like normal.

[Lennon]

Nope  

I tried that RPM again, the way you told me and i got this:
(This is the exact screen, with all the commands i typed)
---------------------------------------------------------
[root@localhost tmp]# rpm --rebuild linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1.src.rpm
Installing linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1.src.rpm
error: failed build dependencies:
        gtk+-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
   gdk-pixbuf-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
   mjpegtools-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
[root@localhost tmp]#
---------------------------------------------------------
I also tried messing around with the tar.gz files, and here are the messages i got on the screen:
first i did ./confgigure and then "make" command:
---------------------------------------------------------
kmplayerview.cpp:377: invalid use of undefined type 'struct ArtsL::SoundServerV2'
kmplayerview.h:39: forward declaration of 'struct Arts::SoundServerV2'
kmplayerview.cpp: In member function 'void KmplayerView::SetVolume(int)':
...(some more similar stuff)
make [3]: *** [kmplayerview.lo] Error 1
make [3]: Leaving directory '/home/john/tmp/kmp/kmplayer/kmplayer'
make [2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make [2]: Leaving directory '/home/john/tmp/kmp/kmplayer/kmplayer'
make [1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make [1]: Leaving directory '/home/john/tmp/kmp/kmplayer'
make: *** [all] Error 2
[root@localhost kmplayer]#
---------------------------------------------------------
There should that be enough for someone to help me? I think its these "dependencies" shit i need to work around. I'll also get some other tar.gz stuff and try make them work, just to be sure...

On the good side of things, WWW is doing Awesome on Linux. Galeon is great. I am wondering if i can set up http or ftp presentations ... you know like http://123.12.123.12:80 or something. And how do i find my IP on Linux?

[Lennon]

Another thing:
I just downloaded some amsn program, cos i wanna chat online, or at least try to. So i got the pure rpm file, not the .src.rpm. I instllaed it, it told me something like "To satisfy dependancies amsn has to be installed" (?) and then the progress bar was going and it told me something about it not having the GDP signature. I clicked OK anyway.
So its installed, and i type amsn in the console and it tells me:

Error in open script: could
n't open "dirname" no such file or directory
while executing
"open" something " r "
 ...some code...
invoked from within
"cmsn_draw_about"
invoked from within
if { some more code ...
}
... file path and line 2684 something...

I believe you dont need it more precise then that. I can't find any executables by the way. I'm not even sure what an executable looks like in Linux :-}

Then i tried installing some "trackballs" game i downloaded from sourceforge.net, recent version, and after it told me about GDP signature missing it goes
Conflicts detected:
libGLcore.so.1 is needed by trackballs-0.9.0-1mdk
libguile.so.12 is needed by trackballs-0.9.0-1mdk
libSDL_image-1.2.so.0 is needed by trackballs-0.9.0-1mdk
libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0 is needed by trackballs-0.9.0-1mdk
libSDL_ttf-2.0.so.0 is needed by trackballs-0.9.0-1mdk

Is it just me or does everybody have it so hard when they start out?

[ April 09, 2003: Message edited by: Lennon ]

[Calum]

quote:Originally posted by Lennon:
Nope      

I tried that RPM again, the way you told me and i got this:
(This is the exact screen, with all the commands i typed)
---------------------------------------------------------
[root@localhost tmp]# rpm --rebuild linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1.src.rpm
Installing linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1.src.rpm
error: failed build dependencies:
        gtk+-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
   gdk-pixbuf-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
   mjpegtools-devel is needed by linuxvideostudio-0.1.7-1
[root@localhost tmp]#
---------------------------------------------------------

okay, what's happening here is that the rpm program has a database which records all the packages you have installed. to save space, time and processing time most linux packages depend upon you having some other linux packages already installed. What is happening here is that rpm is having a look in its database and it is checking the list of required packages (required by the program you are trying to install) with the list of what is installed on your system. if all the requirements are not met, then it won't install the program (because it knows the program won't run anyway).
Now there's a wrinkle. if you installed a package, let's say it was mjpegtools-devel, in a way other than using rpm, like for instance you installed it from source code or other method, then rpm will have no mention of it in the rpm database, so the upshot is, the package is installed, but rpm doesn't know about it and will still not allow the install to go ahead. if this is the case, you can put "--force --nodeps" after "rpm -Uvh" and it will install without checking for dependencies*. this might work, but it might not. even if you do have the errant package installed, if you didn't install it from an rpm, it might not even be in the right directory for your rpm program to find it. this is why it is best if at all possible to use only rpm packages on an rpm based linux system.

in this case, the dependencies you need probably aren't installed already (i say this totally off the top of my head) what i'd do is look on the linux install CDs and see if you can find them on there, if so install them, if not, you'll need to fire up google and download them from somewhere.

it took me a long time to get used to installing stuff in linux when i first started. i could install some things easily, but it took months for me to figure out how to install other things (mplayer for example, or at least to get it to install how i wanted it to).

it might be worth looking into "urpmi" if you use mandrake. i never really used it much, but it's a mandrake specific rpm tool, with a lot of extra features that rpm doesn't have (so i hear) type "man urpmi" to find out more about it.

hope that helps with this rpm stuff anyway.

* if you are installing a source rpm, like this one, then you must have these packages installed or it simply cannot install. the reason is that a source rpm contains source code, and those dependencies are required to actually create the binary program that goes on your hard drive, if the dependencies are not there, the binary program literally cannot be created)

[ April 09, 2003: Message edited by: Calum: crusader for peace & freedom ]

[Lennon]

OK so i need to FIND these RPMs for that thing to work:

gtk+-devel
gdk-pixbuf-devel
mjpegtools-devel

What if even these RPMs dont install :/ then i'm screwed i suppose?

And what about my other rpm problems (last post)?

[Calum]

well i think they will install, they are all -devel packages, you see. if you did a normal install of mandrake, none of the development stuff will have been installed, because mandrake assumes you won't want to compile programs (this is probably the reason you get so many errors compiling your other things from source too). All you need to do is install all the development stuff off your CD and it should work fine. as i say, if the packages are on your CD, it might be worth using urpmi to install them, because i think it has a built in thing that automatically checks for dependencies and installs other stuff off the CD if required too. another way to do this is to run the mandrake installer again, you just boot from CD1 and then instead of selecting 'install' you can just select 'upgrade' and then when you get to package selection, select all the development stuff. then it will install all that stuff and next time you reboot all the stuff will have been installed.

[Calum]

that's odd stuff with amsn, one thing i will recommend, try if possible when downloading to use rpms that are meant for mandrake (if using mandrake) because a lot are made for red hat and some are made for suse, and often these will give you funny errors like that, perhaps this is the problem this time, perhaps not.

if a program does not specify a particular system then it is probably okay. i seem to remember i had problems installing amsn in mandrake 8.2 but not in 9.0. note - i just had a look at the amsn site at amsn.sourceforge.net and their rpms are not specific to any system and should install okay on mandrake. is that the site where you got your rpm from? if so then i can't understand why it's not working. i know it is a cop out but i would personally recommend using gaim instead, available from http://gaim.sourceforge.net/ if i were you i would go for the one called gaim-0.61-1.i386.rpm and failing that i would go for the gaim-0.61-1.src.rpm because by that time you will have installed all those development packages off the CD that i mentioned and will have no problems with these source rpms. gaim can do the job of msn and it can also allow you to chat on yahoo, aim, icq, irc and a bunch of other networks too, all in one program.

it gets easier i promise.

[ April 09, 2003: Message edited by: Calum: crusader for peace & freedom ]

[Lennon]

Well i only could afford the luxury of downloading the first CD, and when it was installing the first time, i carefully chose EVERYTHING that was on the list to be installed. I'll find all these things online now, and i think when i was compiling those other things i saw similar -dev things... i think...

Still the question remains: whats wrong with the OTHER rpms - like trackball?

[Lennon]

Yeah i got that amsn from sourceforge.
I just installed it went to console and type amsn and thats what i got. Maybe i should have done something else?
If i installed it right should there be an executable file somewhere, can i make a desktop shortcut??? something?

And i know it gets easier, i have a lot of patience. Window$ pissed me off beyond point of return so its either this or death            and so far i choose this!
The problem most likely is that i'm just plain dumb          

And is there a good site where i can get up-to-date development files from or are they pretty much scattered around? Which are the most commonly used ones, are there any specific ones i might need more?

edit: Now i went to get a Lunar Lander game (http://magigames.org/moonlander.html) and it says it needs SDL 1.2 so i go and download the Runtime Library (http://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL-1.2.5-1.i386.rpm) and during install it tells me theres some conflict dependencies with another SDL thing. But when i run the program ./moon-lander.bin it tells me theres NO SDL.... erm... well theres always the window$ version      

I'll download the Development Libraries!    
Download finished.
Installed properly.
Game still doesnt see any SDL shared libraries...    

oh shit, that mixer and image things are seperate! need to install them too...
Mixer Download finished.
Image Download finished.
Both installed properly  
IT WORKS ! ITS ALIVE ! I'M A GENIOUS! YAAAHOO!!  

[ April 09, 2003: Message edited by: Lennon ]

[Abigail]

Hey Lennon, I must say it's great to see that you have open up your eyes for the linux world  

I just want to tell you that the first months with linux can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. You will have alot of problems with understading how some stuff works and stuff like that. but don't give up! Even if it sometimes can feel that it's just hopeless. One day it will just say click and you will see that you suddenly understand everything and don't really have any problems or atleast very few problems.
And you will feel so damn proud over yourself  

Good luck to ya buddy!     :cool: