installing software without internet connection

[phd7]

Hi Guys,

I installed Fedora 8 on an i386 machine last weekend and decided the first thing I wanted to do was install codecs for mp3 and mp4 vids. For the last few days I have scoured the forums and how-tos and tried a few things but to no avail.

What I tried done so far is download a few packages (via windows computer at work) from
http://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/Liv...ra_Core_8.html on to a USB stick and transferred to my home PC.

I came across a note in one of the forums stating these should be installed in the home folder. I tried to move the packages into this folder before clicking install, but I was not allowed move anything into this folder. I also saw a note ststing someone installed in 3 different places like usr/libs/codecs, if I remember correctly but again I could not move anything into the usr folder. The reason I tried to move the uninstalled packaged into these folders, is that when installing , I am not given an option where I want to install to. I can only hope they will automatically install into the correct folders.

So, anyway, I moved them into my named folder, within the home folder. Here I tried to install the following:

gstreamer-plugins-good-0.10.6-7.fc8.i386 - received message "installation complete"

gstreamer-plugins-ugly-0.10.6-2.lvn8.i386 - yum GUI opened up and stated "checking software" or something to that effect, and then shut down because I dont have an internet connection


ffmpeg-libs-0.4.9-0.41.20071011.lvn8.i386 - yum GUI opened up and stated "checking software" or something to that effect, and then shut down because I dont have an internet connection

gstreamer-ffmpeg-0.10.2-4.lvn8.i386 - yum GUI opened up and stated "checking software" or something to that effect, and then shut down because I dont have an internet connection


I have also installed, by the way, livna-release-8, although I get the impresion is only used when accessing LIvna via internet.

As mentioned, I still cannot play mp3s, and I dont get any messages apart from 1 programme offering to download non-free plugins.

Can someone point me in the right direction please?
Thanks

[Seve]

Hello:
If you do not have an internet connection try using rpm to install the packages
su -
rpm -Uvh filename.rpm

See Installing Software Without Yum

Seve

[JN4OldSchool]

I cant answer your question easily. Usually the site you get the RPM from will give a list of the dependencies required to install that app/codec. You are really hamstringing yourself by trying to not only use Linux with no internet connection (kind of like trying to drive a car with no gasoline), but by also trying to learn Linux at the same time. I do not know the reason why you chose Fedora, maybe you need to use this specific distro. Maybe you just appreciate the fact that we have, probably, the best support network in the Linux world. But Fedora is a very internet specific distro. In fact, anything short of broadband sucks with Fedora. There are many bugs from that initial install that have since been worked out through updates. Many more bugs are still pending that will be fixed in the future. If you could possibly do it, your best bet might be to reconsider your distro. Many have out of the box MP3 support (at the least) and most are a lot more stable than Fedora is. I would suggest looking at Linux Mint.

http://linuxmint.com/rel_daryna.php

I cant attest to this as fact as I do not own any mp3 files, but it is my understanding that this distro will play mp3 with no additional installs necessary. It does require internet to get either the proprietary nVidia or ATI driver but I am sure this is easily worked out. Fedora is an awesome distro, but I think it will just give you much grief without an internet connection. Of course it can still be done, there are a few who do this. Just be warned it will be a rough and rocky road.

[phoxis]

Hello there
Two ways to download the packages in another machine and then install i yours

You need to have fedora in a machine with net.

[1]get into net in another machine with fedora go into /etc/yum.conf
[2]there will be a line keepcache=0 make it keepcache=1 (with superuser permission)
[3]download the packges you need with yum or pirut there.
[4]go into the directory /var/cache/yum
[5]press ctrl+f and it will come up with the find dialog, write "*.rpm" in the find meny and find
[6]You will see all the packages you downloaded and then copy them in the pendrive

Else there is a much easier job to do.

[1]Download opyum ... the offlin software updater
project link: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DebarshiRay/Opyum
downlaod source: http://rishi.fedorapeople.org/opyum/opyum-0.0.3.tar.gz
[2]install
[3]export your profile in your machine, take it into a pendrive (the size of the of the profile will be 90MB appx.)
[4]go to the other machine with net connection, and install opyum there
[5]import your profile there.
[6]then download all the packages you need with opyum
[7]save all the packages you downloaded in disk as yum pack
[8]copy the yumpack or yum packs (if you downloaded packages section by section i.e didnt download all the packages at once)
[9]take the yumpack home
[10]either use yumpack installer to installall of them , or exxtract the yum pack with ark (the file extension .tar)and you may installthem with your selection.

Or you dont like or feel unconfertable any of the above options
then you have to download all the packages manually and resolving the dependencies manually
like i did at first.

[phd7]

Thanks Guys,

I settled on a 2-stage way of installing. Firstly I double click on the package, which opens an installer. If there are no dependencies, it installs without problems. If it requires dependencies, it tries to open an internet connection and fails. In this case I open a terminal window and enter
rpm -Uvh package name (thanks Seve).

This then gives me a list of dependencies which I need to go look for on the net. This can take a bit of guesswork, as the dependency package names listed in the terminal window do not exactly match those found in the internet repositories. I tend to use ATrpms rather than Livna, as the packages are easier to find.

Anyway, I installed g-streamer plugins-good and tried an MP3 file. Not a sausage. Then I installed the plugins-bad, including dependencies. Bingo! I have MP3. Now I am on the hunt for MP4 codecs.
Im in the process of searching the threads , to see what I need. Just saw a reference to VLC. Hmmm, must have a look at that one.

I do have 1 question:
How do I either uninstall packages and get a list of installed packages.

I was trying to install an x264 package , but got a note when trying to install 1 version of it that a later version was already installed. This installed version is obviously incorrect, as I still get dependency report for ffmpeg-libs and libavcodes stating that x264.so.54 is required.

I cannot use the add/remove program GUI because that needs an internet connection in order to work. I could try terminal, -u if I knew what was installed. I have searched the KDE and unix manual pages for something indicating where I could get a list of installed packages but could not find anything.

(I was looking to install x264-0-0.10.20070529.fc7.i386.rpm which is probably the incorrect file , but I'm only experimenting because its 1 of only 2 possibilities which I could find - if anyone can point me to the correct version of x264, I would appreciate it.) Im on Fedora 8 b.t.w.


I discovered, by the way, that I dont need to change directory (cd) in the terminal window, in order to install, remove etc. a file. In the Konqueror window, I go to the folder which contains the package, right click on the package, hit "rename" end then Edit/Copy the highlighted text. When I want to enter the package name in the terminal window, I hit paste and it pastes the package name, including the path. Very handy!

[voodoodoc]

First a comment about needing an internet connection to use Fedora, and that anything less than broadband sucks, that is complete hog wash. I can think of tons of reasons to have linux running on a machine with no internet connection. Granted having an internet connection will make life easier, but if you have some way of getting the packages needed then so be it.

If you want to learn linux, just installing everything on the Fedora install DVD would be plenty sufficient, with the exception of MP3 and some video codecs which Fedora does not distribute on purpose.

As far as removing packages via RPM command, look at its man page. Simple as that.
To get a list of all packages, look at RPM man page, also learn to use grep (man page), it will come in handy.

Maybe an easier way of installing applications is just install the source in your home directory and be done with it. Sometimes I find this easier than dealing with RPMs, and down the road if you want to install the RPM then do so, your local version in your home directory won't matter. In fact this is what I do on many systems that I don't have root access on.