Fedora 17 cannot install perl without yum

[Dan347]

Hello everyone, I am trying to install ndiswrapper on my new 32-bit Fedora 17 OS to install a Netgear-WNA3100 driver.

Unfortunately the reason I need to install this is that I do not have a working wireless card (my laptop's broke). So in order to download components I am rebooting back to windows constantly to download .rpm files, then rebooting to Fedora. Thus I cannot use yum :.
I currently am stuck at needing to install kernel-devel-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686.rpm

I am receiving the error message: "perl is needed by kernel-devel-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686". My question then is twofold: is this a path problem or a lack of perl install problem? I tried to install perl using an rpm package, but they all required perl (the one I remember best off-hand is perl-RPM2.rpm). Thus my question: is Fedora 17 supposed to have perl and this is a path problem?

Also, if I do need perl, may I ask what its dependencies are?

Thank you very much for your help; normally I do not go to forums but this has taken a lot of time and I am stumped.

[stoat]

I consider what you are doing as a practically insurmountable task. But do what you think is best. Consider installing the RPM Fusion kmod version of ndiswrapper. It is simple to install in an offline situation. It's a harmless thing to try anyway. If you want to try that, then download these three rpms from RPM Fusion using Windows...

kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm
kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm
ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm

Transfer them to the Fedora filessytem, open a terminal, change directories to the folder with the rpms, and install them all at once (important) in the same yum localinstall or rpm command. Examples...

su
yum --nogpgcheck localinstall *.rpm

Or...

su
rpm -ivh *.rpm

If that goes well, then do the ndiswrapper steps. I trust you to know that stuff and will stop here. If you get the wireless working by this method, don't forget to install the RPM Fusion repo to keep ndiswrapper up-to-date with new kernels.

[Dan347]

Thank you for your response! I know that this is a difficult task; unfortunately there is no other way I know of to have Fedora and wireless without this (short of buying a new laptop).

I just want to be sure though, you say that I should install install both packages in the same command, and I am new to Linux so would the command look like this:

su yum --nogpgcheck localinstall kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm ?

I am not sure how to install two .rpm files in one command line argument...

[stoat]

Originally Posted by Dan347

I know that this is a difficult task; unfortunately there is no other way I know of to have Fedora and wireless without this (short of buying a new laptop).

I probably wasn't clear, but I wasn't referring to the installation and use of ndiswrapper to get the wireless going. It's not so common anymore, but ndiswrapper itself is easy to install and set up (in a situation where it is going to work). The thing that I meant was "an insurmountable task" was you trying to install manually all of those packages related to compiling and their dozens of dependencies.

Next, it's three packages from RPM Fusion, not two.

Lastly, you put all three rpm package names in the same, long command. If you try it one at a time, they fail because they are dependent upon each other. But it is a little simpler if you put those three files in a folder and change directories in the terminal to that folder, then you would run the command with a wildcard character exactly as I said before. Examples again...

su
yum --nogpgcheck localinstall *.rpm

Or...

su
rpm -ivh *.rpm

Either of those would install all three rpm packages located in the current folder of the terminal.

P.S.: Do the su step separately and first to get root privileges. There are various ways to do that, but the way in the examples is fast, simple, and usually requires no further explanation. I recommend it again.

[Dan347]

Thank you for your clarification; unfortunately I feel that I'm back where I started...



I tried the yum command (first putting in su and putting in my root password):

yum --nogpgcheck localinstall ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-

and this was my output:

3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm
Loaded plugins: langpacks, presto, refresh-packagekit
Examining ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm: ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
Marking ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm to be installed
Examining kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm: kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686
Marking kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm to be installed
Examining kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm: kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686
Marking kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kmod-ndiswrapper.i686 0:1.57-2.fc17.22 will be installed
---> Package kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686.i686 0:1.57-2.fc17.22 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-uname-r = 3.5.1-1.fc17.i686 for package: kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686
Error: Cannot retrieve metalink for repository: fedora. Please verify its path and try again

I'm not sure what the metalink is... so then I tried rpm (after typing the su command and inputting my password):

rpm -ivh ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686.rpm

and I received this output:

warning: ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686.rpm: Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 8296fa0f: NOKEY
error: Failed dependencies:
/usr/bin/perl is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(Cwd) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(Fcntl) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(File::Basename) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(File:opy) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(File::Path) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
perl(strict) is needed by ndiswrapper-1.57-1.fc17.i686
kernel-uname-r = 3.5.1-1.fc17.i686 is needed by kmod-ndiswrapper-3.5.1-1.fc17.i686-1.57-2.fc17.22.i686

which seems like I still need perl...

[stoat]

Maybe this Fedora system was installed from the live CD. Yes? It installs a much slimmer system than the one the DVD installs. Maybe that's why you have these dependencies such as perl that need to be installed.

Anyway, I went back to the beginning and was wondering about this...

Originally Posted by Dan347

Unfortunately the reason I need to install this is that I do not have a working wireless card (my laptop's broke). So in order to download components I am rebooting back to windows constantly to download .rpm files, then rebooting to Fedora. Thus I cannot use yum

You reboot this same computer into Windows to download things and then reboot Fedora? Then what is Windows using to access the Internet if the wireless is broken? My guess is a wired NIC. If so, then why can't Fedora use that? Nevermind, I get it: This Netgear thingy is a USB or PCMCIA card that is replacing the broken internal wireless card, and Windows has the driver it needs (naturally).

Another idea is to download and burn a Fedora 17 DVD and use it to set up an InstallMedia repo. That doesn't get talked about much anymore, but it still works for Fedora 17 (I tested it today). It could be used to install the things you need with yum handling the dependencies. The problem though is your Fedora system has been updated. I can tell by the kernel version (not the release version). The InstallMedia repo is really good at providing packages for a new system, but it begins to encounter package version issues once the system has been updated some. Anyway, it's still an idea to hold on to.

[Dan347]

So wait...I'm confused now. I got my fedora 17 through https://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora. I put it on a USB drive using liveUSB creator. So two questions: is Fedora releasing two versions of the operating system? If yes, where cna I find the DVD version?

If no, is it that liveUSB does not install all features?

Edit:

my bad...I did a more thorough search and I found it. I will install tomorrow and let you know how it works .

[stoat]

Originally Posted by Dan347

I will install tomorrow and let you know how it works.

Okay, if you don't mind re-installing Fedora, that should make it easier to install that RPM Fusion stuff. The DVD by default installs far more things than the live version (just because a DVD holds more than a CD). While you are installing from the DVD, I recommend that you check "Customize now" on the Package Selection page, look through the package groups for the "Development Tools" package group (or something like that for compiling packages and utilities), and check it for installation. It may come in handy before this ndiswrapper business is finished.

[marko]

This page shows a broader mix of download options

https://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-all

[Dan347]

Thanks Guys!

Well it turns out that my install worked, but even though the perl problem has been overcome, I'm back to square 1. I don't have access to my router here, so I am going to go to a friend's house, take an ethernet cord, and use yum. Hopefully the next time I post on this thread I will be doing so on Fedora .

---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

Well, I am embarrassed. I went to my friend's house and checked again and saw that the DVD version has a driver pre-installed. I didn't think to check for that when I reinstalled Fedora.

Thanks for the advice, Stoat; it totally worked!

On a side-note, Windows didn't even install this driver automatically.