Sl-5500 Connectivity And Installation Woes

[GenericAnimeBoy]

Hey all,
I am new to O.Z., and only a dabbler in Linux in general, thus my need for n00b help.  I own a Zaurus SL-5500, which I have recently flashed to OpenZaurus 3.5.2.  I love the stability and quickness of the interface, the themes, the (supposedly) better out of the box peripheral support, and many other things about OZ.  It even seems more stable than the last OZ version (3.2 "stable") that I tried.

Trouble is I can't install anything.  I would use feeds if I could but I don't have any way of connecting my Z to the internet at all.  I'm at college and I don't have my own computer--I have to use labs *shudder*.  I tried making a package feed in a directory on my SD card, and it works to a degree, but unfortunately, ipkg (both with the Package Manager and through the command line) for some reason can't find libstdc++, even though it is in the package directory and listed in the packages file.

Obviously, without this library, NOTHING works.  I've tried connecting up to the feeds through a friend's computer, but I can't get the Z to sync.  If I can't get this problem solved in a reasonable amount of time, I'm going back to TheKompany.rom, because without being able to install anything, my Z is worthless.  I really want to stay with OZ.  I look forward to your replies.  Thanks.

- Ian

[lardman]

Assuming the Packages file is correct; have you run 'ipkg update' to make ipkg re-read the Packages file? Have you provided a src entry in /etc/ipkg.conf which points to your local feed directory (e.g. use file:///mnt/card/feed)?

How did you make your local feed? Did you use the Package file creation script from the ipkg tools to do it automatically, or did you do it by hand, or copy it from the original feed?


Si

[Greg2]

I tried making a package feed in a directory on my SD card, and it works to a degree, but unfortunately, ipkg (both with the Package Manager and through the command line) for some reason can't find libstdc++, even though it is in the package directory and listed in the packages file.

Libstdc++ is in the devel feed, that is missing from the ipkg.conf. However if you install the service-release-1 from the upgrades feed it corrects that. So you should install these from the command line, or as lardman has noted... make a new package file on your SD-card.

Greg

[GenericAnimeBoy]

Assuming the Packages file is correct; have you run 'ipkg update' to make ipkg re-read the Packages file? Have you provided a src entry in /etc/ipkg.conf which points to your local feed directory (e.g. use file:///mnt/card/feed)?

How did you make your local feed? Did you use the Package file creation script from the ipkg tools to do it automatically, or did you do it by hand, or copy it from the original feed?


Si
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I copied the data in the Packages file from the original feeds--just the .ipks I put on the card.  I am quite sure that the Packages file contains all of the same information as the one in the original feed, and that the file is in the same directory.  Also, ipkg has installed the other packages in my SD feed without any problem at all.  Of course it would have to be the absolutely most critical package that gives me problems.

I could try using said Package file creation script if I knew the command.  And I am about to try re-downloading libstdc++6.ipk from the feed.

Aha, it worked.  I guess the file was messed up.  It's definately odd that it would say it couldn't find the package.

Now for some reason it thinks I need libc6, even though that comes with the system.  Any suggestions?

[GenericAnimeBoy]

Update:  Libstdc++6 installed fine.     Now it claims that it cannot satisfy the dependency on libqte2, which is not included anywhere in the opie feeds.     I'm under the impression that this is a package which comes with opie and is absolutely required in order to use it.  So are these packages installed?  If so why would ipkg think they aren't?

Additionally:  I would like to take a slight tangent here and make this thread into an appeal for better support for those of us who think OZ rocks way more than the other ROMs, but are too poor to afford internet connectivity.  I'm going far, far out of my way to get all this to work properly.    

Update: Used -force-depends to get past the qte2 dependency.  Still a giant PITA to figure out what dependencies to get and which I don't need.

[lardman]

Additionally: I would like to take a slight tangent here and make this thread into an appeal for better support for those of us who think OZ rocks way more than the other ROMs, but are too poor to afford internet connectivity.

I am in this boat, I can't be connected to the 'net with my Z for most of the time so I use local feeds.

You do realise that each of the sub-dirs in the feed directory e.g. http://oz.hentges.net/mirror/oz3.5.2/feed/) contains its own Packages file?

Each of these directories:

Code: [Select]

[DIR] base/    
[DIR] console/  
[DIR] dev/        
[DIR] devel/          
[DIR] doc/  
[DIR] e/  
[DIR] gnome/  
[DIR] gpe/
[DIR] libs/  
[DIR] opie/
[DIR] unknown/
[DIR] x11/  
needs to be added to /etc/ipkg.conf with a matching 'src' entry.

E.g. 'src console file:///mnt/cf/feed/console/', and so on for each dir (obviously change the path to match your feed root dir).

If you want to put all of the files in the same dir, you'll either have to merge the Packages files from each original dir into a new version, or use ipkg-utils to create a new Packages file (http://handhelds.org/download/packages/ipkg-utils/).

I've never used ipkg-utils, I just tend to download the same dir structure as the feed and alter my src entries to use file:/// rather than http://.



Si

[GenericAnimeBoy]

I was thinking more along the lines of something like the package manager on the Sharp ROMs would be more efficient for people who don't have network connectivity.  That format worked considerably better for me than the current one.

Of course, if you have internet access, the feed system makes a lot more sense, but in any case, I don't like having to use commandline to install things, which is what I end up having to do.  AQPKG seems kind of unstable (it already segfaulted on me a couple times), and opie-packagemanager doesn't always do what you tell it to.  I still like Opie and the OZ rom enough that I am sticking with it.

Oh, yeah--btw, does anyone know why ipkg might think that basic libraries like libqte2 aren't installed?

[lardman]

I see what you're thinking now. aqpkg has worked fine for me when I use it. The truth is that the Sharp version of ipkg is crap (in lots of ways, not least the fact that it doesn't like installing things to storage cards), even if the GUI which drives it works better for you. If you can track down what's causing aqpkg to segfault try submitting a patch, etc.

The Sharp version of ipkg works in much the same way as the OZ version, I think it allows you to have feeds (you don't have to use feeds with the OZ version BTW, you can just point it to the file you want to install). Most ipks made for the Sharp ROMs either didn't need external libs (they just used what was in the ROM), or the libs came in the ipk file - this means that automatic dependency installation isn't/wasn't so important. With OZ, there are lots of external libs (because there are lots of wierd and wonderful apps available) which are packaged seperately, therefore package dependencies become far more important.

Oh, yeah--btw, does anyone know why ipkg might think that basic libraries like libqte2 aren't installed?

Which package are you trying to install? It could be a number of things - libqte could be the Sharp lib which is replaced by libopie (I can't remember this - anyone?), it could be a version difference, it could be a typo in the .bb file used to create the package or it might just not be installed (however if 1 isn't true then opie wouldn't work).


Si

[GenericAnimeBoy]

Which package are you trying to install? It could be a number of things - libqte could be the Sharp lib which is replaced by libopie (I can't remember this - anyone?), it could be a version difference, it could be a typo in the .bb file used to create the package or it might just not be installed (however if 1 isn't true then opie wouldn't work).
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I know that libqte2 is installed, because libqte.so.2.3.7 is there in /opt/QtPalmtop/lib, along with symlinks pointing to it named libqte.so.2.3, libqte.so.2, and libqte.so .  Yet whenever I try to install any package, ipkg whines about this library not being installed.  Thankfully, it ignores it because of -force-depends, so I'm not totally screwed, but I would rather not have to work around the dependency checking of ipkg if I can avoid it.  Will this ever be fixed?

[lardman]

I don't get this error.

Look in /usr/lib/ipkg/status and see whether libqte2 is listed there.


Si

P.S. You are installing apps from the 3.5.2 feed...?

[GenericAnimeBoy]

Look in /usr/lib/ipkg/status and see whether libqte2 is listed there.
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libqte2 is listed in usr/lib/ipkg/status...
It lists the version as 2.3.7-r20, which as far as I can tell is the right version.

P.S. You are installing apps from the 3.5.2 feed...?
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Yes, /official/unstable/3.5.2/feed/*

**Edit: I reinstalled clean and the error went away.  Now to get a mediaplayer installed.  (I hope this thread helps others as well...)