Can't get GUI interface with RPM's

[Darth Yoshi 0]

Hi,

 

I'm a former member of "Users Loyal to Bill" and have loaded Mandrake 10 onto my machine at the behest of a good friend who told me, and has convinced me, that there is a whole world outside the Windows...

 

My problem is when I download RPM files and install them (i.e. F-Prot and Wine) they don't appear under my applications. There is nothing, so far as I can see, to tell me that the software is loaded except when I try to reload it, I get a message saying the program is already there.

 

Needless to say this is annoying because I am excited about trying all of the new programs out there for me to find. My friend loaded the latest Wine and he said that his computer has a section on the "start" menu that says "Emulators", not so for me.

 

What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

[egorgry 0]

Welcome.

 

Wow you really are windows user. You may be the only one I know who loaded an AV program for linux

 

now on to your problem what desktop are you using, Gnome, KDE? After you log out then back in do you get teh new items on your menu?

 

I don't use Mandrake or RPM's so maybe it's a bug with the menus in MDK when you install from RPM's Maybe someonelse can verify.

 

You can open up a terminal and type $whereis wine That should give you teh location of the executable. then you can add that to your menu. Depending on what desktop your using you may need instructions on how to do it. I think mandrake has a menu editing program in the control center. GOod luck let us knwo how you make out and if you need any furthur instruction.

 

 

[Dapper Dan 0]

Hi Darth Yoshi and welcome!

 

Wine should already be in your menu if you installed everything from the Mandrake tree. If it's not in yours, it's a simple mater to install it. First let's see if you have it installed properly. open "konsole" which is in your menu under "terminals." Then type:

 

wine

 

And press enter. Does it say, "command not found?" if so, then it isn't installed. If, on the other hand, it offers you a list of options like this...

 

Code:

Could not stat /media/cdrom (No such file or directory), ignoring drive M:Wine 20040213Usage: wine [options] [--] program_name [arguments]The -- has to be used if you specify arguments (of the program)Options:   --debugmsg name  Turn debugging-messages on or off   --dll name       This option is no longer supported   --help,-h        Show this help message   --version,-v     Display the Wine version 

 

then Wine is installed properly. If wine isn't installed, you can install it from the Mandrake disk. Become root by going:

 

su [enter]

 

It will ask for your root password. Enter it and also press enter.

 

You'll notice the $ sign is now a # sign.

Now type:

 

urpmi wine [enter]

 

Mandrake will ask for one of the cds. Just follow the directions and it will get installed.

 

When running wine you also do that from the command line, although you can configure your menu to run Windows programs with wine *if* they run to your satisfaction. Lets say you want to install widget.exe, that you downloaded off the net. As root go:

 

wine widget.exe [enter]

 

And that should start the install. After installation, you have to run the program from the directory where wine installed it. Wine usually installes programs in the Program Files directory unless you instruct it to do otherwise. This fake Program Files directory will be in a hidden directory in your home directory called .wine. You won't be able to see it unless you have your file browser set to show hidden directories just like in Windows.

 

From the command line as regular user you would go something like...

 

wine .wine/fake_windows/Program\ Files/widget.exe [enter]

 

to run. Please remember that some Windows programs run satisfactorily with wine while others do not, and everything in between.

 

On the other .rpm you installed, if it doesn't show up in your menu, you will have to enter it by hand using the menu configurator in your Mandrake Control Center. For now, you can run it from a terminal. Try

 

F-Prot [enter]

 

We don't know the command to run it so it will take some investigation. From your konqueror file browser, go to

 

/usr/bin

 

and see if you see anything that looks like the "executable" for that program and try it from the command line in the same way.

 

I hope this helps some...

 

 

 

[Darth Yoshi 0]

Hey!

 

FYI I am running KDE.

 

I got wine installed from my Mandrake disks (when I try to install the latest 12-01-04 version, it gives me an error message - I read somewhere that it had something to do with the kernel, but that is beyond my understanding level). Regardless, I get how to use wine; pretty straightforward. I am using a dual boot system with XP so I can use my Windows games no problem, though I am completely switched over to OpenOffice.

 

I get the idea of adding items to the menu; done it lots of times in windows (am I using that word too much?). But I think I have screwed the pooch somewhere. I downloaded Firefox and it is in my Home directory, which is no problem because I took the "executable" file and put a shortcut on my desktop. Runs great and I like it much better than IE - which begs the question why linux has two browsers (or is there more?). Firefix is the way to go and I'm convincing people left and right about it.

 

Getting back to my pooch molesting, I tried to install RealPlayer 10 for linux using their advanced install feature. It is on my system - do I need to add a menu item for it as well?

 

Anyway, I do appreciate your time. Try getting people to respond to XP questions...brrrrr...

 

Chris

[danleff 0]

What I suggest is not worrying about getting the latest in software (packages), but use the ones that are easily installed through the control center's install process. The new version of wine is alpha, so you can expect some problems. Anyway, with wine, you need to uninstall a previous version before trying to install the newer version. The new version is a compiling package, which means that you do it basically by hand. It's best to get comfortable with using Mandrake's rpm version before diving into installing packages from source.

 

What's different about Linux is the menu system. All programs are not installed in a single program section in the menu, rather they are sorted by category. Look around the menu items and you will get the idea.

 

In other than rpm packages, you often have to do what you already did, add a menu item or desktop item, depending on the installer type that you used.

 

What's nice about Linux, is that you have many options foe software (packages). Mozilla, Konqueror, Firefox, among others.

 

BTW, Firefox comes in a Windows version as well, which you may want to try.

[Darth Yoshi 0]

Oh, but I do use Firefox and Thunderbird on my XP system! That is how I first came in contact with the wonderful world of Linux and that is when my buddy, who had experience with Red Hat, told me about Mandrake. By far Firefox and Thunderbird are much better alternatives than anything I've used in the past and i highly reccommend them to anyone looking for a great alternative.

 

What I can say, as well, is that the advice about not worrying about new programs is good advice. Getting into a new system, well, it feels like opening presents on Xmas morning! I am very happy with what I have learned here (I fixed my Real Player problem in a snap) and I hope to have some very good experiences with Linux.

 

I cannot express how thankful I am and I hope to communicate more with you guys as time goes by.

 

Chris

[Dapper Dan 0]

I think it is only natural for new users to try to make Linux as Windows-like as possible when they first move over. I did it myself. As time goes by though, and you become more experienced, you learn to appreciate Linux for what it is.

 

Danleff gives real good advice here. When running a distro, stick with the progs and apps it offers. After all, the folks who make your distro know what works best with it.