Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

beniro · 2003-01-30 21:49:36

I tried to follow the directions in this post for installing from a non-internet-connected PC:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=229

I uncommented the last two lines of pacman.conf, created a /home/custom/ dir and I tried to gensync:

gensync /usr/abs/local/ /home/custom/custom.tar.gz

I also tried directly from the CD:

gensync /mnt/cd/ /home/custom/custom.tar.gz

I get this message:

gensync: building db entries
gensync: compressing to /home/custom/custom.tar.gz
tar: cannot add file to *: no such file or directory
tar: error exit delayed from previous error

I have no idea why it says this and in the past (with an internet connection) pacman worked without ANY problems. I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm making a really stupid mistake... :?

Could someone explain step-by-step the actual solution to the problem of having to pacman from a CD/other local media?

(I decided to post this in the newbie area instead of as a reply to the original post because, well..."no question too stupid")

Thanks for your help!

...

And patience.

BluPhoenyx · 2003-01-30 23:26:37

Well, what you're trying to do here is install from a custom local package repository. The arch CD is not the same thing as this. Local repositories are for packages which you build or put together or otherwise store locally. In these cases you would know as they require a little more work. I don't use the option myself but perhaps someday I will build a few pkg files too.

If I read your post right, you want to access an AL cdrom. In this case. You simply need to add a line to the pacman.conf file and execute a command. The basic steps.

edit /etc/pacman.conf and cursor to the first group which is named [current]. I suggest you use the # to comment out any other entries as they are not needed for CD access unless you have network access to another pkg repository. Also make sure to comment out the changes you made previously.

Insert this line right after the [current] label line.
Server = local:///mnt/cd/arch/pkg

Make sure the cd is mounted and type the command,
pacman -Sy

That will update the pacman database and you should now be able to install packages.

Note, if you have set the cd to a different mount point, you should modify the entry to match.

beniro · 2003-01-30 23:32:36

Actually, the problem was that I no longer have internet access to the internet from home, (billsbillsbills ) so I burnt a CD of a few of the "unofficial" packages that I feel like I can't live without.

Your help should still apply, though. It looks like I may have been complicating things needlessly? Hopefully I'll get it to work this time.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

apeiro · 2003-01-30 23:33:00

Okay, it sounds like you've already successfully installed Arch Linux and you're now trying to install more packages from the install cd.

If this is the correct, then you do not need a sync database to do this. Just mount the CD and use 'pacman --add <pkgfile>' to add packages to your system.

If you're trying to create your own custom package repository (which is what gensync is for), then you'll need to have some PKGBUILD files in /usr/abs/local first. That's why you're getting the "tar: cannot add file to *: no such file or directory" errors.

HTH

beniro · 2003-01-30 23:36:55

Ah, ok. Got it. I think I understand now.

Thanks so much, apeiro and BluPhoenyx (and jlvsimoes for his help in other posts, of course )!!!

---edit---

Wooops! I misspelled a name above. Hehe. Won't say which.

BluPhoenyx · 2003-01-30 23:53:55

One interesting trick I use, due to (shared) 56k isp, is to download the files from the unofficial and store a copy in the pacman pkg cache directory for installation. I started doing this when pacman locked up on ftp a couple of times. Then again, I always prefer download managers so I can queue a bunch of stuff for later.

This method works because pacman already has the package database stored (assuming it was previously sync'ed and doesn't change) and when installing, it looks for the package in the cache. I found this out when attempting to install after a failure but pacman refused and I had to go and delete the partial package.

Ah, the joys of living in the boonies...

beniro · 2003-01-31 00:11:06

Good idea...more stuff for me to mess with.

Talking about boonies...I live in Mexico, which is a great place to be, truly.

However, we've only had broadband (meaning anything faster than 56k) for about 1 year. DSL just arrived here 6 months ago ($300 USD install, $65 a month for 512/256). The only nice thing is that, although I no longer have internet access at home, at work we have a 2 meg line. Yippee!!!

After all my years of horrible 56k speeds (2 kB/sec was EXCELLENT speed), this connection is ridiculous!!!

beniro · 2003-01-31 22:37:07

I successfully installed the needed packages with no problems using the method above.

Thanks alot, BluPhoenyx!

BluPhoenyx · 2003-02-02 04:00:07

Glad I could help.

Want to talk about SLOW connects. I still recall the old days with 300 baud Apple II and 2400 baud PC connects to BBS systems (heck, I still have some of the hardware.) May have been slow but we had a lot of fun...

Arch Linux

#1 2003-01-30 21:49:36

Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#2 2003-01-30 23:26:37

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#3 2003-01-30 23:32:36

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#4 2003-01-30 23:33:00

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#5 2003-01-30 23:36:55

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#6 2003-01-30 23:53:55

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#7 2003-01-31 00:11:06

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#8 2003-01-31 22:37:07

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

#9 2003-02-02 04:00:07

Re: Pacman: installing pkgs from a CD part 2

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