Interesting install situation

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-19 14:47:45

Hello everyone, I'm new here and new to Linux. I think I'm picking up quick though, and I'm excited to use Arch as my OS.

Here is my situation. I am currently deployed to Iraq. I do not have the capability to hook my computer up to the internet anywhere, so I have to download everything onto a USB stick and transfer it over. My problems are as follows:

1. I do not know how to install modules once I have them on the USB stick and am in Arch. Normally I would just use pacman as is obvious, but I'm not sure how to install off my USB stick.

2. Xorg... I am unable to find a 'whole package' of it. I can only go to x.org and download each individual part, is there a way for me to get xorg as the hole thing (sorry for the vagueness, I don't know how else to say it) and then install it from the USB stick

I'd appreciate any help, and I have already searched a bit, but can't find anyone with my specific situation, it seems as though everyone just uses pacman in the end.

Thanks!!!
Steve

.:B:. · 2008-12-19 15:15:57

Welcome to the forums!

1. Pacman can install from a local disk just fine - just point it to the package you want installed. If you pick up things quickly as you say, I trust you already consulted pacman's manpage?

You terminology is confusing - are you referring to kernel drivers (ie modules) or real packages? You cannot install separate kernel modules with pacman unless they come pre-packaged (for arch).

2. There is no monolithic package for Xorg although you can pull in the xorg group. That should pretty much solve your problems. You'll still need to pull in the driver for your GPU though (by default Xorg only pulls in vesa).

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-19 15:20:13

B,

1. Yes. The wiki is great.
---My apologies, the packages.
2. I'm not sure what you mean the xorg group. And I'm working on finding the driver for my GPU now. When you pacman xorg, does is grab each one of the files itself as well as it's dependencies?

Thanks!
Steve

Last edited by Mr. Steve (2008-12-19 15:22:55)

.:B:. · 2008-12-19 15:34:09

# pacman -S xorg

should ask you if you want to install the Xorg group. That will pull in dependencies. The thing is, you do not * need * an internet connection to set up Arch completely, the full install CD will do fine - for a text setup. What you could do is build a list of needed files and deps and pull all of that in, but I have no clue how to do so easily. I'm sure Arch looks tempting but with your lack of internet access it might be easier to set up a distro that has all the stuff packed onto a CD (or a DVD, sometimes even), especially if Arch is your first attempt at Linux.

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-19 15:38:46

Well, I've used Linux for some time, but did not get to in depth with it, I did not learn very much of it.

I have my mind set at getting Arch up and running, I'm currently downloading every single tar.gz from an xorg mirror, then I will move onto others. My list is as follows:

alsa-utils
libgl
xorg
xf86-input-evdev
mesa
xf86-video-<name>
ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu ttf-bitstream-vera
obconf obmenu
firefox
flashplugin mplayer mplayer-plugin codecs
vlc

Thanks for the help
Steve

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-19 16:02:48

Thanks for the help, I am going to go start trying to install some of this on my computer... Any further comments or suggestions will be appreciated!

Thanks
Steve

tomk · 2008-12-19 16:21:51

Just to clarify something.. you said this:

Mr. Steve wrote:

I can only go to x.org and download each individual part

And then you said this:

Mr. Steve wrote:

I'm currently downloading every single tar.gz from an xorg mirror

so I'm just wondering - are you downloading Arch packages from an Arch mirror, or source code tarballs from upstream project mirrors? The correct way to get "Arch up and running" is to use Arch packages from an approved Arch mirror. As you are already aware, installing without a net connection adds some extra challenges to the process, so I'm hoping you're downloading the right stuff.

Maki · 2008-12-19 19:30:26

here is what you should do:

First make surre you have read the links in http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Getting_Started (it would be good to have the begginers & install guide printed or copied to a friends computer so you can see what to do next if you are stuck).

Then when you are on networked computer find a good arch mirror here http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mirrors , IMHO the turkish server would be good cause its near to Iraq ftp://ftp.linux.org.tr/pub/archlinux/.
Configure pacman.conf to use community & extra also, then you should download the db.tar.gz files for all repos ,example for community it is ftp://ftp.linux.org.tr/pub/archlinux/co … .db.tar.gz., you can download arch-wiki-docs & some text browser like links to read the help.
After that on the arch install cd to /var/lib/pacman/sync , remove the current dirs and untar the downloaded databases, and install all you need with pacman -Sp package1 package2 package... > downloadlist wich would create a file with download urls for the packages wich you can download, after you download copy the pkgs in /var/cache/pacman/pkg and install.

Last edited by Maki (2008-12-19 19:31:40)

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-19 20:03:56

Maki wrote:

here is what you should do:
First make surre you have read the links in http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Getting_Started (it would be good to have the begginers & install guide printed or copied to a friends computer so you can see what to do next if you are stuck).
Then when you are on networked computer find a good arch mirror here http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mirrors , IMHO the turkish server would be good cause its near to Iraq ftp://ftp.linux.org.tr/pub/archlinux/.
Configure pacman.conf to use community & extra also, then you should download the db.tar.gz files for all repos ,example for community it is ftp://ftp.linux.org.tr/pub/archlinux/co … .db.tar.gz., you can download arch-wiki-docs & some text browser like links to read the help.
After that on the arch install cd to /var/lib/pacman/sync , remove the current dirs and untar the downloaded databases, and install all you need with pacman -Sp package1 package2 package... > downloadlist wich would create a file with download urls for the packages wich you can download, after you download copy the pkgs in /var/cache/pacman/pkg and install.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by editing pacman.conf to use community & extra.

Thanks
Steve

tomk · 2008-12-19 20:07:13

He means the community and extra repos, and they are already enabled by default. Look at /etc/pacman.conf and read man pacman.conf for full details.

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-20 08:07:36

Okay, thanks tomk

Steve

.:B:. · 2008-12-20 09:01:26

Also, the pacman manpage is available online.

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-20 19:28:49

Thanks B, I might be able to setup my computer this week, I think I might have a LAN to hook up to temporarily!

Ghost1227 · 2008-12-20 21:13:37

I doubt you'll need it by the time I'm done, but I'm currently working on a project to create an (unofficial) modular offline deployment system for Arch just to solve this kind of problem.

Mr. Steve · 2008-12-21 09:44:44

That would be good. But I will have another fun time installing on my EEE PC 1000, which is one of the less used EEE PCs, so there isn't as much good documentation, and different hardware than the rest of them.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-12-19 14:47:45

Interesting install situation

#2 2008-12-19 15:15:57

Re: Interesting install situation

#3 2008-12-19 15:20:13

Re: Interesting install situation

#4 2008-12-19 15:34:09

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#5 2008-12-19 15:38:46

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#6 2008-12-19 16:02:48

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#7 2008-12-19 16:21:51

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#8 2008-12-19 19:30:26

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#9 2008-12-19 20:03:56

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#13 2008-12-20 19:28:49

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#14 2008-12-20 21:13:37

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#15 2008-12-21 09:44:44

Re: Interesting install situation

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