Repos & what to install from which?

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#1

Hi,
I have been working away on my opensuse 11.1 laptop install. I have read a bunch of things on installing apps using software manager or zypper.

Some people mention that you are better off using amarok or other specific items from the packman repos as the main/non-oss aren’t always the best or up to date.

How do I take one that might be on my base install such as amarok and force it to update or upgrade from packman? Or do I uninstall and then install from packman?

#2

There is a link opensuse-community.org/codecs-kde.ymp which may help and there is an explanation somewhere I don’t have the link to hand.

Someone else will no doubt point you to it.

Google openSUSE libdvdcss for some suggestions

#3

Found a link, not the one I was thinking of but one which may help get you further openSUSE Forums - View Single Post - sound problems on Gateway M-6874h

#4

Thanks, is there a recommended way to install OpenSuse so that I don’t get the more restricted versions of Amarok, Kaffeine, etc and then install them from Packman? Or do I just uninstall them and reinstall from packman?

I know this is a bad thought, I just think of Windows and how uninstalling/reinstalling apps causes the system to run like crap in no time :slight_smile:

#5

You’re right about Windows, but it doesn’t work like that on linux. I could write pages about this but that won’t help you.

My advice:
Install standard package seletion from install media.
Enable the Community - VLC repo, only to install libdvdcss
Disbale the VLC repo
Enable the Community - Packman repo, install libxine1 and libxine1-codecs, it will force the change to Packman versions for some other packages.

You don’t have to uninstall. The package manager ‘knows’ what to install, replace, upgrade, remove.

The first important step has already been set: you read before you act.

#6

Great, thank you! So basically once I have the packman repo the package manager will know which place to pull amarok from and so forth based on my having already installed the proper codecs?

Do I have to set different priorities on the repos or anything?

#7

No. Unlike Windows YaST makes a note of absolutely every software you install as long as don’t try to get round it. That means you always have a consistent set of packages installed.

#8

You didn’t mention whether you are trying to make this difficult for yourself, or not :wink:

Let’s assume that you have a GUI and that you are happy to use the ‘install and remove software’ facility…you could use zypper directly, but that will extend the learning curve.

Go into the ‘search’ page, and search for the app that you are interested in (let’s say its amarok). Search for amarok. Select it. Go to the versions tab, and see which version you have installed and which versions are available from repos that you have enabled.

  • if you are satisfied with the version that you have installed, there is nothing more to do
  • if you want one of the alternative versions available, select it, install, job done (job done, along with any dependencies, which the system will sort out for you)
  • if you know the repository that has the version of amarok that you want, add/enable that repository
  • if you want to check whether there is a repository with a more up-to-date version, try Get It (you could use that to install; these days, I don’t. I just use it to identify the repository and add it manually, otherwise things can get messy)

Now, that should get you, in this case, amarok and all the dependencies to get it to work. You do need to note that, technically, additional codecs aren’t dependencies, and depending on what format you are trying to play, you might need some additional codecs.

(note: don’t try the ‘get it’ link just now; due to planned maintenance, it won’t work for a day or two)

#9

Have a read of this openSUSE Concepts guide. It should help make things clearer for you.

#10

I can’t believe no one’s pointed to this yet. What good are the how-to’s if no one suggests them?

Repository Management - openSUSE Forums

This is caf’s how-to on how to manage your repositories. It will teach you some basics and the basics of prioritizing your repositories so that you don’t have all the headaches of trying to get stuff working correctly.

Take Care,

Ian

#11

If you are specifically interested in Multimedia, then there’s a ‘Multimedia Pack’ (w/ all required codecs) for openSUSE:

Link 1
Multimedia pack portable or openSUSE 11.1 32 bit - openSUSE Forums

Link 2
Multimedia Pack 2008 For Open Suse 11 « Weblog Tecnologico