Bristol Digest, Vol 626, Issue 1

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Today's Topics:

1. Help with installing software (Mark Doxey)
2. Re: Help with installing software (David Smith)
3. Re: Help with installing software (Shane McEwan)
4. Re: Help with installing software (Neil Fraser)
5. Re: Help with installing software (peter@hemmings.eclipse.co.uk)
6. Re: Help with installing software (Alex Butcher)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 08:44:48 +0000
From: Mark Doxey <markdoxey1101@gmail.com>
To: bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk
Subject: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID: <564EDD80.9060108@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

Hello folks, I'm a bit of a nivice with Linux. I dont have any problems
downloading software from the Ununtu software center but I don't know
what to do with software that comes with a disk. With windows the
'setup.exe' files does it all for you.
Ive got a mini wifi dongle that I want to use with an older laptop it
comes with a disk. So I put the disk into the DVD drive and find the
'tar.bz2' I extract it with the Archive Manager and thats where I get
stuck. What do I do next>

Can you please help?


Thank you in advance

Mark Doxey




------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 09:11:37 +0000
From: David Smith <David.Smith@imgtec.com>
To: Bristol and Bath Linux User Group <bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID:
<15A9D35B5490FC49AC0524AE3A085F082C956A9A@BRMAIL01.br.imgtec.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bristol [mailto:bristol-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of
> Mark Doxey
>
> Hello folks, I'm a bit of a nivice with Linux. I dont have any problems
> downloading software from the Ununtu software center but I don't know
> what to do with software that comes with a disk. With windows the
> 'setup.exe' files does it all for you.
> Ive got a mini wifi dongle that I want to use with an older laptop it comes with
> a disk. So I put the disk into the DVD drive and find the 'tar.bz2' I extract it
> with the Archive Manager and thats where I get stuck. What do I do next>

Firstly, look to see if there is a "readme" file or similar containing instructions on what to do.

If not, tell us what files are in the tar.bz2 archive - otherwise, we don't have a clue either :)

You can get a list of files in the archive by running "tar tjvf <filename>.tar.bz2".

However, I'm surprised that the dongle comes with Linux drivers on a CD. Most hardware is supported directly by the Linux kernel without external drivers. I'd suggest searching for your dongle make and model number, plus "linux" to see if there are any instructions or comments online elsewhere.

HTH...



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 09:24:08 +0000
From: Shane McEwan <shane@mcewan.id.au>
To: bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk
Subject: Re: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID: <564EE6B8.5090800@mcewan.id.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

On 20/11/15 08:44, Mark Doxey wrote:
> Ive got a mini wifi dongle that I want to use with an older laptop it
> comes with a disk. So I put the disk into the DVD drive and find the
> 'tar.bz2' I extract it with the Archive Manager and thats where I get
> stuck. What do I do next>

G'day!

Most likely the tar file contains the driver source code so you will
need to compile it yourself.

Hopefully there is a README file in the extracted directory that has
instructions. Either that or an INSTALL file, or something similar. They
might have a ".txt" extension but not necessarily. The files should have
generic instructions about how to compile the software. Most likely it
will ask you to run "configure" and/or "make" commands.

Either way, you're going to have to use the command line in order
actually compile it so you'll need to be familiar with the common shell
commands like 'cd' and 'ls', etc.

You'll also need to install the Ubuntu build environment which allows
you to compile software:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

You might also need to install the Linux kernel headers which are needed
to compile kernel drivers:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

As David says, often you can just plug something in and it will work. If
not, often there are pre-compiled packages that you can download and
install.

Good luck!

Shane.



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 09:43:29 +0000
From: Neil Fraser <nfraser@nadtechnology.co.uk>
To: Bristol and Bath Linux User Group <bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID:
<CA+Pd-Un6cC+kMShBrp4WLuDCQ+qmVFH0XDSkqBBZxOa2hgmW7A@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Hi

Have you checked it has not already been recognised and is ready to
use? Ubuntu based distributions have a fairly broad set of drivers out
of the box so it's iunlikely you will need to do anything more than
plug it in.

HTH

Neil

On 20/11/2015, Mark Doxey <markdoxey1101@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello folks, I'm a bit of a nivice with Linux. I dont have any problems
> downloading software from the Ununtu software center but I don't know
> what to do with software that comes with a disk. With windows the
> 'setup.exe' files does it all for you.
> Ive got a mini wifi dongle that I want to use with an older laptop it
> comes with a disk. So I put the disk into the DVD drive and find the
> 'tar.bz2' I extract it with the Archive Manager and thats where I get
> stuck. What do I do next>
>
> Can you please help?



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 13:18:45 +0300
From: peter@hemmings.eclipse.co.uk
To: Bristol and Bath Linux User Group <bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID: <1448014725.351234510@f8.my.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"


Hi,
Assuming you have a running Ubuntu OS on the PC/laptop then the most simple way to sort this out is to first identify the hardware (WiFi dongle).? To do this type "lsusb" on the command line and look for a line with any reference to the name of your dongle. The important part is the "ID" alpha numeric part.
Then search for any docs to confirm if the hardware already has the driver in the kernel, if so it should work.? If you are not sure,? post the lsusb here and someone will help to confirm if it can be used without compiling a new driver.
Good luck
--
Peter H
Sent from myMail app for Android Friday, 20 November 2015, 09:11am +00:00 from David Smith < David.Smith@imgtec.com> :

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Bristol [mailto:bristol-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of
>> Mark Doxey
>>
>> Hello folks, I'm a bit of a nivice with Linux. I dont have any problems
>> downloading software from the Ununtu software center but I don't know
>> what to do with software that comes with a disk. With windows the
>> 'setup.exe' files does it all for you.
>> Ive got a mini wifi dongle that I want to use with an older laptop it comes with
>> a disk. So I put the disk into the DVD drive and find the 'tar.bz2' I extract it
>> with the Archive Manager and thats where I get stuck. What do I do next>
>
>Firstly, look to see if there is a "readme" file or similar containing instructions on what to do.
>
>If not, tell us what files are in the tar.bz2 archive - otherwise, we don't have a clue either :)
>
>You can get a list of files in the archive by running "tar tjvf <filename>.tar.bz2".
>
>However, I'm surprised that the dongle comes with Linux drivers on a CD. Most hardware is supported directly by the Linux kernel without external drivers. I'd suggest searching for your dongle make and model number, plus "linux" to see if there are any instructions or comments online elsewhere.
>
>HTH...
>
>_______________________________________________
>Bristol mailing list
>Bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk
>https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bristol
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 10:34:53 +0000 (GMT)
From: Alex Butcher <lug@assursys.co.uk>
To: Bristol and Bath Linux User Group <bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [bristol] Help with installing software
Message-ID:
<alpine.LRH.2.11.1511201029140.10555@zlgugi.of5.nffheflf.cev>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15"; Format="flowed"

On Fri, 20 Nov 2015, Neil Fraser wrote:

> Have you checked it has not already been recognised and is ready to
> use? Ubuntu based distributions have a fairly broad set of drivers out
> of the box so it's iunlikely you will need to do anything more than
> plug it in.

^ This. Look in kernel log files (traditionally /var/log/messages) when the
device is plugged in to look for confirmation that it's been detected and a
driver loaded.

Failing that, look for drivers and utilities packaged by your distribution.
I can't really provide a 'cookbook recipe' for Ubuntu, but on Red
Hat/Fedora-like distros:

$ yum search all ralink
Loaded plugins: changelog, fastestmirror, kmdl, priorities,
refresh-packagekit,
: security
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile

[...]

=============================== Matched: ralink
================================
rt2860-firmware.noarch : Firmware for Ralink RT28XX/RT30XX
PCI/mPCI/PCIe/CardBus
: series network adaptors
rt2870-firmware.noarch : Firmware for Ralink RT28XX/RT30XX series USB
network
: adaptors
rt61pci-firmware.noarch : Firmware for Ralink? RT2561/RT2661 A/B/G network
: adaptors
rt73usb-firmware.noarch : Firmware for Ralink? RT2571W/RT2671 A/B/G network
: adaptors
kmod-rt2860sta.x86_64 : rt2860sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt2870sta.x86_64 : rt2870sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt3070sta.x86_64 : rt3070sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt3090sta.x86_64 : rt3090sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt3562sta.x86_64 : rt3562sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt3572sta.x86_64 : rt3572sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt5370sta.x86_64 : rt5370sta kernel module(s)
kmod-rt5390sta.x86_64 : rt5390sta kernel module(s)

ralink is the manufacturer of a popular WiFi chipset used by many brands and
models of WiFi adaptor. You will need to research your adaptor to find out
who manufactures its chipset.

Best Regards,
Alex

------------------------------

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End of Bristol Digest, Vol 626, Issue 1
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