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antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious

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... 'OLDPWD not set' ...


... yet another in what will no doubt be a long list of dumb noob questions ...

... if I type 'cd -' into Konsole in suse 10.1, should I get 'OLDPWD not set' as a reply ? ... and if I do, what then ? ... I can't proceed with mucking up my latest project or asking the right questions until I get past this ...

... once again I'm finding that many 'instructions' posted at various forums and how-to FAQ's are what I would charitably describe as 'incomplete' ...

DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
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join:2003-01-29
united state

1 edit

DannyZ

Premium Member

If I open a shell and type 'cd -' I get the same error as you.

However, if I change my pwd first, then run 'cd -', it works exactly as advertised. Well, I guess it's working as advertised in the beginning as well, since there is no old pwd set.

Are you changing directories previous to issuing 'cd -'?

sybille
Not only "just visiting"
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join:2004-04-06
France

sybille to antiserious

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to antiserious
What are you trying to do and what instructions are you following?

"OLDPWD" is what cd sets as the prior working directory, I do believe. So, it's conceivably something you could see when trying to use the command.

But it's rather difficult to decipher what it means without having the context.

yock
TFTC
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join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH

yock to antiserious

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to antiserious
Merely executing instructions without understanding them is a sure route to eventual disaster. For the life of me I can't figure out what you're trying to achieve by executing `cd -`. What is it you're trying to achieve? Can you also provide a link to this FAQ?

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious

Premium Member

... I am attempting to install my first program from a 'tar.gz' file, without being a PITA - it's not working out as well as I'd hoped ... ... up to this point I've managed to get everything using yast or zen, but this isn't available using either ... I've made several attempts, following any number of instructions without the desired results ... I'm now attempting to follow these instructions, which seem as detailed and specific as any I've yet found, but I haven't managed to get very far ...

... it seems like it should be easier than this - at least most people make it sound easier ...

yock
TFTC
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join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH

1 recommendation

yock to antiserious

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to antiserious
That isn't a dash (-), it's a tilde (~). Hold down shift and press the key just to the left of the "1" key above tab.

sybille
Not only "just visiting"
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join:2004-04-06
France

1 edit

sybille

Premium Member

It might be worthwhile to note that the tilde (~) represents your home directory.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti ··· omputing

Edit: So go there, to ~, with cd only if that's where you put the source tarball when you downloaded it. Otherwise, use cd to go wherever you put the tarball.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious to yock

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to yock

... yes it is, sorry ... entering 'cd ~' results in nothing at all, just presents another line ... and I really hate asking these idiotic questions, but I can't seem to find a source of information that's adequate to the task ... even copying and pasting exact command sequences is not producing the predicted results ...

sybille
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join:2004-04-06
France

sybille

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said by antiserious:

entering 'cd ~' results in nothing at all, just presents another line
You're already in your home directory, right?

yock
TFTC
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Miamisburg, OH

yock to antiserious

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to antiserious
`cd ~` only changes you to your home directory, as is stated clearly in the FAQ at your link. If you're already in your home directory, then there will be no change from one line to the next.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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antiserious to sybille

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... yes - and in that home directory is a folder with the 'untarred' program in question, that contains an 'install' file and an 'install.sh' file, which I can access by drilling-down in konqueror but am apparently unable to do anything else with ...

No_Strings

join:2001-11-22
The OC

1 edit

1 recommendation

No_Strings

Put Konqueror back in the holster and read the One Page Linux Manual listed in the forum links.

Go to the desired directory - cd [directory_name]
(tab after you've typed part of the dir name and the rest will magically appear, saving you some time and typos)
Read the install instructions - less INSTALL (or whatever the file name is)
(arrows or page up/down to move through the file, "q" to quit)
Run the installer script with ./install.sh
edit- I'll retract the part about running install.sh - I assumed you knew that it was part of the install process. Looks like that was a bad assumption.

If installing Gaim is the desired result, find an RPM or use Yum. FC paths are often not "standard."

yock
TFTC
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Miamisburg, OH

yock to antiserious

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to antiserious
But the FAQ you're using doesn't mention any of those files, and rightfully so. It tells you to descend into the directory you just created by untarring the archive then executing `./configure`. It says nothing about `install.sh` so I don't know why you're concerned with it.

sybille
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sybille to antiserious

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to antiserious
said by antiserious:

... yes - and in that home directory is a folder with the 'untarred' program in question, that contains an 'install' file and an 'install.sh' file, which I can access by drilling-down in konqueror but am apparently unable to do anything else with ...
What do you want to do? I mean, what command(s) do you want to run? I understand the big picture that what you want to do is to compile gaim.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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antiserious

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... okay, following those instructions in the link I posted I have finally gotten konsole to the folder in question ... made it past root password, when I type 'make install' I get

"make: *** No rule to make target `install'. Stop"

... I actually consider this progress ... not success, mind you, but progress ...

yock
TFTC
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join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH

1 edit

yock

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Do this. (the dollar signs and hash marks are your command prompt, don't type them)

$ ./configure
$ make
$ su -
It'll ask you for your root password here, enter it
# make install

All of that in a console (konsole) window. FWIW, that's precisely what the FAQ on LQ says to do.

benyto
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Chico, CA

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said by antiserious:

and I really hate asking these idiotic questions, but I can't seem to find a source of information that's adequate to the task
The book Running Linux is an excellent resource. Well worth the investment.

Source tarballs, one of which you're presumably now dealing with, generally contain files named INSTALL and/or README that should contain information pertinent to that package. Read those files for clues.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious to sybille

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... it's not gaim, that's just the example program used in those instructions - but substituting 'any program' for gaim, the blueprint should hold true, correct ? ... ideally I'm not learning how to install this program, but any program in tar.gz format ...

sybille
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Did you happen to leave out the ./configure step?

It's all very logical - it won't work unless you do all the steps in order.

benyto
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join:2000-07-09
Chico, CA

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benyto to antiserious

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to antiserious
Compressed tarballs (of which *.tar.gz files are only one example) aren't always source distributions for software. Therefore, the "./configure", "make", "su -", and "make install" dance may not always be the proper course of action. Again, read any INSTALL and/or README files included with the package you are attempting to install.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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Scranton, PA

antiserious to sybille

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... ./configure results in this response:

bash: ./configure: No such file or directory

... whether entered before or after root password ...

... make results in this response:

make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.

... again, before or after root password ...

... all this is after I've gotten konsole pointed to the correct folder ... I can read, honestly I can, and even follow instructions (the tilde error notwithstanding) ... I'd be happy to post the output of the konsole window if you doubt my results ... this is part of my frustration - I'm attempting to follow along but I don't seem to be getting the results expected ...

sybille
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join:2004-04-06
France

1 edit

sybille

Premium Member

said by antiserious:


./configure results in this response:

bash: ./configure: No such file or directory

[snipped]

... all this is after I've gotten konsole pointed to the correct folder ...
Well, either there is no configure script or else you're not in the right directory.

What benyto See Profile said bears repeating:
said by benyto:

Not every compressed tarball (of which *.tar.gz files are only one example) aren't always source distributions for software. Therefore, the "./configure", "make", "su -", and "make install" dance may not always be the proper course of action. Again, read any INSTALL and/or README files included with the package you are attempting to install.
If you would tell us what you're really trying to do, antiserious See Profile, that would help. But first, have you read the instructions in the INSTALL and the README files? It's hard to follow the instructions if you haven't read them yet.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious to benyto

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... the entire contents of the 'install' file are as follows:

make yourself 'root'
run ./install.sh

... if only ... the readme sheds no light on install, just details about the program ...

... the ./install.sh command generates this:

bash: ./install.sh: No such file or directory

... even though it's there if I drill down to it ...

... I'm sorry I'm wasting everyone's time on this apparent fool's errand ...

benyto
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join:2000-07-09
Chico, CA

benyto

Premium Member

What is the output of the following commands (copy and paste verbatim):

pwd

ls -al
benyto

benyto

Premium Member

Let me clarify:

Run those two commands from the command line from within the same directory you are attempting to run './install.sh'.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

1 recommendation

pflog to antiserious

MVM

to antiserious
Post the output of:

file ./install.sh

and:

head ./install.sh

I suspect either a) it's a DOS formatted text file, in which case dos2unix will fix it, or b) the interpreter in there (something like #!/bin/bash) doesn't exist on your system or not at that path.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious to benyto

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to benyto

... pwd points me to the directory in my Home folder, same one I was already in ...

... ls -al yields this:

total 1067
drwxr-xr-x 3 XXX users 128 2006-08-18 13:54 .
drwxr-xr-x 39 XXX users 2184 2006-08-18 15:32 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 XXX users 104 2005-03-27 23:32 [program name]
-rw-r--r-- 1 XXX users 1087411 2006-08-18 01:21 [program name]mdk.tar.gz

... where XXX=my username and [program name]= the tarball in question ...

benyto
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join:2000-07-09
Chico, CA

1 recommendation

benyto

Premium Member

You aren't in the correct directory. That is what I suspected, and why I asked for that output. You didn't follow my instructions, which may only serve to lessen our ability to help in the future.

cd program_name

will get you where you need to be.

antiserious
The Future ain't what it used to be
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join:2001-12-12
Scranton, PA

antiserious to pflog

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to pflog
said by pflog:

Post the output of:

file ./install.sh
./install.sh: cannot open `./install.sh' (No such file or directory)

and:

head ./install.sh
head: cannot open `./install.sh' for reading: No such file or directory

I suspect either a) it's a DOS formatted text file, in which case dos2unix will fix it, or b) the interpreter in there (something like #!/bin/bash) doesn't exist on your system or not at that path.

... if it matters, the first line in the 'install.sh' file (which actually does exist) is:
#!/bin/bash , italicized like that ...

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

As bentyo said, you have to cd to the program directory, then install.sh should be in that directory, which will allow you to use ./