what to do with tar.gz new install

[ruwach]

i just installed Mandrake 9 a couple of days ago and its great. i have a couple of issues, being absolutely green on Linux...
Hard Drake found my usb printer but i cant set it up. at the Lexmark site i found and downloaded a linux driver for it and the file ends in .tar.gz so what do i do with this? i have never used the console or command line before.
Also it did not find my sound card at all ( creative Labs Vibra 16 )
It found my external USB CD RW ( which it calls a CD ROM mass storage ) but isn't allowing me to do anything with it. Its a TDK velocd. When I click on it i get
Unable to enter
file:/mnt./cdrom
you do not have access rights
What is this all about ?

i know that i am very new, and when i get the hang of this it will not be so intimidating, but for right now, its very intimidating.

Thanks for your time and attention

[jthomet]

To install the driver that you got from Lexmark, you'll want to go to a command line and type:
tar -zxvf <name of tar.gz file>
This will extract the contents of the tar file and untar it. With any luck, Lexmark was smart enough to extract all of the files into a subdirectory. Change to this directory by typing
cd <directory name>
(You can find out what the directory name is by typing "ls".)

Once you're in the directory, you'll want to look for a readme.txt or install.txt file that should tell you how to go about installing this driver... Hope this helps get you started.

Oh, and since this is your first post, Welcome!!!
:)

[red_over_blue]

First, don't be intimidated... things will simply become easier and easier the more you try things.

I'll solve your tar.gz problem for you. In Linux, there are a number of compression utilities. Files that have extensions .tar.gz means that they have been "tarred" which is a GNU archiving utility and have also been "gzipped" which is a compression utility.

To "unpack" the files, first, move the entire tar.gz file to the directory you want it unpacked in. To do this, open a terminal, and type:


mv /path/to/current/tar/location/filename.tar.gz /place/that/you/want/it/copied/to/


Then "change directory" to the directory that you moved the tar file to:


cd /path/to/tar/location/


Next, untar the file


tar -zxvf filename.tar.gz


The -zxvf means:

z: The file is gzipped (in addition to just being tarred)
x: You want the contents extracted
v: Show verbose output (display what it is doing)
f: Use archive file (stdin/stdout) (I think :))

This will extract the contents into the current directory. It may create its own directory, or it might copy all the files into the current directory.

Notes:

1. At any time, when you are typing the commands above, just hit tab part way through each word and linux will try to complete what you are typing. For example, if you only have a single file that starts with xyz in your current directory, but the full filename is xyzjfkdlsjfjdkslskd.txt you don't have to type the full filename, just type xyz and then press tab and linux will fill in the rest.

2. If you don't understand how a command works, type:


man command


where command is the name of the command you want more info on. For example, if you want to find out for yourself what the tar command does:


man tar


Then press q when you are done browser the man page (manual page).

Hope this gets you started at least.

[red_over_blue]

jthomet,

I wonder if anything we said helped??? Oh well....

[Proudest Monkey]

After you unpack it view the README or INSTALL with nano INSTALL or NANO README this will tell you how to compile your driver for your system, I actually have found this a better way for installing most stuff, except nmap which I can never get to compile.

tar -zxvf printerthing.tar.gz
cd printerthing
./configure
make
su
make install

shrug be sure to read the stuff in the printerthing folder to make sure these are the right steps you might have to do extra stuff.

[ruwach]

Hey thanks fellas.

i did indeed find the read me in the un-zipped file. the delay is because i just now found out how to do something from root. he he he

at least ( if its pretty much the same procedure ) i can get some of the goodies i found on sourceforge. i only installed with CD 1 so i need the rest of the stuff from the CD 2. if i can figgure out some of my hardware i can conquer that too.

thanks so much guys, you have saved me hours at least of frustration. This Linux thing is awesome.

i also found sndconfig which got my music back up. my next challenge is the cd rom and the external cd rw. Both show up under the removable media icon on the desktop, but when i try to get to them it tells me ....
file:/mnt./cdrom
you do not have access rights

cheers!

[bigrigdriver]

If you're still checking this thread, an absolute MUST READ for the new-to-Linux user is NLM (the Newbie's Linux Manual), available from a website in the UK. Download it; study it. It'll get you started. It's all uphill from there.

[CPUFX.com]

I also was green just a few weeks ago. These books cover all the command line code for extracting and installing files.

Get "Linux for Newbies" from the same people who make all the other " for dummies " and cliff notes.

[red_over_blue]

bigrigdriver,

I hope you mean "it's all downhill from there" or we are all in real trouble :)