Pandora Angstrom Repository?

[sinoth]

Simply connect to WiFi and type
opkg update
opkg install epdfview

You are aware that the repo data is an additional 30 or 40 megs, correct? For that cost, you could have installed all kinds of things into the NAND instead.

Ouch, didn't realize this. I had trouble installing simple things like "screen" before updating, though :/

 

[Tom`]

Hi ,i have downloaded some software from http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/repo/?pkgname=epdfview ,and when i choose the version to download i choose armv7a (base) is this correct ,and once i have downloaded the software i choose open with OPKG to begine installing is this right ? ,also do the files i download need to be on nand and also install to nand ,i am asking as i want to download a pdf reader and gimp.

thanks

Simply connect to WiFi and type
opkg update
opkg install epdfview

Be sure to not fill up your NAND though! This is NOT recommended! (it also wears out the NAND over time)

Pardon me, ED, but since it's obviously better to leave the internal NAND alone most of the time, how might one go about changing the install directory to another source, such as an SD card or an external hard drive? Can the default path be changed as well? Obviously the Pandora PND system is very convenient for the programs it is available for, but I'm also probably going to want things more easily acquired via compiling source or downloading from a normal repository when my Pandora arrives (such as kTechLab and Octave, for example). At least until someone with more skills than I do ports them. Forgive me if this is a noobish question; I'm still pretty new to Linux for the most part. Thanks in advance.

Well, opkg isn't designed for this (I don't think any package manager is), so if you want to install a lot of software, it might be a good idea to run the OS off the SD card.

 

[sinoth]

that the repo data is an additional 30 or 40 megs, correct?

I've been looking for that extra data to clean it up, but have been unsuccessful so far. Do you know where it is stored?

When you update it says stuff similar to this:

Downloading http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/perl/Packages.gz.
Inflating http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/perl/Packages.gz.
Updated list of available packages in /var/lib/opkg/perl.

I looked in /var/lib/opkg:

total 5.8M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3M Jun  5 11:55 base
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2M Jun  5 11:55 debug
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 300K Jun  5 11:55 gstreamer
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 388K Jun  5 11:56 no-arch
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  66K Jun  5 11:56 omap3-pandora
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 400K Jun  5 11:56 perl
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 246K Jun  5 11:56 python

Looks like only 5.8meg to me, but I don't know if it stores stuff elsewhere.

 

[WizardStan]

I've been looking for that extra data to clean it up, but have been unsuccessful so far. Do you know where it is stored?

check /usr/lib/opkg

 

[renwils]

I feel like there's plenty of room for non-essential applications in a Pandora-specific repository, in addition to the standard firmware. I know I'll be trying to clear some things out of the NAND in order to install mpd or a web browser, for instance.

 

[Chero]

Hi ,i have downloaded some software from http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/repo/?pkgname=epdfview ,and when i choose the version to download i choose armv7a (base) is this correct ,and once i have downloaded the software i choose open with OPKG to begine installing is this right ? ,also do the files i download need to be on nand and also install to nand ,i am asking as i want to download a pdf reader and gimp.

thanks

Simply connect to WiFi and type
opkg update
opkg install epdfview

Be sure to not fill up your NAND though! This is NOT recommended! (it also wears out the NAND over time)

Pardon me, ED, but since it's obviously better to leave the internal NAND alone most of the time, how might one go about changing the install directory to another source, such as an SD card or an external hard drive? Can the default path be changed as well? Obviously the Pandora PND system is very convenient for the programs it is available for, but I'm also probably going to want things more easily acquired via compiling source or downloading from a normal repository when my Pandora arrives (such as kTechLab and Octave, for example). At least until someone with more skills than I do ports them. Forgive me if this is a noobish question; I'm still pretty new to Linux for the most part. Thanks in advance.

Well, opkg isn't designed for this (I don't think any package manager is), so if you want to install a lot of software, it might be a good idea to run the OS off the SD card.

I installed evince (and fennec) from the Angstrom repository to an SD card (using opkg).
Evince runs fine, fennec is installing now. opkg (and ipkg) are designed to install apps to other destinations.
The apps are installed on an SD card, there are symlinks created to the nand (using ipkg-link).
You need an SD that has an ext2 partition on it, a changed opkg.conf, a few manually added symlinks and the manual install of ipkg-utils.
Don't mess with it when you're new to linux.
More on this : http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Ipkg

Oh, fennec also runs fine.

About the NAND : I used a zaurus for 6 years, flashed, installed all I could find, had my /home on it, really abused it and never had a bad nand block. So don't panic about it.

I installed 56 Megs and only 200K on the NAND using the install to SD method.

edit : added gnome-games to that and now I have 87 Megs on the SD, still only 69% of the NAND in use.

Having fun,
Chero.

 

[paddy]

gimp message - There was an error parsing the menu definition from image-menu.xml:Failed to open file /usr/share/gimp/2.0/menus/image-menu.xml: no such file or directory.

this is the error i get when trying to run the gimp.pnd that someone created ,any ideas ? i am running the pnd from the sd.

http://apps.open-pandora.org/cgi-bin/viewarea.pl?Emulators&Emulator Arcade

 

[Stuckie]

If that's my PND, it'll be because you already tried to install it from the repository and it hasn't cleaned up properly.. you'll need to remove ~/.gimp-2.6 /etc/gimp and /usr/share/gimp for it to create it's links and work.

However, as has been pointed out, that "port" of GIMP was highly hacky and more of a proof of concept! it does work, but it's not exactly done in the nicest way! ( the ~/.gimp-2.6 is superfluous as I should be overloading the HOME variable for instance, and there's probably something I could do with /etc/gimp and /usr/share/gimp that doesn't mean a symlink! )

I'm having a look at a nicer install just now.

 

[aliking]

SNIP...

I installed evince (and fennec) from the Angstrom repository to an SD card (using opkg).
Evince runs fine, fennec is installing now. opkg (and ipkg) are designed to install apps to other destinations.
The apps are installed on an SD card, there are symlinks created to the nand (using ipkg-link).
You need an SD that has an ext2 partition on it, a changed opkg.conf, a few manually added symlinks and the manual install of ipkg-utils.
Don't mess with it when you're new to linux.
More on this : http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Ipkg

Oh, fennec also runs fine.

About the NAND : I used a zaurus for 6 years, flashed, installed all I could find, had my /home on it, really abused it and never had a bad nand block. So don't panic about it.

I installed 56 Megs and only 200K on the NAND using the install to SD method.

edit : added gnome-games to that and now I have 87 Megs on the SD, still only 69% of the NAND in use.

Having fun,
Chero.

So... this seems to be awesome. Am I missing a downside here?

Presumably if the SD card with the applications installed on it is not inserted, you could get some weird stuff happening - but only something like the application appearing to be there, but not being available to run?

a

 

[Chero]

So... this seems to be awesome. Am I missing a downside here?

Presumably if the SD card with the applications installed on it is not inserted, you could get some weird stuff happening - but only something like the application appearing to be there, but not being available to run?

a

yep, that's the only downside.
opkg/ipkg was made with this in mind. Some apps won't allow installation to external media cause then weird stuff could happen ... (if the packages are made correctly and I'm sure they are)
I've said this already in another thread : after a reflash you don't need to reinstall all the apps, just running ipkg-link and everything is back.

Chero.

 

[aliking]

Alright, I'm jumping in. I've followed some of the instructions on the openmoko site, seems to be mostly the same except for some different paths; like /etc/opkg.conf being at /etc/opkg/opkg.conf

Are you getting any problems installing stuff? All the packages I've tried fail with this message:

uberpand:/var/lib/opkg$ sudo opkg -V 2 install ipkg-utils
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/arch.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch all priority (1)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch any priority (6)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch noarch priority (11)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch arm priority (16)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv4 priority (21)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv4t priority (26)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv5te priority (31)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv6 priority (36)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv7 priority (41)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch armv7a priority (46)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Supported arch omap3-pandora priority (51)
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/base-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/debug-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/gstreamer-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/ipkg.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/noarch-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/omap3-pandora-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/opkg.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/perl-feed.conf.
opkg_conf_parse_file: Loading conf file /etc/opkg/python-feed.conf.
pkg_hash_load_feeds: 
pkg_hash_load_status_files: 
pkg_info_preinstall_check: Updating file owner list.
opkg_configure_packages: Configuring unpacked packages.
opkg_configure_packages: Reordering packages before configuring them...
Collected errors:
 * opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package ipkg-utils.

(that is using opkg -V 2 to set a higher verbosity level)

Also any search with

opkg search ..

returns nothing.

My gut says some sort of permissions issue. And/or me needing to add some extra repositories. Did you run up against any of that getting started?

a

 

[aliking]

alright... probably not a permissions issue. I've seen what some others have; that some packages install, some don't. I'm working on the theory that anything that (with it's dependencies) appears in the package lists will install. Anything that does not will fail silently.

sudo opkg search <stuff>

doesn't work the way that I expected it to, so I'm using

sudo opkg list |grep <stuff>

to determine if something is in the package lists.

So, as I understand it, it's possible we could add extra package lists and installation of those items would just work. However I think you have to be quite careful adding extra package lists so that you don't make things available that just should not be installed.

We have, by default, these package lists:

src/gz base http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/base
::::::::::::::
debug-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz debug http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/debug
::::::::::::::
gstreamer-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz gstreamer http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/gstreamer
::::::::::::::
noarch-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz no-arch http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc//all
::::::::::::::
omap3-pandora-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz omap3-pandora http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/machine/omap3-pandora
::::::::::::::
perl-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz perl http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/perl
::::::::::::::
python-feed.conf
::::::::::::::
src/gz python http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/python

all armv7a...

ipkg-utils, for example, is only in these lists:

http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/2008/ipk/glibc/arm-oabi/base
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/2008/ipk/glibc/armv6/base

(incidentally, ability to filter by architecture doesn't seem to work on the Angstrom feed browser, which is not a big help)

So, I think we can assume that the armv6 version of the package is OK? And if so, that everything on the Armv6 lists are ok? My guess is it would - I'm assuming that the Pandora's ARM cortex A8 is backwards compatible with previous versions of ARM, at least that is what seems to be indicated in /etc/opkg/arch.conf as seen in the debug text above.

cracking on. I'll add the extra source and see how that goes....

 

[Chero]

ipkg-utils, for example, is only in these lists:

http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/2008/ipk/glibc/arm-oabi/base
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/2008/ipk/glibc/armv6/base

(incidentally, ability to filter by architecture doesn't seem to work on the Angstrom feed browser, which is not a big help)

So, I think we can assume that the armv6 version of the package is OK? And if so, that everything on the Armv6 lists are ok? My guess is it would - I'm assuming that the Pandora's ARM cortex A8 is backwards compatible with previous versions of ARM, at least that is what seems to be indicated in /etc/opkg/arch.conf as seen in the debug text above.

cracking on. I'll add the extra source and see how that goes....

I used that one, I didn't add a repo, just downloaded it, unpacked it and installed it "manually" (copied the files to the right location).

Chero.

 

[aliking]

I did add the v6 repo, and it worked fine for ipkg-utils, but I don't think it's a full solution for installing everything. Other stuff I've tried seems to have some problems crop up when trying to install dependencies from different repos. (or the same packages named differently in different repos)

The Angstrom repos are, frankly, not as maintained as they could be - or they are about as maintained as you'd expect. There are so many different machines in there, I suspect that people are just maintaining what is important for each and worrying less about the whole. They are not the immediate source of all the software we could want that they might appear - the angstrom feed reader has tonnes of temping applications on it, but lots of them won't just work on Pandora - there will need to be porting or dependency management first. So for noob-intermediate users, we're still talking about waiting on *someone else* to do that.

I can see a big opportunity having a unified system using .ipk and .pnd files. Theoretically I guess it should be possible to convert between the two. It would be great if there was some sort of synchronisation between a pnd store and a Pandora angstrom repository - that way a developer or porter needs to only submit one well-formed ipk or pnd and it get distributed in both places. Users can choose which they want to get and we give something back to OpenEmbedded in the form of building the repository of working packages.

And there already is a Pandora repository here:
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/armv7a/machine/omap3-pandora
There's nothing in it really, but opkg is configured to give priority to any package in there over other lists.

I suspect this discussion is being overlooked here in this backwater thread, but once I've got this clearer in my head we should take it mainstream...