Re: Application installation advice needed
 

Thanks for the help but if it requires that sort of action I don't think it's a good example for newbies, which is what the tutorials are all about.

Is there some major disadvantage to running the latest firmware?

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

Agree, not a good choice for newbies, nethack. Mine also failed. FYI, there is a thread on how to get it running in the GAMES forum (I think in Games). Search by "Nethack". Someone explained how to run it by using xterm to fix the files first.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

I only really picked it because it seemed to have been in development for a while (so you'd think fewer bugs), and maemo.org also uses it as an example of installing a game without an install link. Ah well... :)

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

This is the suggestion I got from the forum at the site. I agree that if you don't know what that means, you probably might forego at trying to get Nethack running on your tablet.

Who knows? It seems to be something that distinguishes your tablet from mine, but there are probably (most likely) many other distinctions.

I personally never installed the latest firmware, the Firmware-From-Hell as I like to call it, because it can (and will!) destroy hardware on your tablet (c.q. memory cards). I don't know about you, but that sort of thing tends to turn me off. If you installed that firmware, I suggest you apply Nokia's patch as soon as possible. It's out now.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

FWIW, I've used the latest software until today without any problems whatsoever. But then I've used only a 1GB Kingston card in the external slot, which seems to be a card not affected by the problem (it _is_ after all a problem that only occurs with cards not up to standards). If you don't run into the SD card problem then the latest (before today) firmware upgrade is very good. And as of today the SD card problem should hopefully be solved for everybody too.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

I don't think it's necessary to tell new users to only use repositories and not .deb files. .deb files are even easier than setting up repositories, in most cases. You just double click on them, and they install, in general. The main problem with .deb files is that there is no mechanism for telling you when they have been updated. If you used a repository and there is a new version, the Application Catalog will tell you that an update is available.

Of course, I'm talking about .deb files set up to work with N800s or N770s.

A tutorial on how to install programs is a great idea. It would be good to include tips on how to solve dependency problems. (My solution, which worked great for me, was to install everything under the sun, skipping programs that wouldn't install. By the time I got to the end of the list, my earlier dependency problems had gone away, because I had automatically added the necessary repositories.)

You might also mention Red and Blue Pill mode.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

The second problem with installing a .deb file directly is that there's no automatic dependency resolving, or at least not as smoothly as when installing from a repository. If you install 'a' from a repository and it depends on 'b' and 'c', then 'b' and 'c' will be downloaded automatically (and also whatever additional packages 'b' and 'c' depend on) as needed. If a .deb package needs additional .debs then you'll have to sort that out by yourself (if any of those are available from a repository then it's possible to solve that in an extra step, but unless the .dep is pretty much self-contained it can be somewhat confusing for new users.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

I created a wiki with really basic information on installing and repositories. No red pill or advanced stuff.
Please update this/add to it, so we have a good guide. Some of it is from the forums. I even think this part I quoted above could be added to it to explain dependency problems with .deb files.
take a look:
http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi...epositories%29

Where is a good place to put basic info like this? I tried the wiki, but what about making a sticky in the Newbie section of the forum.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

Earlier on in this thread I was told that you can only use .deb files which are intended for internet tablets (and your particular model of tablet and a particular firmware on that tablet), and even if the file is correct there may be other files required in order for the .deb files to work. That's probably far too complicated for an absolute beginner.

As I found out with Nethack, even when a .deb file is clearly labelled as for the N800, and it should install and work, it can install and then not work at all.


What's an easy way for a newbie to tell if a .deb file is intended for N800s or 770s with particular firmware?


If I understand correctly, a better solution seems to be to use install links and repositories though. Installing more and more things until they start to work isn't exactly user-friendly, and some people with small or no memory card may not have the storage space for all these applications.

Bear in mind I'm aiming these tutorials at people who have zero experience of linux and zero experience of messing around under the bonnet of a computer. Anyone who owns a tablet should be able to follow these tutorials fairly clearly, and be able to do things as easily as possible.


Personally I've had no problems with memory cards so far. Perhaps I'm using different brands or sizes of card to people who have problems, or perhaps I'm doing different things with my tablet. It may be some particular combination of factors that causes problems, in fact that seems likely if they didn't spot this problem before the firmware release.

Re: Application installation advice needed
 

As both an experienced Linux user familiar with the Debian package system as well as a relatively new Internet Tablet user I fully agree with the above conclusion.