Re: [rox-users] Problems updating ROX

[Thomas L. <ta...@ec...>]

Replies to the mailing list, please.

----- Forwarded message from Terry Duell <td...@ii...> -----

Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:54:22 +1100
From: Terry Duell <td...@ii...>
To: ta...@ec...
Subject: Re: [rox-users] Problems updating ROX

In message 12 Feb
 Thomas Leonard <ta...@ec...>  wrote:

> 
> The exact error messages would be helpful...

OK, I now have a bit more information which someone who knows more than I
might be able to use to point to the problems of why rox-2.0.1-1 went wrong
and why reinstalling 1.1.5-1 and rox-base also caused problems.
Firstly, when installing rox-2.0.1-1 there was a warning message "warning
program compiled against libxml 206, using older 204".
Also when rox-2.0.1-1 was started a message saying there was an error in
~/Choices/ROX-Filer/Options, "at line 2, missing '='", which looks to me like
the options file was incorrectly converted or is being parsed incorrectly.
There were no error message as such re the icon bar, there were just a lot of
'error' icons instead of application icons. I never saw any other messages
than that about the Options. 
Now I have been looking for libxml so that I might update that but now find
total confusion as to what is required. The latest version I can find is
libxml-1.8.17-9.2, but that doesn't sound anything like 204 or 206. There is
also libxml2-2.6.14.  
So what is really needed, libxml or libxml2? If it is libxml where does one
find version 206, as mentioned in the warning message? 
I have managed to find a backup of my Choices files and of my /usr/apps,
which were also completely buggered up by the process, and so am now back at
the position where I was before attempting to get a later version of ROX up
and running. Now why would 2.0.1-1 completely muck up the contents of apps
dir? In each of the apps directories my icons had been replaced and the
AppRun files had been deleted. That was nasty as I had spent quite a
bit of time setting up apps over the past year or so, and was lucky that I
found a backup of most of it.  
I have tried this business of updating ROX a number of times in the past but
always fallen foul of issues similar to the libxml issue mentioned above. 
I think it might be a good idea to have some advice for users who are trying
to upgrade from a previous version. As it is it seems that the expectation is
that everyone is going to install for the first time. 
I think I know now why I really prefer RISC OS and why ordinary users shy
away from Linux. It really does still require too much obscure knowledge to
be an easily used and maintained system. 
> 
> However, 2.0.1 is rather old (2.0 started June 2003). (Anyone want to
> update the RPMs?)

OK, but the news about it being available was only on the newsgroups a couple
of weeks ago.
> 
> You'd probably be better off grabbing the source (2.2.0):
> 
> http://rox.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/InstallFromSource
> 
> You'll need to install a load of -devel RPMs, and gcc (if you haven't
> already), but after that it should be straight-forward. I think you'll also
> need to upgrade GTK if you haven't done so already.

Given the trouble that always seems to be associated with this business,
wouldn't building from source lead to more aggrevation, or are there always
likely to be more problems with binaries?
> 
> Alternatively, rpmfind.net has RPMs for the slightly older 2.1.3 version,
> which is the last version to work with GTK 2.0.x, which I believe is what
> RedHat 8 is supplied with.

[later] OK. I have found 2.1.3 and tried that but have had the same sort of
problems (warning that it was compiled with libxml 206, and error in the
options file, and all dir icons being grey boxes, the apps dir all mucked up,
the icon bar not appearing...), so have erased that lot as well and
reinstalled the old version I was using. I guess if I want to use the later
version I will have to try using the source.

Thanks for your help...and patience.

Cheers,
-- 
Regards,
Terry Duell

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Dr Thomas Leonard		http://rox.sourceforge.net
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