Most people who install Linux probably don't have any problems with the KDE automounting functionality, but I don't install Linux like most people. I like to start out with a completely minimal install, then I can add just the packages I need one step at a time. This has 2 advantages: first is that your install takes up very little disk space giving you a very lean and mean system, second is that you become familiar with all the various packages installed on your system and have a better idea of what they do which comes in handy sometimes. The major drawback is that some things that "just work" on most linux installs don't want to work for me. It is usually just a question of dependencies and configuration though, and with a little research and digging you always get it working in the end.
At work I was running FC4 and I have to admit that I got to like the automount feature of KDE. So at home on my Debian system I wanted my flash drive to show up on the desktop when it was plugged in. I didn't want to have to look at the kernel logs to see what device it showed up as, and then mount it. I know, I know, looking at syslog is one of the joys of being a linux owner, but I'm starting to get lazy, plus my girlfriend would probably throw up on the keys if she had to use the command line for anything. So I was resolved to figure out what I needed to get this working. It is simple, just apt-get install the following packages. (Just for reference I'm running sid.)
- hal-device-manager
- kdemultimedia-kio-plugins
- kdebase-kio-plugins
I think grabbing those 3 packages will get you all the required dependencies, but just for reference I'm going to list everything that got installed the day I got this working. I'm pretty sure the kamera and libkcddb1 are purely optional, but they looked like they might be useful so I grabbed them.
- hal
- pmount
- kamera
- dbus
- libkcddb1
- udev
- python2.4-cairo
- python2.4-dbus
- python2.4-glade2
- python2.4-gnome2
- python2.4-gtk2
- python2.4-libxml2
- python2.4-numeric
- python2.4-pyorbit
- hal-device-manager
- kdemultimedia-kio-plugins
- kdebase-kio-plugins
WAIT!!! I forgot to mention one important thing, you will get a bunch of errors popping up if your user isn't in the correct group. Make sure to add yourself and any users who will be accessing media (cdrom, dvd, flash, etc.) to the plugdev group (You will probably want to logout and log back in so that the new group settings take effect. I also found that a restart was necessary. Without restarting it works for the cdroms but you get odd behavior on USB devices.)
That will do it.
4 comments:
Total linux newb here and this past weekend jumped from Kubuntu to Ubuntu. Was a little apprehensive about switching from KDE to Gnome. Instead of getting into a debate on which better (and honestly, how would I really know as a newb) I will just say that I found a sweet solution to get all the missing components I couldn't figure out with Kubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't come with all the bells and whistles pre-loaded either but help was just a click away.
Automatix to the Rescue
I know I know, Automatix was available for Kubuntu as well (this the newb part again - didnt' know that, part of the reason I switched to Ubuntu).
Anyway, after installing Automatix I can now "point and click" to install missing components needed to make my new Install just what it should be. I can now play movies in my browser, open PDF files, burn CD's, upgrade Open Office, Firefox 1.5 and most of the necessary plugins, Opera and on and on.
Full list of Automatix capabilities and install instructions available <a>here</a> for other newbs.
Oh yeah, automount much needed for me, I can plug in flash drive or one of my old iPods and I'm off. Can't imagine loading that crap from the kernel (aka, javaDOTbean).
Congrats on an install you are happy with. Looks like Automatix is a gui frontend to apt that specializes in the most popular non-free software. You can also do that with Aptitude or just plain apt, but you need to "add" the correct repositories like Universe, Multiverse, and in the case of all the crazy codecs for mp3, dvd, wma playback you need the penguin liberation front's repositories deb http://packages.freecontrib.org/ubuntu/plf/ breezy free non-free
Thanks for the link!
Hi! I want to upgrade my current installation of KDE to the most current version (3.5.5), but the computer it's going on only has dialup access, and obviously it would take an EXTREMELY long time to get all of the necessary components.
I have decided to attempt to install the program manually, downloading the pieces I need onto my laptop, then transferring them over to my XP machine and copying them to the Suse 10.0 installation, which can read NTFS partitions. yes, it sounds kinda Rube Goldberg-ish, but the laptop has wireless access, but no CD/DVD burner.
Anyways, what components are required to do just a bare-bones install? Thank you)
Are you using Ubuntu? I'm just going to assume you are. One thing you might consider is just using the dial up for "security" type updates and waiting 6 months at a time for new versions of ubuntu to come out. Every six months you can have them mail you the latest ubuntu cd... http://www.ubuntu.com/products/GetUbuntu#buycurrent
Then you can just do an dist upgrade (look on ubuntu forums for how to do this).
That is what I would do, especially since many other programs are going to depend on your KDE libraries. If you just try to update those libraries, chances are you will break many other packages. Good luck!
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