Om 2008 Installer

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Contents

Introduction

The Openmoko Installer (Codename: Assassin) is a tool for installing, updating and uninstalling programs on your Neo.

categories
choose program
install application
install application

Install an Application

Installer needs an internet connection to install applications for the repositories. This can be done via WiFi (currently unstable), USB, GPRS or Bluetooth.

Instructions

[1] Make sure you are connected to the internet and launch Installer.

[2] At launch, Installer will initially refresh a list of installable programs. After refresh is complete, press the INSTALL button from the bottom bar to view a list of Categories. This is also the default page of the Installer application.

[3] Select a Category from the category list, then select a package to install.

[4] In the package information page, press the image box and confirm to begin.

[5] Once the progress bar shows Done, you will return to the Installer default page. Installation is then complete.

  • To update or uninstall packages, simply replace step [2] with the desired function UPDATE or UNINSTALL and repeat steps [3] through [5].

Sharing Applications

Sharing applications is done by uploading packages to the Community Repository, which is a similar concept to the Multiverse repository in Ubuntu. Anyone can upload applications or even their own repository to share with fellow Neo owners.

How to add a package to Openmoko Repository

You can release your package with ipk file.

Package Tags

Packages in Installer are displayed according to Package Tags. To display a package through Installer, add the appropriate tag message.

Category Tag
Communication group::communication
Development group::programming
Games group::games
Maps group::maps
Miscellaneous group::unknown
Network group::network
Repos group::repos


  • For OpenEmbedded users, add a Tag by adding one line in your bb file
For example:
PKG_TAGS_${PN} = "group::games"

How to add a Repository ?

Adding a repository allows the package manager to install softwares beyond those included in the original distribution. More power, but also more risk of breakage.

If you don't want to add a repository, you can still try to install an application with

opkg url_to_app.ipk

The community-repository is installed by default in Om 2008.8. If it were not, you could add it by creating a file named 'community-repos.conf' in the directory '/etc/opkg' containing this line:

src community-repos http://downloads.openmoko.org/repository/Multiverse/

Changes made to the list of repositories made in '/etc/opkg' will be taken into account when the list of package is refreshed by:

opkg update

It seems that repositories could be added by installing a 'repository package'. The status of this functionality is unclear at present. Please edit this paragraph if you have more information.

Technical Features

  • Installer is a specialized GUI front-end of Packagekit over DBus interface.
  • Please run Installer under stable network conditions and enough power supply. Once Installer is launched, it will actually try to detect repositories you installed. This will take some time if your network condition is not stable.
    • If you do not have access to WiFi, a USB connection is recommended.
  • The default Packagekit backend on Neo is opkg, but is not restricted to opkg.
  • Installer refreshes the package meta-data every 2 days.
  • While running Installer, it will also launch packagekitd automatically, in which it will lock the libopkg for synchronization issues. If you want to use opkg, you may terminate Installer and killall packagekitd.
  • You can also talk with Packagekit through DBus.

For more information, refer to the reference section below.

Reference

[1] Installer project - http://code.google.com/p/om-assassin/

[2] Packagekit project - http://packagekit.org/

[3] Opkg package management - http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Opkg

Personal tools
Key pages on:
Om 2008


Introduction

The Openmoko Installer (Codename: Assassin) is a tool for installing, updating and uninstalling programs on your Neo.

categories
choose program
install application
install application

Install an Application

Installer needs an internet connection to install applications for the repositories. This can be done via WiFi (currently unstable), USB, GPRS or Bluetooth.

Instructions

[1] Make sure you are connected to the internet and launch Installer.

[2] At launch, Installer will initially refresh a list of installable programs. After refresh is complete, press the INSTALL button from the bottom bar to view a list of Categories. This is also the default page of the Installer application.

[3] Select a Category from the category list, then select a package to install.

[4] In the package information page, press the image box and confirm to begin.

[5] Once the progress bar shows Done, you will return to the Installer default page. Installation is then complete.

  • To update or uninstall packages, simply replace step [2] with the desired function UPDATE or UNINSTALL and repeat steps [3] through [5].

Sharing Applications

Sharing applications is done by uploading packages to the Community Repository, which is a similar concept to the Multiverse repository in Ubuntu. Anyone can upload applications or even their own repository to share with fellow Neo owners.

How to add a package to Openmoko Repository

You can release your package with ipk file.

Package Tags

Packages in Installer are displayed according to Package Tags. To display a package through Installer, add the appropriate tag message.

Category Tag
Communication group::communication
Development group::programming
Games group::games
Maps group::maps
Miscellaneous group::unknown
Network group::network
Repos group::repos


  • For OpenEmbedded users, add a Tag by adding one line in your bb file
For example:
PKG_TAGS_${PN} = "group::games"

How to add a Repository ?

Adding a repository allows the package manager to install softwares beyond those included in the original distribution. More power, but also more risk of breakage.

If you don't want to add a repository, you can still try to install an application with

opkg url_to_app.ipk

The community-repository is installed by default in Om 2008.8. If it were not, you could add it by creating a file named 'community-repos.conf' in the directory '/etc/opkg' containing this line:

src community-repos http://downloads.openmoko.org/repository/Multiverse/

Changes made to the list of repositories made in '/etc/opkg' will be taken into account when the list of package is refreshed by:

opkg update

It seems that repositories could be added by installing a 'repository package'. The status of this functionality is unclear at present. Please edit this paragraph if you have more information.

Technical Features

  • Installer is a specialized GUI front-end of Packagekit over DBus interface.
  • Please run Installer under stable network conditions and enough power supply. Once Installer is launched, it will actually try to detect repositories you installed. This will take some time if your network condition is not stable.
    • If you do not have access to WiFi, a USB connection is recommended.
  • The default Packagekit backend on Neo is opkg, but is not restricted to opkg.
  • Installer refreshes the package meta-data every 2 days.
  • While running Installer, it will also launch packagekitd automatically, in which it will lock the libopkg for synchronization issues. If you want to use opkg, you may terminate Installer and killall packagekitd.
  • You can also talk with Packagekit through DBus.

For more information, refer to the reference section below.

Reference

[1] Installer project - http://code.google.com/p/om-assassin/

[2] Packagekit project - http://packagekit.org/

[3] Opkg package management - http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Opkg