What do I do with a "tar.bz2"

[reb]

I am using VL 5.8 SOHO Final

I have a game cd in my DVD drive.  It put a file in my  /home/madtux/Desktop/  directory named:
"CD-ROM/  Device_1.tar.bz2" .  The color is 'bright orange' or 'red'.   I would like to know how to expand the file into another directory and play the game.

Also can you tell me where to find the color codes for file and dir colors???

reb

[reb]

I'm sorry, I should have included more  information in my first request:

The CD also put an Icon on my Desktop and when placing the cursor over it, I get the following info:

Name:    CD-ROM Device-1.tar.bz2
Type:     Bzip2-ed Tar Archive
Size:      1.2 KB
Modified:  11/23/07
Owner:   madtux - madtux
Permissions: -rw-r--r--

I'm not sure if this helps, but at least I listed it for your information.

reb

[exeterdad]

I'm a bit puzzled by what it told you it was??!!  And the file size is very tiny for it to be a game.  I'm wondering if it's some kind of shortcut to the game or archive file.

To decompress a tar.bz2 file from the command line:

tar -jxvf filename.tar.bz2

That's if you run the command from the same directory as the archive.  You can:

tar -jxvf /path/to/filename.tar.bz2

If it's in another directory. BUT the files will be extracted to the directory you launch the command from.  I'd make a "game" directory:

mkdir game

Enter the directory:

cd game

Then extract the archive:

tar -jxvf /path/to/filename.tar.bz2

Then if it plays nice and creates it's own directory, enter it and see what it gave you.

[reb]

OK exterdad, this is what I did:

I made a game dir, entered the game dir. and typed:
 
    tar -jxvf/path to the CD-ROM file.tar.bz2 
    after hitting "enter" I wound up with one file "CD-ROM\ device_1" containing 1741 B

Now will this file, if I make it executable, install the game in the game dir?

reb

[exeterdad]

Hmmmm  I'm not gonna lie to you Reb.  I have no idea what you have there.  I wasn't sure it was a real archive before, and with that goofy filename I really have to wonder.  But for the record.  To make a file executable in Linux:

chmod +x filename

To execute it you simply type in the filename.  But...  if your are in the same directory as the file you add a dot and a slash to the front of it:

./filename

I really hope someone will come along shortly to bail me out here.  Maybe someone that's familiar with what comes with MadTux/VL ?

[saulgoode]

I am guessing that the file in your Desktop folder is just a shortcut for mounting or perhaps an icon. Regardless, I can't imagine it contains the data you need.

If you type "mount" all by itself as a command, you should be able to tell whether your CD has been mounted. If it has been mounted, you should see a line similar to:

/dev/hdc on /mnt/cdrom type iso9660 (ro,noexec,nosuid,nodev)

If it has not been mounted then you should do so by typing the command:

mount /mnt/cdrom

Once you know that your CD is mounted, you should then look in the /mnt/cdrom directory to see what files are on the disk.

[Freston]

Of course, all these steps could be done from X. If you right click the file and then choose 'open with Ark' you'll see the contents from the file. As a tar.bz2 is a compressed archive there is bound to be one or more files within the archive. You already did this from the Konsole, so you don't need to do this now.

As the people above, I would have been expecting the tar.bz2 file to be some kind of source code. But seeing the size of the file, an icon, a flat text file or a shortcut of some kind is more likely.

There are several ways of determining what type of file we are dealing with here. I suggest you use them before running this file. Try:

Code:

file filename
cat filename | more

Also, I'd look around the CDROM to try and find if there is anything like a README, INSTALL or a variant on that (readme.txt or what have you). The whole thing about the CDROM putting that file automagically in your Desktop folder bothers me a bit. I'm not saying malware, but I am saying unconventional. There should be an instruction on how to deal with this file.


By the way, I'm betting one cookie that the file is a launcher of some sort, that, when run, brings you to a menu on the gaming disk.

[bigpaws]

The name of the game would be a great help
so that someone can to finding out how to install
the game.

Bigpaws

[reb]

OK guys, you have all been terrific, but (with a very RED face) I have to fess up.  I didn't have the guts to tell you right up front that the game is a winXP game.  "Call of Duty, United offensive" The second of a three game series.

Just for the heck of it, I stuck the cd in my dvd drive and when it put the icon on my desk top and added the CD-ROM\  Device_1 to my Desktop dir, I was just naive enough to think that it just might work, but since I didn't know how to do anything with it, I posted the question.  I now realize that had I mentioned that it was an XP game, right up front, you would have all told me right away "hey dummy, it won't work", well maybe you would have just said "it won't work".   but just like I said "I didn't have the guts".

And just to clear the record, maybe you know this already but I'll tell you anyway: When I executed the CD-ROM\ Device_1 an 18 line 'command not found' response came back.  I'll list the first two lines and the last one just give you an idea what it said:

./CD-ROM\ Device_1:  line 1: [Desktop: command not found
./CD-ROM\ Device_1:  line 10: X-KDE-Priority=TopLevel: command not found
./CD-ROM\ Device_1:  line 87: fg:  no job control

and all 14 additional lines listed a variety of 'commands not found', so when I read this, I realized I was barking up the wrong tree. 

So, people, there yu have it.  You can close this thread out and I'll take my strips, crawl back in to my shroud of embarrassment, and lick my wounds. 

once again "thanks to all of yu, you guys are great!"

reb

[newt]

On the contrary, reb, it looks like you may be able to play your game on linux, however it will require the use of Cedega (an emulator of sorts; not really an emulator but an API overlay).  Your game shows up as quite playable under Cedega.  The only downside is that Cedega is not free though it's not overly priced either.  HTH!

[bigpaws]

Nothing to be embarrassed about.

No one here will have a problem with this.

If you have Windows apps fell free to ask if anyone here
has used it or better yet Google it like (linux quake 3) should
give you decent hits.

When asking the question do not hesitate to ask, just place in
the question the VL version, the problem (if hardware make and model)
and the things that you have tried. Anything that has failed.

Cedega works pretty well.

Bigpaws

[exeterdad]

Don't ever feel silly Reb.  Many VL users have windows products on their computers.  And let's face it.  The games just rock.  Must be something with them having huge budgets and open source software is made with nothing but love.

Many windows apps and games will run on Linux.  Wine, Cedega and a few others does a heck of a job of running them, and just keeps getting better at it.

Internet Explorer and MS Office, MS's own babies, can be run with Wine and other software.

In fact IE 6 runs so good, that much of the Window's update stuff will actually install. 

We are still living in a Window's world Reb, it's up to the Linux geeks to figure out how to run it.  The Redmond boys aren't the ones figuring out how their stuff can be run on other OS's.

[exeterdad]

Ya know...  I really hope I'm not out of line for posting this. But Reb and I have been PM'ing a bit lately.  He shared with me a particular detail about himself recently that blew me away (in a good way).  He's quite unique in the Linux world.  A rare breed indeed.  I  sincerely hope he'll be comfortable among us.  And I hope he'll share a bit about himself with everyone. It's not my place to do so, but it's killing me! 

[Dweeberkitty]

OK guys, you have all been terrific, but (with a very RED face) I have to fess up.  I didn't have the guts to tell you right up front that the game is a winXP game.  "Call of Duty, United offensive" The second of a three game series.

Hey! I have that game installed on my VL5.9 and 5.8.6. Good choice for a game to run on Linux. It runs very well under Wine (Wine is Not an Emulator). Even multiplayer works great across the network. Stick with us and we will walk you through setting it up every step of the way. First of all, I would recommend that you install Wine and give that a shot, mainly because I've had such good luck with it on that game and also because it's free.

1. To install Wine download this file: http://superb-east.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/wine/wine-0.9.49-i486-1kjz.tgz
This is what's called a Slackware package and it usually ends with a .tgz. Vector Linux is based on Slackware (a Linux distribution) and uses it's packages (installers). If you want to install Linux software on VL, always try to find a .tgz or a .tlz as these are the supported packages. Sometimes if you are really in a bind you can use a .rpm which most of the time works but that's another story.

2. Okay, now that you've downloaded the .tgz, how do you install it? The easiest way in 5.8 SOHO is to right-click on the package that you just downloaded and then click on Actions>>Vector Linux Package>>Install. It will ask you for the root password so enter that in and it will be installed.

3. Wine needs to be setup to be able to do anything. To do this, click on you K menu (also called the Start menu in the Windows world) and click on the System menu. In there you should find a Wine program called Winecfg or something. Click on that and open it up. When it's open, click on Audio and configure Wine to use the Alsa driver by checking the Alsa checkbox. Click apply and wine should have a basic setup. It may need more tweaking later but we'll get to that.

4. You chose a good game for Linux. There is an installer for it that runs under Linux and gets you all setup. Download it here: http://liflg.httpdnet.com/files/wine/call.of.duty_1.5-english.run
To install, it try just clicking on the installer. If this doesn't work however, you might need to run it from the terminal, even though the installer is graphical. I'm assuming that you've downloaded it to your Home folder, so if you have, open up you home folder. (You'll see a little House icon somewhere on your desktop or taskbar) then press F4. This will open up the terminal. Assuming that the installer is in your home folder, run this command:

Code:

sh call.of.duty_1.5-english.run

It will need the CD to be in the drive to install it. Give that a try and see if it works for you.

Have fun!

~Dweeberkitty

[reb]

Thanks a lot Dweeberkitty. Thanks especially the explaining in detail.  When just getting started like I am, it really helps.

I will definitely give wine a try and possibly 'cedega' because I have several good games I would like to try.  Also since I'm using my windows box as a door stop, I really don't want to have to hook it up ever again.

cheers to all

reb