simple installation problem

[astrogav]

I want to install XFree86v-4.0.1-1.3.i386.rpm so I can use the new Nvidia drivers. When I try it says that only pagages with major numbers <=3 are supported by this version of rpm....
what should I do.. which version of RPM have I got?
I donwloaded rpm-4.0-7x.i386.rpm but of course it gives the same message.

I fear your going to tell me to get the source and start compiling...

 

[Guest]

It means that you need to upgrade the rpm program. The latest version of rpm (4.0.*) is not backward compatible with older (3.*) packages. Looks like you knew that...kinda sucks that the 4.0.* upgrade package needs 4.0.* to install

I would try some other 4.0.* packages, especially earlier releases, or releases tagged for your specific distro/release. If your distro shipped with a 3.*, it makes some sense that the 4.* upgrade should be installable by your original, but those are some big assumptions.

You might also download the source rpm for 4.0.* and try building it with your 3.* version. See the man page to learn how to deal with source rpms.

Try this page to find the right package to upgrade your system: http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=rpm

Be careful when upgrading your rpm program. Don't ignore/force your way past dependencies, because if you break your rpm program on a RedHat or Mandrake system you're somewhat screwed unless you can find a source package (*.tgz) to reinstall rpm.
Good luck
Eric

 

[Guest]

RPM actually has it's own web site <A HREF="http://www.rpm.org/" target="_new">http://www.rpm.org/</A> A tarball is available from there for the latest version as well as some other things which RPM is dependent on as well.

On a seperate note, just as food for thought, check out this article on the state of linux package management <A HREF="http://www.linuxtoday.com.au/r/article/jsp/sid/133400" target="_new">http://www.linuxtoday.com.au/r/article/jsp/sid/133400</A>.

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[Guest]

U didn't say what distribution you are running. I noticed the RPM of RPM-4.0 that you downloaded is ment for RedHat 7.0 systems. This almost definatly won't work on any other system because of RH's use of a beta compiler and C library in that distribution. You may want to try getting the rpm-4.0-6x.i386.rpm package if you're not running RH7.0

~flake

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[astrogav]

Thanks for the help. I went to a redhat site and got the required update for rpm.
I have heaps of other dependency problems now, so I've decided to start the learning curve at a different point.

thanks
gavin