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How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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GPWR
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How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#1 Post by GPWR »

Greetings.
I've been looking all over the place for this KDE Plasma download, and I finally found it (be careful, it's an automatic download.) I loaded it on a USB stick and I want to install it on my Debian OS (I'm using Bullseye.)
No, I can't use the APT, because I can't connect my system to the internet.
I've checked the KDE forums for how to install, but they told me that they can't really offer support for this because it's more of a Debian-related issue than a KDE one, since they're not the ones distributing OS-specific DI packages.

Thanks in advance!

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#2 Post by canci »

That's going to be very difficult, since you would have to install every package that plasma desktop depends on. But those are probably 50 packages or so.

If Internet is an issue and you have a DVD drive, why not order a full set of DVDs with Debian. I'm sure if you order the first 3 or 4 DVDs, they should have most KDE packages in there.

You can search for local vendors in your country or region. Linux User Groups usually sell those or can even burn them for you for free if you ask nicely.
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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#3 Post by mm3100 »

You can use apt-cdrom to add usb to apt sources, but for that you should use debian iso that contains KDE software. Then you could install it using apt offline.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#4 Post by GPWR »

canci wrote: 2021-12-03 15:34 If Internet is an issue and you have a DVD drive, why not order a full set of DVDs with Debian. I'm sure if you order the first 3 or 4 DVDs, they should have most KDE packages in there.

You can search for local vendors in your country or region. Linux User Groups usually sell those or can even burn them for you for free if you ask nicely.
Thank you for the great suggestion.
Unfortunately the Linux user group nearest to my place is eight hours away. Additionally, I don't have a credit card or anything that could allow me to pay other than cash (still a youngster), so ordering those DVDs is impossible to me, as far as I know.
mm3100 wrote: 2021-12-03 16:28 You can use apt-cdrom to add usb to apt sources, but for that you should use debian iso that contains KDE software. Then you could install it using apt offline.
Thank you for that. Sounds cool. I hit apt-cdrom as root and got a bunch of instructions. It says I can use "add" to add a CDROM. I'm assuming it also works for a USB disk. So I mounted my USB drive in

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/media/usb-drive
and then I did

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apt-cdrom add /dev/sdc1 (my USB drive with the .DEB package I want to install on it)
But then it says

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Using CD-ROM mount point /media/cdrom/
Unmounting DC-ROM...
Waiting for disc...
Please insert a Disc in the drive and press [Enter]
When I hit "Enter," I obviously get a bunch of errors since I didn't load anything in my DVD slot. It's my USB I want it to use.
Any suggestions? I've been messing around with it for some time now, based on instructions I found on multiple forums and wikis, but nothing works for me, up to now.

Thank you so much again for your answers. It's really appreciated.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#5 Post by peter_irich »

You can use all iso like repositories simultaneously. Each iso mount to its directory and in /etc/apt place
string for each directory like for the ordinary repository.
But it will not work for iso which is not made like repository. In this case you can for this iso build
the local repository on disk, far example with reprepro.

Peter.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#6 Post by mm3100 »

There is some description here
https://techpiezo.com/linux/use-iso-ima ... in-ubuntu/
With this method you don't need usb drive at all, you just mount image and then use apt-cdrom on it.
You can download live version of KDE from here
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... so-hybrid/

I hope it will work if you mount that iso, and use apt-cdrom on it as described. I have never done it my self, but saw if being mentioned few times. Good luck mate.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#7 Post by GPWR »

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
mm3100 wrote: 2021-12-03 19:23 With this method you don't need sub drive at all, you just mount image and then use apt-cdrom on it.
Yeah, I had tried with a USB, but that shattered my brain in a thousand pieces. Apparently it's a very complicated method, so I decided to burn the ISO you pointed me to (thank you!) on a DVD. I'll try again with a USB in the future, just for fun.

By reading the instructions you gave me and a thousand different man pages, I finally got it working. I added my DVD to the APT and ran the following:

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apt-get install kde-plasma-desktop
After a few security issues (indeed apt-secure was giving me a bit of trouble), I managed to install just what I needed!
Now the only thing left for me to do is to make the KDE Plasma desktop load by default on boot. Right now I still see that nerdy black screen with white text on it. I don't know whether to call it a terminal, because my Linux knowledge and vocabulary are not quite developed yet.
So... Apparently the thing that is responsible for starting the KDE Plasma desktop interface upon boot is KDM, or something like that. I could not find it, so I did

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whereis kdm
And it outputed

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kdm:
I'm assuming that means the system didn't find it. I also heard that startx does about the same thing as KDE, but I could not find that either, and I don't know what the difference between the two is.
What do I do from here?
Thanks again, and have a nice one!

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#8 Post by GPWR »

peter_irich wrote: 2021-12-03 17:48 But it will not work for iso which is not made like repository. In this case you can for this iso build
the local repository on disk, far example with reprepro.
Strange... I didn't need to use any third-party tools. I just burned the ISO on a disk and temporarily bypassed apt-secure.

Peace.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#9 Post by bw123 »

That’s great you got installed, way to go.

The display manager for plasma defaults to sddm now I think. The kdm isn’t available.

if you have sddm installed but still booting to login prompt, check default.target it should be graphical, you might fix it with dpkg —reconfigure sddm, or a set-default command to systemctl.

Keep going
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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#10 Post by sunrat »

If what you are aiming for is to install Debian with KDE, it would be much easier to download the live image to which mm3100 posted the link above, or the full DVD1 installer, both which could get you to a desktop straight after install.
If your aim is to learn how to construct Debian KDE from pieces and learn along the way, carry on what you are doing! bw123 is pointing to the right path there.
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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#11 Post by GPWR »

sunrat wrote: 2021-12-04 22:17 If what you are aiming for is to install Debian with KDE, it would be much easier to download the live image to which mm3100 posted the link above, or the full DVD1 installer, both which could get you to a desktop straight after install.
If your aim is to learn how to construct Debian KDE from pieces and learn along the way, carry on what you are doing! bw123 is pointing to the right path there.
Thank you very much for your comment. Indeed I see my issue as a great opportunity to learn more about Linux, so that's the path I'll be taking. At least other users viewing this thread will see that there is an easier option for people who don't want to break their backs picking up a DI from a home-made repo DVD, so thank you for taking the time to specify that.
bw123 wrote: 2021-12-04 17:39 That’s great you got installed, way to go.

The display manager for plasma defaults to sddm now I think. The kdm isn’t available.

if you have sddm installed but still booting to login prompt, check default.target it should be graphical, you might fix it with dpkg —reconfigure sddm, or a set-default command to systemctl.

Keep going
Hello again.
I have to admit, with humility and a bit of embarrassment, that I did not realise that the installation failed, finally. I was doing my homework at the same time I was trying to install KDE Plasma, so my brain was at two places at once. The fact is I thought I had succeeded in installing it, but I didn't. Really sorry for telling you otherwise two days ago. That was a mistake.
Here's the error I get when running 'apt-get update':

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W: Failed to fetch http://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/bullseye/InRelease Temporary failure resolving 'deb.debian.org'
W: Failed to fetch http://security.debian.org/debian-security/dists/bullseye-security/InRelease Temporary failure resolving 'security.debian.org'
W: Failed to fetch http://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/bullseye-update/InRelease Temporary Failure resolving 'deb.debian.org'
W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
I added the 'cdrom' to the trusted sources in '/etc/apt/source.list', and I allowed unauthenticated sources and insecure repositories (temporarily, obviously), so that got me out of trouble for the "don't install unsigned repositories" issue.
The only thing I'm wondering is why it's summoning online sources when I ask it to install something from a DVD. Is there a way of bypassing this?

When I run 'apt-get install kde-plasma-desktop', I get tons and tons of lines of errors saying the apt failed to fetch this or that online source, because of a temporary failure resolving 'deb.debian.org'.

P.S. I'm curious as to why some errors start with "E:" and others start with "W:"
I noticed "tips and tricks" or possible solutions in verbose start with "N:" so I'm assuming the prefix letter means something when it comes to errors as well.

Thank you so much again for taking the time to help me out with this. Once again, it's really appreciated.
Peace.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#12 Post by mm3100 »

By default apt sources include official online repositories. When you try to install with apt it will try to fetch package lists from those repositories so it can compare it with its local ones, since it can't reach them it prints warning (W). It is harmless in your case since you don't have internet connection.

One way to solve that is to edit /etc/apt/sources, and comment out everything except cdrom line. Then after you do apt update, it will only check for packages that are on DVD.

So after you uncomment those you can try to reinstall kde with apt reinstall, or maybe first try to just run apt --fix-broken install and see what that gives you.

PS, I have checked around for issue with apt-secure and official iso releases, there has been bug report about if from few years ago with a workaround that you could try instead of disabling apt-secure.
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=807996
The workaround is, after registering each CD-ROM using apt-cdrom,
modify the /etc/sources.list file. Edit it to add the "trusted" flag to
the entry for each CD-ROM. (In my case, I am using DVDs.) For example:
deb [trusted=yes] cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 10.9.0 _Buster_ - Official
amd64 DVD Binary-2 20210327-10:39]/ buster contrib main
Then run "apt update". Which now works, although it generates an
annoying number of "ign:" messages.
But then there are some other annoying messages. You can try it out just to see how it works.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#13 Post by GPWR »

mm3100 wrote: 2021-12-06 00:31 By default apt sources include official online repositories. When you try to install with apt it will try to fetch package lists from those repositories so it can compare it with its local ones, since it can't reach them it prints warning (W). It is harmless in your case since you don't have internet connection.

One way to solve that is to edit /etc/apt/sources, and comment out everything except cdrom line. Then after you do apt update, it will only check for packages that are on DVD.
Thank you for your reply.
Very interesting hack, there. I did as you said and put in three hashtags in front of every line that contained an online repo in 'sources.list' (in order to distinguish them from the other comments starting with a single hashtag.)
This causes the 'apt-get update' command to search only on the DVD.

When I run 'apt-get --fix-broken install', I get the following:

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Reading package list... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Running 'apt-get update' results in everything being ignored (Ing:#) but 'amd64 Packages' (Hit:#), so I guess that's normal since my computer architecture (if that's what it's called) is amd64.

I had already made the cdrom source trusted in the sources.list file, as I've seen on some Stack Exchange site (I think it was the Linux&Unix forums) by doing exactly what you proposed, so that's good.

Finally, running 'apt-get install kde-plasma desktop' results in the following output:

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Reading package list... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package kde-plasma-desktop
Does this mean that, after all, my DVD is not valid, or is this error resulting from something else I might be missing on?

Thanks again, and thanks for that information on what "W:" means!

Peace.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#14 Post by mm3100 »

That is a bit odd, kde-plasma-desktop package is included in debian-live-11.1.0-amd64-kde.iso. You can see it here
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... e.packages

Maybe try to remove cdrom from apt sources and redo apt-cdrom. It is possible something went wrong along the way.

If it fails again, maybe it is something with iso image or DVD. Then you could try to use full DVD that should include all of desktop environments (sadly I can't find list of included packages, so can't confirm this) and non-free packages for firmware and microcode and try to do apt-cdrom on it.
https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unof ... 4/iso-dvd/

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#15 Post by sunrat »

mm3100 wrote: 2021-12-06 17:57Then you could try to use full DVD that should include all of desktop environments (sadly I can't find list of included packages, so can't confirm this)
The list is here in a gzipped text file - https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unof ... /list-dvd/ . It does contain kde-plasma-desktop.
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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#16 Post by GPWR »

mm3100 wrote: 2021-12-06 17:57 That is a bit odd, kde-plasma-desktop package is included in debian-live-11.1.0-amd64-kde.iso. You can see it here
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... e.packages

Maybe try to remove cdrom from apt sources and redo apt-cdrom. It is possible something went wrong along the way.

If it fails again, maybe it is something with iso image or DVD. Then you could try to use full DVD that should include all of desktop environments (sadly I can't find list of included packages, so can't confirm this) and non-free packages for firmware and microcode and try to do apt-cdrom on it.
https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unof ... 4/iso-dvd/
Thanks for your answer!
Yep. I checked the file and the cdrom source was only there once. Still doesn't work.
I needed my computer for a school assessment, so I decided to connect my computer to the internet (I found out how via a somewhat complicated way since then) and install KDE Plasma via the online APT repos.
I'll definitely be trying again with some other random packages in the future. I'm very interested in managing to install packages from removable media by adding them to the APT sources. Once I find out how to do so, I'll definitely be documenting it and posting it in this thread!
Thank you all for your kind help. It's really appreciated that you all took the time to help me out with my issue!
Peace be on you.

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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#17 Post by stevepusser »

That deb in your first post is just a metapackage, which is basically just a very small package that depends on whatever is listed in its dependencies. I'm sure you saw your system download hundreds of megabytes when you used that online.

It's a very powerful tool for packagers, but you really need to be on the Net to use it easily.
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Re: How to Install DI/GUI from removable Media

#18 Post by GPWR »

stevepusser wrote: 2021-12-10 23:26 That deb in your first post is just a metapackage, which is basically just a very small package that depends on whatever is listed in its dependencies. I'm sure you saw your system download hundreds of megabytes when you used that online.

It's a very powerful tool for packagers, but you really need to be on the Net to use it easily.
Oh, I didn't notice it was a metapackage. Looking back it is quite obvious, given its small size. That's interesting. Thank you for pointing that out.
We do learn something every day, and especially with Linux!
Peace.

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