I have to admit you've lost me on this whole java debate and since I was able to get the software to run I didn't study it further. And when you say "build from..." my noob mind goes blank.
But now I've managed to screw up what was working for sometime. Moneydance stopped working after asking for the password. I opted to restart everything from scratch only to find out my file provokes the same behavior in another windows installation of MD. The embarrasing part is that I can't reproduce what I had done before!
I've configured Lil'Debi w/ 2GB and connected to it via ConnectBot (using root@localhost:5900), then installed in this order: apt-utils, dialog, less, vim, man, tightvncserver, lxde, default-jre. I then connect with bVNCFree (using 127.0.0.1 port 5901 and the password setup when tightvncserver first ran). This gives me a functioning LXDE GUI with decent mouse control and key mapping, albeit a bit sluggish. On a side note: Iceweasel browser opens and closes immediately (I don't care because I don't use it) and the logout window seems to do nothing (I don't care because I kill vnc later).
Now I should be able to install Moneydance like I did before but one of three things happen: 1) I get a script file opened by a text editor or 2) the file manager gives me the following error "Can't run the archiver executable: Failed to execute child process "ar" (No such file or directory)" or 3) it opens the tared folder. This depends on the file I try to install: moneydance.deb (2), moneydance_linux_x86.deb (2), Moneydance_linux_x86.sh (1), Moneydance_linux_x86.tar (3), Moneydance_linux_x86.tar.gz (3), moneydance_no_java.deb (2) and moneydance from inside the untared Moneydance folder (1). I believe what had worked before was "Moneydance_linux_x86.sh".
I feel like I'm missing something obvious but I can't put my finger on it. Can you help me?
Two other questions:
1-I can't get Lil'Debi to shutdown because there are files or processes open in chroot. I found tightvncserver to be one of them and have been "tightvncserver -kill :1" killing it before closing. Then I "exit" 3 consecutive times until ConnectBot disconnects. But something gets left behind. Any ideas?
2-Everyone tells me I'm not supposed to work as super user but debian/shell won't work without su. Any ideas on how to circumvent this?
Thanks much.
The hard float verses hard float thing is steeped in technical details on how information is processed on a CPU. I've done extensive reading in order to grasp the differences and in most cases (almost all) hard float wins in processing the same data/instructions on the same CPU over the same tests run with soft float; by "win" I mean speed at which the task is carried out and how much power is required (battery drain)... I'll see about pulling up a site I found that has some good graphs for comparison. LilDebi does have an option to install Linux under hard float too for compatible devices but as of yet I've tested only once successfully.
For "building from source" this easy or in the case of Java, difficult, many Linux packages that use this term have a "make" command apart of a family of two or three other common command associated with installing. It's a bit different than running an exe file on Windows OSs' because some of the tasks for installing things on Linux are left up to the user to configure and for users, such as myself, that come from Windows (mostly) the options and commands to configure an install "look" different. For cases such as building Java from source the commands are different than most other installs from source that I've dealt with on Linux because it didn't come with a convenient "make" command. Instead I found a few tutorials to "manually" install (command by command tell Linux how to call every individual aspect of Java) and have worked wrapping them all up into a script~
https://github.com/S0AndS0/Debian-Kit-Mods
~ so to install Java from source I suggest downloading the tar file from the previously posted link to a directory such as "/home/$USER/Downloads" and then running the following command to clone the github project I've got working for running/editing/downloading scripts~
git clone
https://github.com/S0AndS0/Debian-Kit-Mods
~ then running the ARM_Java_JDK7_Installer script with
sh [path/to/]Debian-Kit-Mods/ARM_Java_JDK7_Installer
~ replace "[path/to]" with the file path to Debian-Kit-Mods
~~ follow the prompts and it should work. Just tested it on my myTouch with a clean install and if it fails check the readme in the github on how to "point" to the correct version or directory to the archive. I had to do a clean install after rebooting before killing a VNC connection, killed my GUI completely, but it gave me a good kick to get a script or two working again so I can't complain only suggest that you try the same so that when you've got something to work once then it can be repeated again. To do so isn't hard to start with just save a list of commands to a file with a ".sh" file extension and run in a terminal window with "sh [path/to]some-script.sh" for example~
# make a directory or series of directories if not already there
mkdir -p /home/test/this/is/just/a/test
# make a variable that can be use to say that can be used instead of that long file path
testDirectory=/home/test/this/is/just/a/test
# use that variable in a command to change the working directory that bash is using
cd $testDirectory
~ any line beginning with a "#" is used for comments or notes so be sure to use it so weeks or months down the line if you need to reinstall or repeat some other tedious task you don't wonder what the script should do.
Variables are really useful and so long as you avoid using spaces in folder or file names and special charictars like * their fairly safe to experiment with. It is even possible to assign a list of commands or variables to one variable if you want to go that far. Constructing variables comes down to assigning with an = and using with a $ for example~
variableName=something
echo "$variableName"
~furthermore you can always test if a variable will work just by trying it in a terminal window.
for commands that can be used it is as easy as asking google "bash examples linux how to (do something)" will usually pull up something useful when you replace the "do something" with; make a directory or folder; download a file; search the contents of a file; copy or remove or move a file; ...
I'll be giving it another shot (installing moneydance) as I'm off from work for a few days and likely have a draft script uploaded to the github branch above for downloading, extracting, and running the installer, and likely putting in a symbolic link to the desktop (symbolic links on Linux are kinda like shortcuts on Windows) if the moneydance installer doesn't take care of that already. So check the link over the next few days and I may have something that takes out some of the repetitive work.
Thanks for the how to with lildebi; it's been a little wile and I didn't document it the first time around.
Try giving the "Moneydance_linux_x86.sh" executable permissions;
cd /pathTo/moneydanceDirectory/
chmod +x Moneydance_linux_x86.sh
sh Moneydance_linux_x86.sh
should do the trick, or, right click the file and select properties, there will be two tabs and on one of them a check box for granting executable permissions.
as to the other questions;
1. I have similar issues with Debian Kit and usually have to repeat the commands to unmount and or kill processes when truly wanting to shut Linux down. Perhaps submitting it as a bug to lildebi and they may have a way to kill off things more reliably.
2. Working as su on android is a risk and working as root on linux is also a risk, mainly because the full filesystem can be messed with without an easy undo button. For running linux on android I've yet to test or look for an app that doesn't make use of su permissions but for Linux you can run with normal user permissions and add them to the sudo group with the following commands so that you at lest get a prompt when something could damage your system is running;
adduser username
adduser username sudo
just replace "username" with the desired name you wish with the above examples. There will be a request to set a password for the new user among other things when you first run the adduser command and the "adduser username sudo" command makes it so you don't have to login as root in order to run sudo related commands. Though I can understand the advice to not run as su on Android I can also say after running many years with superuser permission its worth the risks so long as you've got backups somewhere that Linux or Android can't touch.
Welcome for sure; sorry it takes so long to respond.
had to break out my epic 4g because my tablet wasn't playing well with lildebi app (ssh password prompt issues after first install but no password was set that I could find) ... what's funny is Debian Kit (the app that works on my myTouch and epic) also works just fine on my tablet, only problem with it is I've still yet to figure out how to share it's image file between devices hmm must be something I'm missing.
