How do I open certain files in Ubuntu?

Question

I'm an absolute noob to linux and I'm having the damndest time right now. I'm sure most of you reading this question are going to be annoyed but whatever, there are some nice people out there willing to help me out. First off, I've never been one to run a lot of command lines in windows, if any (besides ipconfig), so jumping to linux for me is like learning a new language. First problem is I'm having trouble updating my router's firmware because it requires a bin file, which I have no clue how to open. I've tried advice given in forums stating I should open Terminal and punch in the command line "chmod +x binname.bin" and then "./binname,bin" but the problem is, every time I do that I get an error that states "bash: ./binname.bin: cannot execute binary file". Any solutions to this problem? Also, I've been trying to watch youtube videos and use the myspace music player but I can't seem to get them to work because I obviously don't have the right plugins. Only problem is, I can't seem to find which plugins these might be. And on top of that problem, I miraculously taught myself how to extract a .tar.gz file but have no idea how to install the bloody software inside. Ay yi yi, if someone can please be kind enough to help me and direct me even to a good user friendly linux noob guide, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Answer 1

INSTALLING SOFTWARE ON UBUNTU



The use of the Terminal in most cases is not needed as Ubuntu has the Synaptic Package Manager which allows you to easily install and remove software



Here is the Official Ubuntu Synaptic Package Manager Documentation

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto



If you do need to use the Terminal



Here is the Official Ubuntu Terminal Documentation

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal



You can Copy and Paste commands



To install individually downloaded deb. files then Ubuntu has the GDebi Package Installer (built in to Ubuntu) which automatically starts up when you try to open a deb.file

http://allmyapps.com/app/ubuntu-9.04/gdebi-gdebi-package-installer



Guide to installing software on Ubuntu

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installingsoftware



UBUNTU USER GUIDE



Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) User Guide

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Jaunty



CURRENT SESSION



Linux Mint 7 ext4 GRUB 2 with Compiz 0.8.2

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=38

http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/





LUg.

Answer 2

Okay. There is no reason to get annoyed with you. There is a reason to be annoyed with the marketers who taught you the command line is not necessary but there is no reason to be annoyed with you.



First thing to do is open your terminal, cd to the directory with the firmware in it -- I assume that is binname.bin -- and type "ls -lt binname.bin". It should begin -- well let me show you my azureus file since that is a file I keep in my user directory:



-rwxr-xr-x 1 jplatt users 5544 2009-06-01 11:20 azureus



Notice there are 3 xs. It says it can be eXecuted by root, by the owner, or by anyone at all. It can be Written to (or over) only by me and it can be Read by anyone. You need an X in the first two places to run it -- and you probably should be running it with root permissions. So if you have the x's type "sudo ./binname.bin" (the period slash, usually called dot-slash, means look in this directory) and if you get the same error then your problem is your file is corrupt and you need to download it again.



I've linked to a good distro-agnostic tutorial on file permissions in sources. You sound very frustrated, but all I can say is, this sounds like you're trying and that is good. A better Unix geek than me once said, "There are times when Unix slaps you upside the head and times when you just go aah" -- that last because there is a LOT you can do with ANY *nix-derived OS which you can't do with Windows.



For Ubuntu you don't want the tar.gz file for Flash anyhow. I just had to download it for a new installation, incidently and if I hadn't installed it before I have no idea WHAT I would have done. You unzip it, you get a file called libflashplayer.so or something like that. You are SUPPOSED to move it into either your firefox/plugins or mozilla/plugins directory. The best way to do that though is to download the .deb file from either your repository (open a terminal and type "sudo apt-cache search flash" go through the list till you find one that looks like it's the flash plugin and type "sudo apt-get install ") or by going to Adobe, downloading their deb package and typing "sudo dpkg -i .deb" with obviously the name of the package you download being relevant.



I would want the tar.gz package. I'm on slackware. You don't. For Ubuntu you go to the Ubuntu repositories first, and after that you go looking for versions of the packages which are optimized for your system -- I'm running as close to a vanilla linux as you can get without compiling it myself as in linux from scratch. Don't make life harder for yourself than you have to.



Got all that? Fine. Now some reassurance. Sounds like you are doing a good job. Yes it can be tough to wrap your head around these things sometimes. This is, in essence, Unix, which is computer science. The GUI -- X-Windows dates back to the eighties and until the mid-nineties whenever you saw a computer at Nasa or a college in a movie or TV show, they were running X-Windows on Unix. It IS easier than it used to be, but you are still running into the toughest part right here. Sorry about that. There are Linux User Groups all around the country. I recommend -- heartily -- looking one up and visiting its next meeting.

Answer 3

For the router firmware, look for instructions at the site where you downloaded it. It's possible you might need Windows to install it. To watch Youtube videos you need the flash plugin. For a tar.gz file, you usually start by reading the README file, but it's easier if the program you want is already packaged so you can install it with Synaptic.

Answer 4

firstly, the only good guide if you ask some noob-turned-user (like me) is google!

just google your query and you'll find it! you've been doing it so not much of an issue for you!

as for the the router's .bin file, i've too been having the same problem! i just installed windows on my swap partition, logged in, configured my router using plain IE, repaired my grub and back on ubuntu!



regarding the plugins to play flash videos like on youtube or myspace, use synaptic or apt-get to install flashplugin-nonfree

should work great!



and regarding .tar.gz, you've to RnD a little bro, they're sources you're trying to compile!

most of the codes contain INSTALL.TXT or README.TXT (not necessarily all-uppercase) which contain basic commands and tutorial to install the software! so shouldn't be a problem!



most of the tutorial regarding the problems you'd come across on forums would be a few codes which you just have to blindly copy-paste onto your terminal. they can make your system work right or screw it! so just a little care!



and,... ummm, 1 more thing,

"don't fix it if it aint broke"!

happy hacking! :D

Answer 5

Hello,





Everyone starts somewhere, even in Windows or Mac OS.

And the proper cli syntax format would be chmod a+x binname.bin

The linux documentation project is @ http://tldp.org/

And your best support and fixes will not be found here, but @ http://ubuntuforums.org/

And you need the flashplayer, but here is a extensive support thread @ http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683



I have used (K/X)ubuntu, but now use Sidux since it is a true Debian Distro @ http://sidux.com/ and I can use all the Debian Repositories.

But only time and experience shall improve your skills and knowledge.

And your dependancy on Windows will only become for Games.

Windows only exists on my laptop for that purpose only.

Though I have other games that run under linux w/o issue.

Answer 6

Check out this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8VmernM4qM