Running KDE4 (preview) on Mandriva 2008
Sunday, 14 October 2007
KDE 4 is the next major release of the K Desktop Environment software. It contains a new multimedia API, called Phonon, a device integration framework called Solid and a new style guide and default icon set called Oxygen. Let me say this first: KDE 4 is still not ready but it is nice to see the major improvements in usability, performance and stability. KDE 4 (preview) is already included in the latest Mandriva release. This article describes the installation on a Mandriva 2008 desktop

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1: Preparing the online sources

If you like to use “urpmi” to get and install relevant packages, please open your favourite browser and go to the following website:

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org



Just choose Mandriva version 2008.0, your CPU architecture and proceed to step 2. Next select a mirror for each source you want. Try to find a source in or near to your country.  You need at least the main and contrib sources but you should install the “main_updates” and “contrib._updates” as well. I have used the non-free packages in this example too. Just copy and paste the output in a console as root:

urpmi.addmedia main ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/main/release with media_info/hdlist.cz
urpmi.addmedia contrib ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/contrib/release with media_info/hdlist.cz
urpmi.addmedia non-free ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/non-free/release with media_info/hdlist.cz
urpmi.addmedia --update main_updates ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/main/updates with media_info/hdlist.cz
urpmi.addmedia --update contrib_updates ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/contrib/updates with media_info/hdlist.cz
urpmi.addmedia --update non-free_updates ftp://mirror.tuxinator.org/MandrivaLinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/non-free/updates with media_info/hdlist.cz



It will take some time to run all the commands and to download all file lists. Please wait carefully and watch for errors.

Please open your Mandriva control centre and go to the “Software Management” section. If you now click on “Configure media sources for install and updates”, you will see all sources listed properly. This also gives you a change to disable or enable it. Please close the Control centre. We do not need it for the next step.


Step 2:  Installing the KDE4 packages

We installed in the first step all needed online sources. It’s now time to receive and to install the KDE4 packages. We’ll use the urpmi command to get this done. Just type this as root in your console:

urpmi task-kde4

The tool will ask you about the amorok2-engine dependency. Please use one of the listed packages. I’ve used option 1.



Next urpmi will list 239 packages and you will need 366 MB of additional disk space to install them all. To proceed with the installation type “yes”.



That’s it! The tool will now download all the packages. Depending on your Internet connection, it will take some time. (Good change to grab a cup of coffee or tea).


Step 3: Running KDE4

After installing all packages you need to logout. In the new login screen, you will find under “Session Type” a new entry called KDE4. Click on it and type in a valid user and password. KDE4 will start with a nice screen showing the developers.



Please discover the new applications yourselves. You can find some screenshots below:



If you like to install other KDE4 programs like games or graphics applications, you just need to use the urpmi command:

urpmi kde4-kmahjongg
urpmi kde4-lskat