Notices

im very new to the nokia n810 and a lot of apps i want are in a .tgz format. i looked around and people keep talking about untarring, can someone please explain this process to me?

Welcome to the Maemo Talk forums and to the mobile Maemo Linux community.

Unlike Windows/Mac systems, untarring won't give you directly executable files. To untar, you'll need an untar program from the Application Manager. Once you have that, this open up the Terminal (X-Term). If you downloaded the tar files to one of your local directories (in this case, the Nokia N810 folder), then just type in the terminal:

Now, if you are familiar with Linux, then you should know what to do. If you are also new to Linux, then programs that come form tar files are usually either source code and have to be compiled (which is generally not recommended on the tablet) or programs that need to be configured to run using intermediate/advanced Unix Command-Line skills.

If that doesn't sound like something you want to do, head over to Downloads and see if they have some programs you want. Also keep in mind that standard Linux apps won't work on the tablet as they are made for x86 PC's and not for a tablet using an ARM processor. It just won't work.

If you have any other questions, just ask!

Jesse~

i got a few more questions, what are some untar program names? and what would the code look like if my .tgz started in a different directory other than the nokia n810 folder(is it like /folder name/file name?)

I'm personally using gnutar and gnuzip (both found in the Application Manager using search).

Easy!

Jesse~

thanks, ill try that tomorrow after some sleep

If you talk about *installing* applications here I recommend to install .deb files (simplified speaking these are the .tgz/.tar.gz files compiled as a runnable program instead of the sourcecode, but still that does not necessarily mean that they have been ported to Maemo, e.g. when it comes to the screen size).
With apps from http://maemo.org/downloads/ you should be on the safe side.

how can i untar files in the internal memory card or any memory card? i can't find the right directory to put in

and even after i move the .tgz onto the nokia regular directory it still says it can't find the directory, i typed it in exactly how u said it in the code : tar xvzf /games/(file).tgz /games

ive installed gnutar and gnuzip

You'd have to navigate from there. Simple way of doing this:

1.) Go into the Terminal (X-Term) and type these commands

* - type mmc1 for the external (removable) card and mmc2 for the internal card.

After that, use the code above and you'll untar the files!

Jesse~

thanks that worked

No problem!

Jesse~