by Christian Einfeldt May 1, 2006
How to install Avidemux on Mepis or any Debian system (detailed version for newbies)
For those newbies who would like to use a simple video editor under MepisLite? 3.3.2-1, here is a step-by-step process for installing Avidemux.
1) Open a shell window. You do this by clicking on the K gear in the lower left hand corner of your monitor's screen where the Start button would be in Windows. You then click on System > Konsole. A window with a blinking terminal will open.
2) Become a superuser. You do this by typing "su" (without the quotes) and then hitting enter. You will be prompted for your root password. Type it and hit enter. You will then see that the line of words in front of the cursor has changed and now ends with a hash mark, which looks like this # . Whenever you see the hash, it means you are a superuser. Also, Linux is case sensitive, so be sure to type exactly what I am showing you here.
3) Now type "apt-get update" and hit enter. You will see something
that looks approximately like this:
root@1[root]?# apt-get update
Get:1 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/main Packages [230kB]?
Get:2 http://apt.mepis.org sarge/main Packages [29B]?
Ign http://apt.mepis.org sarge/main Release
Get:3 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/main Release [110B]?
Get:4 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/contrib Packages [538B]?
Get:5 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/main Packages [3349kB]?
Get:6 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/contrib Release [113B]?
Get:7 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/non-free Packages [20B]?
Get:8 http://security.debian.org sarge/updates/non-free Release [114B]?
Get:9 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/main Release [95B]?
Get:10 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/contrib Packages [56.2kB]?
Get:11 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/contrib Release [98B]?
Get:12 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/non-free Packages [58.4kB]?
Get:13 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/non-free Release [99B]?
Fetched 3695kB in 18s (199kB/s)
Reading Package Lists... Done
root@1[root]?#
When the screen returns to the hash mark and does nothing for a few seconds, it means the program is done running. You have now run apt-get update. Now you need to install aalib1. (That last character is a one, not a lower case "L"). To install aalib1, do this:
4) type "apt-get install --reinstall aalib1" and hit enter. You will see something that looks like this:
root@1[root]?# apt-get install --reinstall aalib1 Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 66 not upgraded. Need to get 56.4kB of archives. After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n]?
5) type "y" for yes. You will get something that looks like this:
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]? y Get:1 ftp://ftp.us.debian.org sarge/main aalib1 1.4p5-22 [56.4kB]? Fetched 56.4kB in 1s (31.9kB/s) (Reading database ... 71845 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to replace aalib1 1.4p5-22 (using .../aalib1_1.4p5-22_i386.deb) ... Unpacking replacement aalib1 ... Setting up aalib1 (1.4p5-22) ...
root@1[root]?#
6) You have now installed aalib1, and you are ready to install Avidemux with Synaptic. Open Synaptic by clicking on the Kgear and clicking on System > Synaptic Package Manager . You can also launch Synaptic by going to the hash prompt and typing "synaptic" , which will look like this:
root@1[root]?# synaptic
7) hit enter after "synaptic", and the synaptic program will launch. Look at the top left hand corner of your Synaptic window. You will see a menu bar that says "File" "Edit" "Package" "Settings" and "Help" . Click on Settings > Repositories . You will get a dialogue box that says "Repositories" at the top. In that box, you will see several repositories listed. The first column in the box is labelled "Enabled" . You will probably have three enabled repositories, and one repository that is grayed out, and should look like this:
deb ftp://ftp//nerim.net/debian-marillat/ sarge main
8) Click the box in front of that line. If you do not have that line, you will need to add it. If you look in the bottom left hand corner of your Synaptic window, you will see a button labeled "New" or "Add" or something similar. Click on it. You will get an opportunity to add a new repository. To add the new repository, look for a button that should be labeled either "Binary" or "Source". Make sure it says Binary, and click, on the arrow to choose Binary if it says Source. Below the word Binary, you will see three fields, labeled in order as follows:
URI Distribution Section(s)
9) In the white field beside "URI", type in
ftp://ftp//nerim.net/debian-marillat/
Make sure to include the / after marillat.
10) In the white field beside "Distribution", type "sarge".
11) In the white field beside "Section(s)", type main. Now click the Okay button on the bottom right hand side. You will probably get a note saying that the repositories have changed, and you will need to reload. Do that by clicking on the "Reload" button in the upper left hand corner of your Synaptic window. Synaptic will download some stuff, and then return to its normal window state.
12) Look for the "Search" button in the upper middle of the Synaptic Window. Click on it. You will get a dialog box that says "Find". In the white field below the word "Find", type Avidemux. You will see that Synaptic will find Avidemux, and will put the Avidemux name on a line with a box in front. Click that box. You will get a gray box with the words "Mark for installation". Click the box in front of "Mark for installation." Synaptic will see that additional files are needed and will ask you to approve marking those additional files. Click "Mark" to mark those additional files.
13) Synaptic will now present you will a description of Avidemux in the description tab. Look at the top of your Synaptic Package Manager window for the "Apply" button. Click it. Synaptic will ask you "Apply the following changes?" Click Apply.
14) A black window will appear with a Command Line Interface (CLI). Now you can just sit back and relax and watch as Synaptic does the hard work for you of installing Avidemux. When the program is done installing Avidemux, it will tell you that it has successfully applied all changes, and you can now close the black window. Click on the "Close" button of the black window to close that window, but do not close Synaptic. Synaptic will then take you back out to the main window. Again, don't close Synaptic just yet. Instead, you should test to see if Avidemux installed correctly.
15) To test if Avidemux installed correctly, hit Alt F2. You will get a dialog box that lets run a program. Type Avidemux. Avidemux should appear. You also can launch it by going to a hash mark and typing Avidemux.
Enjoy! You are done!
Christian Einfeldt