Message-ID: <002601c736a8$94606760$30c8f8d9@pcuser>
From: "Ulrich Diez" <eu_angelion AT web DOT de>
To: <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
Subject: Local Package Directory must not be root-dir of a drive (C:\ or  D:\  or ... ; drive in the sense of MS-terminology) ?
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 01:19:49 +0100
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Hello!

After launching Cygwin's setup.exe (the last time I tried with
2.510.2.2) for downloading and installing the Cygwin-packages,
you are asked to specify a so-called 'Local Package Directory'
which serves as cache where setup.exe stores the packages before
they get installed.

I chose to download from the mirror
"http://ftp.univie.ac.at/packages/cygwin"
to the local-package-directory  "F:\Cygwin" on a Win95B-machine.

Thus everything was saved unto hard-disk-partition "F:", into the
directory (and into subdirectories of)
"F:\Cygwin\http%3a%2f%2fftp.univie.ac.at%2fpackages%2fcygwin".
Later installing from the local package directory "F:\Cygwin"
to "C:\Cygwin" as 'Cygwin-root' was straight-forward.

I observed that both moving the entire content of the 'Local
Package Directory'-structure into another subdirectory and
renaming the root of the 'Local Package Directory'-structure
usually is not a problem:

- You can e.g., move the directory-structure from "F:\" to
  "F:\FOO\BAR" so that you obtain the directory-structure
    "F:\FOO\BAR\Cygwin\http%3a%2f%2fftp.univie.ac.at%2fpackages%2fcygwin"
    (plus subdirectories).
  For installing from local cache you only need to specify the
  'Local Package Directory' as "F:\FOO\BAR\Cygwin".

- You can e.g., rename the directory-structure "F:\CYGWIN"  to
  "F:\FOO" so that you obtain the directory-structure
    "F:\FOO\http%3a%2f%2fftp.univie.ac.at%2fpackages%2fcygwin"
    (plus subdirectories).
  For installing from local cache you only need to specify the
  'Local Package Directory' as "F:\FOO".

But if you decide to use the root-directory of a 'drive' (e.g.,
the root-directory of an empty hard-disk-partition) as 'Local
Package Directory' --the directory-structure becomes e.g.,:
  "F:\http%3a%2f%2fftp.univie.ac.at%2fpackages%2fcygwin"
  (plus subdirectories)
--, you get plenty of error-messages when trying to download
additional files to local package directory "F:\" or when trying
to install from local package-directory "F:\" to "C:\Cygwin" as
'Cygwin-root'.

Things like:

   Cannot open F:\/setup.log for writing -
   no such file or directory

or

  Cannot write to F:\/\http%3a%2f%2fftp.univie.ac
  .at%2fpackages%2fcygwin\release\tetex\tetex-extra
  \tetex-extra-3.0.0-3.tar.bz2.tmp - no such file
  or directory"

Notice the additional slash after the first backslash in the
path-names.

I wonder if this issue is Win95B-related, if it is Cygwin-
specific or if my general understanding of the way how the
'Local Package Directory' is to be specified is wrong?

Sincerely

Ulrich


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