Installing packages offline without gdebi?

[krlrvr]

Hello everyone.

I'm attempting to install ubuntu-12.10-beta2-desktop-amd64 on a desktop without Ethernet. It does have a Netgear WNDA3100 dongle. So of course I need to install bcmn43xx64.inf with Windows Wireless Drivers-NDISwrapper. Oh, it's not in there? Okay, that's easy enough. I'll place ndisgtk_0.8.5-1_amd64.deb, ndiswrapper-common_1.57-1ubuntu1_all.deb and ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.57-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb on an external drive and install with gdebi package installer. Okay, stop laughing. It's been awhile. So, how can I install gdebi_0.8.5ubuntu1_all.deb and gdebi-core_0.8.5ubuntu1_all.deb without screwing the pooch somehow? Can this be done without gdebi? I'm at a loss. Any help would be vastly appreciated.

[zvacet]

Every deb file can be installed in old fashion way


sudo dpkg -i package_name

[Joseph Rinaldi]

Hi,
I spent hours on this but found a simply way to get this working flawlessly.
1. From the Ubuntu Software Centre, install Windows Wireless Drivers (NDISWrapper) and the two add-ons, ndiswrapper-dkms and ndiswrapper-source.
2. I installed the latest drivers from Netgear on a Windows XP computer. (Just a VM will do, can be on a Linux Box). You may need to install the x64 version.
3. This creates a folder in C:\Program Files\NETGEAR\WNDA3100v2\Driver, called WinXP2000. This contains the latest drivers for this adapter. The .sys file should be version 5.100.68.46.
4. Copy the folder to your Ubuntu (or Xubuntu) computer.
5. Run the Windows Wireless Drivers software and point to the inf file in this folder.
6. Reboot. All done!

[Mark Phelps]

While you certainly CAN install deb packages offline, one at a time, unfortunately, Ubuntu is really not designed to do this easily.

If that package is a meta-package, it's likely there will be a LOT of dependencies with other packages. Installing each one offline could yield additional "dependecies not met" error messages, forcing you to hunt down more and more packages -- until ALL the dependencies are met.

Not saying it can't be done; just saying it can translate into a LOT of work hunting down lots of individual packages.