[SOLVED] not able to untar .tar.bz2 (might be making some mistake in command)

[imgkg]

hi guys, i am kinda new to linux trying to untar "stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2" its a dictionary for stardict well i guess i am not able to understand the "tar.bz2" command and what refers to file name in tar command is this file name ----------->"stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2" if its filename it give me error as follows ,(file is located on the desktop)



user@user-desktop:~$ tar zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
tar: stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~$




please help me out :(

[bprof]

it looks the file name is incorrect, also to decompress use this


tar -xjf filename.tar.bz2

[Xerp]

tar -jxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

[mc4100]

(file is located on the desktop)

Go to the desktop, right click the file and press "Extract Here".
Why do it the hard way? ;)

EDIT: I think you're error was...
tar zxvf
(You forgot the "-")

tar -zxvf

[imgkg]

so whats the file name and how to get the correct file name i just copy pasted that file name from properties window by right clicking the the file

[ice60]

i was just looking at another thread that should help you. you can put some extra lines in your .bashrc file then from then on any time you need to decompress anything from a zip, rar, tar.bz2, tar.gz etc all you need to do is use the command 'extract some_file.zip' or whatever extention it uses.

here's the thread and the post that has the code (it's near the end of it) -
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4254704&postcount=12
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=679762

just run this from your terminal -

gedit ~/.bashrc

then add this to the end -


#Extract things. Thanks to urukrama, Ubuntuforums.org
extract () {
if [ -f $1 ] ; then
case $1 in
*.tar.bz2) tar xjf $1 ;;
*.tar.gz) tar xzf $1 ;;
*.bz2) bunzip2 $1 ;;
*.rar) rar x $1 ;;
*.gz) gunzip $1 ;;
*.tar) tar xf $1 ;;
*.tbz2) tar xjf $1 ;;
*.tgz) tar xzf $1 ;;
*.zip) unzip $1 ;;
*.Z) uncompress $1 ;;
*.7z) 7z x $1 ;;
*) echo "'$1' cannot be extracted via extract()" ;;
esac
else
echo "'$1' is not a valid file"
fi
}
you have to re-open your terminal for it to work.

for the .rar and .7z to work you may have to search for them in the package manager and install them first.

[imgkg]

have tried as you said getting same error (i am sure something i am missing in file name )


user@user-desktop:~$ tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
tar: stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~$

(well i wanna learn how to install these tarballs didnt tried it before always messed up with it )

[mc4100]

have tried as you said getting same error (i am sure something i am missing in file name )


user@user-desktop:~$ tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
tar: stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~$

(well i wanna learn how to install these tarballs didnt tried it before always messed up with it )


cd /Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

[Xerp]

"cd" into the directory where the file is.
check it really is where you think you put it using "ls"
then
tar -jxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

Thats it - simple! :)

Pay very close attention to each of these commands.

cd is "change directory" - you need this to "be in" the place where your file is.

Next is the tar command - see how the "j" flag is used in place of the "z" flag?

[imgkg]

getting this error ( now i am sure there something wrong with filename from where to get a filename of a file ) is there something like autocomplete thing for filenames

user@user-desktop:~$ cd /Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
bash: cd: /Desktop: No such file or directory
user@user-desktop:~$

[ice60]

you either have to have your terminal in the same place as the file you want to work with or tell the terminal where to find it.

you can use the ls command to show what's in the directory you're in. if the file is on your desktop you need to "cd" (change directory) in to the desktop directory first -

cd Desktop
the terminal is case sensitive and desktop is spelt with a capital 'D'
EDIT
there's a nice tutorial for the terminal here -
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=73885

to autocomplete the command use the 'tab' key, the one with two arrows on to the lsft of the keyboard. eg
cd Des <tab key>
and the rest of desktop should be completed for you :D

[mc4100]

getting this error ( now i am sure there something wrong with filename from where to get a filename of a file ) is there something like autocomplete thing for filenames

user@user-desktop:~$ cd /Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
bash: cd: /Desktop: No such file or directory
user@user-desktop:~$

Oops I'm an idiot, sorry, no "/Desktop" OK, this is my last attempt:

cd Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

[imgkg]

i am so sorry to bother you again still gettting error i just copy pasted your command (anyays thanks for your help but it didnt worked)

user@user-desktop:~$ cd Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$

[mc4100]

you can use the ls command to show what's in the directory you're in.
EDIT: There was some text here, which is now deleted, because I AM AN IDIOT, so never mind. Sorry -- honestly, I need to *read* things better -- thought you said "the directory you're working in! Sorry, again, and again.

i am so sorry to bother you again still gettting error i just copy pasted your command (anyays thanks for your help but it didnt worked)

user@user-desktop:~$ cd Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$

Hey, don't worry about it, someone will eventually get it right, (I'm as much a beginner as you ;))

Seriously though, did you try right clicking on the file stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
and then pressing "Extract Here"? It's much easier.

[imgkg]

used used that cd command it showed like this


user@user-desktop:~$ cd Desktop
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$



(then used tar command)


user@user-desktop:~$ cd Desktop
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$ tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$

this is what i get

[imgkg]

i guess its on desktop

user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$ pwd
/home/user/Desktop
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$

[ice60]

try running this -

cd ~/Desktop && tar xjf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

[mc4100]

cd Desktop && tar -jxf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

[imgkg]

thank you so much ice60 it worked ( beer from me ) did anyone understood what mistake was i making

cd Desktop && tar -jxf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2 <---------this command gives error again

[mc4100]

cd Desktop && tar -jxf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2 <---------this command gives error again
::resigned face:: Of course it does!
I'm glad you finally got it to work! Yay :)
.. you should press the medal, in the bottom right, for Ice60. It's a thank-you.
(BTW, I'm as curious as you to know what kept going wrong)

[ice60]

thank you so much ice60 it worked ( beer from me ) did anyone understood what mistake was i making

cd Desktop && tar -jxf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2 <---------this command gives error again
no problem, after a few weeks of using ubuntu things get a lot easier.

what error are you getting? i'm useless with all those decompressing commands because i use something like i showed in post#6 and that does it all for me, i just use the extract command :D

[imgkg]

thank you guys for staying with me i guess mistake i was making was i wasnt in my directory where file was

[ice60]

there are two problems you were having -

1, running the command in the wrong place

2, issuing the wrong command


user@user-desktop:~$ cd Desktop && tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
user@user-desktop:~/Desktop$
you are stringing two commands together -

cd Desktop
and

tar -zxvf stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2
the && means if the cd Desktop runs with no errors go on to the next command.
cd Desktop will only work if the Desktop directory is in the directory you are running the command from, you should see it with the 'ls' command.

if you run -
cd ~/Desktop
that will get you there even if the desktop directory isn't in the directory you are in because the ~/ bit is short for /home/USERNAME. so with that you are giving the full path to the desktop so there can't be any mistakes.

the tar -zxvf didn't work above because it's the wrong command, it's used to decompress tar.gz archives, not tar.bz2 that you had.

[imgkg]

thank you once again