I am trying to use two custom repositories. One custom repository resides on a 16 GB USB flash drive as the source:
rpm file:/media/disk/Repository/ pclinuxos/2007 extra gnome kde main nonfree os
and is working very nicely. I have added a second, custom repository, primarily for third-party and proprietary RPMs, as the source:
rpm file:/home/rg/Repository/ pclinuxos/2007 special
which resides in: /home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007/special, where the "special" section has been arbitrarily named by me -- it does not contain "special" packages from the "special" section of the official, public repository. Right now, my /home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007/special directory contains only one RPM, "softmaker-office-2008-503.i386.rpm".
The problem comes when I change-directory to /home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007/base and run genbasedir.
genbasedir --bloat --bz2only --progress /home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007 special
which generates only "release" and "release.special" files. I am missing the "pkglist.special" file, which also should be generated. As a result, Synaptic cannot find the "softmaker-office-2008-503.i386.rpm" package in its custom, hard-disk repository, although the repository in which it resides is detected properly. I also get the error message:
"Release file did not contain checksum information for file:/home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007/base/pkglist.special"
Not surprising, because there is no "pkglist.special" file. How to generate one?
Doing "genbasedir --help" provides no enlightenment, so I am posting here. I will be adding more packages to my "special" custom repository, and I will be expanding my other custom repository to two flash drives in the near future, due to the ever-growing number of packages that are available. I should be okay using multiple flash drives, as long as each flash drive contains its own, clearly defined repository sections. Trying to split repository sections between multiple flash drives would probably be impossible.
ADDENDUM: If I had taken time to read some of my previous posts, I would have seen that my hard-disk repository should reside in:
/home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007/RPMS.special
Also, a simplified command-line to generate the pkglist file is better:
genbasedir /home/rg/Repository/pclinuxos/2007 special
My /etc/apt/sources.list was edited manually, so Synaptic detected the new custom repository, and clicking "Reload" updated the pkglist database. My free copy of "Softmaker-Office" then installed very easily. Menu items for "TextMaker" and "Presentations" had to be added manually, however. The "PlanMaker" menu item was added automagicly. When installed, "Softmaker-Office" occupies about 127 MB.
