2. Installation

3. Updates

4. Usage

5. Source

6. Contact

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
  
  
  This FAQ allows you to navigate through the answers by category, or individually, or to view the entire FAQ at once. The full view is also suitable for printing.

  This FAQ is modelled on the Linux HOWTO documents for consistency and ease of navigation.

  
  
• 1.2 Authors
  
  
  The maintainers of the FAQ can be reached by e-mailing faqs@lokigames.com. Please send all correspondance directly related to the FAQlist tool to that address.
  
  

2. Installation

• 2.1 How do I install the Loki Update Tool?
  
  
  Download the file loki_update-full-1.0.10-(arch).run from http://updates.lokigames.com/. This is a self-extracting setup program, which will then launch the installer when you run it.

  This file can be executed with:

      sh loki_update-full-1.0.10-(arch).run
  

  (arch) will be one of: x86 (Intel x86 and compatible processors, e.g. AMD, Cyrix); ppc (PowerPC); alpha (Alpha); or sparc64 (Sparc64).

  You should install loki_update as the same userid which is normally used to install Loki games and demos on your system.

  
  
• 2.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the Loki Update Tool?
  
  
  No, but you do have to have write privileges to /usr/local/Loki_Update (or wherever you choose to install the Loki Update tool).
  
  

3. Updates

• 3.1 Where can I download updates for the Loki Update Tool?
  
  
  loki_update will automatically update itself when you launch it (unless you tell it to behave otherwise).

  You may also manually download patches from ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/pub/updates/loki_update/ and apply them yourself.

  
  
• 3.2 Can I launch the Loki Update Tool without using the auto-update feature?
  
  
  Yes. Use the --noselfcheck option, e.g.:

      loki_update --noselfcheck
  

  This will bypass the auto-update self check.
  
  
• 3.3 I seem to be stuck at 1.0.6, but I hear that the current version is 1.0.10. How can I update?
  
  
  If 'loki_update --version' indicates that you are running 1.0.6, you will need to update loki_update like this:

      loki_update loki_update
  

  otherwise the later patches will not apply. Note that this will download the patch twice, and it will fail to apply the second time, due to a minor issue with self-updating in 1.0.6.

  You also have the option of re-installing the new base-line version, which is already 1.0.10.

  
  

4. Usage

• 4.1 What command-line options are available for the Loki Update Tool?
  
  
  (Also available with loki_update --help)

  The options can be any of:

      --verbose               Print verbose messages to standard output
      --noselfcheck           Skip check for updates for the update tool
      --tmppath PATH          Use PATH as the temporary download path
      --update_url URL        Use URL as the list of product updates
  

  You may also specify a product (e.g. tribes2, or loki_demos) on the command-line, to force an update of only that one product, e.g.:

      loki_update [options] tribes2
  

  and you can specify a directory to re-register with ~/.loki/installed, e.g.:

      loki_update [options] /path/to/game
  

  
  
• 4.2 Can the Loki Update Tool be used with a proxy server?
  
  
  Yes. loki_update is based on libsnarf (http://www.xach.com/snarf/), and so it understands all the environment variables that snarf does. This includes:
  • SNARF_PROXY
  • HTTP_PROXY
  • FTP_PROXY
  The format is typically protocol://host:port/, e.g.:

      export SNARF_PROXY=http://proxy:3128/
  

  for a fairly default configuration. A proxy using authentication should be able to be used with protocol://userid:password@host:port/, e.g.:

      export SNARF_PROXY=http://my_id:my_passwd@proxy:3128/
  

  
  
• 4.3 Can the Loki Update Tool be used without X?
  
  
  Yes, loki_update can be launched when X is not running, but currently only in a non-interactive mode. (There is also a library dependency, see below.) You will need to specify the product name on the command-line, e.g.:

      loki_update tribes2
  

  The available product names are:
  • loki_demos
  • loki_update
  • loki_uninstall
  • civctp
  • descent3
  • eus
  • heretic2
  • hg2
  • myth2
  • rt2
  • sc3u
  • sof
  • tribes2

  Note that loki_update currently depends on three X libraries: libXi.so.6, libXext.so.6, and libX11.so.6. These dependencies will be removed in a future version, but in the meantime an installation of those client libraries should be enough to allow loki_update to launch on systems entirely devoid of X.

  
  
• 4.4 Can I tell the Loki Update Tool to use a different temporary path to store the downloaded files?
  
  
  Yes. Use the --tmppath option, e.g.:

      loki_update --tmppath /path/to/somewhere/with/space/
  

  This will use the specified directory to store the temporary files. (The default location is ~/.loki/loki_update/tmp).

  You may also use the TMPDIR environment variable.

  (This feature was fixed in 1.0.10.)

  
  
• 4.5 It's not finding some of my games when it looks, how can I fix that?
  
  
  Usually, this is because the games are earlier versions, and they are not installed in one of the automatically probed directories: /usr/games/, /usr/local/games/, /home/, /home/games/, /opt/, /opt/games/

  If you have the games installed somewhere else (for this example, /mygames/ is used), you can launch loki_update from inside that directory and the games will be found. For example:

      cd /mygames
      loki_update
  

  Doing a scan of the entire hard-drive has been suggested in the past, but for obvious reasons, it is impractical and, in many cases, problematic -- with Linux mounting everything into a single filesystem, a search could (theoretically) bog down a large network using NIS+ if not very carefully pruned. Since we offer the ability to launch it from within the directory in which the games are installed, it should cover all bases at this point.

  If the games have been patched with loki_update-compatible patches (or the games were released after loki_update was introduced), they will have a .manifest directory. This is a very important directory, as it stores the product version and paths to the associated files. Information from this directory is sym-linked to the installing user's ~/.loki/installed/ directory.

  If this symbolic link is lost, or the installing user's ~/.loki/installed/ directory becomes inaccurate, loki_update can be run this way:

      loki_update /path/to/game/to/restore
  

  and loki_update will refresh ~/.loki/installed/ for that particular product.
  
  
• 4.6 Is it possible to download the updates without loki_update?
  
  
  Yes. All of the new patches are in pub/updates/ on our ftp site (ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/pub/updates/) and the various mirrors. You can download the patches by hand and apply them, or you can download all the updates for a given product, burn them onto a CD, and use the --update_url switch to use the CD's contents to update your Loki programs.
  
  
• 4.7 Is it possible to tell the Loki Update Tool to not delete the patch after downloading and applying?
  
  
  At present, the way to do this is to uncheck the "Quick-update" button, and after the download (but before the update), copy the file from ~/.loki/loki_update/tmp (or whatever alternate temporary directory you specified) to some safe location.
  
  

5. Source

• 5.1 Can I get the source to the Loki Update Tool?
  
  
  loki_update is an Open Source project, and you can get the source from http://www.lokigames.com/development/loki_update.php3

  You will also need setupdb

  Both are available from the Loki CVS server (http://cvs.lokigames.com/)

  Building the tool from source is not supported, and the Loki Update Tool will not be able to update itself automatically. If you choose to install loki_update this way, you will need to keep it current yourself.

  
  
• 5.2 I just want to use it, should I build from source?
  
  
  Probably not. This is not because we don't want people to look at the source. However, if you build the binary yourself, you will not be able to take advantage of the self-updating features (since the patches only work against our released binaries).

  If you want to look at how it was done, or make your own personal tweaks, please do so! Just be aware that you will need to manually update your copy from source whenever we release a patch (if you want to stay current).

  
  

6. Contact

• 6.1 How do I report a bug?
  
  
  Please visit our publicly accessible bug database (http://fenris.lokigames.com/) and post a bug report. Be sure to first check the list of known bugs and fixes/patches.
  
  
• 6.2 How can I receive technical support?
  
  
  We support our products by e-mail (preferred) and phone. Phone support is available by calling (714) 508-2140 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.
  
  

Support inquries should be addressed to support@lokigames.com.
FAQ's maintained by faqs@lokigames.com.