Notices

All three files from each dictionary are in .stardict/dic/ and I changed the permissions to -rwx-r-xr-- using chmod 755 * in dic directory.

Still, when I start QStarDict and go to config., there are no dictionaries listed.

Please advise.

Here is how I installed dictionaries without any hassle of unpacking on a PC and transferring files manually as almost all how-to's on talk.maemo.org suggest you to do - which is really unnecessary, the N900 is a full-fledged computer after all!

The necessary information is in fact contained in the wiki page that is opened in the browser when you go to Menu/Help in qstardict, except for one minor complication if the file is bz2-compressed:

Menu/Help directs you to this wiki page: http://wiki.qstardict.ylsoftware.com...s_installation
If you follow the link to dictionary sites, you will probably start downloading dictionaries from e.g.
http://stardict.sourceforge.net/Dict...w.dict.org.php
Download what is called "tarballs" to get files of the form dictionary.tar.gz or dictionary.tar.bz2. With the former, the instructions in the wiki are sufficient and can be carried out by just opening the XTerminal. First go to the directory where you downloaded to by
(if you chose "Documents" when saving your downloaded file). By typing in "ls" you can have a look at the files and how they are called.
Then do
(only needed the first time you install a dictionary) followed by
(where "dictionary" should be replaced by the actual name of the dictionary/-ies that you downloaded.

However, with the more common tarballs of the form dictionary.tar.bz2
you should do the following instead of the tar command given in the wiki, because the "j" option for tar is not implemented in Maemo:
For this you need to have the "bzip2" package installed, which is in nokia-applications. It was already installed in my case, perhaps brought in by some other app. To install it yourself from XTerminal, in case it's missing, you need to have the "rootsh" app installed, which allows you to do
.
If you've successfully installed one such dictionary, repeat the two-line "bunzip2 ..., tar ..." stanza for any further one you find on the web. This can also be done in one line:
Finally, to enable/disable dictionaries, go to Menu/Config->Dictionaries in qstardict. "V" stands for a check mark for activated dictionaries, "0" for disabled ones, and to change that you have to click on the tiny blob at the start of a line.

as noted before, pc transfer stuff had all kinds of ownership and privilege issues with the files.

ok, since we have the all mighty N900 let do all there.

bunzip2 is not installed, can't find it anywere, and
sudo apt-get install bzip2 asks for password.

what a mess just to install a dictionary!

You need "eSpeak Speech synthesizer" app for that.

wow.. i wish the app gets an update that makes it a bit easier to get dictionaries on it

I noticed that some dictionaries and encyclopedias have .jpg files for pics. Do these go into the same DIR as the dictionary files?

Have you installed "rootsh" as I said was necessary for the "sudo ..." command?

I think qstardict should install bzip2 automatically, and also the wiki page should add a line to tell Maemo users about bunzip2. I'll suggest that through a bug report.

rebhana: Your instructions are all very nice BUT ...

1. All this MUST BE AUTOMATED for all us commoner (non-Linux geeks) users.

2. User selects dictionary(ies), pushes "Download" and everything gets uncompressed and installed wherever it needs to be on the N900. (QStarDict installer should automatically create the needed directories!) All necessary actions MUST BE available from within QStarDict program as it is operating -- user wants a new dictionary s/he is sent AUTOMATICALLY by QStarDict to correct web presence to search for that dictionary, to download it, and to have it AUTOMATICALLY placed in his/her N900.

Works just fine that way on the now-ancient Sharp Zaurii.

(Will OS2008 work correctly on the N900? Much more useful for us business-oriented worker-bees! Or could Nokia actually come up with something phone-cum-PDA for us non-kids?)

Oh, come on. You make it sound like you've never downloaded anything to anywhere! How hard is it to download a file, extract its compressed contents, and put those files in a folder on another device? That's all there is to it! There is no "geekines" required!

Unless you are a grandma whose complete extent of computer usage is clicking the "Go onto the Internet" button on her AOL browser...

You missed my point: WHY is all this not AUTOMATED? Most of us users do not needa to create directories especially .directoryname ones. Why the dot? Why can't you locate the directory unless you already know it's there. That's geek stuff! We are merely users. We like that Linux stays running unlike the M$ OS. Why can't QStarDict merely be directed to an existing directory where the dictionaries are already stored -- why MUST they be in this obscure, unique directory?

I am NOT speaking for myself -- I can do all that stuff, have done it. Folks who get these elaborate Nokia devices from Amazon most probably don't even know what Linux is! Make things as easy and simple as possible for THEM! Nokia wants to sell the things without having to put up with hassles created by lazy app writers. Don't you, Nokia????