HOW-TO: Install FrostWire P2P Client

**cstudent** · December 18th, 2005

This How-To will explain how to install the P2P client called FrostWire, which is a free substitute to LimeWire.

Enter code via the terminal (Applications>>Accessories>>Terminal). This how-to assumes you are using Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop.

New deb file available from FrostWire.

FrostWire now has a deb file available for download. It seems to work pretty well. To install FrostWire using this deb file you'll first need to download it from the FrostWire download page. Click here to go to that page.

Once you have to deb file downloaded you need to open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where you downloaded the file. Then just enter the command below to install FrostWire.

Code:

sudo dpkg -i FrostWire-4.10.9-1-i586.deb

The file listed above was current at the time this was written. You'll want to change the file name to the one you downloaded if yours is different.

Original How-To Instructions:

For those who like a more hands-on approach to installing software can use the original how-to instructions below. Except for having to remove the sinqle quotes in the first example, you should be able to copy and paste each line in the terminal.

First start by getting the zip file for FrostWire. (Remove the single quotes at each end. I had to use them to get the full path to show up.)

Code:

'wget http://voxel.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/frostwire/FrostWire-4.10.9-1-AnyOS.zip'

If you get an error that the file can not be found to download, there may be a new version available. Click here to go to the FrostWire download page and download the current version listed as AnyOS.zip.

Next extract the zip file to the /opt directory and change permissions. You will be prompted for your password.

Code:

sudo unzip -u FrostWire-4.10.9-1-AnyOS.zip -d /opt/
sudo chown -R root:root /opt/FrostWire/

Now add a little script in the /usr/bin/ directory. First open our scipt file in the text editor.

Code:

sudo gedit /usr/bin/runFrostWire.sh

Now enter the script code into the text editor that opened.

Code:

cd /opt/FrostWire/
java -jar FrostWire.jar

Save and close the text editor.

Now let's make it executable for everyone.

Code:

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/runFrostWire.sh

Now we need to add a menu item to our applications menu. Again we are going to use the text editor to write a script.

Code:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/FrostWire.desktop

Now we enter our code in the text editor.

Code:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=FrostWire
GenericName=Free P2P Gnutella client
Comment=Search and share all kinds of files on the Gnutella network
Exec=/usr/bin/runFrostWire.sh
Icon=/opt/FrostWire/FrostWire.ico
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Network;

Save and close the file.

That should be it. Go to your Applications menu and look under Internet. You should see an entry for FrostWire. Click on it and fire it up!

Hope this is of use to some people. Thanks to Arnieboy and the old Unofficial 5.04 Guide for showing me how to do this. If any errors are found please let me know so that I can correct them.

Thanks to ykpaiha for the chmod +x suggestion.

cstudent

Edit: Updated download file to newest version of FrostWire.

**Aeon17x** · December 22nd, 2005

For the lazy, here's something a bit shorter -

1.) If you haven't installed Java, do it now [http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthre...highlight=java]. FrostWire needs it to operate.
2.) Go to the FrostWire download page website and download the Debian/Ubuntu package. Alternatively, you can enter this in the terminal -

Code:

wget -c http://mirror1.peercommons.net/frostwire/4.10.9/FrostWire-4.10.9-2.i586.deb

3.) Now go to the folder where you downloaded the .deb, and use dpkg to install it directly.

Code:

sudo dpkg -i FrostWire-4.10.9-2.i586.deb

4.) If you did it right, you should see FrostWire at Applications > Internet.

That's it. Frostwire is based on the LimeWire code; it does everything LimeWire Pro does, except FrostWire is totally free and wouldn't be restricted in the future. 8)

**joshuapurcell** · December 27th, 2005

I've installed Frostwire but the systemtray icon is not working. In the application options, the icon is set to visible and the default shutdown behavior is "Minimize to System Tray.' Should this option work? I'm using version 4.9.37.

**cstudent** · December 29th, 2005

Updated the download link to the newest version of FrostWire that was released 12-27-05.

**meborc** · December 29th, 2005

i believe automatix also supports frostwire installation... or was i just h*gh when i got it installed

**cstudent** · December 29th, 2005

Originally Posted by meborc

i believe automatix also supports frostwire installation... or was i just h*gh when i got it installed

Yes, Automatix does support FrostWire installation. I don't know if Arnieboy has updated his package to include the newer version. This How-To also serves the purpose of showing those new to Linux a way to install software outside the repositories. And there are those that do not wish to use Automatix, although I'm not one of them. I think Automatix is a great tool. I realize there are a number of ways to install software packages. You are free to install FrostWire any way you like.

**akniss** · January 15th, 2006

what's the CLI command to run frostwire after I get it installed? I'm running XFCE and would like to start it up from the command line.

**Dr Von Bon Bon** · January 15th, 2006

While we're talking about Frostwire,

I installed it through automatix yet nothing happens when I try to open it.

Does anyone know what to do please so I can get it working?

Thanks

**cstudent** · January 15th, 2006

Originally Posted by akniss

what's the CLI command to run frostwire after I get it installed? I'm running XFCE and would like to start it up from the command line.

From the directory in which Frostwire is installed:

Code:

java -jar FrostWire.jar

Otherwise, insert the path to Frostwire if you start it from another directory. In the case of my installation:

Code:

java -jar /opt/FrostWire/FrostWire.jar

**cstudent** · January 15th, 2006

Originally Posted by Dr Von Bon Bon

While we're talking about Frostwire,

I installed it through automatix yet nothing happens when I try to open it.

Does anyone know what to do please so I can get it working?

Thanks

If it starts and hangs during the splash screen, it is usually an indication that you do not have the version of Java it wants. Do you have Sun's jre1.5 installed? That is the one it wants. Automatix can install that for you too.