Kubuntu and Wine

[pongolo]

I have run into a few problems in getting applications to work with Kubuntu. I'm running Kubuntu 9.04 and Wine 1.1.23.

If installing an application, I get errors during the process and the installation is aborted (Installshield script error, etc). If just running certain executables, the Wine Loader shows up in the task bar but the disappears after a few seconds without the application running.

I was able to install Call Of Duty 2 in an Ubuntu virtualbox under my Kubuntu box and it installed without any problems. I have deleted the .wine folder and also tried using WINEPREFIX with the same results. Notepad does work.

I am wondering if I am missing some files or packages needed to properly run Wine on Kubuntu. I have uninstalled and reinstalled wine with the same results. Can anyone let me know if there are additional packages needed to run Wine under Kubuntu as opposed to Ubuntu? I have asked over on the Wine forums but didn't get many details on how to try to fix it.

If the only difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu is the desktop interface, why is it that I can install the program under Ubuntu but not under Kubuntu? I have tried the installation on a friend's Kubuntu with the same results.

Thanks,
Freddie

[KeithZG]

Re: Kubuntu and Wine

My first assumption is Desktop Effects. Try disabling them (I think alt-shift-f12 toggles most of them) and running the program in Wine then. If that doesn't work, just install something like Fluxbox, Openbox or LXDE, then in KDE go "Switch User" from the menu, and then start a new session (making sure in KDM to have the session set to Flux/Openbox or LXDE, depending on what you installed). Now you should have two sessions open on your computer, one with your normal KDE session and onewith a far more barebones desktop environment. You'll be able to switch between the two with ctrl-alt-f# (for example your original session should be ctrl-alt-f7). If CoD2 runs in an Ubuntu VirtualBox session then it *should* run there. Neither Fluxbox nor Openbox take up any more space than a PDF or an MS Word document, and LXDE isn't much bigger, so they're worth having around even just to test things like this.

The other fear might be that it's your actual graphics card/drivers that are the problem, which would also explain why it works in VirtualBox since it's running in some ways a different rendering path.

But no, there aren't any different dependencies that Kubuntu has instead of Ubuntu as far as Wine goes. If there were then they should have been pulled in during the install process anyways. I would ask, though, what version are you running? If I remember correctly, one of the most recent weekly releases had some fixes for KDE. I really don't run Wine in KDE4 much so I can't say for certain (for the few times I have to run Windows-native programs it tends to be on my main desktop which is still 8.04LTS/KDE3.5.10) but it might be worth it for you if you just installed Wine from the main repos to add the official Wine *buntu repo and upgrade from there: http://www.winehq.org/download/deb

[dibl]

Re: Kubuntu and Wine

If the only difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu is the desktop interface, ....

To amplify Keith's answer, which is correct, this "only difference" is perhaps a bigger deal than you imagine. Ubuntu uses the Gnome Display Manager (GDM) and Kubuntu uses the K Display Manager (KDM), and they operate somewhat differently. So everything that works great, visually, in Ubuntu does not necessarily do so well in Kubuntu, and vice-versa. Window managers and window decorations and all kinds of visual stuff ends up performing differently.

[pongolo]

Re: Kubuntu and Wine


Thanks for all the info. I'll try the suggestions I've received here and report back on whether any worked.

Thanks again,
Freddie

[pongolo]

Re: Kubuntu and Wine

Here's the latest...

I moved the Call of Duty 2 installation (.wine folder) from the Ubuntu virtualbox to the native Kubuntu and tried starting the game. The audio played but no video. I quit the program and tried adding some code I found on the web to get COD2 working to one of the .wine config files. That helped to get the intro sequence but I did not get the menus after the intro. I looked at my hardware drivers and had not realized that the Nvidia drivers were not active. I activated the driver and restarted and was able to run COD2. It runs very well, even at the highest resolution.

Next, I tried installing Battlefield 1942 but the program aborted during the first checks on installation. I saw that a new version of wine was recently released and I upgraded to wine 1.1.24. I tried installing Battlefield 1942 and did not run into any problems. The installation started fine. Unfortunately I do not have enough space left on /home to install it but I got much farther than the previous attempts. I believe it probably would have installed without any issues.

It appears that I had a video driver problem coupled with some other problem with the previous release of wine (1.1.23). All seems to work now.

Thanks again for all your help,
Freddie