AO Linux HOWTO

[Axtilmor]

I just wanted to share a method I found for dual-logging on a dual-monitor system, in case anyone runs into a similar problem.

Background
I just got a new PC, and slapped a fresh installation of Ubuntu on it. I've been running AO under Linux for a while, but I'd have to boot into Windows when I needed to dual-log (my old PC was a bit too slow to run a single AO instance smoothly under wine, let alone two). With my ATI card, I wasn't able to render 3D accelerated apps to different screens, which would've been nice. Anywho.

System

• Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackelope" (in beta, still)
• NVidia GTX 260 with the proprietary NVidia driver.
• Twinview to get multi-monitor support. My xorg.conf was generated by the NVidia-settings app that comes with the proprietary driver (System->Administration->NVidia X Server Settings or just nvidia-settings from a terminal).
• Wine 1.1.18
• ies4linux, and using ~/.ies4linux/ie6/ as my WINEPREFIX (see the end of http://forum.winehq.org/viewtopic.php?t=846

That's all of the relevant stuff that I can think of atm.

Issues
Twinview works by hiding the dual-monitor details from X. In my case of 2 * 1280x1024 screens, running xrandr reports only one resolution mode, 2560x1024. If I try to start AO in windowed mode, it kinda runs, but eventually stops working and wine reports a "no matching mode" error. The only mode that AO sees is 2560x1024.

Running AO windowed inside a 1280x1024 virtual desktop (virtual desktops can be set up in winecfg) works great for a single instance, but you end up with two AO instances on top of eachother if you try to dual. If you try to size your virtual desktop to the same size as Twinview's resolution, AO will open up in a 2560x2048 window.

Solutions
What worked for me is opening each AO instance in it's own virtual desktop, This can be done using

cd ~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/Program\ Files/Funcom/Anarchy\ Online/
env WINEPREFIX="~/.ies4linux/ie6/" wine explorer /desktop=DesktopTitle,1280x1024 Anarchy.exe

This creates a virtual desktop with the name "DesktopTitle" and resolution 1280x1024. The name of each AO instance must be unique, or they'll open in the same virtual desktop. To avoid having to type all of that crap in, I wrote a quickie bash script:

#!/bin/bash

export WINEPREFIX="/home/nick/.ies4linux/ie6/"

cd /home/nick/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/Program\ Files/Funcom/Anarchy\ Online/

`wine explorer /desktop=AnarchyOnline$1,1280x1024 Client.exe`

It appends the first command line argument to the title, so to create multiple AO instances you just have to call "./AOLaunch.sh 1", "./AOLaunch.sh 2", etc. Using gnome, the virtual desktops can be repositioned by holding ALT (by default) and dragging.

Conclusion
That works for me but, as with most WINE workarounds/fixes, it depends heavily on your hardware and installation. I also can't guarantee that it's the best solution, but it's the best that I've worked out so far. Feel free to PM me with questions, and I can try to clarify or point you to some references.

[Alexanderw]

well I've been thinking of switching over to Cedega from wine.

Done some reading and most people seem to say it has a better preformance than wine, jsut wondering if I caould get screen comparisions of apperance and such or some personal knoledge of being able to just pull my AO folder from wine to Cedega or will I need to do a freash install ?

[Hacre]

well I've been thinking of switching over to Cedega from wine.

Done some reading and most people seem to say it has a better preformance than wine, jsut wondering if I caould get screen comparisions of apperance and such or some personal knoledge of being able to just pull my AO folder from wine to Cedega or will I need to do a freash install ?

You won't need a fresh install, just point the short cut at wherever your AO is currently installed. Cedega has an AO "profile", the settings in which should suffice for the best stability.

It does perform more smoothly, particularly when dual logging. However you'll need to set up a different short cut for each additional session (they can still point at the same place, however) so that it launches a new wine server for each new process.

Appearance wise, there's little difference. I personally prefer the water effects in wine over cedega, but neither are the "same" as it is in Windows.

Copy/pasting text between your desktop and AO doesn't work in Cedega, so visiting web links etc that people have posted will be a bit of a pain.

[Alexanderw]

hum ok thats good.

now a important question

I had clicksaver working for a small bit under wine but can seem to no longer get it to work

does clicksaver work under Cedega?

I'd really love to have this tool back since it made rolling nanos for alts so much eaiser

[Hacre]

hum ok thats good.

now a important question

I had clicksaver working for a small bit under wine but can seem to no longer get it to work

does clicksaver work under Cedega?

I'd really love to have this tool back since it made rolling nanos for alts so much eaiser

I still use clicksaver with wine.

Run AO in wine and clicksaver in wine. I never got it to work with cedega. I'm sure it's possible, but was just easier with wine.

[Alexanderw]

realy any special tricks to get it working in wine ?

I had it work to roll one mission then it crapped out on me would not roll missions any more

EDIT: would have anything to do with wine only letting me play in full screen?

[Hacre]

realy any special tricks to get it working in wine ?

I had it work to roll one mission then it crapped out on me would not roll missions any more

EDIT: would have anything to do with wine only letting me play in full screen?

It does get glitchy if you play full screen. What happens when you try to play in a window? What version of wine?

The trick to clicksaver working (make sure you have the latest installed) is you absolutely -must- execute the clicksaver.exe from within the working directory of all the clicksaver files.

For example:

cd /path/to/clicksaver/files
wine ./ClickSaver.exe

Files in this directory:

AODatabase.bdb AOHook.dll
ClickSaver.exe LastSettings.cs
ReadMe.txt cs-res.log
ctreestd.dll found.wav
libdb40.dll madCodeHookLib.dll
notfound.wav roll.wav

There's a thread somewhere on the forums (search clicksaver linux) that tells you what other Windows DLLs you need for Clicksaver to function.

Also be aware that you can't build Clicksaver's database if AO is running.

[Alexanderw]

well if I try to play AO in windowed it gives me a black screen for about 10 sec and then closes with out crash report

[Hacre]

well if I try to play AO in windowed it gives me a black screen for about 10 sec and then closes with out crash report

What version of wine? What graphics card/drivers?

(output of wine --version and grep Driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf)

[Alexanderw]

using Wine 1.0 atm (mind you this has been a issue since I merged over to linux over a year ago)

using an old MX440 Nvidia 64MB

drivers and the restricted drivers for ubuntu 8.04 most upto date

[Hacre]

using Wine 1.0 atm (mind you this has been a issue since I merged over to linux over a year ago)

using an old MX440 Nvidia 64MB

drivers and the restricted drivers for ubuntu 8.04 most upto date

Can you give me the output of the above commands?

As well as dmesg | grep -i nvidia

[Alexanderw]

Can you give me the output of the above commands?

As well as dmesg | grep -i nvidia

grep Driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Driver "kbd"
Driver "mouse"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "nvidia"
Driver "nvidia"
Driver "nvidia

wine --version
wine-1.0

dmesg | grep -i nvidia
noting jsut goes back to the commad line

[Hacre]

grep Driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Driver "kbd"
Driver "mouse"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "nvidia"
Driver "nvidia"
Driver "nvidia

wine --version
wine-1.0

dmesg | grep -i nvidia
noting jsut goes back to the commad line

Hmm your xorg.conf looks messy, is there anywhere you can upload it to? http://pastebin.com/ for example.

What's the version of the nvidia drivers? Does glxgears work in a window?

What's the output of glxinfo | grep -i direct ?

[Alexanderw]

glxinfo | grep -i direct

direct rendering: Yes
direct rendering: Yes


my xorg.conf is posted http://pastebin.com/d28816e9b

I run dual monitor and have 2 mice and two keyboards set up (one for every day use the other for gaming and photo editing)

[Hacre]

glxinfo | grep -i direct

direct rendering: Yes
direct rendering: Yes


my xorg.conf is posted http://pastebin.com/d28816e9b

I run dual monitor and have 2 mice and two keyboards set up (one for every day use the other for gaming and photo editing)

Hmm, that explains the multiple Driver lines then. xorg.conf actually looks in order with that new information.

You might want to consider the possibility of building wine from cvs, or later source builds. I can't remember which version of wine it was, but windowed AO suddenly started working for me, where for the longest time it didn't.

[Alexanderw]

hum I upgraded to win 1.1.20 bata gotta see what I can get off of that

EDIT:

ok got it working under windowed... took some work with the settings and have to put it in a emulated desktop but works

[Alexanderw]

ok odd one today

went to go log onto AO today

nothings really changed since my last long on so log on client comes up and all is good upto slecting my toon and hit play then a wine error window pops up saying a serious error has occoured.

ran in terminal and don't see any thin out of the norm there... also found this happens if I click my settings as well

tried using the keyboard to nav the gui same result.

kinda stumped what to do from here seeing as I changed nothing since last log in

[Hacre]

ok odd one today

went to go log onto AO today

nothings really changed since my last long on so log on client comes up and all is good upto slecting my toon and hit play then a wine error window pops up saying a serious error has occoured.

ran in terminal and don't see any thin out of the norm there... also found this happens if I click my settings as well

tried using the keyboard to nav the gui same result.

kinda stumped what to do from here seeing as I changed nothing since last log in

rename your wine folder (.wine) in your home directory and see if the problem still occurs. Could be a file corruption somewhere.

It could also be a font, try reinstalling corefonts.

[Alexanderw]

gave both a try

didn't seem to fix the issue going to reinstall the client and se if that helps

[Alexanderw]

ok trying to get Cedega to work

installed the client opened it up logged in

set up a AO folder and pointed a short cut at my current install.... and thats where it ends

nothing happens when I select yhe shortcut and press play