Wine has done nothing for me....
 

I am extremely desperate for someone to explain to me why i can't download any games, wallpapers ANYTHING onto my linux Acer netbook. A friend downloaded Ubuntu months ago and then i downloaded a suitable version of wine. Am i just being incredibly stupid? cos i thought i could now download windows applications and stuff. I am really annoyed that everytime i try to download ANYTHING my netbook says an error occured and it could not find certain files and stuff to support the software i want. I am rubbish on computers and really am getting frustrated.. Please help me!!! I need help in the most simplist of terminology as i can't understand much about computers at-all!! Thanx!xxx

Welcome to LQ!!

I suggest that you give us some specific examples, and tell us exactly what you did, what were the error messages, etc.

WINE is quite mature, but will not run everything. You might also be interested in CrossOver (the paid version of WINE). there is a version specifically for games and they have a free trial period. http://codeweavers.com

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

'WINE' wiki may help you.

These links will aid you in the future;

Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Linux Newbie Admin Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux

The above links and others available from 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Plus look at the next two links;

The only thing I've tried to run using Wine is Grand Theft Auto 2. It worked, but was very slow and choppy. Using Windows XP, it ran fine on my computer. It could have more problems than that, really, I didn't play it for long since it was so slow. :(

This is what happens when i try to download something!!!!
 

This is an example of what happens EVERYTIME i wanna download something- this is a "magic waterfall" wallpaper and i am at a complete loss as to what im doing wrong PLEASE HELP ME!!!!


[/home/kiri/Desktop/Download_ad_Amazing_Waterfall_TRIAL.exe]
End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
the last disk(s) of this archive.
zipinfo: cannot find zipfile directory in one of /home/kiri/Desktop/Download_ad_Amazing_Waterfall_TRIAL.exe or
/home/kiri/Desktop/Download_ad_Amazing_Waterfall_TRIAL.exe.zip, and cannot find /home/kiri/Desktop/Download_ad_Amazing_Waterfall_TRIAL.exe.ZIP, period.

I know that it can be a bit frustrating but please, understand that this is software designed for Windows, and not for Linux. Wine will not always work, and when it works, it will almost never be a flawless experience. When seeking for help about wine, try to concentrate on *one* problem at a time, post us with the exact commands or steps you used, if possible just copy/paste the command you typed and the output. Approximations or vague descriptions will not help use to help you.

I have downloaded that wallpaper thing you talked about, then I ran it on command line using wine:

The installer popped in after a few seconds and I was able to install it. Some minor error dialogs but nothing serious. It installed into "~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/EleFun\ Desktops/Animated\ Wallpapers/Amazing\ Waterfall/". There's the .exe file, inside that directory, however when I try to run it, it doesn't seem to work.

I am inclined to think that it will not work, and however, I am not sure that an animated wallpaper would make any sense under wine at all. It would run into either an independent window or into a virtual desktop depending on how wine is configured. It would require some tinkering to get it working. You would need to configure your desktop environment (your window manager more concretely) to pain that window without borders, and on the botton of the window stack. And that would mean that you wouldn't be able to reach whatever lies in your true desktop (icons, trash can, gadgets of any kind...). Not to speak about the waste of cpu and resources in general.

Last, but not least, if you truly are trying to run 400 windows programs in Linux, I advise you to use Windows instead. There's no sense in using linux if all you are going to run are windows programs, just like it's not logical to buy an xbox if you like playstation games.

I can't even download Linux software!
 

My netbook doesn't even allow me to download any linux software! am i right in thinking there is something wrong with it?:banghead:

Nope, unless your netbook has a brain on its own and hates the concept of open source software :p

Instead of assuming things, try to describe what the actual problem is. What did you do? Where did you go? What are you using to download your stuff? What happens? Errors? Is the network working at all? Can you access the internet using a browser like firefox?

Just saying that it doesn't download linux software sounds, to say the least, a bit weird. And tells us nothing about what the real problem might be.

Im completely computer ignorant!
 

because i find computer jargon goes way over my head i will try to explain what is happening the best way i can. Ok here goes.
I use firefox as my web browser and when i try to download files my computer automatically uses ARCHIVE MANAGER. for example i wanted a game called Duckshooter from a website called Bestshareware.net. When i click the button saying DOWNLOAD a pop-up box comes up saying exactly:
You have chosen to open:
duckshooter_lin.tgz
from http://fs.absolutist.com
What should firefox do with this file?
:open with Archive manager?
:save file?
i click ok to open with the archive manager

Then i wait until the download is finished and i click the icon when it is done. Tha is when the errors i described previously(above) occur... whats happening?:scratch:

how do you try to download it? what browser do you use or do you use 'wget'? if your internet connection works than you can download it.

could you please explain what you do after you boot to linux. the download procedure is pretty much the same as on windows. please elaborate.

First, open your Firefox.
Next, at the top of the page select edit.
In the drop down menu select preferences at the bottom of the list.
When that window opens make sure the tab that is titled Main is selected at the top of that window.
About halfway down that window is a caption that says Downloads.
Make sure there is a check mark in the box next to "show downloads when downloading".
Two lines below that is where you select where to have your downloads go.
Make sure you have clicked the little box to it so it comes to pass.
Directly to the right of that selection at the end of the line is a box that says browse.
Click it.
Now select "desktop" from that window.
Now at the lower right hand corner is a box that says "close"
Click it and close the preferences wndow out the same way.
Now when you download, don't select open with window manager.
Select save instead.
This gives you more control over what happens with the package you are trying to get installed to your system.
If whatever you download is a windows based, you can right click on it and select "open with".
When the following drop down window opens, select wine.
If Wine is not a listed option, at the top of the menu is an open space
That should have your cursor blinking in it.
Simply type wine into that space and select ok at the bottom of the window.
With your level of experience, any Linux applications you decide you want should come from whatever is available in your repository.
I think you implied you use Ubuntu and I think Ubuntu uses synaptic, so whatever you can find in synaptic.

Concerning Wine:
Wine flat will not run everything Windows based.
One can fiddle with wine and add some windows dll's to the wine dll folder and get some things to work that don't already.
The problem is which dll is it to use
The next problem is, most likely it won't be a dll one can surf and find on the net.
You can find almost any dll legally on the net, but a lot will be worthless.
The dll need's to be copied from an already running legal windows box that you can access so you know it's a good dll.
It's not illegal, so it doesn't violate any EULA's.
I've done this myself once with the Forex Meta Trader so I know it can be done.

Rather than grow impatient with what you have, take the time to learn about what you have.
Linux isn't any harder to run or work on than windows is and with linux, you don't have to contend with viruses, trojans, defragging etc.
After you have spent some time learning how things work, IMHO, Linux is actually easier.

Right, now I get a much clearer picture of the problem you are having.

You should rather try to save the file, instead of directly opening it with your archive manager. And after having it in your desktop or wherever you are storing the downloads, try to open it and see what's inside. This is not different from Windows really. When you download a zip file you can find anything inside of it, so you first download it, then open it and look inside.

You should probably be looking for a README or INSTALL file inside the compressed file. Sometimes there can be binary files (programs or any kind). Some other times these files will contain source code that you need to compile to produce the program that you can run.

For your info, tgz, tar.gz or tar.bz2 files are compressed files, and are usually called "tarballs". Kind of like zip or rar files in windows, though not exactly the same, but for now that oversimplified description will do.

i'll try to take a look at that game if I find it and report back anyway.


Edited: I didn't find that one, however I choose another random one from that site, and tested it instead, they all seems to be packaged in a similar fashion so it should be similar.

I downloaded this one:

http://absolutist.com/linux/bubbles/bshooter.tgz

You have to save it somewhere, after it is downloaded, open it in your archive manager, whatever that is. Just double clicking the tgz file should open it, just like you do in windows to open a zip or a rar file. There should be a folder inside that file, uncompress it to some place that you can locate after uncompressing. If you are not sure, uncompress it to your desktop.

Once it's done, open the folder that has been created in your desktop, there you should see the binary file, double click it and it should work.

On the sample game I downloaded above, inside the tgz you can see a directory called "BubbleShooter", and inside that folder, you can see a binary file called "bubbles". Launching it should run the game (a really dumb game, by the way).