Win(e)SPMBT under Linux. (Ubuntu 7.10)

[maniak]

Hi,
I really like WinSPMBT and tried many times to run it under Linux. For those who experience the same problems (missing mouse cursor, no sound, random crashes) as I do when using the WineAppDb instructions, I have some additional tips for you to get rid of these problems, plus I decided to show how to compile & configure Wine for WinSPMBT from scratch on an up-to-date Ubuntu 7.10 system. This is a bit of a quick&dirty work, and please excuse my English. I assume you already have a bit of linux knowledge. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

1. You need wine-0.9.43 in order to run WinSPMBT. There are no binaries for you. Go to sourceforge.net and search for Wine. Then search for the source packages in the download section. You will see a small section "Look for older packages" or something like that...download v0.9.43.
Untar it.

2. You need to patch mouse.c in the right spot as shown in the WinSPMBT WineAppDb. Do this properly and don't forget to save the file, otherwise: no visible mouse for you!

3. Open a terminal, and navigate to the newly made folder.

4. Compile it. A very common setup is, done in the shown order:

./configure --enable-opengl --disable-lib --disable-debug
make depend
make CFLAGS="-O2"
sudo checkinstall

Notes: The character O is not the character zero . CFLAGS is an optional optimization setting.
You need some build tools, for ubuntu this is the package build-essential.
Furthermore you need the following packages: fontforge libfreetype6-dev libasound2-dev xlibs-dev bison flex checkinstall

5. After this loooooooooooong process , you can finally configure wine.

Execute winecfg. Under "libraries" tab override quartz.dll and devenum.dll (shown without .dll) to NATIVE only. Then replace the "fake" builtin quartz&devenum dlls in the wine windows/system32 folder with the REAL ones. Either you download those, or you copy them from your windows installation. Make sure you get the right quartz.dll, if you don't copy it from your windows, download this file from dllfiles.com, and no other source (won't work/malignant). On devenum.dll: It is not very important where you obtain it from.

NOTE: These files are actually property of Microsoft, so be aware of the possible illegality of downloading them to your computer in your jurisdiction. Better copy them from your Windows installation. I did this, and it works.

In the sound settings, use the option "emulation" in the drop-down box. If you don't choose this option, sound won't work.

For the graphics tab choose "Allow Direct X apps..." and disable "Allow the window manager...". The window manager setting is very important for actually seeing the mouse. Also disable any virtual desktop settings.

6. Install your Win(e)SPMBT using Wine. Happy Gaming!

NOTE: If you dont think the mouse is there, move it to the window edge (decoration) and it should appear if you set the Window Manager option in winecfg right. Refer to above.
You can go fullscreen, GDI/DirectX, and all, but if the game freezes, you're stuck because you dont have the linux window manager managing WinSPMBT. Keep that in mind. Maybe you'll have some workspaces left, then you can close WinSPMBT with the task manager, or you'll kill WinSPMBT in a virtual terminal. (CTRL+ALT+F1-6, usually).

Have a good day!