Links and Linux

[dwg]

I just received notification that a Links crash I reported to the Wine folks has been fixed in Wine 10.

This may mean that some of the Wine settings I have used to resolve issues may no longer be required.

I will hold off positing my write up until I can have a look at the new version.

[dwg]

Yes they have fixed one issue, it caused black patches appears on courses and in parts of the top view. I am still seeing a hang but do have a work around.

A graphics driver has been updated so I retested, I am now seeing a crash after the hang, so have reported this as well.

I am only seeing this with Intel GPUs not Nvidia and as I said do have a workaround.

So progress is being made and in any case I do have workable Links 2003 installations on Linux.

Des

[Anguis]

Thanks for getting this thread going. It prompted me to give my install on Linux Mint another try - it works! I'd put off trying to get Links working in Linux after repeated failures, revisiting every once in a while with no luck, just crashes when firing up a course. The WineDB entry was tough to understand.

I'm getting occasional crashes after a few holes in certain courses. I'll pay more attention and try to discern a pattern. I'm also getting light blue for reflective water. I'm running Wine 8.0 - hopefully, 10 will really stop the crashes.

You've inspired me to contribute to the Wine system. Links has been a Linux "Holy Grail" program, for me. It's been the only program that's kept me holding on to Windows.

Now, to find out how to get Links up and running on my Steam Deck!

[dwg]

Ensure you have the "Nvidia" patch installed, This patch also fixes a generic reflective water issue no matter what HBA/GPU. This is one issue that can cause a crash, often within a few holes of the "blue" reflective water.

I have been testing using Wine 9.x and Wine 10. There is one fix for Links so far in Wine 10 rc1, it does not fix everything, it does address a common specific crash.

I have had Links running both with and without the wrapper, my preference is without.

I am interested in knowing what courses Links hangs or crashes on. Also what sort of GPU is in the machine, would it by chance be an embedded Intel GPU?

If it is I do have a workaround that I would not mind testing known crashing courses with. So far when using it I have not had any more crashes, my ultimate goal would be to not have to use any workarounds. I am monitoring the Wine 10 releases to see if there are any more fixes.

The WineDB entry could do with having a lot more info in it.

Des

[Anguis]

Ensure you have the "Nvidia" patch installed, This patch also fixes a generic reflective water issue no matter what HBA/GPU. This is one issue that can cause a crash, often within a few holes of the "blue" reflective water.

I have been testing using Wine 9.x and Wine 10. There is one fix for Links so far in Wine 10 rc1, it does not fix everything, it does address a common specific crash.

I have had Links running both with and without the wrapper, my preference is without.

I am interested in knowing what courses Links hangs or crashes on. Also what sort of GPU is in the machine, would it by chance be an embedded Intel GPU?

If it is I do have a workaround that I would not mind testing known crashing courses with. So far when using it I have not had any more crashes, my ultimate goal would be to not have to use any workarounds. I am monitoring the Wine 10 releases to see if there are any more fixes.

The WineDB entry could do with having a lot more info in it.

Des

Thanks for the nVidia patch tip - I applied it and now have reflective water! My GPU is ATI, didn't know it'd help. Attached is a screenshot of my Links-reported system info. OS is LMDE 6, all current as far as I know. Holes 2 and 3 at Crystal Pines tested - reflective water, no crashes. I'll play some more and see about crashes.

Edit: I don't know what the "Wrapper" is, not sure I have it installed (it's been a long time since I installed Links on this thing, all patched up, iirc, but mostly dormant for years on this Linux box). I believe it's just Links patched to 1.07 plus the Nvidia patch.

[dwg]

The Nvidia patch, as the name implies, was primary to resolve a crash with Nvidia HBAs. But there was a short reference on one of the threads at the time that an issue was found with reflective water so that fix was rolled into this patch as well.

I have not performed any testing with ATI HBAs. I have a couple of quite old ATIs, however I have had problems with them on recent versions of Mint just getting them to work so swapped it out at the time for an equally old Nvidia. Since then I have had a change in available computer systems.

I'm interested in any feedback with ATI/AMD graphics with Linux and Links. I am looking to add any info I can to my install document which I intend to release here. I'm expecting that they will be treated similarly to Nvidia in the Linux environment, with potentially the embedded Intel GPUs being the odd man out.

If you had installed the wrapper on Linux you would remember it :)

At the simplest level it provides support for old versions of DirectX on newer Operating Systems, most commonly Windows. From memory Links uses DirectX 7.

On Linux this is one of the things that Wine provides, of course Wine does a lot more. I wanted to prove that the wrapper can work on Links in case Wine is missing something, or something does not work correctly and thus it could be used as a solution.

From where I sit I think Wine alone works better, I have not seen the wrapper solve any problems I have found, rather I have had better results with setting parameters in Wine.

At the moment it sounds like your system is working OK using Wine's defaults. That is perfectly fine. I found with my Nvidia while it was working there was an error in what is was being reported as (same family wrong HBA). So I worked out how to set it. Nvidia can also require a specific setting in Wine, I have not seen any similar types of references with ATI/AMD hardware.

[dwg]

I tried the HD version of Crystal Pines on My Linux Notebook using the embedded Intel GPU. I did not see any problems.

[Anguis]

Several holes at several courses tested - everything running rock-solid, zero crashes (still on Wine 8.0). Skimming the forums, seeing folks having issues with Windows - it'd be hilarious if dual-booting with Linux turns out to be a great solution!

[dwg]

Links is looking good on my Linux Notebook, and is working well, it is less so on my Linux desktop, but that is really because that machine could do with a bit more horsepower, it is a Gen 3 i3, Links is quite playable but it is a bit slower.

I have had Links running on Windows 10 and have it running on Windows 11 without problem, but using the wrapper software in that platform.

I'm happy to use either platform, but I see Linux as providing another option and that was my goal. I really wanted to be able to use Links on both of my Notebooks, one Linux, one Windows.

[dwg]

I have completed a pass of my notes on installing Links 2003 on Linux. I have attached it here as a PDF file.

Links has been running reliably under Linux with the courses I have tried.