Links Corner Forum

I'll keep dabbling along with this machine (Intel Core2 Duo T7800, an old Dell XPS laptop) and maybe will get Links running at some point. I've got 4GB ram and installed a 500 GB SSD. That keeps it running okay with Linux and (hardly ever dual-booted) Win 7, which was an upgrade from Vista that came with the machine. The video card has given me grief for years (GeForce 8600M GT) and i even had to reflow it once using a heat gun! A bit of a scary 'repair', but it worked for me.
https://j0hn88.wordpress.com/2015/05/08 ... 30-laptop/

Good to see you back Armand

Armand...Armand...is that you???!!!
Sorry about those Stamps!

Similar sort of Vintage to the machine I started with this time round, Linux runs reasonable well on it, no worse than XP did in the day. That machine though has broken USB ports and has a bit of damage so is only good for a crash and burn test machine.

For a desktop I am using a Gen 3 i3 so still no powerhouse, but with a SSD, Linux and Links is running pretty well.

I have had trouble with one course crashing under Linux/Wine/Links, but it seems by using the Direct3D fix this is resolved.

Adelade wrote: ↑September 2nd, 2024, 7:12 pm Good to see you back Armand

Thanks, Adelade.
I'm pleasantly surprised that there are still courses being made, and because so, I decided to update my spreadsheet (over 3 days) - not really sure why I need it to be updated to current, to be honest!

Jimbo wrote: ↑September 3rd, 2024, 1:58 am Armand...Armand...is that you???!!!
Sorry about those Stamps!

Yes it's me Jimbo. I retired a year ago and slowly am getting back to PG and Links. I desperately need to update some computers to do that very effectively, though.

Stamps?!? I'm very happy they lost!! I grew up and lived near/in Edmonton until I was 38, so I'll always cheer for the the Esks, oops, Elks (the move to Calgary in 2006 was for a work/career change). Thankfully, the Elks finally seem to be turning the corner from the past several years - they were tough.

dwg wrote: ↑September 3rd, 2024, 9:12 am Similar sort of Vintage to the machine I started with this time round, Linux runs reasonable well on it, no worse than XP did in the day. That machine though has broken USB ports and has a bit of damage so is only good for a crash and burn test machine.

For a desktop I am using a Gen 3 i3 so still no powerhouse, but with a SSD, Linux and Links is running pretty well.

I have had trouble with one course crashing under Linux/Wine/Links, but it seems by using the Direct3D fix this is resolved.

My first attempt to get Links running resulted in an error regarding the software rasterizer. I might have use the CDs to install on Linux rather than the downloaded version, but at this point, I might just resort to dual-booting (at least until I upgrade the computer).

I've used the original CDs for my installations, I do not have the downloaded version. The installation on Linux was much the same as on Windows with just a couple of detours due to using wine.

Just for information, I am finding Links to be inconsistent on Linux.

Some courses will crash when using certain video GPUs other courses will crash on others. I have a mixture of Intel and Nvidia GPUs. I can get the wrapper to work on one system fairly consistently but only intermittently on the other, no rhyme or reason as to the why. I have also had a course being problematic on a system with the wrapper, lots of video corruption and ultimately a crash.

I do not actually need the wrapper for Links to load and run on either Nvidia or Intel GPUs, and both display translucent shadows, it all comes down to reliability and it is not there yet.

Perhaps later versions of Wine will help or later versions of the wrapper, I have tried a very recent version of the wrapper, but water was not displayed correctly, no reflections just a solid light blue.

I haven't had a chance to look into Links under Wine/Linux yet (maybe later today?); I guess I'm only trying to get it running under Linux to see if I can make a permanent switch from Windows. There are a few other programs that just aren't quite like the Windows applications, so it would take a *ton* of relearning to get up to speed - I'm thinking Excel and especially macros, where LibreOffice/OpenOffice use a completely different macro system. My simple macros import and work fine, but many of my more complex ones I can't easily get to work! I think the best I might be able to accomplish is dual boot, which then I would just install Links in the Windows environment/drive/partition.

Microsoft got us by the balls eh?

Sage......

sagevanni wrote: ↑October 1st, 2024, 4:11 pm Microsoft got us by the balls eh?

Sage......

Hehehe ... after nearly 40 years of using MS software, they pretty much do!