Links and Linux

Having hardware or software problems related to Links? Other forum members may be able to help you here.
dwg
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Joined: July 26th, 2024, 5:59 am
Location: Australia

Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

I have Link running with some success on Linux under Wine 9.0 with the 1.07 patch.

I can run the program at a resolution of 1024 x 768 and it seems to be working fine.

The notebook has Intel 620 and Nvidia 940M chipsets but with either if I set the resolution to Widescreen 1366 x 768, i.e the notebooks native resolution, I suffer from the disappearing golfer problem.

I thought that the dgvoodoo wrapper may help, I have used that on Windows with newer Intel chipsets and 1920 x 1080 resolution running successfully, but with Linux, after putting the DLLs in the Links program folder and running their configuration program, Links still reports the Intel graphics rather than the Voodoo drivers and as expected with no change to the golfer. It seems the Voodoo DLLs are being ignored.

I have also tried the Links Nvidia patch and it made no change.

Any ideas appreciated.
dwg
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Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

I have found how to make the Voodoo driver work, alas the golfer is still disappearing.
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Adelade
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Re: Links and Linux

Post by Adelade »

In Links settings, there is "Golfer Settings" , try a few different stuff there if you havent already, especially the software/hardware lighting one.

Im not familiar at all with neither Linux nor the disappearing golfer glitch though.

In case someone else could benefit from the info in the future - what did you do to get the wrapper to work on Linux?
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dwg
Posts: 42
Joined: July 26th, 2024, 5:59 am
Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

Good suggestions, not ones I have tried, unfortunately they did not help.

Installing the wrapper is much the same as on Windows, the Links folder is just under the .wine folder, where all the windows stuff is kept, the directory structure is the same as on Windows. I did use Wine V9.0.

To allow Wine to use the wrapper drivers it is necessary to configure Wine.

1. Run winecfg, either directly or through winetricks

2. You need to add overrides for the wrapper DLLs:

Navigate to the "Libraries" tab, type the DLL file names you copied to the Links folder (without the .dll extension, you only need to type the names of DLLs you copied, click "Add", then find the added DLL names list, you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the list, select the DLL, click "Edit", then change the "Load order" to "Native"; do this for every DLL you added. Save the changes once you are done.

The wine configuration looks very much like old Windows configs in control panel for hardware/drivers so is quite familiar.

It is also necessary to load the Windows Media Player 9 under Wine. You can use Winetricks for this.

I believe I have a workable solution that makes the 'best' use of the hardware. The native screen resolution is 1366 x 768 which is where I have the problem. 1024 x 768 works but obviously is not making the best use of the system. Looking in Links and what resolutions it reports and also doesn't report I did some trial and error and Mode 5 seems to be working properly this is 1280 x 720, so it is close to native and by setting to use the full display it gets scaled slightly and fills the screen.

So far I have only tested this with the system in Nvidia mode, I have not tried Intel 620 mode, but I do know that Links is slower to start with the Intel graphics and the wrapper.

I did have Links running on Linux in 1024 x 768 mode without the wrapper, it failed at the native resolution with the golfer problem. I have not gone back and tried it at the lower 1280 x 720 resolution, it could possibly work.
dwg
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Joined: July 26th, 2024, 5:59 am
Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

FWIW I ran through the Links installation on a desktop machine with a Nvidia GT640 HBA and a 1920 x 1200 monitor running Linux Mint.

So far I have not had to install either the Links Nvidia fix nor the wrapper software and Links appears to be working fine. So I would suggest first trying Links on any Linux machine without these. In other words I have only installed Links (from CD in my case) and the 1.07 patch.

The only extra thing I installed was Windows Media Player V9, and there is an option within the Winetricks script to do that.
dwg
Posts: 42
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Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

Another FWIW

Tried loading a couple of additional golfer Anis on both Windows 11 and LInux.

While it worked on Windows, on Linux, Links would crash when you tried to select an Ani that was added.
dwg
Posts: 42
Joined: July 26th, 2024, 5:59 am
Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

Just to hopefully finish this

I tested Links 2003 on two Linux Systems

1. 3rd Gen Intel Core i3-3220 with Nvidia GeForce GT640 graphics resolution 1920 x 1200 (Desktop)

2. 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7200U with Intel HD 620 & Nvidia 940MX graphics native resolution 1388 x 768 (Notebook)

I used Wine V9.0, and had to install Windows Media player 9 - Winetricks has an option to do this.

The Wrapper is not needed on either system. I see no reason to use it on my Linux systems, there is no benefit that I can see.

The i3 had no issues. Performance was good. I had the picture quality slider on the highest setting.

The i5 did have some issues.

In Nvidia mode, there was video slowdown at times and one Ani did cause a crash when trying to use it

In Intel mode there were no video problem and the Ani worked fine.

The native resolution of 1366 x 768 resulted in the disappearing golfer and menu corruption issue with either video, dropping back to 1280 x 720 (Mode 5) and there were no problems, set Links to use the full window. Perhaps a specific problem with this system.

As a bonus in Intel mode Translucent shadows do work.

So Linux can be a viable solution for Links, I use the O/S on older machines. All in all I am happy with the results here.
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Danny D
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Re: Links and Linux. Some additional Info...

Post by Danny D »

Hi guys...

Here's the techie I follow to keep up with Starlink and other other valuable tech information. He wrote a feature called "LIFE AFTER ADOBE" to assist those of you that think Adobe has gone way overboard on the way they charge for their services.

He is doing another feature called "LIFE AFTER MICROSOFT WINDOWS" to inform people of optional operating systems, such as Linux.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8wYaW3YA9M

He recently released this feature on switching from MS to Linux. Those of you interested might want to check this video out. He is pretty sharp with all kinds of tech. I highly recommend him. He's into photography, cameras, graphics, routers, SpaceX, Starlink, Software Programming etc etc...

His name is Joe Cristina. Check him out when you have a few minutes.

Dan
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Armand
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Joined: August 28th, 2024, 11:49 pm

Re: Links and Linux

Post by Armand »

I've got a couple of old (c. 2006) laptops that have been switched to MX Linux since it is touted as one of the better distros for old hardware. I've not found too many issues over the 10 or so months I've been running Linux, aside from bluetooth but that might be due to the age/condition of the bluetooth adapters (1 of the 2 seems to work okay, but the other doesn't connect to anything!).

Anyway, after seeing this post about Linux and Links, I thought I should give it a try on . So, far, I have just run into roadblock after roadblock and have not been able to start Links to see what, if any issues, it may have while running. I'm just learning about stuff like Wine, systemd, flatpaks, etc. and these old laptops are not crucial, so it seems a good method to learn about Linux. I've been tempted to run a separate drive/partition on my newer desktop (2015), and still be wondering if a new computer will be dual boot ... likely!

So, I'm watching that stream that Dan linked. I liked his explanation of flatpaks, as I found the one flatpak I tried a bit tempermental. Anyway, I'm enjoying the video!
dwg
Posts: 42
Joined: July 26th, 2024, 5:59 am
Location: Australia

Re: Links and Linux

Post by dwg »

I've dabbled with Linux on and off over the years. This time around I started with an old Core Duo machine circa 2007. It did not run too badly, but I did not go too far with it, it had limited memory and disk so I did not go as far as trying Links on it. The machines I am using now are retired Windows systems, the oldest circa 2012, the newest 2016.
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