SH4 on Steam, Running Linux

[BarracudaUAK]

Before I start (again).
If you are running it on another linux distro, or a Mac, and have anything to note:
glitches, errors, or tricks to get SH4 -Steam version or not- to run, by all means, please, post 'em up.

-----------------

Running SH4 via Steam, through WINE on Linux.
currently on Fedora 23 x86_64, WINE 1.9.12, With FGLRX (Crimson 15.12) drivers.

EDIT: Now on Fedora 24 x86_64, WINE 1.9.17, with Kernel 4.6.6 and FGLRX (Crimson 15.12) drivers
I'm running through a 32bit "prefix", since steam tries to install DirectX9. I have yet to try running through a 64bit "prefix".

SH4 will install, and run.

The Museum will load and you can manipulate the view, etc. without trouble.
The menus all work as they should. (Based on what a menu item SHOULD do, not what it may in fact do in windows.)

I started a new game, and played the first patrol in a Gar class. (the Gar to be exact). All works well except the models for head/eyes are a bit off, giving them a 'creepy' look, especially in the red light for night time.
WINE 1.9.17: This no longer occurs with V1.5, This problem was also NOT present in 1.9.12 with V1.5 of the game. Probably a V1.3 glitch, and not a WINE bug.

Loading a save game near shore can, but not always will, move docked ships slightly. After several loads over several hours to creep into, and out of, a harbor, the Heavy Cruiser (previously sunk) was sittitng in the middle of the nearby town. Other ships were unchanged (Both sunk and not).
WINE 1.9.17: No update to this, I haven't gone into a harbor lately.

As far as patching the game to version 1.4...

I keep getting a "No previous version installed" error on from the patch .exe when it tries to update.
A bit of digging via google, and very few can get it to work. (even in windows.)
So I started investigating , and there are no Registry entries for SH4.
I think this is why the patch fails to install.

I found a steam related install file with the Registry entries for SH4 (in the main SH4 directory), and I manually added them (not including the steam entries) to the registry with wine's REGEDIT, and still could not get the patch to work.

WINE 1.9.17: I have not attempted to install the V1.4 patch since I got the Uboat addon (which is V1.5), So I have no further information on this.

Everything I can find in all my searching suggest that the best way to update SH4 is to get the Uboat mission addon (v1.5) and it automatically patches it.
Which unfortunately is additional $.



---1.5---
I got the Uboat addon, I have (still) yet to run a Uboat.

High TC near land (above 1024-15xx) can make my system "chug" a little with heavy traffic.
Which is probably a limitation of the 32bit nature of the game.
(I know the system is more than enough.)

My first 'career', started in V1.3, kept crashing on the 2nd 'patrol' as I moved away from land. No warnings at all. I started it after I updated to 1.5, but I was "in port" so that should not have caused any problems, it may ultimately be the cause.

A new 'Career' plays fine, several 'patrols' into this one and all is good.

---I also noticed a few graphical errors:
When depth charges are dropped, you can see the splashes, but not the explosion effects. Torpedoes, although they cause the water splash, do not show any "foam" similar to SH3.---

I found the reason for the problem, the "particles" slider in the Graphics Options menu was turned all the way down. I moved it all the way to the right, and now I get fire and bubbles when depth charges go off, and same for torpedoes as well.

---

Barracuda

[BarracudaUAK]

I'm putting all relavent "current" info in the first post. As I figure it out.

Barracuda

[propbeanie]

I'm not remembering hardly ANY of my Linux days, but in Windows, the SH4.exe file is often set to "Read Only". I do remember that Linux had *way* stronger security and even more file attributes than Windows, so check that, and if possible, get rid of the "Read Only", and see if it won't update after that... maybe. Computers can be so frustrating, eh?... |;^)

[BarracudaUAK]

I checked, SH4.exe is only set to "archive".

And the "drive" is a directory in my /home/[login-name] directory, so as far as linux is concerned, I "own" it all, so I can read/write/execute any file on the "drive".

thanks for the suggestion...

Barracuda

[BarracudaUAK]

Edited to show the most recent updates concerning the "playability" of SH4.
I do plan on going into more detailed steps concerning getting steam installed, and SH4 installed. Although there are MANY (Better) "HOWTO"s out there concerning that.

A quick request (IF possible): Could an Admin or Moderator change the title to :

"SH4 on Steam, Running Linux/WINE"


Since I am using WINE, but WINE works on a Mac also.
It's just a "compatibility layer" for Windows programs to run on UNIX/Linux based Operating Systems.

Barracuda

[Gray Lensman]

When my current portable computer needs replacing, I'll be replacing it with a Linux/Wine capable computer. There is no way I'm buying any computer with a Windows Op system newer than Win7.

My wife bought one of those new laptops that came with Windows 10 on it (Toshiba something or other) and then asked me to help her set it up. After 2 frustrating days, I got it to working good enough for her to use. (she doesn't game), but never could get it to recognize an Epson Stylus C88+ printer. I even called Epson for help with a stand alone driver and they said they don't support standalone drivers anymore. They have to be loaded thru Windows 10. That does it for Epson also. I presume I'll have to shop/buy a printer supported by standalone drivers for a computer running Linux/Wine?

[Rockin Robbins]

You'll find that Linux often supports hardware better than Windows. My graphics tablet just works in Linux without loading any drivers at all, but in Windows, it's been a struggle and still doesn't work right. Microsoft loves to eliminate competition by not supporting it. I'm printing great on an obscure Lexmark e342n laser printer. The output looks higher quality than Windows.

There is even a program that lets you use Windows drivers in WINE and native Linux!

Ubuntu 16.04 runs Borderlands 2, Counterstrike Global Offensive, Portal and some other games at least as well as Windows. All the hokey stuff about Linux will never be playable because of missing DirectX turns out to be just baseless.

Fedora is a more aggressive distro than Ubuntu so it tends to use later Linux kernels, later versions of WINE, etc. Of course that is all moot because you can modify any distro in any way you choose. WINE is pretty amazing as of late!

Linux is ready for primetime. When Microsoft stumbles (not if, it may have already happened), computer users are already using an alternate operating system in iOS or Android, and loving it. They are no longer intimidated by abandoning Windows and finally realize that the learning curve is gentle, the rewards great if you get tired of Microsoft redefining the X on the corner of a dialog box to mean "hit me with spyware, nagware, forced upgrades, customer abuse and an operating system that businesses can't use because it's not secure." Microsoft has gone to the dark side, abusing the trust of its customers and rightly should suffer for having done so.

My situation right now is that I am attempting to fix my broken Windows 7 installation (forced update hung the system, now won't reboot) but find myself amazingly unmotivated to doggedly pursue it. Ubuntu is not only meeting my needs but giving me tons of really cool toyz to play with.

It's just brilliant! Windows has fallen and can't get up. I'm having such fun with Ubuntu that I don't care that much. Heck, I've got five GUIs I can play with at will! They're all loaded up and it just opens your mind up to see the differnt ways we can interface with a computer. It's as if you "upgraded" to Windows 10 but were able to keep the Windows XP GUI. No renaming Documents and Settings to \Users\BlahBlah\, no Add/Remove Programs renamed in Control Panel for no apparent reason. No hokey apps from the operating system formerly known as "Metro." You just use your computer the way YOU want. Linux is like that: very liberating.

[Gray Lensman]

Made the switch to FireFox just a couple of days ago and I'm loving it. I had dealt with so much frustration for the past 6 months or so with several of my sites I peruse... Weather.com., Foxnews.com, Breitbart.com., CNBC.com, Matrixgames.com, Subsim.com... The list goes on. The last 6 months to a year, they would constantly hang on me especially when switching pages. I was using the IE v11, so I assumed it was the webpages changing to support the Win 10 web browser.

Not so, it was the garbage IE 11... When I went to FireFox everything runs like greased lightning. Next time I reload the Op system, I'm not even bothering with MS's IE at all.

I tend to reload the Op System about every 6 months or so just to clean out any sneaky malware that may have infiltrated in that time.

[Rockin Robbins]

Because Microsloth puts you in a straitjacket, IE always lives on your system. Which is good because a few websites, mostly Microsoft's websites, deal with competition by not supporting it. For instance Windows Update won't run on Firefox.

However there's a great fix, an extension called IETab2, which will open up an IE tab, safely confined within a nice padded Firefox shell....er.....cell. The website thinks it's being accessed by IE, so it acts normally. You don't have to run IE, which runs in a sandbox within Firefox. You win!

The software for Budget Trucks POS system runs on IE only. NOT! It's purposely set up to refuse to run in Firefox or Chrome, but is totally ignorant and happy in an IETab.

Firefox is also available for Linux and runs identically. You can even import your profile from your Windows installation, a good reason not to delete Windows and install Linux on a new disk drive. Of course there's Firefox sync, which does almost the same thing as importing a profile.

Many of the programs we use on Windows are refugees from the higher quality world of Linux: Chrome, Gimp, Firefox, Thunderbird all come from Linux and are ported to Windows. When you move to Linux you will feel at home, not as a visitor to another planet.

[Gray Lensman]

Interesting!

Maybe FireFox has built this IETab2 into their browser directly OR Microsoft has changed (more likely the former), because I just tried both the sites you mentioned above with FireFox here, (I have not added the add-on IETab2) and I have no problem accessing either one.

[BarracudaUAK]

Originally Posted by Gray Lensman

When my current portable computer needs replacing, I'll be replacing it with a Linux/Wine capable computer. There is no way I'm buying any computer with a Windows Op system newer than Win7.

...

I presume I'll have to shop/buy a printer supported by standalone drivers for a computer running Linux/Wine?

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

You'll find that Linux often supports hardware better than Windows. My graphics tablet just works in Linux without loading any drivers at all, but in Windows, it's been a struggle and still doesn't work right.
...

Gray Lensman...
Although there are some "kernel plugin" type drivers, most "Mainline" drivers are in Linux kernel itself, so you most likely won't have to find drivers.
However if the hardware is much older, or really new, and they support Linux, the manufacturer may provide Linux drivers.

RR,
You have drivers, either 'Nouveau' Open-source Nvidia drivers, or "Gailum" Open-source drivers for ATI/AMD cards.

You can install the Proprietary drivers, but you don't NEED them for most things.
(I'm running the older proprietary drivers for my AMDs now, because I have 2 of them "Crossfired". And higher frame rate in Linux Native versions of Source Engine games. Half-life 2, Portal 1&2, etc.)

And I agree with your statement about Linux supporting hardware better!

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

...
Ubuntu 16.04 runs Borderlands 2, Counterstrike Global Offensive, Portal and some other games at least as well as Windows. All the hokey stuff about Linux will never be playable because of missing DirectX turns out to be just baseless.
...

RR, I pretty sure you already know this, but I'm putting it here for those who don't...

If they coded -or ported- a game to use OpenGL (Windows used to support it also), then you can run it natively. If not, then this is what WINE does.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a really, REALLY, REALLY simple, very "rough" explanation.

WINE "redirects" DirectX "calls" from the program to the OpenGL equivalent.

So if Windows stores "Blue" under "Colors", and UNIX/Linux stores it under "RGB"...
the program will say "I need Colors\Blue", and WINE says "OK, here is 'BLUE', go to RGB/Blue."
The program does, and gets the info for "Blue", and puts the "Blue" object on your screen.

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

...
Fedora is a more aggressive distro than Ubuntu so it tends to use later Linux kernels, later versions of WINE, etc. Of course that is all moot because you can modify any distro in any way you choose. WINE is pretty amazing as of late!
...

You can find most of this info scattered around the web. It'll be more accurate there, this is just a basic rundown...

Fedora uses newer "stable" releases for the distro, but is a "developmental" distro.
Fedora releases (roughly) every 6-8 months, and supports for 1 year after the next release...
I have Fedora 24, Fedora 25 is planned to be released late November 2016.
So 24 will (well it should) be updated/supported until November 2017.

Ubuntu is mainly "stable" releases, very little, if any "development" versions of anything.
They used things that are massively debugged, and have LTS (Long Term Service) versions. (3 years, I Think.)
If your hardware is older, or if you just prefer a "Debian" (Ubuntu is based on debian) distro, Ubuntu is probably the distro for you.

I mainly run Fedora because my PCs are all higher end "gaming" hardware.
(It's cheaper when you build your own...)
Even my 8-9 year old AMD 5600x2 with dual AMD 6750s isn't supported by the more "stable" distros.

Which is not to say that they are years behind, the AMD 6750s are relatively new.
(I upgrade the Video cards 3 times, 1650 pro (2), 2600xt (1), 4850 (1), and finally the 6750s (2) that are in the system now.)

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

...
Linux is ready for primetime.
...

On this point I definitely agree with you.
Then again, other than PCs, it runs almost everything anyway.

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

...
It's just brilliant! Windows has fallen and can't get up. I'm having such fun with Ubuntu that I don't care that much. Heck, I've got five GUIs I can play with at will! They're all loaded up and it just opens your mind up to see the differnt ways we can interface with a computer.
... Linux is like that: very liberating.

Last time I saw a count, it was 8 Different GUI desktops (counting the Ubuntu Unity).

I run KDE, which used to be the most "heavy" of them, but I heard/read somewhere that Gnome 3 has overtaken it.
Boot up, login, sit idle, I'm using roughly 1GB for KDE.
LXDE, I think is the lightest, I read can be used with 384-ish MB of ram.

And LXDE isn't that bad, somewhere between Win98 and WinXP on the GUI looks, but at higher resolutions.

And I'm done, long winded I know. Thought I would expand on somethings mentioned by RR for those looking and wondering what we're talking about!

Barracuda

[Rockin Robbins]

I was absolutely shocked by how good LXDE is. The problem is that you can't even talk about this stuff to a Windows user because it is beyond their wildest imagination. One look at KDE's screen would look like a trip to the future--and it is!

I've been using Unity a lot lately. Mostly that is because I was in the first crop of Unity haters. Seems like Gnome2 made Unity a lot better by putting the heat on. Unity started out universally hated and has survived simply because nobody was ever forced to use it. In five minutes you could load up LXDE, Mate, Gnome, Gnome 2 or any of the other more traditional menu based GUIs. Unity got to live to achieve really decent functionality. Now it works pretty darned well.

I think KDE is still my favorite, just because it feels so cutting edge. I have to put Linux on a larger hard drive so I can do some more things I have to do, like a full installation of SH4/Fall of the Rising Sun Ultimate. What I should do is take screenies and video of various Linux GUIs so people can realize that we're not speaking Greek here!

[BarracudaUAK]

I can post up a pic of my current setup for KDE 5....

Is there a way to upload the pic to Subsim? or do I need to get an account somewhere to host the pic?

Barracuda

[Rockin Robbins]

I use both Google Photos and Photobucket. Subsim doesn't let you upload the photo itself so you have to link to an external server.

Here's my current Ubuntu desktop. I don't autohide the Unity bar because it won't unhide when I use Teamviewer from another computer.


Of course the magic words are <ctrl-alt> (opens a bash terminal) and "sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop" or lxde-desktop or lubuntu-desktop or mate-desktop or fill in the blank!

[BarracudaUAK]

I'll look into getting a pic host somewhere...

I'm running the darker "Oxygen" Theme, with the "Zion (Reversed)" Application Window Theme.

Really helps when I'm working at night and I've got the lights off.
I can look away from the screen and not be blind in the dark!

As soon as I can figure out a way to get it posted up, I'll edit this post and put it in here.

Barracuda