Let's Install Linux on Moonlight's Spare Computer! - Page 3

Rockin Robbins · 10-30-16, 07:49 PM

Well, let's install U-Boat Missions. Remember we didn't start up the game because we want to be absolutely sure that we have purely stock game files when we're done. Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I downloaded U-boat Missions from Direct2Drive, through the Subsim link (of course). I burned that installation file to a CD and placed that CD in the game box for Silent Hunter for safekeeping. Then I wrote my registration number on the CD while it was sealed inside the box.........something like that.

So what I have done here is put the CD in the disk drive and found the installation file using Ubuntu's (actually GNOME's) Nautilus file manager. We join our action, in progress....

Remember: don't play the game yet. We want to register, install JSGME, MultiSH4 and Large Address Aware, then copy the unplayed, completely stock game to a lock box where we can renew the game forever without ever having to reinstall SH4 again. Next, registering this puppy!

Rockin Robbins · 10-31-16, 12:25 PM

All right! Let's register Silent Hunter 4: U-boat Missions. We didn't register it before because we wanted to do the whole shebang at once. Now that Wolves of the Pacific and U-boat Missions are joined and ready to play, lets go ahead and register them.

I show you that I forgot a step. Right-click your desktop link to the game and connect it to sh4.exe, NOT gu.exe. Gu.exe causes mucho problems, especially with heavily modded games. Make it walk the plank!

Then we show how to make a lockbox for your pristeen game installation, with all the unmodified files you need when you get diagnosed with a good dose of mod soup. Yes you can just reinstall the game but with your SH4 Pristeen directory you'll never have to reinstall SH4:UBM again! Ever.

Of course after you make a lockbox, you have to lock it. I show how to lock it much more securely than Windows is capable of.

When you're done, STILL DON'T PLAY THE GAME!

Next, we have to make an installation for FOTRS Ultimate and GFO. Other supermods would work the same. Then we have to enable Large Address Aware for each installation, enable JSGME and use MultiSH4 to make each installation save its games in a different directory. Coming soon to a thread near you!

Commander Wallace · 10-31-16, 07:25 PM

Way to go Rockin Robbins on your SH4 / Linux Installments.

Rockin Robbins · 11-07-16, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

Way to go Rockin Robbins on your SH4 / Linux Installments.

Thank you! We're experiencing a hold in the countdown right now. FOTRS Ultimate, harsh mistress that she is, experienced turbulence that required manual control and is just now getting to a spot where I can spend more time with this thread again.

Don't worry, we'll be back underway shortly!

Rockin Robbins · 11-17-16, 10:03 AM

Just checking in. FOTRS Ultimate is just going crazy right now with essential changes that will make it the new default mod choice for Silent Hunter 4. So it has priority for now. In a couple days we will have v0.30 out, which will be our first public beta. Then we'll take a couple week break to gather feedback.

That will be my cue to come back here and complete the thread. I already have video shot for much of it. Need to do narration and music sound track and write the posts.

I'm also going to ask that the thread be stickied. I really think Linux is in the future for a lot of computer users, and they can continue to play Silent Hunter. All they need is instructions.

Rockin Robbins · 11-21-16, 12:54 PM

Aaaaaaand we're back!

We just registered Silent Hunter 4, but we haven't played the game yet. Next we're going to show how to create separate game installs for each of your mod configurations. You might want one for stock, one for TMO and another for FOTRS Ultimate.

This will show how to have separate game installations for each mod configuration so you don't have to be installing and uninstalling mods all the time, mixing up what game save is for which configuration--you know--the stuff that makes you swear at the game instead of by it. We'll be leveraging our lockbox SH4 Pristeen installation to accomplish this. Get out the popcorn!

Rockin Robbins · 12-05-16, 10:00 AM

I am very busy rigging a TMO disaster here to make a remake of Titanic, except that we'll patch the holes and right the ship before it goes down. Then we'll resume our journey to New York. Stand by whilst I execute technical wizardry.....

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

I kid you not, there is amazing stuff happening in the background. Please wait......

Rockin Robbins · 12-05-16, 02:12 PM

Disaster strikes! You're playing your favorite supermod and suddenly the game crashes. Maybe a fluke? You restart the game and the same thing happens. Supply your own curse words here! But what are you going to do about it.

What if I told you you didn't have to reinstall jack diddley? What if I told you your savegames are safe? What if I told you in 10 minutes you'd load up your last saved game and just continue playing as if nothing bad were mocking you right now?

Words and a couple bucks will buy you coffee at Dennys. Let's get to work!

Questions?

Rockin Robbins · 12-09-16, 01:05 PM

Next we'll return to Ubuntu Linux stuff. I was brainstorming with the help of propbeanie's questions and thought of a couple of videos.

Why Linux is better than Windows--don't give me the technical crap I don't care about!
How does Linux handle downloading software?
Getting help as a newbie Linux user. Since there is no company selling it, am I left on my own?
Commercial software vs(?) open source software. Can they work together? How do I download the commercial software I need?
You talk about choosing your GUI? What the heck does that mean? Why do I care?

I'm sure there are others that will have to be made. But my aim is to have enough information to allow you to explore Ubuntu Linux (and other distros) without feeling I dropped you in the middle of Red China and you don't know how to ask where the bathroom is.

As always, Fall of the Rising Sun Ultimate comes first. Just reflect on the fact that all my development work for the mod happens in Ubuntu (pronounced 00-boon-too) Linux. It's pretty darned good and gets you away from the Microsoft games of redefining what an operating system is.

Stay tuned for more videos in the next several days.

propbeanie · 12-09-16, 02:15 PM

They have really improved the updating in the last 10 years of Linux, haven't they? I remember buying a $40 book back when to help walk me through Red Hat whatever it was (2.x??!!!) - Wow! much nicer now. Easier than Apple and Android - combined! I stumbled upon it when I went looking for the hardware stuff, since my NIC wasn't "working", although it was. Didn't dawn on my to check that I'd put the Cat5e cable back in after pulling the side of the box to disconnect a couple drives for my install. I'm a "fail-safe" kind of guy - I usually fail, so I play it safe, and disconnect drives that I don't want to accidentally install to... Well, they have also improved that aspect of the install. No more "Device 0 on Port 0". I had given the "target" a new label in Windows prior to starting the install, and there was the label, plain as day, and a drop-down box menu for if I would have had the other drives connected. No problem.

One thing that is and has been way different with any version of Linux that I've ever used (as compared to Windows' way), and I think this is like my fifth one, is that even 10-12 years ago, you didn't have to tell it that you had connected a Windows drive next time you booted. I sees it, sees the boot record, and will add it (eventually, after it goes through the drive) to the boot menu for the next time you start the computer. Now, all I gotta do is figure out how to edit that "boot config" file...

- I used to do everything from the command line, so this "desktop" stuff and Wine that actually works is really nice. It took maybe 30 minutes to get it installed on this beast, and another 30 now to re-connect the Windows drives, update and have the box all back together. In the meantime, I've gotten some cleaning done, and fixed lunch, sat down here to get on the web for a check-in, and all is hunky-dory. In a few minutes here, I'm off to watch me some RR vidz of SH4 installs...

Oh! Another thing Rockiin Robbins in your next video with the Gui choses, "Dual Screens and how to bend them to your will"... It boots up fine with the two screens, but now my left screen is my right screen, and the right is the left, which ain't no big deal, I mean it's easy enough to change 'em around in Windows and I'll just connect the cables the other way, but I can find nothing about doing that in Ubuntu, nor can I find my screen resolution settings. I know it's easy, 'cause I remember doing it before in the other flavors of Linux... but where / how?...

Rockin Robbins · 12-09-16, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

They have really improved the updating in the last 10 years of Linux, haven't they? I remember buying a $40 book back when to help walk me through Red Hat whatever it was (2.x??!!!) - Wow! much nicer now. Easier than Apple and Android - combined! I stumbled upon it when I went looking for the hardware stuff, since my NIC wasn't "working", although it was. Didn't dawn on my to check that I'd put the Cat5e cable back in after pulling the side of the box to disconnect a couple drives for my install. I'm a "fail-safe" kind of guy - I usually fail, so I play it safe, and disconnect drives that I don't want to accidentally install to... Well, they have also improved that aspect of the install. No more "Device 0 on Port 0". I had given the "target" a new label in Windows prior to starting the install, and there was the label, plain as day, and a drop-down box menu for if I would have had the other drives connected. No problem.

One thing that is and has been way different with any version of Linux that I've ever used (as compared to Windows' way), and I think this is like my fifth one, is that even 10-12 years ago, you didn't have to tell it that you had connected a Windows drive next time you booted. I sees it, sees the boot record, and will add it (eventually, after it goes through the drive) to the boot menu for the next time you start the computer. Now, all I gotta do is figure out how to edit that "boot config" file...

- I used to do everything from the command line, so this "desktop" stuff and Wine that actually works is really nice. It took maybe 30 minutes to get it installed on this beast, and another 30 now to re-connect the Windows drives, update and have the box all back together. In the meantime, I've gotten some cleaning done, and fixed lunch, sat down here to get on the web for a check-in, and all is hunky-dory. In a few minutes here, I'm off to watch me some RR vidz of SH4 installs...

Oh! Another thing Rockiin Robbins in your next video with the Gui choses, "Dual Screens and how to bend them to your will"... It boots up fine with the two screens, but now my left screen is my right screen, and the right is the left, which ain't no big deal, I mean it's easy enough to change 'em around in Windows and I'll just connect the cables the other way, but I can find nothing about doing that in Ubuntu, nor can I find my screen resolution settings. I know it's easy, 'cause I remember doing it before in the other flavors of Linux... but where / how?...

Wow! I haven't done dual monitors but I know it isn't hard. I'll do a little research.

Now the program that runs if you boot your Linux disk is GRand Unified Bootloader. GRUB. On installation Ubuntu looks at all connected disks and automatically adds Windows to GRUB so you have a choice to boot either one on bootup.

Now if you had the Windows disks disconnected from your computer when you installed Ubuntu I'll have to add another video to my list above! I'm a utility whore, always have been since my Apple ][ days. So Linux is no exception. There are many, many Ubuntu customization programs and live CDs. I'll play with it and give you a prescription tonight. If I'm especially ambitious it will be my next video. Always easier to show someone than give them instructions. But better is both so you can cut and paste to the terminal window.

One really cool thing with Ubuntu is that you can almost always do something from the command line and from the GUI. Each is valuable in learning what the other does. Especially cool is watching the terminal as a GUI operation executes.

Now that I've hopelessly baffled everybody I'll be going now.

propbeanie · 12-09-16, 09:39 PM

"Settings Manager", under the "Hardware" section, "Display", and start noodling. I clicked on the "Identify Displays" button, and sure enough, I had them backwards... Imagine that. Windows 7 is fine now also, but poor old XP is having a ~FIT~! I cannot get it to agree with me.

propbeanie · 12-13-16, 09:19 PM

I have a question... Creating a "shortcut", or an executable link in Ubuntu... It has changed from the graphical way I knew years ago, and I do not remember hardly a thing about doing it from the console... How can I make me some "desktop shortcuts" to my FotRS Ultimate, TMO and GFO installs?..,

10-30-16, 07:49 PM	#31
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Well, let's install U-Boat Missions. Remember we didn't start up the game because we want to be absolutely sure that we have purely stock game files when we're done. Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I downloaded U-boat Missions from Direct2Drive, through the Subsim link (of course). I burned that installation file to a CD and placed that CD in the game box for Silent Hunter for safekeeping. Then I wrote my registration number on the CD while it was sealed inside the box.........something like that. So what I have done here is put the CD in the disk drive and found the installation file using Ubuntu's (actually GNOME's) Nautilus file manager. We join our action, in progress.... Remember: don't play the game yet. We want to register, install JSGME, MultiSH4 and Large Address Aware, then copy the unplayed, completely stock game to a lock box where we can renew the game forever without ever having to reinstall SH4 again. Next, registering this puppy! __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS Last edited by Rockin Robbins; 10-31-16 at 10:11 AM.

10-31-16, 12:25 PM	#32
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	All right! Let's register Silent Hunter 4: U-boat Missions. We didn't register it before because we wanted to do the whole shebang at once. Now that Wolves of the Pacific and U-boat Missions are joined and ready to play, lets go ahead and register them. I show you that I forgot a step. Right-click your desktop link to the game and connect it to sh4.exe, NOT gu.exe. Gu.exe causes mucho problems, especially with heavily modded games. Make it walk the plank! Then we show how to make a lockbox for your pristeen game installation, with all the unmodified files you need when you get diagnosed with a good dose of mod soup. Yes you can just reinstall the game but with your SH4 Pristeen directory you'll never have to reinstall SH4:UBM again! Ever. Of course after you make a lockbox, you have to lock it. I show how to lock it much more securely than Windows is capable of. When you're done, STILL DON'T PLAY THE GAME! Next, we have to make an installation for FOTRS Ultimate and GFO. Other supermods would work the same. Then we have to enable Large Address Aware for each installation, enable JSGME and use MultiSH4 to make each installation save its games in a different directory. Coming soon to a thread near you! __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

11-17-16, 10:03 AM	#35
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Just checking in. FOTRS Ultimate is just going crazy right now with essential changes that will make it the new default mod choice for Silent Hunter 4. So it has priority for now. In a couple days we will have v0.30 out, which will be our first public beta. Then we'll take a couple week break to gather feedback. That will be my cue to come back here and complete the thread. I already have video shot for much of it. Need to do narration and music sound track and write the posts. I'm also going to ask that the thread be stickied. I really think Linux is in the future for a lot of computer users, and they can continue to play Silent Hunter. All they need is instructions. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

11-21-16, 12:54 PM	#36
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Aaaaaaand we're back! We just registered Silent Hunter 4, but we haven't played the game yet. Next we're going to show how to create separate game installs for each of your mod configurations. You might want one for stock, one for TMO and another for FOTRS Ultimate. This will show how to have separate game installations for each mod configuration so you don't have to be installing and uninstalling mods all the time, mixing up what game save is for which configuration--you know--the stuff that makes you swear at the game instead of by it. We'll be leveraging our lockbox SH4 Pristeen installation to accomplish this. Get out the popcorn! __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

12-05-16, 10:00 AM	#37
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	I am very busy rigging a TMO disaster here to make a remake of Titanic, except that we'll patch the holes and right the ship before it goes down. Then we'll resume our journey to New York. Stand by whilst I execute technical wizardry..... Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! I kid you not, there is amazing stuff happening in the background. Please wait...... __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS Last edited by Rockin Robbins; 12-05-16 at 01:49 PM.

10-31-16, 07:25 PM	#33
Commander Wallace Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Under the sea in an Octupus garden in the shade Posts: 5,015 Downloads: 360 Uploads: 0	Way to go Rockin Robbins on your SH4 / Linux Installments.

12-05-16, 02:12 PM	#38
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Disaster strikes! You're playing your favorite supermod and suddenly the game crashes. Maybe a fluke? You restart the game and the same thing happens. Supply your own curse words here! But what are you going to do about it. What if I told you you didn't have to reinstall jack diddley? What if I told you your savegames are safe? What if I told you in 10 minutes you'd load up your last saved game and just continue playing as if nothing bad were mocking you right now? Words and a couple bucks will buy you coffee at Dennys. Let's get to work! Questions? __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

12-09-16, 01:05 PM	#39
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,899 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Next we'll return to Ubuntu Linux stuff. I was brainstorming with the help of propbeanie's questions and thought of a couple of videos. Why Linux is better than Windows--don't give me the technical crap I don't care about! How does Linux handle downloading software? Getting help as a newbie Linux user. Since there is no company selling it, am I left on my own? Commercial software vs(?) open source software. Can they work together? How do I download the commercial software I need? You talk about choosing your GUI? What the heck does that mean? Why do I care? I'm sure there are others that will have to be made. But my aim is to have enough information to allow you to explore Ubuntu Linux (and other distros) without feeling I dropped you in the middle of Red China and you don't know how to ask where the bathroom is. As always, Fall of the Rising Sun Ultimate comes first. Just reflect on the fact that all my development work for the mod happens in Ubuntu (pronounced 00-boon-too) Linux. It's pretty darned good and gets you away from the Microsoft games of redefining what an operating system is. Stay tuned for more videos in the next several days. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

12-09-16, 02:15 PM	#40
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,742 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	They have really improved the updating in the last 10 years of Linux, haven't they? I remember buying a $40 book back when to help walk me through Red Hat whatever it was (2.x??!!!) - Wow! much nicer now. Easier than Apple and Android - combined! I stumbled upon it when I went looking for the hardware stuff, since my NIC wasn't "working", although it was. Didn't dawn on my to check that I'd put the Cat5e cable back in after pulling the side of the box to disconnect a couple drives for my install. I'm a "fail-safe" kind of guy - I usually fail, so I play it safe, and disconnect drives that I don't want to accidentally install to... Well, they have also improved that aspect of the install. No more "Device 0 on Port 0". I had given the "target" a new label in Windows prior to starting the install, and there was the label, plain as day, and a drop-down box menu for if I would have had the other drives connected. No problem. One thing that is and has been way different with any version of Linux that I've ever used (as compared to Windows' way), and I think this is like my fifth one, is that even 10-12 years ago, you didn't have to tell it that you had connected a Windows drive next time you booted. I sees it, sees the boot record, and will add it (eventually, after it goes through the drive) to the boot menu for the next time you start the computer. Now, all I gotta do is figure out how to edit that "boot config" file... - I used to do everything from the command line, so this "desktop" stuff and Wine that actually works is really nice. It took maybe 30 minutes to get it installed on this beast, and another 30 now to re-connect the Windows drives, update and have the box all back together. In the meantime, I've gotten some cleaning done, and fixed lunch, sat down here to get on the web for a check-in, and all is hunky-dory. In a few minutes here, I'm off to watch me some RR vidz of SH4 installs... Oh! Another thing Rockiin Robbins in your next video with the Gui choses, "Dual Screens and how to bend them to your will"... It boots up fine with the two screens, but now my left screen is my right screen, and the right is the left, which ain't no big deal, I mean it's easy enough to change 'em around in Windows and I'll just connect the cables the other way, but I can find nothing about doing that in Ubuntu, nor can I find my screen resolution settings. I know it's easy, 'cause I remember doing it before in the other flavors of Linux... but where / how?... __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

12-09-16, 09:39 PM	#42
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,742 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	"Settings Manager", under the "Hardware" section, "Display", and start noodling. I clicked on the "Identify Displays" button, and sure enough, I had them backwards... Imagine that. Windows 7 is fine now also, but poor old XP is having a ~FIT~! I cannot get it to agree with me. __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

12-13-16, 09:19 PM	#43
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,742 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	I have a question... Creating a "shortcut", or an executable link in Ubuntu... It has changed from the graphical way I knew years ago, and I do not remember hardly a thing about doing it from the console... How can I make me some "desktop shortcuts" to my FotRS Ultimate, TMO and GFO installs?.., __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna