1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Help us Help You! How to properly ask for help! (WINE Edition)

Discussion in 'Staff Announcements' started by allenskd, Dec 9, 2014.

  1. allenskd

    allenskd Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2014
    Messages:
    510
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    28
    The intention of this post is how to create better (question) threads asking for help. As you, we are also human beings, sometimes with not a lot of time on our hands to spare and asking for help is not only this:

    I'm going to set a few bad examples. The main purpose is to see bad examples and learn on how to avoid the usual mistakes.

    Example:
    We know that some of you here are new, maybe some are a bit more experimented with linux. So, as part for us to help us you gotta help us by giving us more information.

    The problem here is the following:

    - There are no logs
    - The user hasn't specified if he's using PlayOnLinux, CrossOver, or simply pure WINE.
    - The user hasn't checked the Wine AppDB to see if his/her game is supported right now. NOTE: AppDB is very outdated in many aspects. Sometimes an old game that has been given "garbage" may run in newer version of WINE. The crowd usually focuses on popular applications or games (AAA or AA).
    - The user didn't state the WINE version.
    - The user didn't put his/her system information and video card

    Now. There is nothing wrong with not knowing something. Sometimes I see in other communities that they are absolutely uninviting to people who don't know anything about GNU/Linux which is an amazing operative system. This tendency isolates many of the newcomers as they are struggling to understand this new sophisticated system that they have set themselves to understand and love. Too many times we don't take in consideration that the user is too new to this and he/she might need directions on how to tackle certain issues. Words like "terminal" or "Desktop Environment" might as well be an alien term.


    Let's focus on how to provide basic information!
    To those who don't want to read beyond, this is more or less what I'll be asking for!

    Template:

    - WINE logs
    - System Information
    - Are you using a wrapper? (e.g PlayOnLinux, CrossOver)
    - WINE Version
    - Video cards and what drivers are you using!
    - Your linux distribution

    System Information

    If I'm not mistaken most recent Ubuntu versions provide it by default and some other distributions as well. However if you don't have it installed, it's super easy.

    On Debian systems (Ubuntu included)
    Code:
    sudo apt-get install lshw
    On distributions like Arch Linux
    Code:
    su root
    pacman -S lshw
    Please verify the correct package name on other distributions.

    Once installed you can run it as root and give us the output. Please use code tags before pasting the information!

    Example on how to run lshw:
    Open the terminal and type "lshw" this will be a similar output to this:

    Code:
    
    WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
    prinny_arch
        description: Computer
        width: 64 bits
        capabilities: vsyscall32
      *-core
           description: Motherboard
           physical id: 0
         *-memory
              description: System memory
              physical id: 0
              size: 7971MiB
         *-cpu
              product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
              vendor: Intel Corp.
              physical id: 1
              bus info: cpu@0
              size: 3544MHz
              capacity: 3700MHz
              width: 64 bits
              capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt cpufreq
         *-pci
              description: Host bridge
              product: 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller
              vendor: Intel Corporation
              physical id: 100
              bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
              version: 09
              width: 32 bits
              clock: 33MHz
              configuration: driver=snb_uncore
              resources: irq:0
            *-pci:0
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
                 version: 09
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=pcieport
                 resources: irq:24 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:fa000000-fb0fffff ioport:f0000000(size=167772160)
               *-display
                    description: VGA compatible controller
                    product: GF108 [GeForce GT 440]
                    vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
                    physical id: 0
                    bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                    version: a1
                    width: 64 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
                    configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
                    resources: irq:38 memory:fa000000-faffffff memory:f0000000-f7ffffff memory:f8000000-f9ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:fb000000-fb07ffff
               *-multimedia
                    description: Audio device
                    product: GF108 High Definition Audio Controller
                    vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
                    physical id: 0.1
                    bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
                    version: a1
                    width: 32 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: bus_master cap_list
                    configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
                    resources: irq:17 memory:fb080000-fb083fff
            *-communication
                 description: Communication controller
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 16
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
                 version: 04
                 width: 64 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
                 resources: irq:35 memory:fb407000-fb40700f
            *-usb:0
                 description: USB controller
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1a
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
                 version: 05
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: ehci bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
                 resources: irq:16 memory:fb406000-fb4063ff
            *-multimedia
                 description: Audio device
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1b
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
                 version: 05
                 width: 64 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
                 resources: irq:36 memory:fb400000-fb403fff
            *-pci:1
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1c
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
                 version: b5
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=pcieport
                 resources: irq:25
            *-pci:2
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: 82801 PCI Bridge
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1c.1
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
                 version: b5
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
               *-pci
                    description: PCI bridge
                    product: ASM1083/1085 PCIe to PCI Bridge
                    vendor: ASMedia Technology Inc.
                    physical id: 0
                    bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
                    version: 01
                    width: 32 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
            *-pci:3
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1c.2
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.2
                 version: b5
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=pcieport
                 resources: irq:26 ioport:d000(size=4096) memory:fb300000-fb3fffff
               *-network
                    description: Ethernet interface
                    product: AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet
                    vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
                    physical id: 0
                    bus info: pci@0000:05:00.0
                    logical name: enp5s0
                    version: c0
                    serial: 00:25:22:bd:32:91
                    size: 100Mbit/s
                    capacity: 1Gbit/s
                    width: 64 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                    configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.1.1-NAPI duplex=full ip=192.168.35.90 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
                    resources: irq:37 memory:fb300000-fb33ffff ioport:d000(size=128)
            *-pci:4
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1c.3
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.3
                 version: b5
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=pcieport
                 resources: irq:27 memory:fb200000-fb2fffff
               *-usb
                    description: USB controller
                    product: ASM1042 SuperSpeed USB Host Controller
                    vendor: ASMedia Technology Inc.
                    physical id: 0
                    bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
                    version: 00
                    width: 64 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: xhci bus_master cap_list
                    configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
                    resources: irq:19 memory:fb200000-fb207fff
            *-pci:5
                 description: PCI bridge
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1c.4
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.4
                 version: b5
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=pcieport
                 resources: irq:28 ioport:c000(size=4096) memory:fb100000-fb1fffff
               *-ide
                    description: IDE interface
                    product: ASM1061 SATA IDE Controller
                    vendor: ASMedia Technology Inc.
                    physical id: 0
                    bus info: pci@0000:07:00.0
                    version: 01
                    width: 32 bits
                    clock: 33MHz
                    capabilities: ide bus_master cap_list
                    configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
                    resources: irq:29 ioport:c040(size=8) ioport:c030(size=4) ioport:c020(size=8) ioport:c010(size=4) ioport:c000(size=16) memory:fb100000-fb1001ff
            *-usb:1
                 description: USB controller
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1d
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
                 version: 05
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: ehci bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
                 resources: irq:23 memory:fb405000-fb4053ff
            *-isa
                 description: ISA bridge
                 product: H61 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1f
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
                 version: 05
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=lpc_ich latency=0
                 resources: irq:0
            *-ide:0
                 description: IDE interface
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 4 port SATA IDE Controller
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1f.2
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
                 version: 05
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 66MHz
                 capabilities: ide bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
                 resources: irq:19 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:f090(size=16) ioport:f080(size=16)
            *-serial
                 description: SMBus
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1f.3
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
                 version: 05
                 width: 64 bits
                 clock: 33MHz
                 configuration: driver=i801_smbus latency=0
                 resources: irq:18 memory:fb404000-fb4040ff ioport:f000(size=32)
            *-ide:1
                 description: IDE interface
                 product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 2 port SATA IDE Controller
                 vendor: Intel Corporation
                 physical id: 1f.5
                 bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.5
                 version: 05
                 width: 32 bits
                 clock: 66MHz
                 capabilities: ide bus_master cap_list
                 configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
                 resources: irq:19 ioport:f070(size=8) ioport:f060(size=4) ioport:f050(size=8) ioport:f040(size=4) ioport:f030(size=16) ioport:f020(size=16)
    WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.
    

    Most of us will focus on certain things like the display section.

    Next is to get the video card drivers

    Install glxinfo, please verify your distribution on how to install it.

    Example of the output, and as always run the command in terminal.

    Command:
    Code:
    glxinfo | grep  "server\|client\|direct rendering"
    Expected output (may vary):

    How to get WINE output?

    Super simple! If you run the command in terminal you will get all the output there. Do note that if you use pure WINE one of the things you should keep in mind that you ALWAYS have to export the WINEPREFIX (bottle) before running WINE because that's where your application data is.

    If you have questions about how WINE works, feel free to ask! We don't bite!

    In this step we will create a little code that will redirect all the output to a log file that we'll create ourselves!

    Note that this guide is focused only on WINE. However. other wrappers like PlayOnLinux facilitates getting the logs easier.

    First!
    1) Export the bottle you used
    2) Run the following command

    Code:
    wine APPLICATION.EXE  &> ~/mywinelog.txt
    Now once the commands ends (if it crashes) or you end it on your own. Go to your home directory and you will see a file called "mywinelog.txt" that was created.

    If you noticed WINE remained silent when you launched the command. This is because we redirected the outputs to mywinelog.txt

    Remember to give us this log and sometimes it brings hints on why your application might not work.


    [Getting the WINE version]

    Super easy, just type:

    Code:
    wine --version

    This is all for now. Basic steps first, then step by step we'll meet our goal and that is to get your application running!

    If you have any advice left, post them here. Any questions or doubt feel free to ask. As I don't have any editing powers I can't do revisions to this post so... I tried my best to supply and consider the information I usually need.
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2015

Share This Page