Running OnLive On Linux via WINE

[CaptainSmokey]

Here are the complete instructions on getting OnLive to run on Linux from OnLiveFans.com member Dephyre:

--
I've redone my instructions a bit.

These instructions are written for Ubuntu 11.04 and we’ll need Wine 1.3.27 to get it installed (plus a patch). These instructions assume you don’t have Wine installed at all: If you’re not comfortable with the terminal, you will be by the time this is done!

Open up a terminal window and type the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa && sudo  apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git && sudo  apt-get install autoconf && sudo apt-get build-dep wine1.3  && sudo apt-get install checkinstall && sudo apt-get  install wine1.3

This will add the most current repository of Wine. We need to build our own for the patch, as well as a few other tools. The dependencies for Wine can be quite large, nearly 600mb.

Now, let’s grab the freshest version of Wine. (1.3.27 at the time of this writing)

git clone git://source.winehq.org/git/wine.git ~/wine-git

Go into that directory.

cd ~/wine-git

Now let’s get the patch: This patch was written by David Parrish

wget http://bugs.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=35873 -O wine_rawinput_8_8_2011.patch

Use it to patch Wine.

patch -p1 < wine_rawinput_8_8_2011.patch

So, now that we’ve patched Wine, lets’ get to building!

autoreconf && ./configure && make depend  && make

This will take a while, like a long while, you might want to make a sandwich, grab a coffee and then go for a walk. If you have a multi-core processor you can add make -j 4, which means it will thread the process 4 times.

You could also do this if you decide to install the patched build to your system, or keep it separate. I’d suggest keeping it separate but if you do decide to install this version type:


make install

I’d also suggest making a package file of the patched version, just in case anything goes wrong or you decide to install it using the ‘Software Center.’

checkinstall -D –install=no

An option will come up to enter the package information, press 3, and change the version to 1.3.27. Then hit enter.

Now that we have Wine patched and ready, let’s download Onlive! I suggest downloading the app to your desktop.

cd ~/Desktop/

wget http://www.onlive.com/d/windows -O  OnLive_Setup.exe

We also need to change the permission of this file to make it executable.

chmod a+x OnLive_Setup.exe

If you installed the patched version of Wine, you can just double-click on the Setup app on you desktop. If not, type this command.

cd ~/wine-git

./wine  ~/Desktop/OnLive_Setup.exe

Run through the setup process on that, and when it completes run Onlive with this command:

cd ~/wine-git && ./wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\  Files/OnLive/OnLive.exe

You will need to run that each time if you don’t have the patched version installed. I’d suggest making a shortcut to it, or you can use mine:

#!/bin/bash

cd ~/wine-git

./wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/OnLive/OnLive.exe

Create an empty file on your desktop, paste in the above and rename it to Something.sh – then change the properties to enable executing as a file.

And you’re done! OnLive should now be running on Linux!

A few notes:

Audio does seem to cut out occasionally, especially if you had multiple streams playing recently. If it does, exit OnLive and reset pulse:

pulseaudio -k

Some users have noted that the mouse occasionally has only 180° of movement. If you experience this issue, please give me the log from your terminal so I can isolate the issue.

- “This is too hard! I’m Lazy and dangerous!!!”

Ah, after my own heart, you are. Okay, well if you get stuck or are very lazy and aren’t really concerned about hosing a Wine install then use my package (heh). Just double click to install using the software center.

But please be advised that is a very dirty way of installing the patch; I don’t suggest using it.

- “I have Wine already!!! Can I have some cheese?”

If you have Wine installed already then remove it, and install using the ppa I mentioned. If the the install is vital, try and update it to the closest you can find and run this:



sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git && sudo apt-get install autoconf && sudo apt-get build-dep wine1.3 && sudo apt-get install checkinstall

Followed by steps 1-6 and 6.b – You will need to run Wine from the folder created by the patch using:

cd ~/wine-git && ./wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/OnLive/OnLive.exe

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OnLive is going to eventually release OnLive for Linux. However, until they do so, here is the work-around.

Update (Here are two videos that show how to get OnLive running on Linux):

Onlive Cloud Gaming running on Linux with WINE 1.3.19 (Ubuntu 11)


OnLive on wine!

[CaptainSmokey]

Lets do this thing already!

[glow]

For the people that dislike using a VM, give virtualbox's "seamless mode" a chance. It's super easy and doesn't take up an entire desktop while using the VM,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5plOS7f05KI

Instead of the VM taking up a huge window or desktop, virtualbox will overlay ONLY the windows start bar on top of your existing linux desktop. From there you can launch whatever you want, basically blending any windows application seamlessly into linux.

[Trav]

For the people that dislike using a VM, give virtualbox's "seamless mode" a chance. It's super easy and doesn't take up an entire desktop while using the VM,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5plOS7f05KI

Instead of the VM taking up a huge window or desktop, virtualbox will overlay ONLY the windows start bar on top of your existing linux desktop. From there you can launch whatever you want, basically blending any windows application seamlessly into linux.

I love virtualbox, but couldn't get OnLive to work on it. It kept saying something about that "DirectX" or "Direct3D" (can't remember which) wasn't found, and direct X was indeed installed. it failed to start.

[mastercosgrove]

Alright I don't really understan why you had to make a "official one" my thread was just fine... And second, more importantly, I don't want to spend 70$ minimum to lay for windows xp, vista or 7 just to use onlive

[CaptainSmokey]

Because with the old one closing and a few others spread out, I felt it would be easier if we just started out fresh.

And guys no VM's. We've been over this, those don't count we want to run it directly in Linux.

[TheGamingGEEK]

Captiansmokey, I would like to say that you need to look at dates

[frank420389]

i use VMware same thing just a few extra options

[glow]

Because with the old one closing and a few others spread out, I felt it would be easier if we just started out fresh.

And guys no VM's. We've been over this, those don't count we want to run it directly in Linux.

The reason people liked WINE was because it executed the code natively within Linux. This made everything run much faster than a VM, however, it had (and has) numerous compatibility issues.

Fast forward a decade after WINE was released, and we now have "Native Virtualization". This means any modern processors now will directly execute code natively from a VM. No more CPU emulation. Also, with a seamless mode integrating into your Linux window manager / desktop environment, you won't even know it's there.

So basically, if you have a copy of windows, there is absolutely no reason to run WINE. Ever.

[TheGamingGEEK]

if you have a copy of windows

Again, this defeats the purpose of what we are trying to accomplish. We are trying to run OnLive over Native Linux. Without Windows... Why should I pay 99 dollars for Windows just to run a 5Mb program?