As a Linux user you may have wanted to use Windows apps on Linux, but found it difficult to get good solutions. You can try WineX, by which you can run simple Windows apps such as download manager, winamp and Nero burning software. WineX works by creating a virtual ground to install and run Windows apps on Linux platforms.
In this article we’ll see how you can use WineX 3.3.1, WineX’s latest version. You’ll find the software on our this month’s PCQ Essential CD.
Install WineX
First, ensure that your Linux machine has the latest version of glibc installed on it. If it doesn’t, you can get it from the first CD of PCQLinux 8.0 (given with the March 2003 issue of PCQuest). Insert the CD in the CD-ROM drive and issue the following commands.
#mount /mnt/cdrom
#cd /Pcquest/RPM
#rpm —ivh glibc* –nodeps
Now, install WineX from our this month’s PCQ Essential CD and issue the following command.
#mount /mnt/cdrom
#cd
#rpm —ivh winex3.1.1.i686.rpm
You should install WineX as a root user.
Install Windows apps
To run and install Windows apps, use a normal user account instead of a root account. Put the application CD in the CD-ROM drive and issue the follow command.
winex3
Note that you should install and run Windows apps with a user login.
Let’s take the example of installing winamp player. First, install winamp with the help of WineX on a Linux machine by issuing the following command.
# winex3 /mnt/cdrom/winampsetup.exe
After installation, WineX will create a winamp icon on the user desktop (KDE/Gnome).
You can run the Windows apps by simply double-clicking on the icon.
You can install other Windows apps on Linux in the manner described above.
Troubleshooting
If you are using Fedora Core 1 Linux OS on your system, you can get a common error (error=21) while installing or running the Windows apps. To solve this problem, do the following.
From a terminal window open a prelink file.
# vi /etc/sysconfig/prelink
Then find the PRELINKING=Yes entry and set it to PREKINKING=No and save this text file. Then run the following commands.
# ./ect/cron.daily/prelink
# echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield
# echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield-randomize
You may find that sometimes though a Windows app may run fine, but it doesn’t close when you try to close it. To close the app, open a terminal window and issue the following command.
#killall -9 wine
This will kill any process that is running with WineX. Besides running Windows-based apps in Linux, you can even develop small Windows apps based on VB or VC and port them to Linux with
WineX.
Sanjay Majumder