How To Play World of Warcraft in Kubuntu (or any 'buntu) with Wine

I play World of Warcraft exclusively in Kubuntu, I've never actually played it in Windows. Here's how I did it:


1. I followed this guide basically to the letter. (If you're using Kubuntu then you don't have to read the part about making a Gnome desktop shortcut, since Kubuntu puts a shortcut on your desktop anyway that you can then customize.)

2. I then tried out these tweaks to improve my framerate-- honestly the game was playable for me before as well, but some people have framerate difficulties. So you might want to give that a shot.

3. Any questions? That's what this thread right here is for.

4. Little things that I have noticed: Although at first I ran WoW with OSS for sound, I found that it had some issues: sound would only work about half the time, plus I couldn't listen to other music in Amarok while keeping the game's sound effects intact (which I like to do.) I booted up winecfg and switched over to ALSA-- actually I did this to solve another problem which I'd been having, but it inadvertently made my sound better as well-- no more sound problems. ALSA doesn't work well for everybody, though. But I would definitely recommend giving it a try because if it does work it is far superior to OSS in this situation.

5. Workarounds for other issues: Note that sometimes Blizzard or Wine updates will cause problems. You will know because there will generally be a bunch of people posting about them on Ubuntu Forums. A fix or workaround usually pops up pretty quickly, or if it's a Wine thing you can just revert to an earlier version of Wine. Something that happens to me right now is that the game freezes on exit. (Note that this doesn't usually happen, it just started happening recently with the last Wine update.) To exit when it freezes up like that, copy and paste this into the terminal:

#!/bin/bash

for i in $(pidof WoW.exe); do
kill -9 $i && sleep 1
done

And you'll be set!

That's all the wisdom and advice I have for you guys right now, I may post more regarding WoW on Linux and common problems and soluations, later. With a bit of luck you will now be able to play World of Warcraft on Linux:



Enjoy, and happy questing!

Xfce died/disappeared!

Okay, so I know this is supposed to be a Kubuntu (KDE) help guide, but I like to mess around with other desktop environments too and as I've stumbled across this problem today I figured I would post it here in case anyone else has this problem as well.

Problem: When logging into Xfce (Xubuntu) none of the panels or desktop icons show up on the desktop. You get a blank screen with the mouse cursor, which you can move around, but there is nothing for you to click. You really can't do anything except log out (probably by way of your computer's power button)

Solution: When you log into Xfce, press Alt+F2. You may have to hold it down for a bit if nothing happens. You may see a box pop up but then disappear after a split second; try pressing Alt+F2 repeatedly several times in a row in order to get that box to stay up. Once you get the box up, type xfce4-panel-- make sure "Run in Terminal" is NOT selected-- and hit okay. That should bring your panels back.

To bring your icons back, go into Applications->Settings->Desktop Settings and click "Allow Xfce to manage the desktop" and make sure your Desktop Icons (under the "Behavior" tab) are set to something besides "None". That should bring all your stuff back-- at least, that's what worked for me!

I have heard of people having further problems with this issue, in fact I've heard that Xfce is still sort of buggy in this area and a lot of people have to deal with disappearing panels and stuff. Fortunately once you know how to do the fix you should be good to go.

My Screen Resolution is Stuck At 1024x768/800x600/something-else-ridiculously-low!

(Note: I was using an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT graphics card and a 19" HP L1906 monitor when I had this problem, so results may be best if your stats are similar.)

Problem: You have Kubuntu (or any other 'buntu) installed but you seem to be stuck at a less than optimal resolution for your monitor. Going into System Settings to fix it doesn't present you with an option for a higher resolution.

Resolution: Reconfigure xorg. Go to a terminal/konsole and type: sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. You can also do this from Recovery Mode if you wish. One of the first things it will ask you is what drivers you wish to use; this will be different depending on things like your video card but for me I found that I had to use nvidia, and not nv or vesa. So choose that (or whatever driver you need) and then follow along with the reconfiguration, choosing defaults or leaving things blank unless there is something specific you need to change.

Towards the end you will get to a point where it asks you what kinds of screen resolutions you want to use. Choose the ones you want to use by arrowing down to them and pressing spacebar to select them. Press enter to continue with the configuration until it's done. Reboot your computer (sudo reboot works) and when you get back in you should be able to choose the resolution you want from System Settings->Display. You might have to change some more settings after that (so it's set at 60Hz, for example, if your monitor is optimized for 1280x1024 and 60Hz) but it should work.

If you are using an Nvidia card you may notice that the "wait cursor" flickers when something is loading. As far as I am aware, this can be fixed by downloading newer drivers direct from Nvidia. I'm afraid I can't help with that though, because I decided it didn't irritate me enough to go bother myself with that yet. If you do need help you can probably find it on Ubuntu Forums or LinuxQuestions.

The LiveCD gets me a bunch of lines on my monitor!

Okay here we go, jumping into the Help Posts now.

Problem: You have a fairly big and likely flat-screen monitor; you probably use a high resolution like 1280x1024 or higher. You put the 'buntu LiveCD into your computer. Once it boots up you suddenly get a bunch of multicolored lines on your monitor and often a message, for example: "Input Signal Out of Range: Change Settings to 1280x1024 60Hz". Then the screen goes blank.

Solution: When you first put in the LiveCD, you have the option to boot under a different screen resolution. I believe it's F4. It will tell you at the bottom of the screen. If you press it, a bunch of options for resolutions come up. Choose something that you know works, for example, 1024x768 at 30Hz. Then boot it up.

This should at least get you into Kubuntu and allow you to install it. It might be a little difficult because the mouse cursor may not show up, but you can see stuff happening when you mouse over things, so what I did was position it on top of the "K" in the bottom left hand corner and go straight up from that to get to the "Install" button.

Don't worry-- you will have a cursor and be able to change your resolution to something more suitable later. For now the important thing is to get Kubuntu installed.

If you are still having problems, boot into recovery mode (you can get there by pressing Escape just as your computer is booting up: this will get you into the Grub menu and you can choose recovery mode) and try reconfiguring xorg. To do that, type this at the prompt: dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. This will present you with a lot of options that might seem kind of scary at first but just pick defaults for basically everything, except for towards the beginning when it asks you what kind of driver you wish to use. Pick something that sounds like it will be compatible with your video card: for example, I picked "nvidia". Then after you finish up, reboot and you should be basically set up. (You can try experimenting with different drivers if you need to, or ask for help at Ubuntu Forums.)

Can I Install Linux? And what are your credentials, Pike?

I want this blog to mostly contain specific help posts because a lot of other basic questions-- "How do I install it", "how do I dual-boot", etc.-- are already covered by several other websites. But first I want to give some insight into my own personal opinions on something I see a lot of: "Wow, Pike, you use Linux? You must be so awesome with computers! I'd never be able to do that!"

I am here to tell you right now that I am not awesome with computers. I am decent with them. I probably know a little more about computers than the average user. But I most certainly am not "awesome" with them. I'm not a programmer, I don't build computers (except with substantial help) and I don't fix them. And yet I exclusively use Linux. And you can too. If you have the desire to use Linux, some patience, access to Google, and a marginally good understanding of computers, you can use Linux without problems. Well okay, you will have problems. But you will be able to fix them. It's far from impossible.

What are the rewards? You'll be using an immensely safe and secure operating system that costs absolutely nothing and can be customized the way you like it to be. You'll learn more about computers in the first few weeks of using Linux than you've learned in several years of using Windows-- at least, I did. And, if you're like me, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're supporting a philosophy of free, open source software.

The point is that you do not need to be a computer genius to install, use, and enjoy Linux. If I can do it, you can do it. Oh, and casual PC gamers can use Linux too. I play StarCraft and DotA (WarCraft III) on a regular basis thanks to Wine. Hardcore gamers might have a tougher time transitioning but I know they've done it before.

My credentials? I'm just your average student, about to graduate with a degree in filmmaking (see? not computers) who happened to be impressed with open source poster-children Firefox and Open Office enough to give their big brother Linux a shot. I'm very glad I did. It's my hope that by posting my experiences and problems in this guide I'll be able to help someone else find their way to a better computing experience. Happy Linux'ing!

Other resources to check out regarding this topic: Get Gnu Linux, Ubuntu Linux Resources

Welcome!

Welcome, one and all, to my Kubuntu Newbie Guide. I'm Stephanie, but you may call me Pike.

This post is going to address some questions that you may have. Like, for example, why I'm starting yet another 'buntu help guide when there are already so many 'buntu help guides out there. Well, here are my reasonings:

• Most of those guides are aimed at Ubuntu and not its cousin, Kubuntu. Yes, the two are very similar, and most problems you come across in Kubuntu can be solved by following directions for Ubuntu. But sometimes you will stumble across minor differences that you have to know how to work around, and I think this might be a little intimidating for some newbies.
• I've stumbled across many odd little problems on my conversion to Linux, and hours of thorough Google searching often turned up little or nothing. So it is my hope that anyone in the future who comes across these "odd" problems will at least have this blog show up in their Google search.
• Finally, I absolutely love Linux and what it stands for and I really want to give back to this community. If I can guide at least one newbie in their pursuit of computing freedom than I will have helped, if even ever so slightly.

And that's about it. Before I jump into any real help posts I would like to say that I use Kubuntu 6.06 LTS "Dapper Drake", so if you are using 6.10 "Edgy Eft" there may be some slight differences, but nothing major. (I do recommend trying Dapper Drake first if you are completely new to Linux; it tends to be more stable. You can always upgrade later if you choose.) Also, the fundamentals of most of these fixes should theoretically work with the other 'buntu flavors: Ubuntu, Xubuntu, et al.

Other resources you may want to check out if you need help include the Ubuntu Forums and psychocats.net's Ubuntu Linux Resources. These have both been great helps to me.

Well then, let's get started!