Act 6.0 runs on Linux under WINE. In Mepis, you need to have root privileges, and you install WINE using Synaptic and/or KPackage, or apt-get. I prefer the command line myself, but other people like a GUI interface.
Typically, you would either fire up Synaptic, or KPackage (probably under the system menu item as Add/Remove Software) enter the ROOT user's password and when it opens do a search on the word WINE. You should see the wine package (currently at wine-0.942.1). Once you find it, click to install it, and hit apply and wait till it's done. No need to re-boot after installing like Windows does.
Next, you would put your ACT! CD in your drive. Here's the tricky part; You need to figure out what the operating system uses to refer to the CD ROM drive. In my case (Fedora), I had to open the home folder, then the device list, and click on "media:, which showed me the device name of the CD by clicking on it. In my case, the "device name" was "/media/040723_1329/". WINE needs the long filename and path, in the same proper case as it is on the CD. i.e. Act is not the same as act.
If you look on the desktop, after putting in the CD (mounting it), a CD Icon will appear on the desktop too, the title under the CD is the ID that Linux will use too.
Since I don't have an ACT! cd anymore, I'm installing Fireworks as I do this on Fedora.
Once you know what the installation filename is i.e. SETUP.EXE or ACTSETUP.EXE, open up a terminal window. You'll find terminal in the menu under utilities probably. You will see a prompt like "[tom@linuxbox -] $", this is your command line.
In the terminal window, type "wine /media/040723_1329/Fireworks2.exe" in my case, your's will be different. Use the path to the CD ROM drive, and the actual Act! setup filename you found earlier.
Hit Enter, If all goes well, you should see something like the following:
"wine: creating configuration directory '/home/tom/.wine'... "
"wine: '/home/tom/.wine' created successfully"
Then the standard windows installation screen will open with the Act setup running. Follow the steps and install Act as you normally would. Once the install is complete, the window should close.
One thing to note, if you look at the "wine" directory name above, you'll notice it's called "./wine" with a leading period, not "/wine". This is because it's a HIDDEN directory. The only way to get there is to specifically move there. In other words, if you typed "cd /home/{your home name}/wine", you would get an error. If you typed "cd /home/{your home name}./wine" you would go there.
WINE creates what is called a "Virtual Environment" on your Linux PC. It's a fully encapsulated version of Windows (95 or 98, not sure) in your Linux Home folder. In the terminal window, type "cd /home/{your home directory name}" to go to your home folder.
Here's a trick, Linux will complete the command if you hit the "tab" button. SO, if you type "CD Doc" then hit TAB, it will auto complete it (provided the directory exists) and it will say "CD Documents", just hit enter. You need enough letters to distinguish it from any other directory name.
This is a life saver when Linux program names are a mile long.
So, from your home prompt ([tom@linux ~]$ the tilde signifies you're home) type "CD .wine" and you'll see "[tom@linux .wine]$" You're in your Windows folder.
Type "ls" (same as "dir" in windows) and you see the file list. There are 3 .reg files (basically Windows registry files), and 2 folders; "dosdevices" and "drive_c". Type "cd dr" then hit tab, it will autocomplete the "drive_c", then hit enter.
Do an "ls" again, you'll see 2 folders; "Program Files" and "windows". "Program Files" is where your programs go, "windows" is all the system stuff. CD to "Program Files". If you "ls", You should see an "Act" folder, CD to that, and do an "ls", and make note of the Act filename (probably act.exe or actw.exe). If it's not there, poke around until you find it.
NOW, here's another trick. You can use the "pwd" command to figure out where you are. This will save a lot of time. Once you are in the folder that has the " Act.exe" program, type "pwd" and hit enter. You will see the entire path to that file. Simply highlight it and right click, "copy" and you'll have the whole path saved.
Do yourself a favor now, and paste this path into your command window, then add the "wine" in front of it, and the " act.exe" to the end, to see if it actually works. It will look something like this:
"[tom@linuxbox Act]$ wine /home/tom/.wine/drive_c
Then hit enter. If Act does not start, fiddle with the command until it does. Once it works, quit Act, then hit the arrow up in the terminal window, it will show you the last command you entered; the one you used to launch Act. again, highlight the whole thing and copy it.
Another Note... the Linux command line does not like spaces. (niether does Windows). In a Windows DOS prompt, the directory "Program Files" is referred to as "Progra~1". In Linux, it is written as "Program\ Files" (there is a space between "Program\ and Files).
Once the install program is complete, you need to make a shortcut to the program. Linux will NOT add it to your menu, as it doesn't know what it is, or what it's for. If this was a Linux app, the installer would know where to put it, including the category. You need to add the shortcut by hand.
On the Desktop, right click, and select "Create new" and "Link to application". In the "General" tab, type the name of the program i.e "Act 6 for Windows" or something. In the "Application" tab, add the description, and in the "Command" section, paste the launch string you copied earlier, then hit save.
You will see a new icon for Act. Try it out. If it works, let me know. I can IM over Yahoo or whatever if you need help. If it works, awsum. It should behave just like the windows version I'm pretty sure. I'd restore a back up and work concurrently with the Windows version until you're sure you like it.
Good Luck!
Tom
1 comment:
Well said.
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