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Problems with UNIVBE and UVCONFIG under Linux

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:42 pm
by silvercoon
I'm running Linux Mint Xfce. I've had various problems trying to get Nemesis going. I've narrowed it to the UNIVBE and UVCONFIG utilities. UVCONFIG says 'Can't open driver file for writing'. So it doesn't matter whether I use Wine or DOSBox, unless I can figure this out I won't be able to continue. (I would prefer DOSBox.) I have no way of knowing if UVCONFIG is detecting my variables correctly. Unless I'm missing something, I haven't been able to find them in System Profiler. Any constructive response is appreciated.

Re: Problems with UNIVBE and UVCONFIG under Linux

Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:57 am
by KM3K
Can you give more details on how far you've gotten on running the game? What version of Linux Mint, Wine and DOSBox are you running? Did you install it under Wine or DOSBox successfully? If you're trying DOSBox, I assume you have the DOS version of Nemesis. I assume you have seen the Wine AppDB listing for Nemesis at http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.p ... n&iId=4577

I own the Windows version of Nemesis and got it running under Wine in Arch Linux a couple of years ago. One problem I ran into was that Nemesis requires you run your display in 16-bit color. Wine won't switch from the 24-bit color you're (probably) using to 16-bit, so you must do it manually first. If you're using Compiz or some compositing engine like it, you'll have to disable that too. It won't work right in 16-bit color. I'm not familiar with Linux Mint, but I think they have a GUI for setting your display to 16-bit color.

I made a modification of the "start a new X server" script that is listed in the comments of the Nemesis Wine AppDB listing. I don't have it on the computer I'm using right now, but I'll post it later on and maybe it can point you in the right direction.

Edit:
I got the files I mentioned earlier and I have one for ZGI too. They're zsh shell scripts and they use xnest to start a second X server in 16-bit color and play the game using Wine. They also require timidity because the original script used it, but honestly, I don't know how it's being used and never bothered to look into it. I hard-coded some paths in the scripts, so you'll need to change those. It should be pretty straightforward if you've done shell scripting before.

Re: Problems with UNIVBE and UVCONFIG under Linux

Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:41 pm
by silvercoon
Thank you for responding. I held off posting my response because I had tried the method posted elsewhere on this site of copying copying certain files to the HD. This time I copied the contents of the DOS folder and made appropriate changes the ZIX file. All I had to do was setup my sound prefs, not a peep from UNIVBE. My problem now is this horrible buzzing noise in-game. It's absent in the preferences screen and the ?hint screen. I've tried different settings, too. Is this part of the game, like the alarm I've heard about in ZorkGI?
BTW, I've heard of problems in saving/restoring, but thankfully no problems here.

Re: Problems with UNIVBE and UVCONFIG under Linux

Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:20 pm
by KM3K
I haven't heard about an issue with a buzzing noise in-game. Not sure what would cause that.

Re: Problems with UNIVBE and UVCONFIG under Linux

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:51 am
by silvercoon
I've also noticed the the noise is absent in cinemas as well.