[SOLVED] Any luck with ProWritingAid under Ubuntu/WINE?

[WB0HYQ]

I am running Ubuntu version 16.04 (xenial) and WINE version 1.6.2. I've done quite a bit of searching, but found nothing about running this great writer's aid under Ubuntu/WINE. Has anyone managed to get this application running?

Bill

[WB0HYQ]

Anyone?

[DuckHook]

WineHQ database has no record of this app (it's always the first place to check). This means that it is untested and unknown to them. Since they are the foremost experts on their own app compatibility, it is not likely that anyone on this forum can better their knowledge or experience. If web searching and a WINE database search both return nothing, you are likely forging a new path exploring virgin territory.

The usual suggestion for apps that don't run in WINE is to run them in a Windows VM.

If you do decide to experiment with this app on WINE, please consider signing up with the WINE community and recording your experiences on their database. It will greatly help the FOSS community.

[WB0HYQ]

The DB was the first place I tried. I've been experimenting with various methods to kick the application into gear, but nothing works so far. I will get the "waiting" circle for perhaps a half-sceond, then nothing. No error, no notification, nothing.

I may have to go the VM route, although I'd rather not.

Bill

[DuckHook]

The DB was the first place I tried.

On the forums, we have no idea of our members' IT savvy, so we perforce assume the the lowest common denominator. If you are familiar with WINE appDB, then you are well ahead of the game.

I've been experimenting with various methods to kick the application into gear, but nothing works so far.

The only advice I can think of is cycling through the common winetricks kludges. I'm sure you are already well aware of winetricks.

I may have to go the VM route, although I'd rather not.

FWIW, I gave up trying to shoehorn stubborn Windows apps into WINE quite a few years ago. These days, if I can't get a Windows app to play nice in WINE with just a few modifications, I go straight to a VM. It helps that I have both XP and Vista VMs still kicking around although I would never dare enable the NIC for those two VMs. Setting up a shared directory makes interactions relatively painless. Only you can judge whether the exposure is worth the functionality.

[Skaperen]

if i needed to run something that expects Windows, i'd do it in a VM.

[WB0HYQ]

. . . . I would never dare enable the NIC for those two VMs. Setting up a shared directory makes interactions relatively painless. Only you can judge whether the exposure is worth the functionality.

I hadn't thought of that. Good advice, as I'd end up spending a boatload of time doing updates. I have a spare Win 7 install disk with a never-used key. I can go with that. I have a bunch of shared directories for use between all my machines (I have 7 of them running various flavors of OS).

Bill

[WB0HYQ]

I am not sure HOW this happened, but today I updated UBUNTU from 14.04 to 18.04. The process hit a couple of snags, yet installed fine. After a few tweaks, I decided to try once more getting my writing software to run under WINE. I right-clicked the EXE file in Program files (x86), chose "Run under 'a wine application' ". I was so astonished it started--and ran well--after flatly refusing to run under 14.04.

The program was all its functionality it had under Windows. How do I make this known to the Wine program compatibility list? Or, is there something that has to be tested to allow this to happen?

Bill

[WB0HYQ]

. . . .

If you do decide to experiment with this app on WINE, please consider signing up with the WINE community and recording your experiences on their database. It will greatly help the FOSS community.

I created a new account at wineDB. They said they sent me an email so I could log in. Been waiting for three hours. No email has arrived. Even checked my online spam folder (I use Thunderbird normally).
Does it take this long to become a member?

Bill

[DuckHook]

I am not sure HOW this happened, but today I updated UBUNTU from 14.04 to 18.04. The process hit a couple of snags, yet installed fine. After a few tweaks, I decided to try once more getting my writing software to run under WINE. I right-clicked the EXE file in Program files (x86), chose "Run under 'a wine application' ". I was so astonished it started--and ran well--after flatly refusing to run under 14.04.

The program was all its functionality it had under Windows. How do I make this known to the Wine program compatibility list? Or, is there something that has to be tested to allow this to happen?

Bill

Congrats. I should apologize for not reading your initial post well enough…

You mentioned the version number which is very old. Your new experience was likely the result of updating to a later version of WINE which came with Bionic. My practice is to install the latest wine-stable from their PPA, but I would not recommend that in your case. Sometimes, later versions actually suffer from regressions. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I created a new account at wineDB. They said they sent me an email so I could log in. Been waiting for three hours. No email has arrived. Even checked my online spam folder (I use Thunderbird normally).
Does it take this long to become a member?

Bill

I don't recall it taking long at all, but my info is years out of date. I suggest contacting them again to see what's up.

It's kind of you to go to the trouble. Kudos to you.

Regards,
DH