Running LaunchBox and Big Box on Linux

[Jason Carr]

Hey all, the first post of this topic and the associated script file has been updated. Big Box now works in 11.3-beta-9.

[The_Keeper86]

Been playing around with it. Can't believe its actually running! :) 

[The_Keeper86]

Hey @Jason Carr this probably was probably a goofy idea but I copied over my LB folder from my Windows drive to Linux and I get this error

Unable to load one or more of the requested types.
Could not load file or assembly 'System.Configuration.Install, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. File not found.

App:     Big Box
Version: 11.3-beta-9
Type:    System.Reflection.ReflectionTypeLoadException
Site:    System.RuntimeType[] GetTypes(System.Reflection.RuntimeModule)
Source:  System.Private.CoreLib

   at System.Reflection.RuntimeModule.GetTypes(RuntimeModule module)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeModule.GetTypes()
   at System.Reflection.Assembly.GetTypes()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.jRToVwdy1m[hIdRpFFvpn1CAPPqHj](IEnumerable`1  , ConcurrentDictionary`2&  )
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.LoadPlugins(String folderPath)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.App.N41xZtUygpgXkXPvMvZ(Object )
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.BigBoxProgram.Main()

Recent Log:

   4:41:44 PM Exception

I'm sure it's something to do with my settings haha.

[Jason Carr]

Appears to be a plugin error of some kind @The_Keeper86. Maybe a theme plugin error?

[The_Keeper86]

@Jason Carr yeah, I didn't think about that. Figured it was in my plugins folder so I removed that and still got the same error. Haven't tried the themes yet. I'll try that and report back  

[The_Keeper86]

Ok it seems it was a plugin in one of those folders. Can't say which one but I can do further testing on it. Now I'm just trying to get some Steam games running ( I use Proton) and for some odd reason when it puts in the steam id launch command in the path like normal it displays it like this

steam://rungam eid/612880

So it throws an error out about not being able to find the path have you had any luck with launching any games? I figured Steam would probably the easiest.

 

I even tried the Linux version of the command which would be

steam steam://rungameid/612880

No luck it does however display correctly in the application path though.

Edited August 10, 2020 by The_Keeper86

[jedigu]

Glad to see LB and BB running through Wine!

I'm using  Launchbox 11.3-beta-14 and Linux Mint 20 here, and ran a few tests with Retroarch and PCSX2. In case it helps the devs, here's what happened:

a) Retroarch:

- games on LB, set to launch with the Windows version of Retroarch, work without any additional tweaks: Retroarch ran through Wine seems to behave like native. Couldn't test online features because of the recent "Libretro / Retroarch hacked" situation;

- LB can launch the Linux version of Retroarch: setting the folder to Z:\usr\bin\retroarch  allows LB to launch the native version of the emulator, but only when right clicking a game and choosing to launch the emulator without the game; the Linux version of Retroarch opens and you can manually open games inside it.

I couldn't figure a way to directly launch any game through LB using the Linux version of Retroarch: nothing happens when trying to launch games this way, and the cores are always shown as absent on LB. I tried using custom command line parameters (on Associated Platforms) and point LB to where the Linux version of Retroarch cores are located, under Z:\home\USER_NAME\.config\retroarch\cores, but it didn't work. I also tried creating a link (shortcut) to said directory, putting it in my home folder and pointing the command line parameters to it, just in case LB wasn't seeing ./ folders; but that didn't work either.

I'm guessing that if LB automatically knew where Retroarch cores are located on Linux, maybe it would work (but I'm out of ideas for now).

By the way, in order to launch the native version of emulators inside Wine, I followed the instructions under Wine HQ Wiki. 

 

b) PCSX2:

- the Windows version of PCSX2 doesn't seem to work when launched via LB on Linux: it always launches the "first configuration" screen and the emulator freezes after clicking "Next";

- pointing LB to Z:\usr\games\PCSX2 allows the Linux version of the emulator to be launched through LB (and I can then proceed to manually open games inside the launched PCSX2). But I couldn't directly launch any PS2 games though LB when using the Linux version of PCSX2.

When trying to launch any game via LB with the Linux version of PCSX2, the emulator opens with an error message, saying that the CDVD plugin failed (and even changing the plugin doesn't stop the error from showing up). It doesn't behave like this when opening the native Linux PCSX2 outside of Launchbox; and even if, within LB, I right click on a game and select "Launch PCSX2" (launching the emulator without opening any games with it), I can then load any PS2 games within the native PCSX2 without any error message. No idea why the aforementioned error is happening only when trying to directly launch PS2 games via LB.

 

Hope that, in time, devs and/or community figure out a way to allow us to directly launch games, through LB/BB, with the native version of the emulators.

And thanks, devs and community, for all the hard work towards LB/BB, and for trying and getting it working on Linux. You guys rock!

Edited August 21, 2020 by jedigu

[Jason Carr]

Good going @jedigu! Sorry I've been distant in this thread; been busy resolving bugs so we can get this release out. I'll be diving back in here soon to see what we can improve.

[The_Keeper86]

I also had the same issues as you @jedigu especially with PCSX2, so I'm glad I wasn't the only one. @Jason Carr take your time man. Anything I can do to help I'd be glad to. I mainly run Ubuntu and Debian based distros. I'm no programmer but am happy to do any testing! Wish more people would be post in this thread.

[Jason Carr]

Just updated the main post and script for the official 11.3 release. Hopefully more folks will be here soon, since we're going to heavily feature it for the 11.3 release.

[The_Keeper86]

Thanks @Jason Carr! Glad you aren't giving up on this because of lack of posts. I'll let people I know who use Linux about it. Will also give the new release a try! 

[Technolust]

Big Thanks to @Jason Carr for keeping the faith in Linux. I can honestly say that I 100% loath Microsoft Windows and to see the support here for Linux is amazeballs. I only run Winders because I'm voluntold to at work otherwise I would never use it as a daily driver. I run CentOS server and Pop!OS laptop. My dev pc is Fedora. I do have an iMac for funzies... but it's just another GUI.... In any case sorry for the rant, I'm here because I was just introduced to LaunchBox this evening for the first time and all the videos look badass.... Now I have never run wine on any linux because well.. I loath windows. However, if it will help you and the team build I'm all for setting it up. Do you have clear instructions on how to setup LaunchBox on Linux? Also what is Big Box?

Help me help you!!

-Joe

Edited August 26, 2020 by Technolust

[Jason Carr]

12 hours ago, Technolust said:

Big Thanks to @Jason Carr for keeping the faith in Linux. I can honestly say that I 100% loath Microsoft Windows and to see the support here for Linux is amazeballs. I only run Winders because I'm voluntold to at work otherwise I would never use it as a daily driver. I run CentOS server and Pop!OS laptop. My dev pc is Fedora. I do have an iMac for funzies... but it's just another GUI.... In any case sorry for the rant, I'm here because I was just introduced to LaunchBox this evening for the first time and all the videos look badass.... Now I have never run wine on any linux because well.. I loath windows. However, if it will help you and the team build I'm all for setting it up. Do you have clear instructions on how to setup LaunchBox on Linux? Also what is Big Box?

Help me help you!!

-Joe

To be honest, if you were just introduced to LaunchBox, it may be a bit too advanced for you at this point. The first post of this topic gives you all the instructions, though.

[Technolust]

Well shucks.... I’ve got a exciting fast paced career in IT... (Aka professional status bar watcher) I think I can manage... I’ll take a look see at the beginning post but can you tell me what Big Box is?

[Jason Carr]

1 minute ago, Technolust said:

Well shucks.... I’ve got a exciting fast paced career in IT... (Aka professional status bar watcher) I think I can manage... I’ll take a look see at the beginning post but can you tell me what Big Box is?

Big Box is the home theater or arcade cabinet interface. See here:

 

[Technolust]

Ok damn that’s badass! I’ll give it a go...

[The_Keeper86]

Running Pop OS atm and keep getting these two errors one is an error saying "rundll32.exe  this application could not be started"and the other is when it attempts to install LB I get a pop up when its trying to install VB 2015 saying "unsupported protocol only http and ftp protocols are supported" I know this is more of a Linux/Wine issue I'm sure it has nothing to do with LB. I wanted to do some more testing on the new release. It installed just fine on Linux Mint however.

[Jason Carr]

5 minutes ago, The_Keeper86 said:

Running Pop OS atm and keep getting these two errors one is an error saying "rundll32.exe  this application could not be started"and the other is when it attempts to install LB I get a pop up when its trying to install VB 2015 saying "unsupported protocol only http and ftp protocols are supported" I know this is more of a Linux/Wine issue I'm sure it has nothing to do with LB. I wanted to do some more testing on the new release. It installed just fine on Linux Mint however.

Where in the process are you getting those errors? The second one (http one) means that it's trying to download a pre-requisite that should have already been installed.

[The_Keeper86]

17 minutes ago, Jason Carr said:

Where in the process are you getting those errors? The second one (http one) means that it's trying to download a pre-requisite that should have already been installed.

Right before it attempts to run the LB installer I get the rundll32 error then the http error. I wiped the LB folder and am trying again. I don't want to clog this thread with these issues. But I'll edit this post and report back. If you have time please check back in 15-20 minutes.

 

*Edit* yeah, still getting those same errors. Not sure what it could be. It installed fine in Mint 20 and Kde Neon.

Edited August 27, 2020 by The_Keeper86

[Jason Carr]

@The_Keeper86 Try running these commands:

wget http://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe
WINEPREFIX=~/LaunchBox wine ./vc_redist.x64.exe /passive /norestart
WINEPREFIX=~/LaunchBox wine ./LaunchBox-11.3-Setup.exe /DIR=C:\LaunchBox /SILENT

I think that will fix it. I'm gonna update the script with that in a second here.