Linux Mint 19.3 Chromebook booted from microSD GEDSTARPRO

[fargodwe]

I had a previous thread on GedStarPro under wine

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https://forum.winehq.org/viewtopic.php?t=29542 

However, the circumstances have changed quite a bit and it's probably best I open a new thread because of that.

Background:

GedStarPro will read my family history file from Legacy9 (also running in wine!) and convert it to a database that is usable by the android version of GedStarPro so I can take my family history with me on my phone or tablet.

I was previously running linux Mint 18.2 on a laptop dual-booting Windows 10 and linux Mint.

Current:

I am running linux Mint 19.3 (a change from 18.2) 64-bit. However the hardware and way of running has changed quite a lot, I am running linux Mint booted and running from a microSD card on a Chromebook.

What I have done:

As per the old thread I have done the following:

1. installed wine via the instructions on WineHQ
2. installed winetricks via the instructions on WineHQ
3 . created a 32-bit wineprefix
4. loaded GedStarPro to that prefix
5. via winetricks installed mdac28
6. via winetricks installed jet40

In the previous thread this is what it took to get it running thanks to Bob Wya.

Current problem:

The program is erroring out immediately again when trying to open the database as it did until Bob provided the solution,

I hope it was ok to open a new thread on this considering how old the old thread was and how much the circumstances have changed.

Thanks in advance.

Reason for edit: wanted to add that I installed wine and winetricks.

[fargodwe]

This is the output from winedbg after the program has started, data base has been selected and then the create database option was selected - which resulted in the program again issuing the error about unable to open the database. Just my novice eyes looking at it I don't see anything that just pops out to me - maybe to someone who knows what they are doing.

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0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
002c:fixme:heap:RtlCompactHeap (0x670000, 0x0) stub
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
0009:fixme:dbghelp:elf_search_auxv can't find symbol in module
Invalid address (0x7b465a8e ExitProcess+0x22ae) for breakpoint 0, disabling it
Process of pid=002b has terminated
Wine-dbg>

[fargodwe]

Please note - the Chromebook can be ruled out as contributing in anyway to this problem.

I installed Linux Mint 19.3 64-bit Mate, same as on the Chromebook, to my laptop.

I installed wine and winetricks as per winehq.

I created a 32-bit prefix and loaded GedStarPro to it.

Using winetricks and following what was in the previous thread, I installed mdac28 and then jet40.

Tried GedStarPro - back to the same abort as the original thread and as I'm having on the Chromebook.

So, it's either something in Linux Mint 19.3 (doubtful?), something changed in wine, or somehow something is different in winetricks.

So, ignore the Chromebook portion - the problem persists.

[fargodwe]

Ok. installed linux Mint 18.2 to my laptop. Loaded wine and winetricks as per winehq, this time for zenial (mint 18.2) vs biopic (??) (mint 19.x). Created wine 32-bit prefix. Loaded mdac28 then jet40 via winetricks. Installed gedstarpro. Same problem when trying to open the database.

So, considering this exact combination used to work, there has either been a change to wine itself that affects both zenial and biopic and/or a change to winetricks or something it installs.

So, I'm closing this thread and opening one about undesired results from changes to wine and/or winetricks.

[Bob Wya]

@ fargodwe

You seem to manage to spew out forum threads and posts - without actually supplying some basic / crucial bits of information...

E.g. I don't know:

• if your Chromebook is x86-based
• what version of Wine or Wine Staging you are testing with
• what version of winetricks you are using
• what database file you are trying to open

??!!

Are you testing with the sample.fdb database file supplied with Legacy 9 Family Tree ?
Certainly I can open and convert this file, using GedStarPro 4.6.3 .
I tested this using a clean 32-bit WINEPREFIX.

Steps to reproduce:

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wine --version
wine-5.0-rc3

winetricks --version
20191224-next 68bc9359ad1a0288c7e403097a8eae7bde6dea1d

export WINEPREFIX=~/ged_star_pro_32
export WINEARCH=win32
winetricks winxp
winetricks mdac28
winetricks jet40

cd "${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c"
ln -s ~/Downloads/GedstarProSetup4_6_3.exe .
ln -s ~/Downloads/Legacy9Setup.exe .
wine start Legacy9Setup.exe
wine start GedstarProSetup4_6_3.exe

Note: the jet40 winetricks verb does spew out:

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0094:err:ole:TLB_ReadTypeLib Loading of typelib L"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Microsoft Shared\\dao\\dao2535.tlb" failed with error 2

I remember seeing this error message on previous occasions (it probably isn't critical).

Bob

[fargodwe]

Right now the Chromebook is moot. I'm am running the latest wine, the latest winetricks, linux mint 19.3. The problem is still there on the laptop I was using back on the original thread: Dell XPS 17 l702x. I installed Mint 19.3 to it in place of Windows so I could test - same problem, hence not a Chromebook issue.

I then went back to the Linux Mint I was running in the original thread, as best as I can remember, as 18.2 Sarah. Then recreated the 32-bit prefix, loaded the exact same version of GedStarPro, used winetricks on command line to load mdac28 and then jet40 as per the original thread.

The same exact problem that these steps, thanks to your help, solved is back. Same OS, same PC, wine for 18.2 as per winehq, current winetricks.

This seems to indicate a problem beyond my software, my PC, my environment - at least that's what naive me sees. That's why I opened the thread about perhaps some sort of regression or something has happened. I could be all wrong. I have no way to know except by my testing. I'm sure you'll be able to tell me I am wrong.

I opened this thread because (1) as you pointed out the old thread was OLD and (2) my original idea [since proven false] that perhaps the Chromebook fit into the problem.

That is why the 3rd thread - I thought it would remove my hardware and my software from a more generic question about wine and winetricks.

So that's where things stand.

The Chromebook is an AMD A4 64-bit based PC. The linux Mint on it is the latest - 19.3 64-bit. Video, wireless, all work. Winetricks and wine are the latest stable following the instructions on winehq. The sound doesn't output to the speakers, but that's a minor annoyance I can work on drivers for - it's Mint. I feel like all of that is probably irrelevant now.

I have since reinstall Windows 10 Pro back onto my regular laptop, so I can't test there now. Any further testing will need to be via the Chromebook and Mint 19.3. Going back to 18.2 on the Chromebook is not an easy task. I need to create a UEFi bootable media, my regular laptop for some reason only Dell knows does not support GPT so hence no UEFI. I have to play a LOT of games to build a USB stick the Chromebook will boot.

I appreciate any input. If you feel other threads need to be deleted let me know and I'll ask the admins to do so and why.

[fargodwe]

As far as the output you requested, I am currently on my regular laptop. I need to get home and use the Chromebook to give that information.

[Bob Wya]

Right now the Chromebook is moot. I'm am running the latest wine, the latest winetricks, linux mint 19.3. The problem is still there on the laptop I was using back on the original thread: Dell XPS 17 l702x. I installed Mint 19.3 to it in place of Windows so I could test - same problem, hence not a Chromebook issue.
...

It's best to avoid the vague term latest version.
In my book that means that you are using the daily Git Master, of that piece of software.
Which I presume is not the case...

Otherwise you should state the precise version of software you are using...
Especially since Debian/ Ubuntu ship very outdate versions of Wine and winetricks.

Proving the full winetricks logs, etc. is also a lot more helpful than a lot of speculation about what is going wrong.

I'm not just being critical for the sake of it (honest)!
This is technical forum. Being precise and providing relevant will actually help to get your issue resolved a lot faster!
Same rules apply to any online technical forum or bug/issue tracker.

Thanks
Bob

[fargodwe]

I guess I don't have a clue what to say. I'm a just-want-to-use-it person. I don't know how to do/include the things as you are asking. I assumed that when I said I installed the latest release it would mean the latest stable release of wine.

I did the wine --version and it showed a number (one I can't get back right now as soon to be explained) that was for the current stable version via winehq - I think it was something like 4.0.something.

Winetricks matched the version Bob Wya showed and wanted from me.

Wine however as not at the release candidate 5.0.3 whatever. So I uninstalled the stable wine version. I then tried to install the release candidate. It failed saying it wanted wine-devel. I decided to try to use synaptic package manager to do this. I flagged wine-devel and it said it needed to install libasound2:i386. When I clicked apply it came back and said it couldn't install due to broken packages. I then tried it in a terminal window and got this:

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dave@dave-test-linux:~$ sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 winehq-devel : Depends: wine-devel (= 5.0~rc3~bionic)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
dave@dave-test-linux:~$ 

I don't know what else to say. If this isn't the information somebody needs then I don't know anything about what it is or how to get it. I don't want to post anything more in this reply as I'm afraid it will be taken as rambling and still not providing things I don't know.

[fargodwe]

Please forgive another post. I found

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https://www.linuxuprising.com/2019/09/how-to-install-wine-staging-development.html

on the internet and followed it to install winehq-staging as I didn't see "release candidate" in the list. I used the following to do so:

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sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-staging

The result is I now have this

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dave@dave-test-linux:~$ wine --version
wine-5.0-rc4 (Staging)
dave@dave-test-linux:~$ 

If this is acceptable to try the rest of your post please let me know - it's not the wine-5.9-rc3 you show in that post. I don't want to do anything more until I know if that's acceptable or if I somehow need to figure out how to get the rc3 you show.

[fargodwe]

Update: went ahead with rc4 and followed your instructions in your post and it ran. So, I DO know I setup the prefix, installed mdac28, installed jet40 and installed GedStarPro in my attempts with the stable version of wine 4.0.2 and it failed. So, what's the difference between the stable 4.0.2 release and the release candidate 4 that would make it work? I seem to remember in the old thread that I also had to use a release candidate then also. Am I going to have to install the release candidate any time I need to reinstall? I would have thought the if it worked back then it would have worked with the stable release now. Am I wrong in assuming it was a patch in the rc back then that made it work and that patch was not carried forward beyond that old rc? Do they keep adding in a patch that makes this work but only in the release candidate - as now - but never moving it into the stable version?

[fargodwe]

Sorry - in last post I needed to be more precise. Not release candidate 4, rather release candidate 5.0.4. I was past the time to edit it or I would have. Sorry for the extraneous post. Hope it's not cluttering things up.

[Bob Wya]

Sorry - in last post I needed to be more precise. Not release candidate 4, rather release candidate 5.0.4. I was past the time to edit it or I would have. Sorry for the extraneous post. Hope it's not cluttering things up.

I presume you mean 5.0-rc4 - release candidate 4 for the Wine stable release 5.0
5.0.4 would be a future stable release based on the (yet to be released) final 5.0 version.

Bob

[fargodwe]

I'm sorry I guess I messed that up again. For future reference in case I need to post to these forums again, are there some instructions somewhere that shows a novice how to generate all the logs, etc., the one needs to post when opening a thread? I have no clue on that, and I suspect many people who post here are in the same boat. I suppose it's in some sticky I never found yet.

I just want to make sure if I post again I provide everything I can to avoid criticism of what I am trying to post and ask help on.

[fargodwe]

Please also try your test with the 4.0.2 stable release of wine and see if it still runs. If it does, then I am really lost. My prefix won't successfully run GedStarPro convert database on the sample family file using wine stable 4.0.2 but does with 5.0 rc4. I am curious of the result.

[Bob Wya]

Please also try your test with the 4.0.2 stable release of wine and see if it still runs. If it does, then I am really lost. My prefix won't successfully run GedStarPro convert database on the sample family file using wine stable 4.0.2 but does with 5.0 rc4. I am curious of the result.

@fargodwe

Wine 4.0.2 does the database conversion, on my system.
Although I should point out the current Wine Stable release is actually 4.0.3
Wine Stable 4.0.3 also does the database conversion, for me.

The Wine version numbers, of the form 4.0.x, are Wine Stable releases.
These roll up multiple cherry-picked main branch commits, which are then back-ported.
They are not minor point releases... Very confusing!

Bob

[fargodwe]

Now I'm really confused and hope you can provide an answer. The current stable release of wine installed via the instructions on winehq for ubuntu and then mint did not work on my laptop(i7,8gb memory,128gb ssd, 750 sata hard drive, dvd-rw) when I put linux mint on it nor on the Chromebook (Acer CB350-2H AMD A4 based 4gb memory) running Mint 19.03 64-bit. The only difference between working and non-working at least on the Chromebook is the stable release of wine versus wine 5.0 rc4. So what can possibly be up with that?

I seem to remember that when I go to winehq to I follow the instructions for ubuntu and then chose the option where it shows ubuntu 18.04/Linux Mint 19.x? Is there any possibility that is the difference between your wine installation and mine? I know for Mint 19.03 I was following the instructions which resulted in the repository being for ubuntu bionic.

[Bob Wya]

...
I seem to remember that when I go to winehq to I follow the instructions for ubuntu and then chose the option where it shows ubuntu 18.04/Linux Mint 19.x? Is there any possibility that is the difference between your wine installation and mine? I know for Mint 19.03 I was following the instructions which resulted in the repository being for ubuntu bionic.

I'm testing with Gentoo - so yes there will be a big difference between the Ubuntu packages and mine.

Bob

[fargodwe]

Ok, thanks SO MUCH for your help again Bob!

On a quick side note, I noticed you avatar says Scotland. Many many years ago I worked with someone from Scotland. Besides the wonderful pictures of the city (I don't remember the name) the pictures he had from being out in the country where beautiful. I live in Fargo, North Dakota, USA and all we have here is flat treeless farm ground. Nothing like what appears to be in at least part of Scotland.

Again, thanks again!

I think I can safely say problem fixed!

[Bob Wya]

Ok, thanks SO MUCH for your help again Bob!

On a quick side note, I noticed you avatar says Scotland. Many many years ago I worked with someone from Scotland. Besides the wonderful pictures of the city (I don't remember the name) the pictures he had from being out in the country where beautiful. I live in Fargo, North Dakota, USA and all we have here is flat treeless farm ground. Nothing like what appears to be in at least part of Scotland.

Again, thanks again!

I think I can safely say problem fixed!

I'm glad you managed to get things working, finally!
I also hate when things seem to go "backwards", with Wine, and something stops working for no apparent reason!
To be fair there is great effort, with the general development of Wine, to avoid true regressions creeping into the codebase.

OT/

Yeah, Scotland is beautiful. I have been trying, in recent years, to visit all (most!) of the Western Isles.
Including visiting a few distilleries (I am now a convert, single malt snob!)
You certainly get some amazing views, across to the other islands and the mainland.
There is a beautiful steam train service, run between Fort William and Port Mallaig, which I plan to try out this year (as featured in the Harry Potter films!)

The most beautiful city in Scotland has to be Edinburgh (Eee-din-burra - for our American cousins - not in Eee-din-burg ) - the capital.
Probably the "wonderful pictures of the city" to which you refer.
I might be a bit biased about that opinion though!

Scotland is well worth a visit, if you can ever afford the air fare!

Bob