problem running quickbooks

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Emegra
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:50 pm

problem running quickbooks

Post by Emegra »

Hi everyone
I'm looking for a bit of help I'm fairly new to Linux and completely new to Wine, but I installed Wine on Linux Mint 12 and then installed quickbooks 2003, Quickbooks runs ok but when I exit I get a message "Quickbooks has encountered an error" (Can't remember the rest) after that Quckbooks will not load again until I restart Linux I don't get any error messages just nothing happens but once restarted it will up again, Any help would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Graeme
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Tue, 2012-01-10 at 13:05 -0600, Emegra wrote:
I'm looking for a bit of help I'm fairly new to Linux and completely
new to Wine, but I installed Wine on Linux Mint 12 and then installed
quickbooks 2003, Quickbooks runs ok but when I exit I get a message
"Quickbooks has encountered an error" (Can't remember the rest) after
that Quckbooks will not load again until I restart Linux I don't get
any error messages just nothing happens but once restarted it will up
again, Any help would be much appreciated.
Will it restart again if you simply log out and log in again instead of
rebooting Linux?

If so, try this:
1) log out and login again.
2) from the console, start a new shell (run the 'bash' command
with no parameters) and then run Quickbooks.
3) When it has exited (with the usual crash) run the "ps" command
and let us know what you see. If two copies of bash are shown,
run the "exit" command. running "ps" again should now show a
single copy of bash.
4) will Quickbooks run again it run again if you repeat steps 2 and 3?

Martin
Emegra
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Post by Emegra »

Hi Martin Thanks for your reply, I'l have to try what you suggest tomorrow when I'm at work, but what I did notice since writing my post is that when I close down although quckbooks goes off the screen, it is still running in the task manager, if I end the process from there I can then reopen it, without having to reboot Linux

Many Thanks

Graeme
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Tue, 2012-01-10 at 15:31 -0600, Emegra wrote:
Hi Martin Thanks for your reply, I'l have to try what you suggest
tomorrow when I'm at work, but what I did notice since writing my post
is that when I close down although quckbooks goes off the screen, it
is still running in the task manager, if I end the process from there
I can then reopen it, without having to reboot Linux
In case you're wondering, I'm looking for ways for you to script the
process of getting rid of anything it quickbooks behind, whether this is
environmental changes or running processes. Stopping the shell that ran
it is one way of doing a clean up which is why I suggested trying it. If
you can't think of a way to get hold of the process ID so you can issue
a kill command, you might see if "killall" helps. If wineserver is still
running too, then shutting that down will probably do the trick. In that
case try "wineboot --force" or "wineserver -k" since both are less of a
shotgun than killall: "wineserver -k" only affects the current
$WINEPREFIX and I assume the same applies to wineboot.

If that works, some sort of script, e.g.

#!/bin/bash
export WINEPREFIX=$PWD/.name_of_prefix/path/to/quickbooks.exe
wine quickbooks exe
wineboot --force

may be the trick you need. Instead of running quickbooks directly and
then cleaning up afterwards, you'd simply run the script.


Martin
Emegra
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:50 pm

Post by Emegra »

Thanks again Martin

]I'm sorry but a lot of what you wrote in your last post went way over my head, I'm not particularly computer literate and although I can follow instructions i don't have the same fundamental understanding as most people on these forums of code & syntax etc.

another problem I've discovered is Quickbooks will also crash when I try to backup, also the shut down problem only happens if I have a company file loaded.

I've tried various command line instructions to get Quickbooks to load from terminal without success could you please tell me what format the command should be to get Quickbooks to open from the terminal, the path is wine/c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe.

Many Thanks

Graeme
comvigo
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Post by comvigo »

Hi, i am also facing this problem and thanks for suggestions to all..... :)
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Wed, 2012-01-11 at 01:22 -0600, Emegra wrote:
Thanks again Martin

I've tried various command line instructions to get Quickbooks to load
from terminal without success could you please tell me what format the
command should be to get Quickbooks to open from the terminal, the
path is wine/c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe.
Are you sure that path is correct? I would expect it to be one of:
.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe
.wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe

I'll assume you meant the first of these. First, from the console, try
running the commands:

cd $HOME/.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/
wine qbw32.exe
wineboot --force
wine qbw32.exe
wineboot --force

If this sequence can be run successfully, i.e. quickbooks run OK the
second time, use a text editor, such as gedit, to put the stuff between
rows of dashes into a file: lets call it quickbooks:
-------------------
#!/bin/bash
cd $HOME/.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/
wine qbw32.exe
wineboot --force
--------------------

Now make the file executable with the command:

chmod uga+x quickbooks

This small executable piece of text is called a script. You should now
be able to run it and have quickbooks start, run and clean up after
itself with the command:

./quickbooks

Ideally, you'd put the quickbooks script in the /usr/local/bin directory
and make sure that appears in the search path (use the "echo $PATH"
command to check that) because that avoids cluttering your home
directory and makes the script available no matter which directory
you're in. I leave that as an exercise for you as they say. KNowing how
to install scripts centrally is a basic, and very useful, Linux skill to
have, so find an online tutorial or get a suitable book and find out how
to do it. I hear that, much as I dislike its title, "Linux for Dummies"
is a pretty good place to start, though if you consider yourself a
Windows power user "Linux in a Nutshell" will tell you more and in a
more concise form as well as being a good reference book.

Martin
Emegra
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Post by Emegra »

Hi Martin
I tried what you suggested, while running quickbooks wineboot --force didn't do anything, but wineserver -k shut down Quickbooks immediately and I was able to start it again without restarting Linux or closing the quickbooks process in task manager, You are right about the path my mistake I'm sorry, I know absolutely nothing about writing or executing scripts so to be honest Linux for Dummies would probably be an apt title for me and I'm certainly not a power user in any operating system, I have no doubt your script would work and I'm sure I can follow you with a little more instruction but this still doesn't solve my problem of Quickbooks crashing when I try to back up and if this isn't solvable then there is no point in me wasting your time trying to solve anything else, apart from that I can't be completely sure there are no other latent problems that I don't know of yet, I don't want to appear negative Martin and certainly not unappreciative but my computing knowledge is very limited and the last thing I want to do is waste your time or anyone elses trying to teach the unteachable

Many Thanks

Graeme
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Wed, 2012-01-11 at 13:25 -0600, Emegra wrote:
Hi Martin
I tried what you suggested, while running quickbooks wineboot --force
didn't do anything, but wineserver -k shut down Quickbooks immediately
and I was able to start it again without restarting Linux or closing
Result!

It all happened exactly as the Wine docs said it might (if wineboot
--force doesn't stop things, use wineserver -k
the quickbooks process in task manager, You are right about the path
my mistake I'm sorry,
No problem. Typos are not a crime, but it is better to cut and paste
from the terminal display because that avoids miscopying.
I know absolutely nothing about writing or executing scripts so to be
honest Linux for Dummies would probably be an apt title for me
I think its really worthwhile to get to know the system better because
the ability to write even very simple scripts like that one can save
immense amounts of time and fat-finger trouble.
and I'm certainly not a power user in any operating system, I have no
doubt your script would work and I'm sure I can follow you with a
little more instruction
Get started: write the script I suggested, but with 'wineserver -k' in
place of 'wineboot --force' and try it anyway. You'll have started to
learn a new and useful skill even if it doesn't solve the Quickbooks
problem.
but this still doesn't solve my problem of Quickbooks crashing when I
try to back up and if this isn't solvable
I don't recall seeing you describe that (but I may have missed it).
Start a new thread about Quick books crashing on backup so somebody who
is better at Wine crash diagnosis than I will notice and help out.

Martin
Emegra
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:50 pm

Post by Emegra »

Hi Martin
Thanks again for your help but I'm gonna test your patience a little now because I'm feeling this is getting a bit ahead of me but I'm prepared to have a go if with your forbearance if we can take this one stage at a time (please bear in mind I'm a 51 year old motor mechanic with as much knowledge of computing as Gengis Khan had of flower arranging) to start with and I'm not sure if this is really important but I still can't load quickbooks from the terminal I checked the path and noticed one directory is missing which is "Quickbooks Basic" inside the Program Files Folder I tried both the syntax you posted:
.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe
.wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe

and then tried adding the missing directory as follows


graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program Files/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/dosdevices/c:/Intuit/Program: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $

I'm sorry if I'm trying your patience but I feel it's important that I understand what I'm doing wrong here before we proceed further

Many Thanks

Graeme
[/quote]
Emegra
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Post by Emegra »

Just a thought but are you allowed to have spaces in a terminal command looking back at the terminal I notice the bash lines ends at "Program" next to a space ?

Graeme
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Wed, 2012-01-11 at 16:10 -0600, Emegra wrote:
I checked the path and noticed one directory is missing which is
"Quickbooks Basic" inside the Program Files Folder I tried both the
syntax you posted:
What is that directory used for? What is supposed to be inside it?
and then tried adding the missing directory as follows


graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program: No such file or directory
bash, the Linux shell, treats all spaces in a commend as parameter
separators, so its necessary to hide them. You can either escape them by
putting a backslash in front of them:

.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program\ Files/qbw32.exe

( see that ' ' is now written as '\ ') or enclose the whole filename in
double quotes:

".wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe"

I didn't notice the missing space (I should have) and so the line
containing it should read:

cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe"

You should really read up a little on using the command line since its
essential to applying what you'll learn here: most Linux users and all
developers use the command line in preference to clicking icons because
its faster, easier, and lets you do more with your system..

Using the built-in manuals, known as manpages ("man bash" shows you the
bash manpage) will tell you everything there is to know about almost
every program you'll ever need but its very terse. A
teach-yourself-Linux book is a much gentler way to get into it because
it will explain how and why to do things and provide examples.

Martin
Emegra
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:50 pm

Post by Emegra »

Hi Martin
When I said the "Quickbooks Basic" folder is missing what I mean was it was missing from the path I gave you the folder is actually there so the path is wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe, I'm sorry I don't think I explained it very well.

Quote: bash, the Linux shell, treats all spaces in a commend as parameter
separators, so its necessary to hide them. You can either escape them by
putting a backslash in front of them:

.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program\ Files/qbw32.exe

On the above command I think you have the Intuit & Program Files in the wrong order but If I understand you correctly if I replace the spaces with a backslash linux will ignore the space and go to that directory so the command would be

.wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe

graeme@Emegra ~ $ .wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe
bash: .wine/drive_c/ProgramFiles/Intuit/QuickbooksBasic/qbw32.exe: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $

Quote:
I didn't notice the missing space (I should have) and so the line
containing it should read:

cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Intuit/Program Files/qbw32.exe"

I tried the above format changing the Intuit & Program Files order and adding the Quickbooks Basic folder

graeme@Emegra ~ $ cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe"
bash: cd: /home/graeme/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $ bash: cd: /home/graeme/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe: No such file or directory
No command 'bash:' found, did you mean:
Command 'bash' from package 'bash' (main)
bash:: command not found

Enclosing the whole file namr in double quotes and adding a backslash between the spaces returned this.

graeme@Emegra ~ $ cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe"
bash: cd: /home/graeme/.wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe: No such file or directory
graeme@Emegra ~ $

I don't have a clue what I'm doing wrong but I'm obviously missing something fundamental

Quote: You should really read up a little on using the command line since its
essential to applying what you'll learn here: most Linux users and all
developers use the command line in preference to clicking icons because
its faster, easier, and lets you do more with your system..

It's obvious to me that I have a helluva lot to learn if I cant do something as simple as open a program from the terminal, and it's equally obvious that I'm wasting your time Martin the problem is that I'm a self employed man with very little time to read and study a new subject, I was only wanting to get this to work because I wanted to change my business computers over to Linux and changing to another accounting program is not an option for various reasons, however if your prepared to struggle on with me I'll keep trying but if you think I'm not up to it please say I would completely understand and wouldn't be in the least bit offended.

Many Thanks

Graeme
lahmbi5678
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Post by lahmbi5678 »

Hi Emegra,

I probably wont be able to help you with quickbooks,
but regarding your issues with command line,
you cannot cd (changedir) into an exe file, correct sequence of commands would be:

cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/"
wine qbw32.exe

alternatively with escaping:

cd $HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\ Basic/
wine qbw32.exe

I'm assuming, that qbw32.exe is lying in a folder named "Quickbooks Basic", and not in "Program Files", this didn't get quite clear from your earlier posts.
Martin Gregorie

problem running quickbooks

Post by Martin Gregorie »

On Thu, 2012-01-12 at 01:11 -0600, Emegra wrote:
On the above command I think you have the Intuit & Program Files in the wrong order but If I understand you correctly if I replace the spaces with a backslash linux will ignore the space and go to that directory so the command would be

.wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe
This is wrong. To 'escape' a character means to stop the shell from
treating it as having a special meaning. You do that by *preceeding* it
with a backslash, not replacing it with a backslash. In this case a
space outside a string means 'this is the end of a parameter', so you
should have used

.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\ Basic/qbw32.exe
Enclosing the whole file namr in double quotes and adding a backslash between the spaces returned this.
You only do one or the other. You can escape spaces outside a quoted
string OR enclose a name containing spaces in quotes, not both.
graeme@Emegra ~ $ cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program\Files/Intuit/Quickbooks\Basic/qbw32.exe"
This should have been:

cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Intuit/Quickbooks Basic/qbw32.exe"
I'm a self employed man with very little time to read and study a new
subject, I was only wanting to get this to work because I wanted to
change my business computers over to Linux and changing to another
accounting program is not an option for various reasons, however if
your prepared to struggle on with me I'll keep trying but if you think
I'm not up to it please say I would completely understand and wouldn't
be in the least bit offended.
To be honest, if you don't have the time needed to become familiar with
Linux but still want to run business-critical software Windows software
on it under Wine, you're better off sticking with Windows. I say this
because you WILL need to know more than you currently do about Linux in
order to keep its software up to date and your business data securely
backed up. Here I'm assuming that you have a good backup scheme for
Windows and and that you'll want to set one up for Linux that's at least
as good.


Martin
Emegra
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Post by Emegra »

Hi lahmbi
Thanks for your help. You're right the qbw32.exe file does lye inside the "Quickbooks Basic" folder apologies for not making that clear.
Emegra
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:50 pm

Re: problem running quickbooks

Post by Emegra »

[/quote]To be honest, if you don't have the time needed to become familiar with
Linux but still want to run business-critical software Windows software
on it under Wine, you're better off sticking with Windows. I say this
because you WILL need to know more than you currently do about Linux in
order to keep its software up to date and your business data securely
backed up. Here I'm assuming that you have a good backup scheme for
Windows and and that you'll want to set one up for Linux that's at least
as good.

I think you're right Martin, I only recently started using Linux on my home PC and found I prefer it to windows for various reasons,I'm slowly becoming familiar with it, updating the system, backing up the home folder etc, but I know I have a lot to learn and I actually enjoy the learning, but I'm always gonna be limited.
I also use wine at home to run a windows program and it works as well as if I was using it in windows and I thought I could do the same with Quickbooks on my business PC, I've used Quickbooks for quite a few years now and I am very familiar with it and I've managed to use it all that time without having any knowledge of windows, but I suppose the bottom line is that Quickbooks is just not compatible to run in wine, had it been compatible I don't think I would have had a problem with backing up etc.

Anyway I don't think I should be wasting your time anymore with this, what I'm trying to do may well not be possible anyway even if I was more knowledgeable with Linux but I'd like to thank for for your help and patience, maybe the wine developers will sort it out for me one day.

Many Thanks

Graeme
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