ROM hacking on Linux? I never even used Linux.

[Bregalad]

No. You could just as well write you posts in Chinese I would understand the same amount of information (that is, zero).

[columbo]

I've been using Linux almost exclusively for over a decade.  Some stuff definitely works better under actual Windows, but even the latest Windows doesn't run all the older Windows stuff as good as it should.

It really comes down to personal preference.  Wine can run a lot of stuff.  That being said, there are definitely problems you'll encounter with Wine.  Also, depending on what you want to run, you'll have better luck with various versions of Wine.

I wouldn't go as far as to recommend a Linux OS to anyone, but it's what I use and prefer.  I manually get my updates through the command line, and I don't miss Windows restarting the computer to upgrade in the middle of writing and important paper.

[C_CliFF]

Just a little tip for those who didn't know and just starting using wine.

When I first started, there were 50/50 chance of getting a program to run. Most of the time, when I tried to run it, nothing happened. That was before I ran it through wines command prompt.

Just type in terminal wine cmd and then navigate to the program you want to run and try to run it from there.

Here you will see what causing it not to run. Most of the time it could just be a missing dll-file, but there could also be that you didn't install a package or font file. You can use winetricks for that. It can also be a memory issue which will be harder to solve but you can google the error you get and hopefully others have had the same issue and solved it.

Now I get around 90-95% of the programs I use in Romhacking.

Anyway just a tip.

[NERV Agent]

I'm reading both positive and negative viewpoints on Linux in this thread, but I still think it's worth learning at some point. Today I'm getting weird warnings in Windows 7 about security programs being shut off, despite the fact that my McAfee Antivirus is up an running. Yeah, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of this post-XP shit.

If WINE doesn't work for some programs, I'll resort to using the free version of VMware Workstation Player. What I hope I can do is use a laptop with similar specs to the one I got off of Newegg, and run VMWare to emulate a Windows XP 64-bit PC with 2 processors, 2GB RAM, and 3D graphics acceleration. I'd do all my ROM hacking and gaming stuff in VMWare, and all the serious business stuff in Linux (since XP security updates will be dropped).

Would such a thing be feasible?

Also, what is the difference between the free version of VMware Workstation Player and the paid version?

[Jorpho]

and run VMWare to emulate a Windows XP 64-bit PC with 2 processors, 2GB RAM, and 3D graphics acceleration.

64-bit would be entirely redundant in such a scenario.  You certainly don't want to be running the 64-bit version of XP, and with only 2 GB of RAM there would be no benefit to doing so.

Also, what is the difference between the free version of VMware Workstation Player and the paid version?

I'm not entirely sure, especially as it's gone through some changes over the yars.  I think it amounts to advanced administration capabilities for which a home user would have no particular use.  I thought I read something somewhere about the paid version having scaling capability (i.e. so you can run a guest OS at 640x480 but have it fill the entirety of a 1680x1050 monitor), but I could be wrong on that.

[Voyaging]

Sorry if I missed you already explaining it, but what exactly is your reason for not wanting to use Windows 10? You use tons of software that will run poorly if at all on Linux. I don't see why you'd ever want to use Linux over Windows in this case. And given you wanted to use Windows 7, I can't understand why you'd be so adamant not to use Windows 10. Linux is for users who don't need Windows software that doesn't run well on WINE.

[NERV Agent]

Er, if you've been keeping up with the news, Windows 10 is pretty much adware by Microsoft. Also, it's been my constant painful experience that every time a new Windows OS comes up, the increased resource consumption rapes my computer harder than Boku No Pico at a NAMBLA meeting. So if Windows 7 is a creepy pedophile rapist having his way with my computer, then Windows 10 is a tentacle monster rapist.

[Gemini]

Just disable telemetry (there are tons of scripts to do so) and it should be bearable, mostly. It will still have the crappy UI and retardedly inconsistent system dialogs, but hey, if that's the best viable option go for it.

[Voyaging]

Er, if you've been keeping up with the news, Windows 10 is pretty much adware by Microsoft. Also, it's been my constant painful experience that every time a new Windows OS comes up, the increased resource consumption rapes my computer harder than Boku No Pico at a NAMBLA meeting. So if Windows 7 is a creepy pedophile rapist having his way with my computer, then Windows 10 is a tentacle monster rapist.

Windows 10 is probably the best performing OS since XP, so there's no concern with system performance or excessive resource usage unless your computer is very old and specced poorly.

There's also no adware so I'm not sure what you're referring to. In years I've never seen a single advertisement that wasn't directly caused by the site I was visiting.

If you're talking about privacy, and Microsoft's collection of data, then that's true, but it's virtually impossible to avoid personal data collection without avoiding using the Web altogether, or being outrageously strict with what software you use (no Google or any of its services, for example, only fully free Linux distros which are shit, etc.).

Apologies if that's not what you were referring to by "adware".

[Jorpho]

Windows 10 is probably the best performing OS since XP, so there's no concern with system performance or excessive resource usage unless your computer is very old and specced poorly.

There's been plenty of grousing about the compatibility layer for older versions of DirectX.  Oddly enough, one solution is to bring in DLLs using WineD3D's implementation.

There's also no adware so I'm not sure what you're referring to. In years I've never seen a single advertisement that wasn't directly caused by the site I was visiting.

What about on the lock screen?  I don't use Windows 10 myself, but http://toastytech.com/guis/win10.html suggests as much.  One could possibly argue that the integration of Microsoft's online services also constitutes "advertising".

[NERV Agent]

If you're talking about privacy, and Microsoft's collection of data, then that's true, but it's virtually impossible to avoid personal data collection without avoiding using the Web altogether, or being outrageously strict with what software you use (no Google or any of its services, for example, only fully free Linux distros which are shit, etc.).

I'm already pretty strict about privacy and programs on my PC. And I don't even use Facebook or any of that crap. Personally, I have witnessed stuff like identity theft and people being doxed IRL (and it even hit close to home), and it's not fun. I'm willing to learn how to use Linux distros and/or being strict with privacy settings if it helps steer me away from all the shit I've personally witnessed. And with all the talk of blackhat hackers today hacking elections*, Equifax, ransomware in hospitals, etc. you can't be too careful.

Also, as I may have mentioned before, I'm not to keen on buying a new PC every couple of years because of Micro$oft's planned obsolescence scheme, with each new Windows iteration being even worse than the one before it. I've got other bills to pay.

Anyway, I passed my job interview so I'm returning this fucking brick and plan on getting a Linux machine from Dell. If I understand correctly, Dell will even provide Linux tech support for their Linux machine.

http://toastytech.com/guis/win10.html

^THIS

*Please don't derail thread with political drama.

[Voyaging]

There's been plenty of grousing about the compatibility layer for older versions of DirectX.  Oddly enough, one solution is to bring in DLLs using WineD3D's implementation.
What about on the lock screen?  I don't use Windows 10 myself, but http://toastytech.com/guis/win10.html suggests as much.  One could possibly argue that the integration of Microsoft's online services also constitutes "advertising".

Dunno but I have never once seen the Lock Screen display anything other than the default image, and I have my account set with a password so I've seen the Lock Screen probably a few thousand times. So I'm really not sure what the deal is with ppl seeing ads.

Fair enough re: integration of their online services. I agree and I'd certainly rather them not integrate e.g. OneDrive and instead have an option for integration of Google Drive or Dropbox or whatever you choose. Not sure if there is any service integration other than OneDrive, that's the only one I can think of.

I'm already pretty strict about privacy and programs on my PC. And I don't even use Facebook or any of that crap. Personally, I have witnessed stuff like identity theft and people being doxed IRL (and it even hit close to home), and it's not fun. I'm willing to learn how to use Linux distros and/or being strict with privacy settings if it helps steer me away from all the shit I've personally witnessed. And with all the talk of blackhat hackers today hacking elections*, Equifax, ransomware in hospitals, etc. you can't be too careful.

Also, as I may have mentioned before, I'm not to keen on buying a new PC every couple of years because of Micro$oft's planned obsolescence scheme, with each new Windows iteration being even worse than the one before it. I've got other bills to pay.

Anyway, I passed my job interview so I'm returning this fucking brick and plan on getting a Linux machine from Dell. If I understand correctly, Dell will even provide Linux tech support for their Linux machine.

^THIS

*Please don't derail thread with political drama.

Fair enough, I disagree with your assessment, though I share your concern with personal data collection. As for planned obsolescence, Microsoft typically offers free upgrades to the newest version of Windows for people who have the previous version, so they don't really have much to gain by using planned obsolescence tactics. That would mostly benefit the hardware manufacturers.

In any case, if you're looking for maximum privacy, there's a pretty sweet site that suggests software to avoid data collection, surveillance, and privacy invasion at https://prism-break.org/en/.

The Dell Linux laptops I believe come with Ubuntu preinstalled, and Ubuntu has had adware concerns far worse than Windows and macOS have had (they at one point bundled Amazon search in the main OS search). They've since removed it, but it's a worthy concern. I personally still prefer Ubuntu. The PRISM Break site suggests Debian and Fedora instead, which are both great. You'll want to do a Google search on the laptop you intend on buying and its hardware compatibility with whatever distro you plan on using (if you plan on replacing Ubuntu). Some hardware requires proprietary drivers to run, which certain distros either don't allow at all, or else need to have the repos manually added. You may also want to look into any privacy intrusive software, drivers, binary blobs that come preinstalled on the laptop by Dell.

If you want to go uber extreme, you'll want to look into the GNU movement at https://www.gnu.org, if you haven't already, and use one of their recommended distros. Fair warning that limiting yourself to fully free software will limit both the hardware that will be compatible as well as what you're able to do as far as software, and is only really worthwhile if you're a Stallman-esque ideologue regarding software being fully free as a right. Their list of suggested distros is small and extremely limiting in terms of what software is available, as well as hardware compatibility. To be thorough, you would of course also have to completely abstain from ever using Google or any of their services, any social media, YouTube, and so on. IMO excessive.

[NERV Agent]

As for planned obsolescence, Microsoft typically offers free upgrades to the newest version of Windows for people who have the previous version, so they don't really have much to gain by using planned obsolescence tactics. That would mostly benefit the hardware manufacturers.

The same hardware manufacturers that intentionally make their hardware not backwards compatible.

So let's say your average computer user needs to buy a new PC, because their old one got crushed and run over by a steamroller or something.

They will buy a new PC, but it has Windows 10 on it. But there is the option to buy the PC with no OS to save money, and this person might be lucky enough to have a Windows 7 installation disc lying around. Unfortunately, the hardware (in my case, the motherboard) is incompatible with every previous Windows version, so the common consumer has little choice but to purchase Windows 10.

It's a case of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours".

I will keep an eye out for any ad-ware on the Dell Ubuntu laptop. That I did not expect....

[Jorpho]

Microsoft typically offers free upgrades to the newest version of Windows for people who have the previous version

What on Earth are you talking about?  They've done that exactly once, with Windows 10.  That was not in the least bit "typical".

The PRISM Break site suggests Debian and Fedora instead, which are both great.

I spent far too much time messing with Fedora.  Better to go with CentOS instead, I think, though I understand that's pretty much Fedora with slightly more assurances about stability.

They will buy a new PC, but it has Windows 10 on it. But there is the option to buy the PC with no OS to save money, and this person might be lucky enough to have a Windows 7 installation disc lying around. Unfortunately, the hardware (in my case, the motherboard) is incompatible with every previous Windows version, so the common consumer has little choice but to purchase Windows 10.

The switch from BIOS to UEFI was a major and long overdue switch.  That sort of thing doesn't happen everyday.

Anyway, from the limited searching I did, I'm still not entirely unconvinced that this "not ACPI compliant" error you received is completely insurmountable.

[By the way, is the General Forum never going to make a return?]

[Voyaging]

What on Earth are you talking about?  They've done that exactly once, with Windows 10.  That was not in the least bit "typical".

Windows 7 to 8.1 upgrade was also free, making both of the last two operating systems free upgrades.

Plus Microsoft have already announced that W10 is the last version so -- if that's true -- the problem is moot as all future updates will presumably be free.

I will keep an eye out for any ad-ware on the Dell Ubuntu laptop. That I did not expect....

Yeah, they've since removed it after intense backlash from the community, but I figured it's something important to mention since you're trying to avoid adware and privacy invasion as much as possible.

It's no longer relevant for the current iteration of Ubuntu, but more of just a reason to be wary about the company that develops it, Canonical.

[Jorpho]

Windows 7 to 8.1 upgrade was also free, making both of the last two operating systems free upgrades.

I acknowledge that I could be mistaken, but I don't recall hearing anything about that. (The upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 was free, though.)  I did some Googling and could only find references to buying that upgrade (ref, ref, ref, ref), though I acknowledge I could also be Googling wrong.

[KingMike]

Plus Microsoft have already announced that W10 is the last version so -- if that's true -- the problem is moot as all future updates will presumably be free.

Windows 10 the last version of Windows?
(not unless they go the Apple route of releasing new versions as decimal points. I don't follow them but I haven't heard of an OS11 being made yet, after OS10 came out in, what, 2001?)

[FAST6191]

Windows 10 the last version of Windows?
(not unless they go the Apple route of releasing new versions as decimal points. I don't follow them but I haven't heard of an OS11 being made yet, after OS10 came out in, what, 2001?)

The consumer PC market is usually seen to be either shrinking or dying on its arse*, seemingly to phone and web/mainframe/cloud. MS seems to slowly be pulling out of the small business arena, seemingly in favour of web/mainframe/cloud for those or trying to shuffle them up to big boy stuff. They make Windows 10 into another XP like zombie and I can see a radically different approach being needed by the time it, or the install media, gets too long in the tooth.

*see also Dell going private and some of the ideas of what will happen there, mainly people riding the inertia into the ground for the next however many years.