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Writ
Gerbil In Training
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Problems renaming drives in wine

Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:38 pm

[I split this out from the renaming drives in Windows thread. -JBI]

Ok, i think this thread is perfect,

I'm actually a new user running Linux Ubuntu.
Things to know:
I'm running ubuntu on a 10G HDD and a 500G external
I don't have money to go out and change the 10G problem.(my windows lappy was stolen, my brother made me this pc to help me get through school)

At first I was excited to learn linux, I use to build components, I understand how computers work, and basic programing. Yet I lacked the experience linux required and totally down to learn.

The Issue:
Everything I install, instals into the C drive. All my downloads and programs check there for space, and I can't get anything to run or finish installing because the OS drive is too small, although i have a big 500G external to use. Wine and Crossover are on the C drive. I can't get anything to go on the E drive manually. I tried the REGEDIT reccommended by kenobi and just switched C for E for program files, pictures, temp, (couldn't find Downloads).... Tried running the starcraft to instal exe on crossover, but now it's saying can't find directories. (it was semi installed at this point because it ran out of space, and now i don't know how to start from scratch). I don't have an issue mapping back to C since everything that has an E flags the needed canges, no biggie.

What Do I do?
I just want to have the OS on the 10G, and EVERYHTHING ELSE on the 500G.
Sigh.
This is ruining my linux experience in that i'm facing issues just running basics and more steps and problems than the compatibility part.

Thnx
 
just brew it!
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Re: Problems renaming drives in wine

Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:03 pm

What you need to do is create and format a partition on your external, copy the contents of your .wine directory to it, then mount that partition over your .wine directory. A symlink might work instead of a hard mount, that would actually be easier (if wine is OK with it).

Or take apart the external and swap the drive into your system as the system drive. :wink:
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
Writ
Gerbil In Training
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Re: Problems renaming drives in wine

Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:35 am

Alright, what I've done so far is get ubuntu 12.10 on a boot cd, disconnected my IDE cable from the internal, boot the cd from the dvd drive with the external off(for some reason it doesn't get bast booting with it on, even when using the internal). I turn on the external after i'm in the trial, install ubuntu on the external, and then booted with only the external connected.

What I end up with is a
"extent error"
GRUB:

and that is my current wall.

researched GRUB, came across BURG. I would delve into it more if I felt there was support for external drives. it seems to be catered for internal drives. Utilizing GRUB/BURG at boot may also be the giant variable here determining my success..... the manual boot part, not the dualboot aspect of it.

I checked out the symlink command on the ubuntu forum, and a few videos. It seems like this is a route I must take if I can't figure out how to use the 500G with a fresh instal. It shows that its really easy to do on older versions of ubuntu. 7.something where i would go into the system settings and just uncheck some simple drive checkboxes from the live cd part of the install, then install from there and voila. I'm scared going backwards in versions will only just increase my compatability issues with new games and software support.

My quetion now with this symlink (very handy by the way, glad you posted about it) is:

Will it create and store data in both locations doubling the space used?
Can I create the link on the C drive where the os wouldnaturally put information, and have that data actaully stored in the E dive?

If so then this might be the solution.

Or flat out, and this is my last resort, break the external case and slot it internally through sata. thankfully sata cables are 3 bucks. lol

That's obviously the easy way out, but it's also the way I don't learn and remain a linux noob =(
 
just brew it!
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Re: Problems renaming drives in wine

Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:20 am

Running from the external as your boot drive is probably not a good idea unless it is eSATA. Performance will massively suck. If you want to boot the OS from the 500 GB you probably want to take it apart and install the bare 500 GB drive as an internal drive.

Symlinks just take one spot in the file system and redirect it to another. The data isn't stored twice.

Things are a bit muddled in your case, as Linux has no concept of drive letters; drive letters in this case is purely something that is being done by wine (to make Windows applications happy). What you probably need to do is get the system to put all of your wine stuff on the external. Wine stores all of its files (including the simulated Windows C: drive, etc.) in a hidden subdirectory named ".wine", under your home directory. What I would suggest trying is moving the entire contents of the .wine directory to the external, then creating a symlink called .wine in your home directory that points to the location on the external drive where you moved the actual .wine directory.

Assuming this is a USB external, wine is going to be painfully slow. But it will still be better than trying to boot Linux from an external USB drive.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
kc77
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Re: Problems renaming drives in wine

Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:08 pm

First heed JBI's information on externals. It's no place to run programs.

Second, you can install wine in different locations. By default the user has a .wine directory where Windows applications are installed. However, you can create as many of these directories as you want. This comes in handy because if you are like me and you have Windows games that you play in Linux, each will require different dlls. It's easier if you keep them separate. I usually install things with a 32-bit prefix for maximum compatibility so something like this at command will allow you to create new wine locations (it will create the final directory for you by the way -- let it).


WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=/path/to/your/location winecfg


If you want to reference/hold that location to run a program put this in first:

export WINEPREFIX=/path/to/location 


That usually gives me problems because the windows locations are hella long and have spaces in them so when i go to initialize a program I always get the spaces wrong. So now I just call the programs from the particular location like this:

WINEPREFIX=$HOME/STO WINEARCH=win32 wine "c:\Program Files\Cryptic Studios\Star Trek Online.exe"


Your Wine Prefix is basically the location. Hope this helps.
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