Linux+NWN

[TJ]

Okay so i just moved from a dual boot to a triple boot, and i am trying to get NWN up and running on Linux. I followed the directions on the nwn.bioware.com site, downloaded the linux executables, etc, but when i try to run nwmain to update NWN nothing happens.... Does anyone know how to combat this issue? the normal nwn executable runs without a hitch, but doesnt recognize SotU or HotU and asks me to run the updater. any help would be greatly appreciated.

TJ

[helbrax]

I dont' think the updater works for linux(it never worked for me). I always had to manually download the patch from bioware and untar it.

[TJ]

hmm okay. and any idea why i crash to the desktop when i hit adv video options?

TJ the Linux Noob

[helbrax]

It's hard to say. I actually had to install NWN twice to get it to work right. The first time, I downloaded the client and copied the files off of the cd in the exact order it said, but it still didn't work. It could be a problem with your graphic/sound drivers.
I've also noticed that the latest version of the client tends to crash or have graphical glitches.

[TJ]

yeah.... i noticed on the main menu that the border around the buttons seems very jagged. im going to go look for the newest driver now for my card, and as we speak i am unpacking the 1.69 update into the NWN directory. Also, i am installing off of an existing windows install on the next partition over.

TJ

EDIT: NWN is running fine now, recognizing the expansions and everything, but i crash when i try to log onto the servers....

[TJ]

okay, so i just updated my gfx drivers on linux, and now i cant see. the screen is all balck with a colored/grey bar across the top.

i've started is "recovery mode" which works fine, but i havent been able to solve the issue with the driver so i cant actually boot into the OS. any insights?

TJ

[arek]

TJ, There's one big thing you can do to see if it fixes this: Use your system's libsdl rather than the one packaged with NWN (which it uses by default). To do this you need to change one line in the file "nwn" (the actual executable is nwmain, nwn is just a startup script), from something like
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./miles:./lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
to
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./miles:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

This may help you tremendously with whatever audio and/or video issues you have.

If NWN complaines about missing libraries after this, do the following from a terminal:
sudo aptitude install libsdl
and that should fix it.

--Arek

P.S. Is your video card nVidia (geforce), ATI/AMD (radeon), or something else?

[TJ]

i have an ATI Radeon Mobility X1600, which i just found is not longer supported. i'm in the process of DLing the 8.10 version of Ubuntu, which apparently is supported by ATI when combined with my gfx card. go figure.

TJ

[arek]

You don't need to downgrade your entire distro, just make sure you're using the correct driver - the "radeon" driver. This driver isn't quite up to the newest games (yet), but it should be OK for NWN. I'm not certain how to check that you're using the correct driver, except to make sure you're not using any proprietary video drivers (like fglrx is) - the x1600 is, as you say, not supported by ATI/AMD any longer. Note that you may already be using "radeon". If that's the case, report what isn't working about it to the Ubuntu folks - they'll push it "upstream" and it'll eventually get fixed (that's the great thing about a FOSS driver).

In the future, tho, if you're going to continue using linux, I'd recommend staying away from ATI/AMD graphics boards if at all possible - they tend not to work very well under linux (I know you can't change what you have now, tho).

You do have another option as well: Find out what the latest version of the fglrx driver that supports your chipset is, and install it on Jaunty. You may lose a few "neat features", but it should work.

--Arek

[TJ]

okay 8.10 is up and running, NWN is installed, but when i go to log onto HG, the load bar fills up and then a crash to the desktop in 800x600 resolution (what the game is running at). any ideas? and idk where to find libsdl because a sudo apt-get install libsdl returns nothing. is there a repository that im missing?

TJ

[TJ]

okay so forget that. now im back to 9.04 (dont ask why) and now i get a black screen when the docks should be showing up...... i really should just stick with windows for NWN right now with an ATI gfx card shouldnt I....

[arek]

First things first: Are you using the proprietary ATI graphics driver (you have to specifically enable it)? If you are, turn it off, because even if it does work, it's outdated (badly).

Second: if "sudo aptitude install libsdl" doesn't return an error, just make sure you've made the other modification I mentioned, because it means libsdl is already installed (that's why I said only do that if NWN complains about missing libraries). NWN's SDL is probably the one thing that's caused me the most headaches out of all the NWN problems I've had.

Finally, if after doing these things you're still getting crashes, just stick with windblows for now and try again when 9.10 comes out. Or try Gentoo linux, if you're feeling adventurous (with Gentoo, you can check out the very latest "radeon" driver easily, among other things).

One note: Thanks to a problem I had with Jaunty, I dumped it for Gentoo myself. Gentoo does take quite a while to install (read: 1-2 days), but it really is worth the trouble and waiting. One thing I have done in the past with installing Gentoo is to actually perform the install from another OS using VMWare or another similar program (there's a way to get VMWare to run using a raw disk rather than an image - just make sure you don't try mounting or writing to any 'in-use' partitions.).

--Arek