wine-devel now requires 10.15?

[Roland_Deschain]

So I installed wine_devel on my iMac running 10.14.6 using brew:

% brew install wine-devel
==> Caveats
wine-devel supports both 32-bit and 64-bit. It is compatible with an existing
32-bit wine prefix, but it will now default to 64-bit when you create a new
wine prefix. The architecture can be selected using the WINEARCH environment
variable which can be set to either win32 or win64.

To create a new pure 32-bit prefix, you can run:
  $ WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 winecfg

See the Wine FAQ for details: https://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#Wineprefixes

==> Downloading https://github.com/Gcenx/macOS_Wine_builds/releases/download/7.19/wine-devel-7.19-osx64.tar.xz
==> Downloading from https://objects.githubusercontent.com/github-production-release-asset-2e65be/266452501/c99bdc7a-43eb-43ff-87d5-
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Installing Cask wine-devel
==> Moving App 'Wine Devel.app' to '/Applications/Wine Devel.app'
==> Linking Binary 'appdb' to '/usr/local/bin/appdb'
==> Linking Binary 'winehelp' to '/usr/local/bin/winehelp'
==> Linking Binary 'msiexec' to '/usr/local/bin/msiexec'
==> Linking Binary 'notepad' to '/usr/local/bin/notepad'
==> Linking Binary 'regedit' to '/usr/local/bin/regedit'
==> Linking Binary 'regsvr32' to '/usr/local/bin/regsvr32'
==> Linking Binary 'wine' to '/usr/local/bin/wine'
==> Linking Binary 'wine64' to '/usr/local/bin/wine64'
==> Linking Binary 'wineboot' to '/usr/local/bin/wineboot'
==> Linking Binary 'winecfg' to '/usr/local/bin/winecfg'
==> Linking Binary 'wineconsole' to '/usr/local/bin/wineconsole'
==> Linking Binary 'winedbg' to '/usr/local/bin/winedbg'
==> Linking Binary 'winefile' to '/usr/local/bin/winefile'
==> Linking Binary 'winemine' to '/usr/local/bin/winemine'
==> Linking Binary 'winepath' to '/usr/local/bin/winepath'
==> Linking Binary 'wineserver' to '/usr/local/bin/wineserver'
????  wine-devel was successfully installed!

After dragging LotroLauncher.exe to the Dock and running it, I got the expected not authorized app. I went into Security and Privacy and allowed Wine Devel to run.
However, Wine Devel then quit unexpectedly.

Path:                  /Users/USER/*/Wine Devel.app/Contents/MacOS/wine
Identifier:            org.winehq.wine-devel.wine
Version:               7.19 (7.19)
Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)

Exception Type:        EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Reason:    DYLD, [0x4] Symbol missing

Dyld Error Message:
  Symbol not found: _objc_opt_new
  Referenced from: /Users/USER/*/Wine Devel.app/Contents/MacOS/wine (which was built for Mac OS X 10.15)
  Expected in: /usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib

[Roland_Deschain]

I uninstalled wine-devel (i.e. brew uninstall wine-devel) and installed wine-stable.

I was then able to login via the launcher and then login one of my characters. So far so good.

[Tralfazz]

I uninstalled wine-devel (i.e. brew uninstall wine-devel) and installed wine-stable.

I was then able to login via the launcher and then login one of my characters. So far so good.

That's great, Roland!

To answer the question which is the subject line of this thread: WINE 7 does not require MacOS 10.15 Catalina. However, you will get a warning about how it is not certified (or something, I forget the exact wording used in the warning) for Mojave and that neither Apple nor WineHQ can promise that it will work on such an old version of MacOS. That warning is safe to ignore. It's actually a little silly since 32-bit Windows applications, of which there are a great deal, can't run in WINE under any post-Mojave version of MacOS without a 32->64-bit conversion layer so nearly everyone running open-source WINE is running it in Mojave (sometimes a pre-Mojave version of MacOS) or has cobbled together a 32->64-bit conversion layer on their own similar to the one in Crossover; so most Mac users of WINE are running it under Mojave.

You could have worked around that error in the current wine-devel (7.19) by using the Terminal to launch LotroLauncher.exe:

wine */LotroLauncher.exe

...where * is the actual file path. But since you have it running well in wine-stable (7.0) just stick with that.

Remember that wine-devel and wine-staging are the alpha and beta versions of WINE. It is possible, even likely, that there will be various bugs or unforeseen issues with either of these versions, especially wine-devel. It's really best to stick with the current wine-stable unless there's a specific reason to do otherwise. Sometimes there is! In the case of LOTRO, while I have tested wine-devel and had no issues with it, wine-devel was at 7.15 at the time – I have not tried it with 7.19. My Mojave test volume is currently set up with 7.0, the current wine-stable, and that is what I recommend for anyone trying to get LOTRO to work under Mojave without having to pay for a Crossover license.

[Roland_Deschain]

I tried wine-devel first as you suggested it in your "better LOTRO performance" thread because it finally fixed the options checkboxes in the UI.

Some testing with wine-stable has uncovered an issue however. My first character login works fine. However, if I logout back to the char selection screen and try to login another character, it never completes. I get the empty loading bar that never fills at all.

[Tralfazz]

I tried wine-devel first as you suggested it in your "better LOTRO performance" thread because it finally fixed the options checkboxes in the UI.

Some testing with wine-stable has uncovered an issue however. My first character login works fine. However, if I logout back to the char selection screen and try to login another character, it never completes. I get the empty loading bar that never fills at all.

This might be a local network issue. If so, we'll resolve it. Let's assume it's not a local network issue for now.

First, try restarting your Mac. Then attempt to log in with several characters. If the problem recurs, try setting the Windows version in the winecfg control panel:
1- Go to /Applications and double-click on Wine Stable. You will get a window that looks like this:

Alternatively, use this Terminal command:

run winecfg

2- In the "Wine configuration" window, look near the bottom for "Windows Version:" and to the right of that, a drop-down menu.
3- Windows 10 is probably what appears in the drop-down menu. Change that to Windows 8.
4- Click the APPLY button.
5- Click the OK button.
6- Close the "Wine configuration" window. (Quit out of Terminal if it is running.)
7- Log out of your Mac user account, then log back in. (Or restart your Mac if that is easier for you.)
8- Attempt to log in with several characters again.

[Roland_Deschain]

After 5+ attempts (with wine restarts) for the 2nd login to work, it finally did. Even a third now. I've occasionally run into this issue with the lotro packaged win but never had so many consecutive fails. Perhaps it was server lag.

Anyways, wincfg shows it set to Window 7. I can set it to 8, 8.1 and 10. If I set it to 10, is that going to allow me to use DX10/11? I won't try it right away, going to give it a day or two first with 7/8.

[Tralfazz]

After 5+ attempts (with wine restarts) for the 2nd login to work, it finally did. Even a third now. I've occasionally run into this issue with the lotro packaged win but never had so many consecutive fails. Perhaps it was server lag.

It might have been something server-side and beyond your control. However, if it happens again, try a thorough local network reset:
1- Shut down your computer and all your network devices. "All your network devices" for most people means your wireless router and your cable modem. You might have more than one device composing your router, be sure you shut them all down. You might have something other than a cable modem (DSL or some other way of getting the wide world of interwebs into your house) – whatever it is, shut it down. If you don't know how to turn something off, unplug it.
2- Wait 2 minutes. 120 seconds. Just wait with all your stuff turned off.
3- Turn everything back on/plug everything back in starting with the most "upstream" device and working your way downstream. For most people, that means turning on the cable modem first. After turning on a device, allow it to fully boot before turning on the next device. If you can't tell when a device is fully booted, just turn it on/plug it in and then wait 2 full minutes (120 seconds) before moving to the next device downstream. So for most people: Cable modem, wireless router, then finally computer.

Don't just send a remote restart command to your router. Don't just clear the caches on your computer. Turn it ALL off, wait 2 full minutes, then turn it all back on starting with the most upstream device and then working your way downstream.

Anyways, wincfg shows it set to Window 7. I can set it to 8, 8.1 and 10. If I set it to 10, is that going to allow me to use DX10/11? I won't try it right away, going to give it a day or two first with 7/8.

Since it is currently set to Windows 7, if you choose to try changing this, go to Windows 10. (The issue addressed by changing from Windows 10 to Windows 8 will not be corrected by changing from Windows 7 to Windows 8.)

No, that won't allow you to use DirectX 10 or DirectX 11. The open-source WINE packages maintained by WineHQ and installed by homebrew do not include the components LOTRO requires for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11.

I hope your problem doesn't recur! If it does, try those two things then report back.

[Roland_Deschain]

I didn't have the empty loading bar issue again until today. So I've switched the windows version to 10 and we'll see how well that works. I suspect it has to do with server lag and SSG code not handling this condition properly. I'll give an update in a day or two.

[Tralfazz]

I didn't have the empty loading bar issue again until today. So I've switched the windows version to 10 and we'll see how well that works. I suspect it has to do with server lag and SSG code not handling this condition properly. I'll give an update in a day or two.

This is feeling more and more like a network issue, a problem with your WINE or LOTRO install wouldn't result in an issue that is intermittent and difficult to reproduce.

It might not be on your local network end but unless there are a lot of other people complaining about the same issue – and there aren't – it is most likely on your end. And the easiest way to resolve that is a thorough local network reset using the procedure I provided in Message #7. Try that if the failure to login subsequent characters recurs.

[Roland_Deschain]

I haven't run into the blank loading bar yet after I set Wine to use Windows 10.