Flowstone under Linux Mint 17

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fixstuff555
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:24 pm

Flowstone under Linux Mint 17

Post by fixstuff555 »

Hello all,

I was just playing with something today. Just in case anyone is interested I got Flowstone to work under Linux using Crossover's latest (14.04 I believe). I was using the latest distribution of Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon.

If your familiar with Crossover, its a nicely packed version that runs the latest Wine version. This recent version i like especially, since they have improved dependencies and whatnot when installing programs.

As to Flowstone, simply install Flowstone as an application in Crossover (install). Next, I used a Windows XP bottle. It may work under other, but I didn't try those. Next, I installed Corefonts, and Platform SDK GDI+, and that was it.

I was able to run this:
http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=412

which is the spaceinvaders game using ruby, and its works great, even with sound. I also was able to create an exe of the game, and I ran it successfully by itself inside the same bottle.

I really like this setup. It runs really quickly - although I didn't do any benchmarking, but hopefully it can be a good tool for someone. I will test out the connectivity as well, and see how it does with serial and networking.

Cheers!
fixstuff555
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:24 pm

Re: Flowstone under Linux Mint 17

Post by fixstuff555 »

Quick follow up on testing under Linux Mint 17.

I was unable to get the networking or usb support running with Crossover. It's probably just more tinkering that needs to be done. However, sound and Midi does work I tried out my M-Audio Keystudio Midi keyboard, and that worked fine. I ran most of the STEM examples just fine as well, with the exception of the networking and a couple others.

I also tried out Flowstone using VMware (VMPlayer in particular), using a Windows XP VM machine. This worked as well, and in addition to sound, the networking and usb device connectivity worked also. I was able to connect to a couple of my Phidget boards without any issues. The only issue with the VM machine, is it was a bit slower since there is a lot more overhead with the virtual OS, but it was usable.

If anyone has had other luck under Linux, feel free to post as well - I'm interested in hearing other's experience also..
AnthonyTower
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:22 am

Re: Flowstone under Linux Mint 17

Post by AnthonyTower »

Thank you for this great info!

If flowstone is to gain ground in this highly saturated market of robotic control software, it will be when you can disseminate your flowstone created .exes onto el-cheapo single board microcomputers just running Linux.

If you got that far using Crossover, knowing that most of the work done in Crossover eventually trickles down to Wine, it's then only a matter of a year or two at the most when it should work fine under Wine.

Cheers
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