Wine setup & game install fixes (Fedora)

Goal: get Windows game installers (especially Russian repacks: xatab, R.G. Mechanics, etc.) running under Wine on Fedora.

1. Baseline install (if wine/winetricks missing)

sudo dnf install wine winetricks

Check state: wine --version, ls ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/. Default prefix is ~/.wine. For games, consider a dedicated prefix: WINEPREFIX=~/Games/wine-games (its own dosdevices/, drive_c/). Components are installed per-prefix — if a game fails, the component was installed into the WRONG prefix (or the default one you don't use).

2. Mapping an extra drive (D:, E:, ...) — install games to DATA

Wine drives are symlinks in ~/.wine/dosdevices/. C: → ../drive_c by default. Any Linux folder can become a drive:

cd ~/.wine/dosdevices
ln -s <path-to-disk> d:   # for example /run/media/$USER/DATA      # install games to D:\Games\...

Rules:

• A drive symlink whose target does not exist/is not a directory confuses installers (they only offer C:). Fix by remapping, not by "choosing C:".
• Existing d: may point to a raw device (e.g. /dev/sdc) — dead mapping; remove and re-link to the real folder.
• Multiple data folders: add more (e: → <another-folder>, etc.).
• Verify: wine cmd /c dir d:\ or ls -la ~/.wine/dosdevices/d:.
• NTFS/FAT data drives mounted by the system work too — the symlink just points at the mountpoint (e.g. /run/media/$USER/DATA).

3. Diagnosing a setup.exe that won't run

Run in terminal, capture stderr:

cd "/path/to/repack" && wine setup.exe 2>&1 | grep -iE "err|not found|fixme:module"

Known failure signature (xatab/Inno Setup repacks with skins):

err:module:import_dll Library MFC42.DLL (which is needed by L"...
\Temp\is-XXXX.tmp\isskin.dll") not found

→ Inno Setup skin (isskin.dll) needs the ancient VC6 runtime MFC42.DLL. The installer silently dies → "setup.exe won't start/nothing happens". Fix:

winetricks -q mfc42    # installs mfc42.dll into system32/syswow64

(winetricks downloads from Microsoft; needs internet. Requires wine prefix closed during install — run wineserver -k first if needed.)

Re-run setup.exe and verify the error is gone. If MFC42 was already there, check next missing DLL in the same error line and add it (winetricks -q vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2019 etc.).

4. Missing component catalog (winetricks names)

Common game/repack needs:

• mfc42 — VC6 MFC runtime (Inno Setup skins: isskin.dll, xatab repacks)
• vcrun6 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2013 vcrun2019 — MSVC runtimes
• d3dx9 d3dx10 d3dx11_43 — DirectX 9/10/11 DLLs
• dxvk — Vulkan translation for D3D9-11 (big perf win; needs Vulkan drivers)
• corefonts — Times/Comic etc. (text/menus invisible fix)
• directx9 — full DirectX 9 end-user runtime (old games)
• dotnet48 — .NET Framework (needed by some installers/launchers)
• physx — PhysX runtime (old games need DLLs)

One-liner for a typical "old game repack":

winetricks -q mfc42 corefonts vcrun2008 d3dx9

5. After installing the game

• Install path on D: survives; game data lives outside the prefix.
• Run the game with the same prefix as setup used (default ~/.wine).
• Check winecfg → Graphics for desktop emulation/override if fullscreen games fail; winetricks dxvk for 3D games if stutter/low FPS.
• Restart wine between component installs and game launches (wineserver -k if a process hangs).

This box's facts (verified 2026-08)

• wine-11.0 (Staging), winetricks 20260125, default prefix ~/.wine.
• D: was remapped from a dead raw device to the data drive (install games to D:\).
• xatab GTA IV repack fix used: winetricks -q mfc42.

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