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#title World of Warcraft on Ubuntu
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||<tablestyle="float:right; font-size: 0.9em; width:40%; background:#F1F1ED; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" style="padding:0.5em;">'''Contents'''<<TableOfContents>>||

This howto is for installing and playing World of Warcraft using Wine under Ubuntu-x86.
||<tablestyle="float:right; font-size: 0.9em; width:40%; background:#F1F1ED; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" style="padding:0.5em;"><<TableOfContents>>||

This how-to is for installing and playing World of Warcraft (WoW) using Wine under Ubuntu.
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World of Warcraft can also be played under Ubuntu by using the proprietary Cedega and CrossOver Linux. This howto, however, does not address these two.

In Linux, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Rendering_Infrastructure|Direct Rendering Infrastructure]] (DRI) facilitates faster graphics rendering, so before you begin the installation you should check whether DRI is enabled. To do this, run the following command:

{{{
glxinfo | grep rendering}}}

You should see output similar to this:

{{{
direct rendering: Yes}}}

If this line says "No", it means that graphics data will not be passed directly to the graphics hardware, thus significantly reducing speed at which WoW will run. Thankfully, getting DRI to work with recent hardware is usually just a configuration issue.


= Installing Wine =

The official deb package file of Wine from WineHQ's [[http://www.winehq.org/site/download-deb|download page]], is recommended for most users, as it works almost out of the box for most people, and has a [[http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=6482|gold rating]] at the moment.

For full instructions on installing Wine see the [[Wine]] page.

== Deb package ==
To install the deb you need to add the WineHQ repository and then install Wine. For additional help on adding repositories, see the [[Repositories]] page.

 1. Open a terminal(also called a console, CLI, and command prompt) and choose '''one''' of the following two commands to run, based on your version of Ubuntu:

 '''For Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex (8.10):'''
 {{{
 sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/intrepid.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list}}}

 '''For Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04):'''
 {{{
 sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list}}}

 '''For Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10):'''
 {{{
 sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list}}}

 '''For Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (7.04):'''
 {{{
 sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/feisty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list}}}

 1.#2 Now do these three commands in a terminal:
 {{{
 wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install wine}}}

 1.#3 Before proceeding to install World of Warcraft you must run winecfg at least once (it must setup the ~/.wine directory structure before you can install Windows applications into it). This is a very important step. In a Terminal window type the following:
 {{{
 winecfg}}}
 Select your Windows type, configure disk and removable drives, etc, then press Apply and Ok. As it closes, winecfg will create a .wine directory structure in your home folder, populating with information about drives and devices installed in your system. If you fail to do this before trying to install World of Warcraft then you'll probably see errors like the following when running winecfg in the future:
 {{{
 err:winecfg:apply_drive_changes unable to define devicename of 'C:'}}}


== Compiling Wine from source ==
Other experienced users, who are unable to make this work or just want more control over the installation, may want to try to compile Wine from source in order to play WoW. Instructions can be found here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BuildingWineFromSource


= Installing WoW =

=== Original WoW ===
The best method, if you have access to the installation discs is to copy the contents to your hard disk and run them from there. If you have the new DVDs see the note below.
 * Create a convenient directory ( 'wow_install' on your Desktop for example)		 World of Warcraft can also be played under Ubuntu by using the Wine based [[http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/|CrossOver Games]], [[http://www.transgaming.com/|Cedega]] and [[http://www.playonlinux.com/|PlayOnLinux]]. This how-to, however, does not address these.

= Before you get started =
In Linux, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Rendering_Infrastructure|Direct Rendering Infrastructure]] (DRI) facilitates faster graphics rendering, so before you begin the installation you should check whether DRI is enabled. To do this, open a terminal and run the following command:

{{{
glxinfo | grep rendering
}}}

You should see an output similar to this:

{{{
direct rendering: Yes
}}}

If this line says ''No'', it means that graphics data will not be passed directly to the graphics hardware, thus significantly reducing speed at which WoW will run. This is usually caused by issues with the graphics card driver, visit [[BinaryDriverHowto | binary drivers]] for more information.

'''''Note:''''' '' Even if you do have DRI, it still might not be enough to run WoW successfully. Always consult the recommended hardware requirements on the back of the game or in the manual.''

== Installing Wine ==
You can easily install Wine through the repositories. Ubuntu will automatically configure and install it for you, just launch the Ubuntu Software Center and search for Wine.

For full instructions on installing Wine, see the [[Wine | Wine documentation]].

Before proceeding to install World of Warcraft you must run winecfg at least once. It must setup the {{{~/.wine}}} directory structure before you can install Windows applications into it. This is a very important step, open a terminal and type the following command:

{{{
 winecfg
}}}

Most average users do not need to do any major changes in winecfg. If you need to configure Wine, please see the [[Wine|Wine documentation]] for details. As winecfg closes, it will create a the {{{~/.wine}}} directory structure in your home folder. This folder will be populated with information about drives, devices and software installed through Wine.

'''''Note:''''' '' If you fail to finish these steps before trying to install World of Warcraft then you'll probably see errors like the following when running winecfg in the future:

{{{
 err:winecfg:apply_drive_changes unable to define devicename of 'C:'
}}}''

= Installing World of Warcraft =
If you have the installation discs, this guide recommends that you copy the contents of your discs to your hard disk and install WoW from there. If you don't have the installation discs, please refer to the [[#alternate|alternate installations methods]].

 * Create a convenient directory (`wow_install` on your Desktop for example).
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 * For each of the remaining WoW CD's, copy just the 'Installer Tome #.mpq' files. In the end, you should have the 'DirectX' directory, and the 'autorun.inf', 'installer.ico', 'Installer Tome.mpq', and 'Installer.exe' files from disc 1, and 'Installer Tome 2.mpq', 'Installer Tome 3.mpq', 'Installer Tome 4.mpq', and 'Installer Tome 5.mpq' from the remaining discs. Note that the 'Installer.exe' file on the first disc is different from the files of the same name on the subsequent discs; if you get the wrong one the install will fail with {{{
Unrecognized key "options". (AttributeParser::Parse)}}}
 * '''Note''' that on some WoW DVD's the installer executable is hidden and you need to re-mount the disc with the 'unhide' option. To do this type in a terminal:{{{
  sudo umount /dev/cdrom
  sudo mount -t iso9660 -o ro,unhide /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom0/}}}
  * For each of the remaining WoW CD's, just copy the 'Installer Tome #.mpq' files.
 * In the end, you should have copied the following files and folders:
  * `DirectX` directory, `autorun.inf`, `installer.ico`, `Installer Tome.mpq` and `Installer.exe` files from disc 1.
  * `Installer Tome 2.mpq`, `Installer Tome 3.mpq`, `Installer Tome 4.mpq` and `Installer Tome 5.mpq` from the remaining discs.
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''Some dialogs during installation may appear blank or garbled, and the installer may even hang for up to 5 minutes at 100% CPU, while appearing to be doing nothing. Simply wait and click next when possible.''

''Note: If you have not already done so, you may want to install [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/Microsoft_Fonts|Microsoft's proprietary fonts]], because they can solve some text related graphical glitches during installation.''

=== Burning Crusade ===
The BC install is more or less the same as the base game install.
 * Create a new directory separate from the directory where you copied the original game discs.
 * Copy the 'Autorun.inf', 'Installer.exe', 'Installer.ico', and 'Installer Tome.mpq' files from the first Burning Crusade disc to this new directory.
 * Copy just 'Installer Tome 2.mpq', 'Installer Tome 3.mpq', and 'Installer Tome 4.mpq' from the remaining install discs.
 * Run the installer by opening a terminal and executing these commands:
 {{{
 cd /<path-to-directory>/
 wine Installer.exe}}}
 Replace {{{<path-to-directory/>}}} with the right path to the directory where you copied all the files (the BC files, not the original WoW files).

=== Alternate Installation Methods ===
If the above isn't possible for some reason (you don't have the discs for example, or a working media drive), here's some alternate ways to install the game.

==== Alternative 1 (Copy from Windows): ====
You can also just install WoW in Windows and then copy the entire World of Warcraft folder over from your Windows installation.

==== Alternative 2 (Download the Entire Game): ====
If you have lost a CD, do not have access to a CD drive or simply would not like to bother with patching and messing with the CD's, you can download and run the install of the trial version, which is in fact the full game almost fully patched, from the blizzard torrentlike downloader. They work very nicely with Wine.

Installer Downloads:
[[http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/downloads/files/pc/wowclient-downloader.exe|Original WoW - US Version]]
[[https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/download/bc-clientdownload.html|Burning Crusade - US Version]] (requires a valid account for log in)
[[http://www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade/download/|WoW - European clients, in all languages]]

In order to use the Blizzard Downloader effectively, you must 1) open certain ports on your computer and 2) enable port forwarding on your router.		  * To install expansions such as The Burning Crusade, The Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm, repeat the instructions above. Keep in mind to make new folders for each expansion, so that you don't mix up their installation files.

'''''Note:''''' '' If you've not already done so, you may also want to install [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/Microsoft_Fonts|Microsoft's proprietary fonts]] to solve text related glitches during the installation.''

<<Anchor(alternate)>>
== Alternate Installation Methods ==
If the above isn't possible for some reason (you might be missing discs or a working media drive), here are some alternate ways to install the game.

=== Installing in Windows ===
Just install WoW in Windows and run WoW under Wine from your Windows Partition. Or copy the entire World of Warcraft folder over from your Windows installation to play from your Ubuntu partition.

=== Download the entire game ===
Blizzard also offers it's customers to download and install the entire game through the Blizzard Downloader. This may take some time, even when using a fast connection. The game will be fully or close to fully patched upon finishing. The installer can be downloaded on the respective websites:

'''US version:''' https://us.battle.net/account/download/

'''EU version:''' https://eu.battle.net/account/download/ (all languages)

Run the installer with the following command in the terminal (Burning Crusade US version example):
{{{
wine WoW-BurningCrusade-enUS-Installer-downloader.exe
}}}

In order to use the Blizzard Downloader effectively, please see [[#router|router and firewall configuration]].
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===== Firewall Configuration for Blizzard Downloader =====
The easiest way to open these ports is to use the firewall program Firestarter.
 * From the command line, install Firestarter with this command: {{{sudo apt-get install firestarter}}}.
 * When it is running, select the "Policy" tab, right-click in the Allow Service area, and select Add Rule.
 * Under port, type {{{6112}}} and make sure that the "Anyone" radio button is selected. Make a note in the comments field that this port relates to Blizzard.
 * Repeat these steps for ports {{{3724}}} and for the range {{{6881-6999}}} (which will be recognized as BitTorrent ports).

===== Router Configuration for Blizzard Downloader =====
 Next, configure your router to forward those ports on the router to your computer only. The steps are similar to the above, but vary slighly from router to router and may be found on Blizzard's website: [[http://www.blizzard.com/support/wow/?id=aww01199p]]

Once the firewall is configured and the network port forwarding is working, run the downloader with (Burning Crusade US Version example):
{{{
wine WoW-BurningCrusade-enUS-Installer-downloader.exe}}}
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== Config.wtf ==

WoW uses DirectX by default, but for most people it will not perform well in this mode. If this is the case for you, then you should change it to run in OpenGL mode instead.
To do this you need to find the file {{{wtf/Config.wtf}}} in your main WoW directory. By default it is found in {{{/home/<username>/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/World\ of\ Warcraft/}}}, where <username> is you computer login name. Note that since .wine begins with a period, you will not be able to see it, but you may still access it in a terminal. In the Nautilus file manager, you can press {{{Ctrl + h}}} to see hidden files. If config.wtf does not exist, run the game and log into a character. The game should then create the file. Open it using a text editor, and add the following line to it:		 <<Anchor(router)>>
== Router & Firewall ==
If you have a router or firewall you might have problems running World of Warcraft or services such as the Blizzard Downloader. The following ports need to be forwarded for World of Warcraft to work correctly:

 *World of Warcraft requires that TCP Ports 1119 and 3724 are forwarded.
 *The Blizzard Downloader requires that TCP ports 6881-6999 to be forwarded.
 *The World of Warcraft Voice Chat feature uses UDP Port 3724.
 *The Battle.net service features uses TCP port 1120.

For detailed information on how to forward ports on your router/firewall see [[http://www.portforward.com/]] or contact your manufacturers customer service.
Keep in mind that forwarding ports may reduce your network security.

'''''Note:''''' '' Most routers have their brand and model number on a sticker underneath the device.''

== Enabling OpenGL ==
The Windows version of World of Warcraft supports 3D rendering using either Direct3D or OpenGL.
However, in Wine the Direct3D mode is supported only through an emulation layer that runs on top of OpenGL. Therefor it's highly recommended that you enable the OpenGL mode directly, instead of using it indirectly through Direct3D.

Find the file {{{wtf/Config.wtf}}} in your main WoW directory. By default it is found in {{{/home/<username>/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/World\ of\ Warcraft/}}}, where <username> is you computer login name.

Open {{{config.wtf}}} using a text editor and add or change the following line:
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If you experience poor performance, graphical glitches, or the game does not run at all, then add the following options as well:
{{{
SET ffxDeath "0"
SET ffxGlow "0"}}}

If you experience a problem with missing character and object models, and/or the login windows background is black, add:
{{{
SET M2UseShaders "0"}}}

Note that disabling ffxGlow may also enable antialiasing for some users.

If you experience stuttering, bad sound or no sound what so ever, then add the following options as well:
{{{
SET Sound_SoundOutputSystem "1"
SET Sound_SoundBufferSize "150"}}}

== winecfg ==

If you experience stuttering, bad sound or no sound what so ever, then you must try a few things in {{{winecfg}}}. Just type {{{winecfg}}} in a terminal, press enter, and the wine configuration application window should appear and you should go to the {{{audio tab}}}.

For most people {{{OSS}}} will work better than {{{ALSA}}}, so you should make sure that only {{{OSS}}} is ticked. But for some {{{ALSA}}} works better, so try that as a second solution, make sure you only have one ticked at a time.

Also, refer to the Voice chat section for information on getting multiple audio streams working with {{{OSS}}} and {{{ALSA}}} (more than one program using audio at once). It will wave you grief should you ever want to listen to music and chat on Ventrilo or Teamspeak while playing, and similar.

You may also try ticking {{{Driver Emulation}}} or setting the {{{Hardware Acceleration}}} dropdown to {{{Emulation}}}. Remove it again if it does not help.

== Registry configuration ==

This is a simple registry edit for Wine that will dramatically increase the framerate in game. It is gathered from this thread on Ubuntuforums.org: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=303509

Open a terminal window, type {{{regedit}}} and press enter. This will start the Wine equivalent of the windows registry editor. If you are familiar with using the registry editor under windows then this is pretty much the same.

 1. Find this key {{{HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\}}}

 1. Highlight the wine folder in the left hand pane by clicking left on it. The icon should change to an open folder

 1. Right-click on the wine folder and select {{{[NEW]}}} then {{{[KEY]}}}

 1. Replace the text {{{New Key #1}}} with {{{OpenGL}}}

 1. Right-click in the right hand pane and select {{{[NEW]}}} then {{{[String Value]}}}

 1. Replace {{{New Value #1}}} with {{{DisabledExtensions}}} (Notice it's case sensitive!)

 1.#7 Then double click anywhere on the line, a dialog box will open.
 1. In the value field type {{{GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object}}}

''Note: If you are unable to rename the newly created key "New Key #1" to "OpenGL" then expand the left hand pane of the regedit window using the vertical divider bar. You should now be able to change it. A known bug in Wine is causing this unwanted behavior.''

''Note: If you have installed the patch Echos of Doom, 3.0.2, many users have discovered that they were getting very low frame rates and that by removing this registry tweak their framerates were returned to normal. 		'''''Note:''''' ''If {{{config.wtf}}} does not exist, run the game and log into a character, then exit WoW. The game should then have created the file.''

'''''Note:''''' As of early april 2014, the 64-bit WoW client crashes after a short time. Running a 32-bit client in a 32-bit wine environment is the currently working solution. However, only D3D9 graphics mode is possible, since the OpenGL mode does not connect.
The technical reasons for this are discussed elsewhere.

'''''Update:''''' 5.4.8 Hotfixes (end of may 2014) have apparently resolved two important problems; both the 64-bit operation and OpenGL work fine now. Most people will want to update their Linux configuration for the game, due to much smoother experience.
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== Start from the Desktop Icon ==

Double click the icon you find on your Desktop titled World of Warcraft, this will start the launcher. If you have never used something requiring HTML rendering with Wine you will be prompted to download and install the Gecko rendering engine, you should do this as it will enable the WoW Launcher to display news.

== Start from the Terminal ==

Starting from the terminal is simple, just enter:
{{{
wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Launcher.exe"}}}
(install when prompted about the Gecko rendering engine)		 == Starting the game ==
You can start the game by double-clicking the icon you find on your Desktop titled World of Warcraft, this will start the launcher. If you have never used something requiring HTML rendering with Wine you will be prompted to download and install the Gecko rendering engine. Doing this will enable the WoW Launcher to display news.

You can also start the game from the terminal:

{{{
wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Launcher.exe"
}}}
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{{{
wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe"}}}
{{{
wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe"
}}}

'''''Note:''''' ''The terminal commands above might not reflect your World of Warcraft installation path and may need to be modified.''
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You can make a Gnome menu entry for WoW by doing the following commands in a terminal: You can make a Gnome menu entry for WoW by entering the following commands in a terminal:
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gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/wow.desktop}}} gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/wow.desktop
}}}
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Icon=WoW.svg Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/WoW.svg
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StartupNotify=false}}}
''Note: Remember that you should also edit the {{{Exec=}}} line to reflect your WoW installation path, if you've installed to a special location.''

= Voice chat =

If you choose to configure Wine to use OSS for sound, then you will experience an issue with making voice chat applications and WoW use sound input and output simultaneously. You need to be able to mix sound in order for this to work, but most modern onboard soundcards do not support hardware sound mixing. You will either have to get a PCI soundcard, which supports this feature, or use software mixing. The issue with software mixing comes down to the two different sound interface architectures available in Linux, {{{OSS}}} and {{{ALSA}}}.

'''OSS'''''(old/legacy)'': Does not allow you to use software mixing. Meaning only ONE application will be able to use sound at a time.

'''ALSA'''''(new)'': Allows software mixing. Meaning several programs can use sound simultaneously.

However, as stated previously in this howto, for some people the sound may stutter or be otherwise corrupted when using ALSA, this may force you to use OSS.

So you see the problem:
 * WoW runs in Wine, ergo uses OSS
 * Ventrilo runs in Wine, ergo uses OSS
 * The Linux version of TeamSpeak is based on OSS

Only one of these applications will be able to use sound at a time, but this can be solved by using [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/alsa-oss|alsa-oss]], which channels OSS applications through ALSA, making them them work more or less like regular ALSA programs.

ALSA-OSS is installed by running this command:
{{{
sudo apt-get install alsa-oss}}}

And then one uses it by starting the programs with the "aoss" command, something like this:
{{{
aoss /path-to-program/TeamSpeak}}}
{{{
aoss wine /path-to-program/Ventrilo.exe}}}
{{{
aoss wine /path-to-program/WoW.exe}}}

Remember that both the voice chat program and WoW need to be run with the aoss command in front.
 StartupNotify=false
}}}

'''''Note:''''' ''Remember that you should also edit the {{{Exec=}}} line to reflect your WoW installation path, if you've installed to a special location.''

== Voice communication ==
Guilds in World of Warcraft often use voice communication software to communicate with other guild members while playing, the most common software are:

 *TeamSpeak
 *Mumble
 *Ventrilo

TeamSpeak and Mumble have native Linux clients and work perfectly under Ubuntu, they can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center. [[Ventrilo]] on the other hand does not have a client for Linux and needs to run through Wine, just like WoW. However there's an open source VOIP client capable of connecting to Ventrilo 3.x servers called [[http://www.mangler.org/|Mangler]].
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This section has been moved to its own article for better overview and navigation.

See [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WorldofWarcraft/Troubleshooting]]

 == Install ==
On some WoW DVD's the installer executable is hidden and you need to re-mount the disc with the 'unhide' option. To do this, open a terminal and type:
{{{
sudo umount /dev/cdrom
sudo mount -t iso9660 -o ro,unhide /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom0/
}}}

'''''Note:''''' ''The `Installer.exe` file on the first disc is different from the files of the same name on the subsequent discs; if you get the wrong one the install will fail with:
{{{
Unrecognized key "options". (AttributeParser::Parse)
}}}''

It's possible for the installation launcher to [[http://askubuntu.com/a/292641 | become "stuck"]] when using the stable Ubuntu package for Wine on 13.10 (Saucy). In such cases, try updating to a [[Wine#Newer_versions_of_Wine_.28Not_Recommended.29|newer version of Wine]].

== Audio ==
If you experience stuttering you could try this:

In {{{config.wtf}}} set:

{{{
SET Sound_SoundOutputSystem "1"
SET Sound_SoundBufferSize "150"
}}}

The optimum value for {{{Sound_SoundBufferSize}}} varies depending on you setup. It may be anything from 50 to 300.

If you are not hearing any audio at all from WoW, you may want to try to switch Wine to use an older audio sub system named OSS. To do this, just type {{{winecfg}}} in a terminal, press enter, and the wine configuration application window should appear and you should go to the {{{audio tab}}}.
In there, choose {{{OSS}}}. Make sure you only have one sound output system (e.g. ALSA/OSS/ESD) ticked at a time.

When an application is outputing sound through OSS, it will cause conflicts with other applications outputing audio, because OSS can only output audio from one application at a time. To work around this issue, you can wrap your running WoW instance with the newer audio system using the padsp launch prefix in a terminal.

To do this start WoW through the terminal by typing:
{{{
padsp wine WoW.exe}}}

'''''Note:''''' ''{{{config.wtf}}} and {{{WoW.exe}}} are located in your World of Warcraft catalog.''

== Graphics ==

If you are having trouble with your graphics, add the following to {{{config.wtf}}}:
{{{
SET ffxDeath "0"
SET ffxGlow "0"}}}

'''''Note:''''' ''Disabling {{{ffxGlow}}} may also enable antialiasing for some users.''

If you experience a problem with missing character and object models, and/or the login windows background is black, add:
{{{
SET M2UseShaders "0"}}}

=== regedit tweaks ===
This is a simple registry edit for Wine that either will either fix crash issues and increase frame rate in game, or it will decrease the performance and even make the game crash. You should give it a try to see what is does for you, as you may always easily remove it again, if it acts negatively for you.

Open a terminal window, type {{{regedit}}} and press enter. This will start the Wine equivalent of the windows registry editor. If you are familiar with using the registry editor under windows then this is pretty much the same.

 1. Find this key {{{HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\}}}

 1. Highlight the wine folder in the left hand pane by clicking left on it. The icon should change to an open folder

 1. Right-click on the wine folder and select {{{[NEW]}}} then {{{[KEY]}}}

 1. Replace the text {{{New Key #1}}} with {{{OpenGL}}}

 1. Right-click in the right hand pane and select {{{[NEW]}}} then {{{[String Value]}}}

 1. Replace {{{New Value #1}}} with {{{DisabledExtensions}}} (Notice it's case sensitive!)

 1.#7 Then double click anywhere on the line, a dialog box will open.
 1. In the value field type {{{GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object}}}

=== nVidia graphics ===
When running nVidia proprietary drivers with the 64-bit client, you may benefit from threaded shaders, resulting in better performance. See
 [[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/310.40/README/openglenvvariables.html]] The nVidia OpenGL variables for 310.40
 
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For support and discussion on the subject of this howto, please post at:		 For support and discussion on the subject of this how-to, please post at:
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 * [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Linux/Wine|Wine (software) - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft]] - A WoWWiki guide for running World of Warcraft under Wine.  * [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Wine|Wine (WoWWiki)]] - A WoWWiki guide for running World of Warcraft under Wine.
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CategoryCleanup CategoryGames CategoryGames WindowsGames

This how-to is for installing and playing World of Warcraft (WoW) using Wine under Ubuntu.

Wine is a free open source implementation of the proprietary Win32 API, and attempts to enable Windows applications and games to run on Unix-like operating systems.

World of Warcraft can also be played under Ubuntu by using the Wine based CrossOver Games, Cedega and PlayOnLinux. This how-to, however, does not address these.

Before you get started

In Linux, Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI) facilitates faster graphics rendering, so before you begin the installation you should check whether DRI is enabled. To do this, open a terminal and run the following command: 

glxinfo | grep rendering

You should see an output similar to this: 

direct rendering: Yes

If this line says No, it means that graphics data will not be passed directly to the graphics hardware, thus significantly reducing speed at which WoW will run. This is usually caused by issues with the graphics card driver, visit binary drivers for more information.

Note: Even if you do have DRI, it still might not be enough to run WoW successfully. Always consult the recommended hardware requirements on the back of the game or in the manual.

Installing Wine

You can easily install Wine through the repositories. Ubuntu will automatically configure and install it for you, just launch the Ubuntu Software Center and search for Wine.

For full instructions on installing Wine, see the Wine documentation.

Before proceeding to install World of Warcraft you must run winecfg at least once. It must setup the ~/.wine directory structure before you can install Windows applications into it. This is a very important step, open a terminal and type the following command: 

 winecfg

Most average users do not need to do any major changes in winecfg. If you need to configure Wine, please see the Wine documentation for details. As winecfg closes, it will create a the ~/.wine directory structure in your home folder. This folder will be populated with information about drives, devices and software installed through Wine.

Note: If you fail to finish these steps before trying to install World of Warcraft then you'll probably see errors like the following when running winecfg in the future: 

 err:winecfg:apply_drive_changes   unable to define devicename of 'C:'

Installing World of Warcraft

If you have the installation discs, this guide recommends that you copy the contents of your discs to your hard disk and install WoW from there. If you don't have the installation discs, please refer to the alternate installations methods.

  • Create a convenient directory (wow_install on your Desktop for example).

  • Copy all of the files from the first WoW CD to this new directory.
  • For each of the remaining WoW CD's, just copy the 'Installer Tome #.mpq' files.
  • In the end, you should have copied the following files and folders:

    • DirectX directory, autorun.inf, installer.ico, Installer Tome.mpq and Installer.exe files from disc 1.

    • Installer Tome 2.mpq, Installer Tome 3.mpq, Installer Tome 4.mpq and Installer Tome 5.mpq from the remaining discs.

  • Start the installation by opening a terminal and running these commands: 
     cd /<path-to-directory>/
 wine Installer.exe

    Replace <path-to-directory/> with the right path to the directory where you copied all the files above.

  • To install expansions such as The Burning Crusade, The Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm, repeat the instructions above. Keep in mind to make new folders for each expansion, so that you don't mix up their installation files.

Note: If you've not already done so, you may also want to install Microsoft's proprietary fonts to solve text related glitches during the installation.

Alternate Installation Methods

If the above isn't possible for some reason (you might be missing discs or a working media drive), here are some alternate ways to install the game.

Installing in Windows

Just install WoW in Windows and run WoW under Wine from your Windows Partition. Or copy the entire World of Warcraft folder over from your Windows installation to play from your Ubuntu partition.

Download the entire game

Blizzard also offers it's customers to download and install the entire game through the Blizzard Downloader. This may take some time, even when using a fast connection. The game will be fully or close to fully patched upon finishing. The installer can be downloaded on the respective websites:

US version: https://us.battle.net/account/download/

EU version: https://eu.battle.net/account/download/ (all languages)

Run the installer with the following command in the terminal (Burning Crusade US version example): 

wine WoW-BurningCrusade-enUS-Installer-downloader.exe

In order to use the Blizzard Downloader effectively, please see router and firewall configuration.

Configuration

Router & Firewall

If you have a router or firewall you might have problems running World of Warcraft or services such as the Blizzard Downloader. The following ports need to be forwarded for World of Warcraft to work correctly:

  • World of Warcraft requires that TCP Ports 1119 and 3724 are forwarded.
  • The Blizzard Downloader requires that TCP ports 6881-6999 to be forwarded.
  • The World of Warcraft Voice Chat feature uses UDP Port 3724.
  • The Battle.net service features uses TCP port 1120.

For detailed information on how to forward ports on your router/firewall see http://www.portforward.com/ or contact your manufacturers customer service. Keep in mind that forwarding ports may reduce your network security.

Note: Most routers have their brand and model number on a sticker underneath the device.

Enabling OpenGL

The Windows version of World of Warcraft supports 3D rendering using either Direct3D or OpenGL. However, in Wine the Direct3D mode is supported only through an emulation layer that runs on top of OpenGL. Therefor it's highly recommended that you enable the OpenGL mode directly, instead of using it indirectly through Direct3D.

Find the file wtf/Config.wtf in your main WoW directory. By default it is found in /home/<username>/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/World\ of\ Warcraft/, where <username> is you computer login name.

Open config.wtf using a text editor and add or change the following line: 

SET gxApi "opengl"

Note: If config.wtf does not exist, run the game and log into a character, then exit WoW. The game should then have created the file.

Note: As of early april 2014, the 64-bit WoW client crashes after a short time. Running a 32-bit client in a 32-bit wine environment is the currently working solution. However, only D3D9 graphics mode is possible, since the OpenGL mode does not connect. The technical reasons for this are discussed elsewhere.

Update: 5.4.8 Hotfixes (end of may 2014) have apparently resolved two important problems; both the 64-bit operation and OpenGL work fine now. Most people will want to update their Linux configuration for the game, due to much smoother experience.

Playing

Starting the game

You can start the game by double-clicking the icon you find on your Desktop titled World of Warcraft, this will start the launcher. If you have never used something requiring HTML rendering with Wine you will be prompted to download and install the Gecko rendering engine. Doing this will enable the WoW Launcher to display news.

You can also start the game from the terminal: 

wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Launcher.exe"

Or, dive right into the game with: 

wine "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe"

Note: The terminal commands above might not reflect your World of Warcraft installation path and may need to be modified.

Gnome menu icon

You can make a Gnome menu entry for WoW by entering the following commands in a terminal: 

wget http://kde-files.org/CONTENT/content-files/41569-wow-icon-scalable.svg -O WoW.svg
sudo mv WoW.svg /usr/share/pixmaps/
gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/wow.desktop

Add this to the text editor window, which should have appeared after the third command, change <username> in the Exec= line to your computer login username, and save: 

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=World of Warcraft
Exec=wine /home/<username>/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/World\ of\ Warcraft/WoW.exe
Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/WoW.svg
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Game;
StartupNotify=false

Note: Remember that you should also edit the Exec= line to reflect your WoW installation path, if you've installed to a special location.

Voice communication

Guilds in World of Warcraft often use voice communication software to communicate with other guild members while playing, the most common software are:

TeamSpeak and Mumble have native Linux clients and work perfectly under Ubuntu, they can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center. Ventrilo on the other hand does not have a client for Linux and needs to run through Wine, just like WoW. However there's an open source VOIP client capable of connecting to Ventrilo 3.x servers called Mangler.

Troubleshooting

Install

On some WoW DVD's the installer executable is hidden and you need to re-mount the disc with the 'unhide' option. To do this, open a terminal and type: 

sudo umount /dev/cdrom
sudo mount -t iso9660 -o ro,unhide /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom0/

Note: The Installer.exe file on the first disc is different from the files of the same name on the subsequent discs; if you get the wrong one the install will fail with: 

Unrecognized key "options". (AttributeParser::Parse)

It's possible for the installation launcher to become "stuck" when using the stable Ubuntu package for Wine on 13.10 (Saucy). In such cases, try updating to a newer version of Wine.

Audio

If you experience stuttering you could try this:

In config.wtf set: 

SET Sound_SoundOutputSystem "1"
SET Sound_SoundBufferSize "150"

The optimum value for Sound_SoundBufferSize varies depending on you setup. It may be anything from 50 to 300.

If you are not hearing any audio at all from WoW, you may want to try to switch Wine to use an older audio sub system named OSS. To do this, just type winecfg in a terminal, press enter, and the wine configuration application window should appear and you should go to the audio tab. In there, choose OSS. Make sure you only have one sound output system (e.g. ALSA/OSS/ESD) ticked at a time.

When an application is outputing sound through OSS, it will cause conflicts with other applications outputing audio, because OSS can only output audio from one application at a time. To work around this issue, you can wrap your running WoW instance with the newer audio system using the padsp launch prefix in a terminal.

To do this start WoW through the terminal by typing: 

padsp wine WoW.exe

Note: config.wtf and WoW.exe are located in your World of Warcraft catalog.

Graphics

If you are having trouble with your graphics, add the following to config.wtf: 

SET ffxDeath "0"
SET ffxGlow "0"

Note: Disabling ffxGlow may also enable antialiasing for some users.

If you experience a problem with missing character and object models, and/or the login windows background is black, add: 

SET M2UseShaders "0"

regedit tweaks

This is a simple registry edit for Wine that either will either fix crash issues and increase frame rate in game, or it will decrease the performance and even make the game crash. You should give it a try to see what is does for you, as you may always easily remove it again, if it acts negatively for you.

Open a terminal window, type regedit and press enter. This will start the Wine equivalent of the windows registry editor. If you are familiar with using the registry editor under windows then this is pretty much the same.

  1. Find this key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\

  2. Highlight the wine folder in the left hand pane by clicking left on it. The icon should change to an open folder

  3. Right-click on the wine folder and select [NEW] then [KEY]

  4. Replace the text New Key #1 with OpenGL

  5. Right-click in the right hand pane and select [NEW] then [String Value]

  6. Replace New Value #1 with DisabledExtensions (Notice it's case sensitive!)

  7. Then double click anywhere on the line, a dialog box will open.

  8. In the value field type GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object

nVidia graphics

When running nVidia proprietary drivers with the 64-bit client, you may benefit from threaded shaders, resulting in better performance. See

Support and discussion

For support and discussion on the subject of this how-to, please post at:

External links

CategoryGames WindowsGames

WorldofWarcraft (last edited 2014-05-22 06:10:00 by h18n18-g-hn-a11)