Hi all,
has anybody installed Scrivener on Ubuntu 20.4?
I used the deb package and did both a manual install and through the software manager. Installation was a piece of cake, Scrivener shows up in the apps and everything. Only problem is that it does not run. Any idea?
I have not but yesterday did get the AppImage to somewhat work in Mint Cinnamon 20.
I say work somewhat because I only used it for a few minutes––just repeatedly opened and closed Scrivener and navigated in its Tutorial. I’m not even sure that I installed it properly. I’m a returning Linux newbie so just briefly trying the Scrivener AppImage was a goal for that self-training session as part of my longterm strategy. See the following thread made by @theswede. He’s experienced and successfully uses the AppImage. There’s a link in his OP to the hosting site. It’s well worth a look.
Yes. It’s more than likely missing a set of libraries that are no longer supplied/supported in 20.x
This is just in the nature of computers. Things shouldn’t break when upgrading minor versions (the ‘x’ bit in 20.x), but all bets are very much off on major version changes. (16.x → 18.x, 18.x → 20.x)
If you want to see what’s missing, you can run this in a terminal session:
ldd /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener(Assuming an install from the .deb package)
Finding the packages for the libraries you’ll need can be a bit of a faff. For optimum trust, they should come from an Ubuntu archive site. However, I think libpng12 came from some random dropbox a/c that was listed in one of the threads here. I mean, it’s probably Just Fine. But, y’know, if I were some black-hatted haxx0r type, that would be a jolly good way of getting someone to install a bank-detail-stealing backdoor…
Anyway.
This is the list of packages that I keep to one side for when I have to re-install Scrivener on a new Ubuntu rig:
libgstreamer0.10-0_0.10.36-1.5ubuntu1_amd64.deb
libpng12-0_1.2.54-1ubuntu1b_amd64.deb
libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0_0.10.36-1_amd64.deb
multiarch-support_2.27-3ubuntu1.2_amd64.deb
If you install them with dependency warnings turned off, you can do without multiarch-support. However, Do Not Do That, because you’ll no longer be able to install/upgrade anything else on your machine.
I just reinstalled Scrivener on my Ubuntu box and tried to write a tutorial on the steps. It might help.
kidshideaway.net/scrivener-works-under-ubuntu-19
I’m coping with the instructions from the page here, but I’m not sure how well it will look.
Add the sources to the apt config.
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.listUse the editor of your choice, I use vi, not that is a protected file so you must use sudo.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ pool main universe multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial main universe multiverse
Then run the apt command to install the packages.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install multiarch-support*
sudo apt-get install gir1.2-gst* libgstreamer-plugins-base0* libgstreamer0*
If you are still getting errors about adding packages try this:
sudo apt-get install libgthread* libglib* libgobject* libgbase* libgmodule* libvisual*If your getting png errors then try the easy way, and restest, if that doesn’t work see below instructions for compiling the module on your install so it will be compatible.
sudo apt-get install libpng12*Lingering PNG error solution:
PNG errors - Manual install
cd /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/*** your directory may vary
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get install libtool autoconf build-essential pkg-config automake tcsh
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libpng/libpng_1.2.54.orig.tar.xz
tar -xvf libpng_1.2.54.orig.tar.xz
cd libpng-1.2.54
./autogen.sh
./configure
make -j8
sudo make install
sudo ldconfigBadPixMap errors
Next, you are probably going to get some perms errors.
To fix the perms error that displays itself as “BadPixMap”.
sudo QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1 $pathto/$ScrivenerFolder/$ScriverFileExample:
sudo QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1 /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener /home/my_user_name/Scrivener_Files/DragonDiary.scriv/DragonDiary.scrivxThat should be it. You should be up and running. If you’re not post some error messages and I’ll help ya figure it out.
github.com/unetbootin/unetbootin/issues/66 – more information about the reason for the permissions errors.
Appeared to install without probs… however
will not start
exMPLE OUTPUT:
webmost@ubuntulaptop:~$ ls -al /usr/share/scrivener/scrivener.sh
ls: cannot access ‘/usr/share/scrivener/scrivener.sh’: No such file or directory
webmost@ubuntulaptop:~$ /usr/share/scrivener/bin/scrivener.sh
/usr/share/scrivener/bin/scrivener.sh: 37: exec: /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener: not found
webmost@ubuntulaptop:~$ ls -al /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener
-rwxrwxr-x 1 root root 18542548 Oct 20 2015 /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener
webmost@ubuntulaptop:~$ /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener
bash: /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener: No such file or directory
webmost@ubuntulaptop:~$ sudo /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener
[sudo] password for webmost:
sudo: unable to execute /usr/share/scrivener/bin/Scrivener: No such file or directory
any clues?
I got it running on Ubuntu 20.10 by going to the Ubuntu packages repo website, and downloading/installing these three packages:
gstreamer0.10-plugins-base_0.10.36-2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb
libgstreamer0.10-0_0.10.36-1.5ubuntu1_amd64.deb
libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0_0.10.36-2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb
You have to get these packages from the 16.04 repo:
packages.ubuntu.com/xenial/
I can’t get it to work on Linux Mint 20.
I downloaded the latest deb and I can’t get it to work for the life of me – I click on the application in my start menu and it does nothing. I tinkered around with installing some of the things listed in previous replies and I can’t seem to get it to work. Is anyone else using Mint?
Hi, I use Scrivener every day on Linux Mint 20, and have done so on every version of Mint going back the better part of a decade. Scrivener for Linux kicks ass, but dealing with old .deb’s leads to much pain and sorrow due to “dependency hell”.
Good news for us Linux heads though: A while back, i upgraded to Mint 20.1, and of course set about reinstalling Scrivener. To my great joy, I found a wonderful human being over at WayOfLinux has created an “appimage” file which makes it vastly easier get Scrivener working. (If not familiar, “appimage” packages contain their own dependencies, so they can seamlessly run on any Linux distribution under the sun, provided appimages are supported, which with Mint and virtually all distros, has been true for years.)
Voila, bingo. Scrivener runs.
The only quirk i notice is that after writing for 3 or 4 hours, the program gets sluggish, so i need to restart it. I’m in the habit of just closing it before i stand up for a break. That saves all edits and lets my cloud backup do its sync business. Then with fresh coffee, i double click my .scrivx file and continue. User interface stays snappy, i just make the bug into a part of my rhythm.
I do wish Lit and Late would take my Linux money. I’d click a donate link or add them to my patreon, but they don’t have either. But until then, the appimage file makes version 1.9 essentially eternal.
Good luck and happy Linux Scrivenering!
(If that isn’t a verb it should be.)
You’re my hero – this worked like a charm. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Thanks for the Linux version!
I hope that one of these days, the native Linux version will return to being actively developed. In the meantime, I’m happy with Scrivener. Now what Scrivener needs is a ‘motivate-your-fingers-to-create’ mode. 
Ed
Just to let folks know. I recently switched from Ubuntu (many versions, finally 20.4) where I could never figure out how to get Scrivener to work to Manjaro. I found Scrivener in the AUR repository. It probably an appimage, because when I asked it to build and install, a large number of dependencies were downloaded. It installed perfectly. However, when the icon was clicked nothing would happen, With I little searching, I found I simple needed to finish the installation by executing the following command in terminal:
sudo rm /opt/scrivener/lib/libfreetype.so.6
Then it works great. I paid for the upgrade to 3 for Windows as a way to support L&L’s continuing efforts for writers, but I’m thrilled with using Scrivener 1.9.x.x on both Windows and Linux. This is fantastic. I hope it keeps working a long time.
EDIT: This is the 64 Bit version. It’s running on an old Thinkpad X230.
I also dream about nativ 
after 2025 win 11 update force me to kick off windows from all my PC then i only use Linux… Photodhop, Acustica, Scrivener and much more need nativ linux versuion coz i never back to windows i not like osX and i wont have choice, but when i see 1.9 version here and scrivener 3 now i know that project die on beta… Then nativ or nothing coz wine implementation is never good idea…
If you have interest in a Scrivener AppImage, read the following linked thread till the end. Posts #5 and 6 have links to instruction and the 64 bit AppImage, respectively.
https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/scrivener-appimage/46430
Hi I can’t get any of the download links for 1.9.0.1 or 1.7.2.4 to download. Are they no longer working for others? Are they available at another (safe) source?
Thank you.
I just tried the download links at the top of this thread and they seem to be working fine for me.
Thanks. I finally was able to download it on an android device, and then sent it to a pc. My other machines seemed not to like the links.
Hi. I saw someone mention this issue before, but no answer so here I go. This Linux version seems not to be able to import documents. Is that so? Is that a workaround? thanks
Yay! So glad this exists. Getting ready for a few new books with this software. I appreciate the native option.