Scrivener - Windows & Linux Versions

Scrivener Scrivener on Linux (Unofficial)
1

Does anyone have knowledge of the interaction between, or experience w/ both, the Windows 1.9.17 and the Linux 1.9.0.1 Beta versions?

I have composed a very-large file in the former, and today copied the folder therefor to my LMDE 3 partition. It opened fine in the latter - though I haven’t fly-specked it to see if I notice any anomalies. But I’m reluctant to do a lot of work w/ Linux Scrivener only to discover later that some of the Windows file text is corrupted. (I’ve noticed that some formatting of text in the Windows version of Open Office files is corrupted in the OS/2 version, and vice versa, and therefor am hesitant that something similar could transpire here.)

Any guidance or referral would be greatly appreciated.

2

I would be very surprised if your 1.9.x projects handled the trip back to 1.9.0.1 with any fidelity, honestly. If I remember correctly, the project internal structure changed after 1.9.0.1 to handle the sync with iOS. You are probably going to end up being much happier and less frustrated in the long run by using some of the forum threads as a guide to getting your 1.9.x install running under WINE and at least being able to use the same version of Scrivener between your envrionments.

3

Thanks for the advice, albeit not encouraging.

I have tried to install the Windows version under WINE, however w/out success. This likely is due primarily to my unfamiliarity w/ it. Given your suggestion, I’ll give it another go.

4

Search within the forum here, there are those who have provided instructions on how to install it successfully.

5

I’m not meaning to be discouraging, apologies! It can be a little bit of a struggle to get Scrivener and WINE set up properly to begin with, but I suspect it will save you LOADS of aggravation down the road. As Empisek said, there are a few good forum threads from users who are figuring out how to successfully configure the latest released version (not to mention the current betas) under WINE.

6

I think I located one of those threads, but will conduct further searches to attempt to isolate them all.

I’m glad to hear that it is a real struggle to install Scrivener under Wine, and that my failures to date don’t indicate I’m a complete dunce. I tried again last night and, whereas the previous attempts failed almost immediately, this one cycled for almost a minute - resulting in me hoping that this one might work - before failing.

So, I will keep plugging away when I have time, both to find all the threads and to figure out Wine. (This is the first time I have ever tried Wine, having no need therefor since the available Linux versions of software (except for Acrobat Standard for which I still have to boot Win7) cover almost all my needs.)

7

I did do a search of the archives, saved what seemed the pertinent threads, and will be reviewing them.

However I looked again at a UTube video to which someone referred me - for installation of Scrivener w/ Wine - to see what I might have missed. One of the first steps that was mentioned was to go to WineHQ and investigate the version of Wine it recommended for various versions of Scrivener; the URL for the page is
appdb.winehq.org/objectManager. … &iId=12274
and a graphic (if it can be opened) is attached.

From this it seems that there recommendation of the newest version to use is 1.9.9 (though 2.9.0.2 Beta2 is good also). Are there any thoughts about whether this is sound, and, if so, reverting to such an older version? (If the answer is affirmative this could have been my problem since I was attempting to install 1.9.17).

Comments will be most welcome.

Wine_HQ-Scrivener.png
Wine_HQ-Scrivener.png818×546 63 KB

8

It’s not possible to register a new copy of Win Scrivener 1.9.9, as the license provider used by that version no longer exists.

Katherine

9

Katherine already answered regarding the release version. Unless you’re playing games with the system clock (totally not recommended) it is also not possible to use anything but the latest beta version.

See this for installing with the latest beta version:

10

OK. You say that " it is also not possible to use anything but the latest beta version". So, I need to somehow download and try 2.9.0.2 Beta2? Unless I am wholly confused - a distinct possibility - how do I find it?

But, given its number, is this a Windows, rather than Mac, version?

I did look at the two (2) linked topics and concluded that running
winetricks speechsdk
was recommended. I had earlier done a search and saw it recommended running
winetricks dotnet45
So I earlier did the latter and just now did the former.
(Curious how it had access to the NTFS drive.)

I haven’t tried PlayonLinux yet to see what happens w/ Windows version 1.9.17 after those installations. But then, if I should be trying the other version instead, perhaps I should wait.

11

Okay “I” think I see some of the confusion. The current retail version of Scrivener for Windows is 1.9.16. This can be either be purchased immediately or downloaded for a 30 day trial test from this link literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/download

Also you can download the latest Release Candidate 3 from this link which is RC 3 2.9.9.3. with each version sunset at specific intervals. Scrivener 3.0 Beta - Release Candidate 10 (Download Links & Change List)
This is to ensure the integrity of obtaining current problems as with to create less confusion for the developers. This is their decision since they opened the beta and even if it has been stated, they have not, will not as with won’t change that aspect. You can check the forums concerning this matter as well.

They also provide no support for those who wish to use a Windows based application on a Linux OS and any support is done so by those within this part of the forum.

Be aware as it has been stated many times over if you were to port over your manuscript, or whatever your working on into the RC you will not be able to port it back. BUT… your original is also placed in a folder so as to preserve it and is not lost in any way, shape or form.

I wish you well.

12

If you don’t mind paying a subscription of around $40/year, Crossover, a GUI front end for Wine, installs Scrivener for Windows easily and quickly with no trouble or tricks. I have it on my Mac, but it;s also available for Linux, I believe,

codeweavers.com/products/

though it’s not responding this evening for some reason.

:slight_smile:

Mark

13

I’m sorry, I need to word that more clearly.

You have two choices running Scrivener for Windows under WINE – release version, or beta version.

You can always use the current official release version of Windows for Scrivener, currently 1.9.16. You can also download previously released version from this page: Scrivener Downloads – however, be aware that versions1.9.9 and previous rely on a now-defunct licensing provider and cannot be registered any more. If you’re going the official release version, 1.9.16 is the latest recommended. It will require you to install .NET 4.6.2 (or greater) in your WINE instance.

You can also use the Windows Scrivener 3.x beta, currently version 2.9.9.3 (aka “RC3”.) The 2.9.0.2 Beta 2 version mentioned in the link you found is a very old version of the beta (so this is probably an old article). The beta versions have an expiration date on them – after that date, they no longer run. Even if you could find a copy to download and install, you wouldn’t be able to use the older versions. If you decide to run the beta, you need to download the latest version, and you need to be prepared to update it often as the current version expires and new ones are released. The current beta versions also need the updated .NET framework version (and once it is officially released and the licensing code is put in place, it definitely will need it).

The 1.9.16 version produces project files that are compatible with Mac v2.x and the iOS version. The 2.9.9.x beta versions produce project files that are compatible with Mac v3.x and the iOS version. If you are trying to switch back and forth between multiple computers, they should all be able to work with the same project version or you will probably become very frustrated.

If you open a v2 project in a beta version, it will save a copy of your project and convert the project to v3. If you’re stuck with the Windows version, this is a one-way conversion at this time. (If you have access to a Mac, or a friend with a Mac, you can always use Mac v3 to export the v3 project back to v2.)

You cannot open a v3 project in 1.9.16.

From what I understand at this time (I have not installed Scrivener under WINE yet), you need to do both

winetricks speechsdk
winetricks dotnet45

in order to get it running under a recent version of WINE.

14

Since there doesn’t seem to be an option to reply separately, I’ll have to reply to all three of the last replies at once - and will probably miss something in doing so.

After the 5:40 PM post, I booted to Win7 to check my version number and obtain my Serial Number Name and Serial Number, just to be ready. (I now see that L&L is cautious and doesn’t register those in the “About” pane - a method usually used by many applications which I have installed. So, I had to hunt back through my e-mails to find them.) I see now that the Windows version I have is 1.9.16. (Since it is shown under “Previous Versions” I erroneously assumed L&L was up to 1.9.17.)

I am primarily using Scrivener right now for a very long essay w/ multiple chapters and footnotes, composed w/ my Windows version. So, I wanted to be sure that I was not going to have any corruption or alteration using it on a different platform.

Thus, further working on it in the Beta versions under Wine or the Linux version doesn’t seem to be an option - though I plan to use the latter for new projects and a version under Wine for the current or new projects (if I can solve the problem w/ it). Right now it seems I unfortunately will have to revert to Win7 for working on the current project, while when I have time trying to get it to work under Linux. (This will be an inconvenience since due to possible security problems I only use Linux and ArcaOS for internet access, and thus will have to boot between platforms. Due to having to reinstall applications and possible non-functionality of some of them, I have refused to upgrade to Win10.)

Right now, from my last effort, I think that Play on Linux may be applying the wrong Wine version; from the WineHQ site it seems that different versions are required for different Scrivener versions. I now have multiple Wine versions installed and will have to experiment w/ the POL menu to try to switch between them in my experimentation. This is a process that I will have to play w/ during evenings or the weekend so as to now interfere w/ other work - including the aforesaid essay.

There also may be a problem w/ the NET files being fully installed. As said, I did enter the two (2) Winetricks commands but received some error messages that some of it couldn’t be downloaded (or something to that effect. I’ll try those again to see if they might be complete the process.

I will look at the Crossover option, verify there is a Debian version, and probably see if that “performs the trick”. From my years w/ OS/2 I have no problem at all w/ Shareware, and that is certainly not a horrendous price - especially if I can use it for other Windows applications. (The only reason I remain wedded to Windows are my Acrobat Standard, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Moneydance and Scrivener applications, and if I could get them to work also this cost would be more than worth it.)

I’ll work on all of the above, as well as look at those documents I created from the earlier threads, and report back w/ any success (though probably not failures). THANKS MUCH for all of the suggestions.

15

I would not use Play on Linux. It’s notoriously out of date in the best of circumstances. Also, be sure to update winetricks, because the one shipped with most distros is also out of date. I use wine-staging I’ve built myself, so there might be some patches it has that stock WINE does not.

16

I apprehended that this might be the case w/ PoL. I’ll check on some possible necessary upgrade to Winetricks.

Thanks.

17

I decided to try playing w/ PlayOnLinux again.

Speculating the problem might be w/ the version of Wine I was trying to use - now having multiple versions of Wine installed - I went to Configure->Configure Wine. Though I was not able to select a particular version, it did open the usual Windows tabbed box and, while I did not notice options for selection of a particular version, I did note that it listed Windows XP in a bottom field.

So I decided to see what would happen if I selected Windows 7. I tried it and on Apply, Lo-and-Behold, 1.9.16 INSTALLED! Though I had to install it on C:, under Program Files, this was probably better since my version for use under Win7 is installed on D:.

On registration though I have a problem. On entering the Serial Number it displayed the below error message. I earlier issued commands to install both 4.5 and 4.6. Upon issuing the command, however, it started w/ the following message:

You are using a 64-bit WINEPREFIX. If you encounter problems, please retest in a clean 32-bit WINEPREFIX before reporting a bug.

Using winetricks 20170101 - sha1sum: c844fda0cca25ac9ed0ed1b55cd138cab6a4af16 with wine-1.8.7 (Debian 1.8.7-2) and WINEARCH=win64
Executing w_do_call dotnet45
Executing load_dotnet45

This package may not work on a 64-bit installation

If neither 4.5 or 4.6 installed correctly, could this be the problem? Any suggestions?
Scrivener-Reg.png

18

.NET 4.6.2 is the minimum version of .NET you need installed for the license manager code to work. You may want to update those. You may also need to ensure that it’s installing .NET to the correct WINE instance. it sounds like your WINE instance is a 64-bit instance, you may need to make sure that it’s correctly downloading and installing the 64-bit version of .NET to your instance. You should only need to install the latest – from 4.5 on the versions are cumulative.

19

Thanks.

I’ve earlier opened a topic at the Linux Mint site, and will open a new one focusing just on Wine. While I’m familiar w/ command line work (at least to some extent) from using and working in OS/2 for about 25 years, I’m still a newbie to Linux architecture.

I’ve downloaded from the WineHQ site the newest .NET architecture files but I’m ignorant of how to extract them to the proper directory. Hopefully I’ll get some guidance there.

20

That’s wine-mono. That won’t work, if you read the stickied thread by tiho, one of the Scrivener devs. You need to uninstall wine-mono and install .NET 4.6 or above via winetricks.