FFXI on Linux

This is a guide to installing FFXI on Linux using wine. Specifically this guide is written for Ubuntu 8.04.

Step 1 - Install wine
Currently FFXI will run under wine version 1.1.3 to 1.1.5, however you will get the best performance using wine 1.1.5 with the 0001-Sanity-Check-in-ImmSetCompositionStringA-and-ImmSetC.patch. You can find pre-patched .deb packages here. http://sites.google.com/site/k1e0xe/

Download a package for your architecture from that site.

Remove Ubuntu's version of wine (if installed). sudo apt-get remove wine

Install downloaded package. sudo dpkg -i wine_1.1.5-1_i386.deb

Remove any existing wine configuration. rm -r ~/.wine

Step 2 - Install FFXI
If you have the Vanadiel collection DVD you can run the setup program directly from the disk like this. cd /media/cdrom/ wine setup.exe

If not you will have to copy the first 4 disks to a folder and run the setup program from there.

The setup should go without issue. (note: you do not need to install DirectX from the CD.)

Step 3 - Necessary follow up steps
FFXI requires a .dll file from Windows XP. Copy dxdiagn.dll from XP into ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32 Once that is done, run the following to register it. wine regsvr32 C:\\windows\\system32\\dxdiagn.dll

After the .dll is registered you must instruct wine to use it. Run winecfg and go to the Libraries tab. Under "New override for library" select dxdiagn.dll and click "add". Once it is added click on "edit" and set its type to "Native (windows)" Click ok to save it.

Run play online setup your account and update it. wine C:\\Program\ Files\\PlayOnline\\SquareEnix\\PlayOnlineViewer\\pol.exe Once you are finished just exit.

Now Reconfigure FFXI wine C:\\program\ files\\PlayOnline\\SquareEnix\\FINAL\ FANTASY\ XI\\ToolsUS\\Final\ Fantasy\ XI\ Config.exe You want to set it to generally the lowest settings you can. You can use either full screen mode or windowed mode. Windowed mode would be fine for now.

Once finished, you must set the background and foreground resolutions to be the same. This is done by using the "regedit" command. The settings are stored in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI" and the keys to edit are 0001, 0002, 0003, and 0004.

Set 0001 to type decimal and value 640 Set 0002 to type decimal and value 480 Set 0003 to type decimal and value 640 Set 0004 to type decimal and value 480

Those are background and foreground resolutions settings, once you are done close regedit.

Step 4 - Running FFXI and various tweaks
Now you should be able to play the game. wine C:\\Program\ Files\\PlayOnline\\SquareEnix\\FINAL\ FANTASY\ XI\\ToolsUS\\polboot.exe

If you receive errors beyond this point, please create bug reports on WineHQ's site. http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=1992 so wine team can address it. I've noticed that FFXI does not require World of Warcraft modifications to xorg so it is best to remove them for better performance.

Currently plugins and additions such as the windower do not run (due to the differences in memory management) however you may be able to get .NET apps running by installing the windows version of Mono into wine. This will provide the necessary .NET libraries for Linux.

Enjoy and feel free to modify this to your hearts content.