FAQ

PlayOnLinux and PlayOnMac

How do I find out if a game will run on PlayOnLinux/PlayOnMac?

Excellent question. Since POL/POM is a front-end for Wine, the first place to check, besides our Supported Software section, is WineHQ's AppDB. There are many, many entries for a lot of different types of Windows applications, all submitted to the Wine community by users like yourself. If it is even remotely popular, and people have attempted to use it through Wine, it will likely be listed there.

How do I move PlayOnLinux virtual drives to another disk (with more free space)?

Read the advanced topic here:

How to move PlayOnLinux virtual drives to another disk

Why isn't PlayOnLinux downloading Photoshop (or whatever retail application) for me?

PlayOnLinux/PlayOnMac does not actually provide the applications. It provides the means to install those applications. You actually have to own, say, Photoshop CS6, in order to install Photoshop CS6. POL/POM does not provide any sort of pirated software in any way. This also applies to support regarding pirated software and cracks.

Do I have to install Wine to use PlayOnLinux?

Yes. You will want to have a 32-bit version of Wine installed on your system, along with the dependencies it suggests. POL will want to see it, and will use it's dependencies concurrently with POL's WineBuilds. Without getting too technical, POL will need it, so it is best to install it.

Will PlayOnLinux interfere with my current Wine or winetricks installations?

No. PlayOnLinux/PlayOnMac keeps all of it's resources, WineBuilds, and virtual drives contained in one folder, and will never interfere with your other WINEPREFIX created by vanilla Wine and winetricks (unless, of course, you start using winetricks for POL virtual drives or try to use vanilla Wine on a POL virtual drive, or something like that.).

The application I am trying to install needs administrator rights to function correctly

Wine does not implement privileges, so such message does not make any sense under Wine. Either it cannot be made to work, or emulated Windows version must be changed to some version that does not implement privileges (Win9x for instance) so that the installer changes its expectations.

How do I install Steam, and Steam only?

If you want to only install Steam for Windows into a Virtual Drive, you will need to do a manual installation. It is very simple:

Open PlayOnLinux, download and install the WineBuild that you want from Manage Wine Versions.
Open the Configuration Window, click New, and create a new Virtual Drive, naming it what you want, and selecting the WineBuild that you want to use when prompted.
In the Configuration Window, select your new Virtual Drive, open the Install Components tab, and double-click Steam in that list. Steam will be installed into the Virtual Drive highlighted on the left side.
On the General Tab of the Configuration Window, select Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive, and select the Steam executable when shown in the list. This will create a shortcut in the main POL window.

This is a manual install, and does not guarantee that the game that you install through Steam will work. If it does not work, you should check to see if there is already an installer for that game in our repository, and if not, you will need to check the AppDB at WineHQ for your game to see if it needs any extra components or settings. As always, for manual installs, feel free to post up for help in the appropriate section of the forums.

How can I use the CSMT patch with POL?

Up until recently (2015 ?), you would have needed to request a patched WineBuild. Now, with the help of the devs at wine-staging, we have WineBuilds with the patchset from wine-staging, which happen to contain the CSMT patch (for now; when patches from wine-staging get mainlined, they are dropped from the -staging versions of Wine, as they are now a default feature.).

Simply go to Manage Wine Versions and download the WineBuild that you want, with the -staging suffix, and then use the Wine tab in the Configuration Window to access Wine Configuration. You will find a checkbox to enable CSMT in the Staging tab.

Why a online game does not work on my computer while the script is available from your website ?

Since the 2020's online games have the habit to auto upgrade themselves. This might break the compatibility (in the top of the script code you can see the date when it was write).

Please post a comment in the script page of the game, the more details you post (ie: example for the forums), the more help you will get (not immediately). The more reports we get, the better choice we make.

Website

How can I post a bug report?

How to Post a Bug Report

How can I contribute an installer for an application?

First, you would want to read our scripters tutorial here: Scripting tutorial

Then once you have written and tested a script, and it is working, follow the instructions here to submit it to us: How to Contribute a Script

How do I request a version of Wine with a certain patch?

How to Request a Patched Version of Wine

Where does PlayOnLinux store it's virtual drives and cache?

All virtual drives are created and store here:

~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/

The other files for Wine versions, resources, and components cache are located in ~/.PlayOnLinux/

How do I run Wine/POL as root or sudo?

You don't. You should never, ever run Wine or POL as root or using sudo, or any other privilege escalation mechanism.

WineHQ FAQ regarding root/sudo use

Is there a list of solutions for common problems?

Somewhat, as issues can vary a LOT between users, systems, Wine versions, graphics cards, etc.. As a start, you should check the following locations: