Who knows how to get ADE to work in Ubuntu 18.04 Mate ? I need ADE when I buy or lend ebooks. (then you don’t get an epub file but a Ulink that has to be opened in ADE before being able to read it on my ereader.)
According to AppDB, it should work quite well with Wine.
What’s the issue when you try to install it, exactly? In the other thread, you said you had issues when installing Gecko and something else but it’as after you’ve installed POL, when you try to install ADE in it, right? Or is it when you try to install the playonlinux package?
I don’t know if anyone ever installed ADE in Linux with succes (I could not find any rapport of that online) but this is what I did;
In 16.04 there was still a Ubuntu software centre ,I installed Wine there and tried to install ADE but everytime Wine was shut down because of an error.
Then I installed 18.04 Mate and followed your directions on Wine and POL,this happened;
When I installed the POL ,it said it had to install some wine things. Then I tried to install ADE through POL . It downloaded ADE,it began by installing Windows Fonts and netwerk 4.0 something ,but the installing seemed to get stuck on the ADE licence agreement. I wasn’t shown the licence agreement but I could see in the bottom panel that the thing POL was busy with was Adobe licence agreement.
I also tried another route; I downloaded ADE myself and tried to open it with a WineWindows programloader (that option was given in the menu) . It was broken off. The system said Wine had to shut down because of e serious error and then I got the error report .
When I installed the POL ,it said it had to install some wine things. Then I tried to install ADE through POL . It downloaded ADE,it began by installing Windows Fonts and netwerk 4.0 something ,but the installing seemed to get stuck on the ADE licence agreement. I wasn’t shown the licence agreement but I could see in the bottom panel that the thing POL was busy with was Adobe licence agreement.
If you tried alt + tab, it didn’t bring the window on top so you can select it?
I also tried another route; I downloaded ADE myself and tried to open it with a WineWindows programloader (that option was given in the menu) . It was broken off. The system said Wine had to shut down because of e serious error and then I got the error report .
Let’s explain a bit how Wine works: to make softwares “think” they’re on Windows, it simulates a Windows environment on Linux. It happens in a directory called the “prefix”. By default, the prefix is ~/.wine (.wine hidden dir in your home). Inside, there’s a drive_c directory that simulates the C: drive, there are files for the register and so on.
It’s possible to change the prefix by setting the WINEPREFIX environment variable. That’s what POL does: when you install a Windows software with it, it creates a dedicated prefix and sets it every time you manage it from the POL interface.
Some Windows software need various tricks to work with Wine: installation of various libraries (.dll files) or packages (Windows fonts, .NET framework…)
An advantage of POL is that when it provides an installation script for a software, it includes the installation of the various stuff it needs. Judging by what you said, it looks like ADE needs the Windows fonts, “netwerk 4.04 something” (might be .NET) and maybe others.
So, when you try to install ADE through Wine manually without doing anything, it’ll be done in the default prefix and you’ll need to install yourself the components it needs.
According to the latest report on AppDB, ADE needs the following tweaks (I quote):
commands I ran:
WINEARCH=win32 wine wineboot
winetricks corefonts dotnet40
wine ADE_4.5_Installer.exe
(Note: It takes a while at the “Extract: SymCCIS.dll” stage, but be patient.)
winetricks ddr=gdi (this fixes graphics issues; cf. Christian Mauderer’s comment)
Which means that it needs a 32 bit Wine prefix, installing the packages corefonts (Windows fonts) and dotnet40 (.NET 4.0 framework), and setting a value in the register because of graphic issues.
So, from here, you have two solutions:
- Try again with POL and manage to get to the window you couldn’t use (try alt + tab to switch to it). Note that the installation may take a while at the “extract symccis.dll” step.
- Continue with the default Wine prefix and install manually the missing components.
If you want to go with 2, first install Winetricks:
sudo apt-get install winetricks
Then, open your home folder, display hidden files to see the .wine folder and delete it. Afterwards, run the following command to recreate a blank 32 bit prefix:
export WINEARCH=win32
wineboot
When it’s finished, run the following commands:
winetricks corefonts dotnet40
winetricks ddr=gdi
and run the ADE installer. Then, tell me if you can complete the installation.
One more thing: Wine is far from being a replacement for Windows. There are softwares that will work as well as on Windows, some that won’t work at all, some inbetween. It can also depend on your configuration. So, while it seems that ADE works quite well with Wine if we judge by the reports on AppDB, it’s quite possible that it won’t work on your PC for some reason.
And one last thing: I don’t know what kind of e-book reader you have, but you might be able to remove the DRM from your epub files using Calibre.
1 Like
Thank you very much for taking the time to explain and thinking about how to fix it !
The problem with ebooks is not with the epubs I have ,but when I buy or lend an ebook from the library they don’t send you an epub but a .acsm file that only opens in ADE…you would think people know about a third OS called Linux ,to make ADE compatible and easy to use also for Linux,but sadly not.
I have astrological software that runs fine under wine,but ADE…I read many Linux people having trouble with it.
I have a Kobo e reader,that goes fine in Calibre,but I still need ADE for library and shop e books.
I tried both your solutions. When I tried POL again it got stuck at the license agreement point ,but when I use Alt + Tab I don’t get a full page but a grey symbol,like a little grey candle. I can click it but nothing will happen.
Then I executed your second directions,net framework installed and a lot of other things 
,(always makes me appreciate all those people that spend time working it out and writing such a lot to make computers work) .
Then I retried the ADE installer and first I get a pop up that says that ADE is already being executed ,with an option of closing it and try again ,when I do that I get another error report ,I will erase the former report and put the new one above.
Maybe you are right that it will not run on my Laptop…
The report won’t really be useful, as it basically says “it doesn’t work”. And I’m unable to interpret the trace to see what causes the crash.
It’s also possible hat you have a newer version of ADE that doesn’t work with Wine: the latest report on AppDB is for version 4.5.
I’ll try on my side.
EDIT: ok, it’s quite a mess.
First, I downloaded the setup for ADE 4.5. When running it, it tells me that it’s already running (which isn’t the case) and close it before continuing, so I’m stuck. While looking for this issue, I came upon a support page for version 4.0 with a link to download it. I tried this version. At first, it crashed because Wine was set as Windows XP (see below). I set it to Windows 7, started again and it installed fine. I can launch it with no issue but it tells me that version 4.5 is available, offers to upgrade and… it goes again with the error saying that it’s already running and I’m stuck again.
So:
- Try again method 2 but before running the installer, launch winecfg in the terminal. It’ll open the Wine configuration Window. In the dropdown menu at the bottom, select “Windows 7” if it says “Windows XP” or anything else.
- If it doesn’t work better (or if you were already set as Win7), try downloading version 4.0 from the page I linked and install it. Does it work? If so, when you try to update it to 4.5, what happens?
Do you know if you need the latest version available (4.5) or if your books can be managed with 4.0?
thanks again !
I also thought that maybe an earlier version would be better but I could nowhere find ADE 4.0 ,now I see it on the page from your link (in french) and downloaded the 4.0 zip file ,thanks for the link
(I have the same ,that my system and POL both say that ADE 4.5 is already running ,but it isn’t…and gets stuck)
I am going to try again method 2 with the alterations you gave.
I am not sure the books need 4.5. or that 4.0 will do ,but running 4.5 in Wine or POl seems not possible so I will try this first and check it out with ebook files.
Formidable !!! You are a Genius !
What I did;
I followed the second option again and changed xp in windows 7 (makes sense ,xp is way too old for the ereader /ADE of today) and installed ADE 4.0 from your link.
It installed ! so that was succesfull.
Then I had to reinstall my ID for Adobe. I went to my town library to get an ebook link and it opened in ADE 4.0 ,fantastic…but then my ereader. My ereader would not connect to ADE 4.0 . I installed Calibre and there I could copy the epub from ADE to my ereader ,great !! I have to go and write this all down to know how it came about 
But thank you so much for your time and effort,I could not have pulled this off on my own !
Have you tried updating ADE to 4.5 when it asks you to? just to see if you get the same issue as before (message saying it’s already running).
Also, it’s currently installed in the default prefix, ~/.wine. If you’re interested, I can guide you to reconfigure it as a dedicated prefix, so you don’t risk breaking it if you install other softwares with Wine, and make an entry menu to easily launch it.
I didn’t see the upgrade question ,but I probably clicked it away in my enthusiasm that 4.0 installed. (and that 4.5 had been nothing but trouble) ,now I don’t see an option in ADE to upgrade but since 4.0 does the trick for now it is fine.
What you offer/suggest sounds wise (I have one other software to install in Wine) ,I would not want to risk breaking it . I already installed the other software before I read your message and it did not break it (I can still open ADE) apparently ,but if you think it is better to change it into dedicated prefix ; yes please. (no hurry)
I didn’t see the upgrade question ,but I probably clicked it away in my enthusiasm that 4.0 installed. (and that 4.5 had been nothing but trouble) ,now I don’t see an option in ADE to upgrade but since 4.0 does the trick for now it is fine.
It should ask you at startup (every time). That’ what it did for me (two choices: “update” or “ask again later”) but maybe it’s different on your side, or I missed an option.
What you offer/suggest sounds wise (I have one other software to install in Wine) ,I would not want to risk breaking it . I already installed the other software before I read your message and it did not break it (I can still open ADE) apparently ,but if you think it is better to change it into dedicated prefix ; yes please. (no hurry)
If you’ve already installed something else (unless you used POL), it’s too late, or it would be a dedicated prefix for both softwares, which kind of contradicts the point of having one.
Especially as one advantage of having a dedicated prefix is to be able to remove easily a software installed with Wine: just delete the directory, don’t bother with Windows uninstallers. If you install multiple softwares, deleting the prefix deletes them all, so it’s not a good idea.
Anyway, it’s not really an issue, the chance of breaking something installed with Wine is quite low, it’s usually more a matter of having a software needing a specific version of Windows while another needs a different one, or conflicting DLLs, that kind of things.
I did see the question and chose; ask me later ,but it is not asking me anymore…but since it works I will leave it alone …
aha ,ok ,then it can stay like this. I did install the other thing with wine programrunner (I did not use POL) . I think it will stay these two things and no other software,well you never know ,but for now this is it and thank again very much for solving it !
In Ubuntu mate 18.04, if you have installed ADE 4.0, you can execute ADE 4.5.8. Unzip ADE_4.5.exe file and execute DigitalEditions.exe with wine. Works perfect!