GraphPad Prism using WINE?

Hi. I need to use the GraphPad Prism software on Zorin. This is an app to analyze and graph data that is very commonly used in all types of science labs. I use this app at work everyday and need to install it on Zorin, but the software only runs on Windows and MacOS.

On their website, the developers say they literally have no plans to extend the app to Linux, but they quote a customer that explains how they use it through WINE. Since I 1. have no coding experience, 2. am new to Linux, 3. need to use this app (yes, this app specifically, not R or Excel or Python), 4. don't understand WINE or "virtual machines", and especially since they explicitly say that "GraphPad has not tried to use Wine and cannot provide technical support", I need help installing (?) the software and getting it to work properly.

Here is what the website quotes as instructions:

  1. Create a 64-bit wine prefix (32-bit did not work for me).

export WINEARCH=win64
export WINEPREFIX=~/.prism8
wineboot -i

  1. Install DLLs and fonts. gdiplus is required to launch the application (it crashes otherwise). msxml6 is required to read and save .pzfx files (because they contain XML headers). .pzf files work just fine without msxml6. Finally, Windows fonts are required to render text in graphs properly. If corefonts doesn't work, try allfonts or copying fonts from a Windows installation. The Arch Linux wiki has a couple of good guides for this.

winetricks gdiplus msxml6 corefonts

  1. Finally, run the 64-bit msi Prism installer.

wine start ~/Downloads/InstallPrism8-64bit.msi

Obviously, I don't understand any of this, especially because they're talking about Arch Linux. How would this work on Zorin? I do have a dual boot and can perfectly use Windows and run the app, but it makes no sense to me to do that just for 1 type of file I use, since there are multiple other apps I work with which run just fine on Zorin (I am trying to fully transition to Linux, eventually).

On the website, they also mention this:

Prism under Windows under Linux

If you run Windows as a virtual machine (using Vmware software) under Linux, then any Windows software will run under Windows.

What is the difference between WINE and virtual machines? Which one is more appropriate for this type of software? My laptop has 16 GB RAM and the Zorin partition is 250 GB on an SDD (in case that has any relevance).

I have a few deadlines coming up and need to get analyzing some data asap, so hopefully someone can guide me through this lol

Thank you!

With no experience, I would try Lutris or Bottles to create a container and try and run it. the MS Fonts and Core Fonts are included in containers. And gdiplus can be added with winetricks to a lutris container.

you can use winetricks to do this manually as well to a wine container but Lutris installs lots of additional libraries and runtimes by default

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Wine is a emulator, Its mimicks windows fairly well but not perfectly.
A Virtual machine uses a portion of your CPU, Disk, Ram to make a Software computer you can install Windows in. ZorinOs comes with VirtualBox for ths you will need a windows iso and a valid key.

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Hey, thank you very much. I have a few questions:

  1. Is Wine the same as Winetricks? I searched for Wine in the Software app and I see both as results. Do I install both?

  2. Once I have the above set, do I download Lutris from the Software app? I went to the Lutris website and they say to go to GitHub, which I have never used and barely understand cause it's very advanced for my Windows no-coding basic background. I am used to just clicking on a download button and then installing something. Are the Software app and GitHub versions the same? If I should use GitHub, what do I download? The .deb file only?

  3. What is a container and why do I need it? Is it where all the mentioned fonts would be located for the software to retrieve and function?

I can't imagine what it must be like to teach a literal newbie what all this basic stuff is lol After all this configuring of my Zorin environment I am sure I'll be much more independent :sweat_smile:

You would need both, winetricks is an advanced configuration tool for Wine.

I would install Zorin windows app support or install Lutris.

It maybe easier to install ZorinOS windows app support and add the needed libraries. In the Zorin Menu - System should be a Windows App Support option, that should allow you to install it.

Or in terminal
sudo apt install zorin-windows-app-support

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I would install Lutris just from the zorin software center. That's where I usually do.

I can give better directions a little later I'm on my phone atm lol

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Ok, I'll try Lutris. And don't worry, you're helping a lot already :blush:

I just installed Wine and WineTricks from the Software app. Tricks is working I think but Wine I cannot open. I click on launch and nothing happens. While Tricks is listed in the Applications list, Wine isn't. Is that fine? Does Wine have an interface or is it like a background invisible tool?

A random question I have is, how do I update apps? I see the Software Updater tool but I am not sure if it updates Zorin or also all the apps I have.

Wine won't launch anything, linke window, it provides (emulates) the runtime, so you would now try the installer and see if it installs

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So Good News, i downloaded the Trial, and It installs activates and launches :slight_smile:

Once Lutris is installed, click the +
Screenshot from 2022-11-13 16-57-57
Install Application from media
Screenshot from 2022-11-13 16-58-15
Set Application name
![Screenshot from 2022-11-13 16-58-41|638x487]
Create the Install Directory
(upload://9Ndr2Bjj399FgUrjjdGK6cRBcMH.png)


Find the INstaller

Let it install

The rest of the Install will be just like windows.

3 Likes

Wow, thank you for going all the way!

I am following your steps but I get this screen:

Should I just press install?

Click Install

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I finally was able to install it. It is working indeed but there are 2 things I don't know how to fix.

a. The fonts on the graphs don't look ok
b. The whole app looks very small, I mean the fonts look very small

I am guessing this has to do with installing the fonts the customer was talking about. How do I do that on Lutris?

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close the App, in Lutris Click on it once then goto wine-tricks from the bottom button




So I closed the app and now nothing shows up on Lutris.

I re-installed Prism and was able to reuse my activation code and all but just realized that even though I can open Prism, this screen still appears:

No idea what that means and why I cannot see Prism in Lutris. Help :smiling_face_with_tear:

Also, I am installing the fonts via WineTrick and I get these messages that pop up even after I close them:

It could have bugged out, its not a officially supported app, what you can do is click the + button again
1.)Add Locally Installed Game
2.)Select Wine as the runner
3.)Name the App
4.)Click the Game Options Tab
5.)Click Find Executable
6.) it should take you the default folder if not i think its ~/.wine (i use a separate drive so mines different)
7.) Save

I don't see any .exe files anywhere. I checked that .wine folder and I didn't find any executable file for Prism :confused:

It will be whereever this path was during the install

Thank you! Found it in the Games folder, in a folder called "drive_c">Progam Files>GraphPad

It is working but I cannot save files. It shows the following message:
Screenshot from 2022-11-13 22-53-13

What does this mean?

That I don't know, I would check to make sure you have enough disk space for the file, and memory. You should* but I'm not sure how big the files are or what kind of processing is done on save

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