Ventrilo with Linux!
Well, that was… fun? For several days there I couldn’t log in to my own blog. But now I’m back- expect entries a touch more frequently for a little while.
So here I am, and this post is, I admit, directed at Pike, though if I can be of more general use I’d be happy to be such.
She wrote another quick post about how she plays (played?) WoW on Kubuntu Linux.
Guess what OS I use?
So here’s a nice corroborative, look-at-me-I’m-part-of-a-community, good-grief-OTHER-people-play-on-Linux? type of post.
And better yet, it has a point!
Sound settings.
Pike mentioned in her post that the reason she uses Windows (hiss!*) is not because Wine makes WoW unstable (I’ve had less stability issues than with Windows (boo hiss!)), nor because Windows is faster, since it isn’t (my games tend to be quicker in Linux).
Pike uses Windows because that’s what she needs to get Ventrilo working. That fact makes me sad. So… here’s a nice guide!
Step the First: Is My Mic Broken?
If it works on another device/computer/OS but not on Kubuntu (you can test with Audacity), it’s not broken.
Two: Is It Enabled in Software?
Following is a series of screenshots. The Standard Linux Disclaimer applies here: “These worked on my system, I may have done some undocumented tinkering, this might not work for you, your milage may vary, it’s not my pig and not my problem.”
Nevertheless, I hope it helps:
My Ventrilo settings; all other settings on Vent (version 3.0.1) are unchanged. Using these settings and hitting Test, I can push my ‘`’ key to speak. Vent will still register the keypresses when WoW is focused (not when Firefox is, oddly, but when WoW is focused it works fine.
Please note that the ‘usual’ GSM workarounds thing has been a royal headache for me; fortunately my guild’s sever uses the Speex codec so I don’t need to worry about it. Unlike Windows people with the Microsoft Speech Engine, I don’t get the robot voice telling me who it is that has connected or logged off, I just get a beep. Still. It worked for me, maybe it’ll work for you.
Three (If it’s not working yet): Is It My OS Cutting the Sound Before it Reaches Vent?
Standard disclaimer here again, but:
Here we have a screenshot of Kmix;
And another;
And a third.
Finally, my current settings via alsamixer.
The Specs: Kubuntu 7.10 (Codename: Gutsy Gibbon), running all current updates; Wine 0.9.56 configured to use Alsa; WoW run in a window (i.e. not fullscreen). Ventrilo 3.0.1 run with aoss just in case. Connecting to a ugt-servers.com server, so I guess they get free advertising from me today.
*It’s not that I have some irrational hatred for Windows. I used it on a daily basis for about twelve years- 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, XP and finally Vista. XP wasn’t terrible, but Vista was. So what I actually have is a very rational dislike for Windows. It doesn’t help that my raid leader keeps having computer troubles (Vista again!) In essence: You use Windows? I’m fine with that, but I don’t want any. Thanks.
Hmm, your KMix and my KMix are very different looking. That’s what I get for only being able to use Dapper Drake perhaps! =P
I do suppose it’s worth it to mention: my Windows-using is not habitual, nor have I stopped playing WoW on Linux. I used Linux exclusively for eleven months (wiped Windows completely off of both my desktop and laptop computers) and played WoW on Linux exclusively until about a month and a half ago– I was already a full-time Linux user when I began playing the game, so of course I played it on Linux/Wine. Anyways, a few months ago was the point where I realized I was going to need to start using Ventrilo if I wanted to do stuff with the guild, which I have tried to get working on Linux for months upon months. To be honest I can’t get any sound program (except Skype) to recognize my mic, so I’m completely boggled as to what the issue is. The best I’m able to figure through constant google’ing is that it’s some sort of weird bug inherent to version 6.06 of Kubuntu but I’m unable to upgrade versions for various reasons.
Anyways my computer is now a Windows/Linux dual boot; I use Linux for everything EXCEPT instances + Ventrilo. In this way I do not like to classify myself as a Windows user, rather, I feel that Windows is a messy hack for the time being while I am unable to use Ventrilo with my preferred OS. I still play WoW on Linux as often as I can because it runs better and it’s where I’m “home”.
SO, that is the story behind that. All that said, thanks very much for the guide, I’m sad that I didn’t see it until a few minutes before I have to run to work so I won’t have time to really test it for a while. XD Although I’ve given it a quick run-through and I’m still having the same issues as before; honestly I think it’s something hidden deep inside this particular version of the OS that I simply cannot fix. Or it’s something really obvious and I’m just missing it. You never can tell with Linux. =P
Something I forgot to mention in the guide- Check your ventrilo version. 3.0.1 works for me, version 2 worked either not at all, or only grudgingly.
Whoa, that’s a great guide. I tried running WoW on Ubuntu earlier this fall but gave up and gave in to the beast. Maybe I’ll give it another try…
This was a nice guide. Also another great feature for Ventrilo 3.0.1, you can set specific channels to Speex. This is great if your guild/clan does not wish to change the server to speex, but would be willing to set a single channel for you to try this in.
Nice step by step, well written.
Thank you for the plug too.
Jarrod
Very nice work, this transition to Ubuntu is gong to be easier than I thought. Thanks for the help.
(HUGE APPLAUSE)
It is SO good to hear sensible talk about Ventrillo. Vent can run rather easily using a program called Crossover for LINUX. It is sort of a Wine on steriods and uses the WINE framework. You do not need to install wine to use it however, it installs all needed files. THis program is by http://www.codeweavers.com so go check it out, these guys deserve a plug for all their hard work for us folks in the LINUX community. Just thoguht I’d pass that info along. =)
Regards,
RJ
Thanks heaps, I installed Ventrillo last night via Wine and got everything working on it thanks to your post. The only issue I’m having now is that when I enter my server details, it stalls on ‘Contacting server …’. Pinging the server address works fine.
Hrm, looks like I’ll be delving into iptables *sigh* There goes my weekend lol
Perhaps not obvious, but Ventrilo key-to-speek will obviously work when WoW is active and not while, say, firefox, is active because when WoW (Or any other windows program) is running, the active process is wine, and it will register the keypresses like windows registers keypresses and all programs that have registered for global keypresses get the key event. When Wine is not active process (focused by window manager) it is the window manager that gets the keypress and it does not know what to do with it…
You COULD setup a global key event in your window manager, and have that key find and active the wine process and send the key event to that, then you have Ventrilo working on all applications, like it is on windows. (Againt milage may vary!)
http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/HOWTO_Ventrilo_Via_Wine#Push_to_Talk_Hotkey_Hack
I haven’t tried this myself, but I’ve heard it still works just fine, even when you’re not running programs via wine
Thanks for the guide. One thing not mentioned here (and not solved for me anywhere else I have looked) is connecting to Vent servers that use GSM. I have no problem with Speex (which is really what everyone should be using anyway) but recently I was prevented from joining a clan I wanted to join because they use GSM. I have seen several guides online that instruct me to copy msgsm32.acm into my ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32 folder and edit my system.ini to include the line MSACM.msgsm610=msgsm32.acm. This doesn’t work for me. I still get an error that Vent can’t find the GSM codec. I’ve tried several variations of this (such as putting msgsm32.acm in system instead of system32, using the full file path in the entry in system.ini, etc) and so far nothing works. After nearly every one of these guides I have seen half a dozen comments from other users who also could not get GSM to work using these instructions, so clearly I’m not alone. There must be some other step that people aren’t mentioning. Any ideas as to how to fix this problem would be greatly appreciated.
please tell your friend to have their guild try out a program called mumble. I find it far superior to vent. and it has linux and windows clients and servers. soooo much better then vent. check it out! http://mumble.sourceforge.net/