Linux D3 Server...

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:47 pm

What do I need and where do I get it? I want to setup D3 Servers on a Linux box. Need help with the best server tool, linux version of descent and configuration instructions... Can someone point me in the right direction?

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:41 am

I can't believe nodoby knows...

Cuda68-2 · Post by **Cuda68-2** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:26 am

I am not sure any Linux D3 server tools where ever created. I have many CD backups though of Utils for D3 that I downloaded over the years. I will look through them today and see if I have any.

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:55 pm

arent the SOD servers linux?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:03 pm

Yeah, SOD servers are linux, I'll send Shiva this page.

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:12 pm

thanks, dude.

Shiva · Post by **Shiva** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:15 pm

You should be able to get the tarball or RPM from some Descent3 site if they still exist.

As for configuring the server, just follow the manual, its not bad...

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:35 pm

Shiva wrote:tarball or RPM

uhh, what's that? Do I need a working linux version of D3 as well as these other two items? Thanks.

akula65 · Post by **akula65** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:11 pm

I hate to say it, but based on your last question you may be in over your head.

Tar is the age-old Unix archiving tool, and a tarball is an archive generated with the tar command. RPM stands for Red Hat Package Manager which is a utility used by many Linux distributions to install and uninstall applications and utilities in a somewhat organized fashion.

Shiva's comment probably refers to the dedicated server patches (both RPM and GZIPed tar versions) which can be found here:

http://www.descent3.com/4_downloads.html

Notice that this page indicates "Full Version of Descent 3 Required", so you apparently do need a Linux copy of the program, but you might download, unzip and look at the documentation in the tar version to make sure.

I use Mandrake Linux, and I did make an effort to get a Linux copy of D3, but I haven't managed to do so yet, so I can't give much more in the way of advice.

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:21 am

thanks akula, you know I would be over my head if it was my box. however the person I'm trying to help out knows linux. I'm just looking for the components I need to get him going and any kind of config advice anyone could give.

akula65 · Post by **akula65** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:08 pm

When I was considering getting Linux D3, I had a lot of the same questions you have now. Here are a few scraps of information I compiled and a few suggestions:

1. Useful Links

http://www.descent-3.com/faq/07.html

Loki Descent 3 FAQ
http://faqs.lokigames.com/descent3faq.html

In addition to installation instructions, this site has a link to a site with a fix for a signal 11 segmentation error your friend might see (do a search for "Descent" in the page)
Big Long Link

Do a search for "Descent" on Icculus' page
http://icculus.org/lgfaq/

Shiva's Server on Demand Site
http://d3shiva.dnsalias.org/

2. I would make sure your friend understands the implications of the Checksum Bug described by Suncho (search the page for "Checksum"):

http://www.suncho.com/buglist.html

If this bug is still an issue, it would make me think twice before settling on the Linux version as a server.

3. The Loki games were designed to install and execute on Version 2.0 and/or Version 2.2 Linux kernels. Because distributions differ and because specific distributions change over time, installing a Loki game on the latest and greatest Linux distribution is kind of like trying to install a Windows 3.11 or Windows 95 program under Windows XP. Although I don't have Loki D3, I have installed all of the Loki demos as well as retail copies of the Loki versions of Railroad Tycoon II Gold and Myth II: Soulblighter under Mandrake Linux Version 9.0 which has a Version 2.4 kernel. With Myth II, I ran into a problem which your fiend might see with D3, and the solution I found may also be applicable to Descent 3.

The Loki games seem to favor using a graphical installer that appears as a pop-up window when you run the installation program from the command line. With Myth II, the graphical installer simply would not work with my Linux distribution. The Loki Myth II FAQ offered the following alternative installation method which uses a text installer that is never mentioned in the game manual:

"First, you can use the text-based installer with the following:

1. Open an X terminal.
2. Unset your DISPLAY environment variable. In bash, this is done with unset DISPLAY.
3. Launch the installer with sh setup."

Your friend would have to use the appropriate installer command for D3.

4. Install the Loki D3 Demo under the proposed Linux distribution. It's free, and it may reveal some incompatibilities BEFORE your friend spends any money on the retail copy.

I hope you get some feedback from someone with some hands-on experience. Good luck!

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:48 am

you are the bomb, akula, thank you, my eastern european brotha.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:58 pm

I ran a D3 server on a pentium 100 a couple of years ago. Pretty nice. As far as I remimber all you need are the data files from the cds and the server which you can download. Because of course, you need the retail data files to get the textures/missions and I think you can just copy them off the windows cds.

Currently though, I just installed the retail linux version on one of my pcs to run as a dedicated server (the retail binary can also run in dedicated mode). But I haven't configured the dedicated.cfg file so I haven't got it up yet. I forgot how to set it up.

I have heard that the linux server is very buggy though. I haven't tested it enough to prove that.

Oh, and if it keeps going sig 11 on you, you should try the following in the descent3 directory:

Code: Select all

ln -s ppics.hog PPics.Hog

which makes a symbolic link. This is a bug in the game which only surfaced with the new 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.

Also, if you do get the retail version there are a couple of tweaks you need to do to get it to install with the old loki installer, nothing complicated. And you need to patch it in a certain order: 1.4a, then 1.4b I think. Just post back if you do and I'll dig up the answers. I mostly play D3 in Linux now and I very much prefer it to windows. Stability and compatability are big issues with D3 in Linux, too bad the 1.5 patch never got finished.