Here is a Wine “error” that appears to be fairly new, and if you’ve been upgrading your system (and Wine along with it), you probably haven’t encountered it yet. However, if you’ve recently installed Ubuntu (10.04 – not sure if this affects any earlier versions), you would have noticed it won’t let you run any Windows .exe files:
Blocked: wine start /unix
The file ‘/home/user/Downloads/program_name.exe’ is not marked as executable. If this was downloaded or copied form an untrusted source, it may be dangerous to run. For more details, read about the executable bit.
If, like me, you decided to do a fresh install, but copied your old .wine folder over so all your Windows programs work as they had in the old system you’ve migrated from, you probably have no problems opening those previously installed, only new .exe files that Wine hasn’t dealt with before.
But this isn’t a bug or an error, just an overly-cautious default setting, and it is actually really easy to disable. Open a terminal and enter the following command:
gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/wine.desktop
Located the line Exec=cautious-launcher %f wine start /unix and change it to Exec=wine start /unix %f
Save and exit the file, and Wine will now behave as you want when it comes across new Windows programs.
°ºÒθÓº°¤°ºÒθÓº°¤°ºÒθÓº°
If you prefer to leave this cautious setting as the default, you can always exclude individual Windows programs or, rather, bypass this security measure for individual .exe files. Simply right-click the .exe file in question, select Properties, and in the Permissions tab check “Allow executing file as program“. Click Close and that particular .exe will open as normal when you double-click it.
°ºÒθÓº°¤°ºÒθÓº°¤°ºÒθÓº°
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It is already
“Exec=wine start /unix %f”
So what should i do i am trying to run usb-creator.exe
OK, not EVERY Windows program will run in Ubuntu, and just because some large, complex apps do run fine, it doesn’t mean all simple little apps will run without issue. But I don’t know why you’re trying to run usb-creator.exe for Windows while in Ubuntu, as you can install the package “usb-creator” (or even “usb-creator-kde” or “usb-creator-gtk”) if it isn’t already installed (should be “Startup Disk Creator” in Applications > System Tools). There might be ways to get the Windows version to run in Ubuntu, but why bother when there is a native app for the task.
Thank you so much it worked! :)
Hey bro,
Can you help me ? I did as what you said but when i opened the wine.desktop is blank. Help me please.
As long as you copied the text, it wouldn’t be a typo (hence a wrong file open), so I don’t know why that file is empty. It should contain the following, so copy and paste it:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Wine Windows Program Loader
Name[de]=Wine Windows-Programmstarter
Name[es]=Wine Cargador de programas de Windows
Name[nl]=Wine Windows programmalader
Name[sv]=Wine Windows Programstartare
Name[ru]=Wine – загрузчик Windows программ
Name[uk]=Wine – завантажувач Windows програм
Name[fr]=Wine Exécuter des programmes Windows
Name[ca]=Wine – Carregador d’aplicacions del Windows
Name[pt]=Carregador de aplicativos Windows Wine
Name[pt_br]=Carregador de aplicativos Windows Wine
Name[nl]=Wine – Starter voor Windows-programma’s
Name[it]=Wine – Avvia applicazioni Windows
Name[da]=Wine, Programstarter til Windows-programmer
Name[nb]=Wine Programlaster for Windowsapplikasjoner
Name[nn]=Wine Programlaster for Windowsapplikasjoner
Exec=wine start /unix %f
MimeType=application/x-ms-dos-executable;application/x-msi;application/x-win-lnk;
NoDisplay=true
Icon=wine
StartupNotify=true
thank you bro
thanks man, works perfect!
Thank you sir! Now I can play pokerstars from my linux machines.
thnx for the info, it’s very useful, now i can run and install my downloads, thnx again :)
Thank, its works
I could also use some help…
I am running Linux Mint 11 on a Dell Netbook and I am trying to use Wine. I need it for school and really don’t want to go back to Windows… When I run the:
gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/wine.desktop
command, I get the following error:
GLib-GIO:ERROR:/build/buildd/glib2.0-2.28.6/./gio/gdbusconnection.c:2279:initable_init: assertion failed: (connection->initialization_error == NULL)
Aborted
Everything else is the same as it’s stated in your article. I can’t run any Windows programs and it says:
cautious-launcher %f wine start /unix
in the “Command” box in the Launcher properties.
I could really use your help with this one.
Thanks for all your help
OK, that’s weird, as it’s just little old Gedit, but I’ve seen this error with a tonne of other programs. Only “fix” I found so far was that an upgrade error ended up being the blame, so try these 2 commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Might not make a difference, but shouldn’t do any harm either, so worth a try. In each case, the program in question was a different one (or multiple programs in some cases), so hopefully it works for you and Gedit.
If not, well I suggest running the commands directly in the terminal and see if that makes a difference. Also, if you are saying the actual command for the launchers (seen in Properties) has the cautious-launcher bit, then remove it, so the command is more like env WINEPREFIX=”/home/yourusername/.wine” wine “C:\Program Files\MailWasher Pro\MailWasher.exe”. Seems you are indeed saying that, so manually edit the commands, and you should be fine.
Thanks a loot sir’
i type in the command but nothing happens it just starts a new line in terminal no window pops up or anything.. please help
OK, “gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/wine.desktop” should open “wine.desktop” in Gedit, which I assume is installed in your system. If it isn’t for some reason, then change the “gedit” in the command to “mousepad” or whatever your text editor is. It’s a simple command that isn’t asking much, so it should work without issue.
If by chance you’re trying to enter what follows in a terminal, ie “Exec=cautious-launcher %f wine start /unix” etc, then you’ve misread, as that is the line in the text file to change. Other than that, I don’t know what to suggest without more info.
It doesn’t work, when i’m trying to run the .exe, nothing happens. No error message, nothing.
You do have WINE installed, yes?
Hi. I have ubuntu on my computer and I have installed wine. I just baught the game zoo tycoon. I was able to start and install the game with wine, but after installing it, when I wanted to start the actual game it froze. I fond this page and i opened the terminal to change the command, but it was alredy the right one. Is there something els I can try? When I was able to install the game with wine I assumed it should work to play it too, but perhaps I am wrong.. If you can help: thank you!
Ps. I hope you can understand me english. Im from sweden so my grammar and spelling might be a bit off.. Sorry, if thats the case. :-)
First off, your English is fine, and probably better than half the Aussies I know! OK, a common misconception is that once Wine is installed, you can install and run any Windows program. Considering Windows can’t even successfully run every Windows program, it’s a bit to ask. For the more realistic among us, we could be forgiven for thinking if it can install, then it surely must be able to run (once again, years in Windows showed me even there it isn’t the case). Generally, however, most that install will run, BUT sometimes you need to trick it into thinking it is an earlier version of Windows (Wine > Configure Wine, then add the .exe and set rules for it, like telling you’re running XP or 95), or muck around with display settings (same config app, and sometimes setting a program to open in its own virtual windows fixes things). However, once you tried those, your best bet is to get involved with the development – you will see Wine HQ has a massive user base, especially with gamers – where you can post actual error logs and help them fix the problem. This really is worth doing, as they are the best to help, and by you going out of your way just a little, you could be rewarded soon after with a working game. Quite literally, I have posted error logs and 2 days later, among my updates, was a new version of Wine, which fixed my problem.
I’ve done everythin what you said and now when i trying to open my .lnk file or .exe its says: File not found. After pressing okey nothing happens :/. What kind of problem is that?
Hmmm… not sure without more info. I gather you have WINE installed properly… are you running a 64-bit system? There can be all sorts of issues if the latter is true (I know first-hand) but generally applying this fix shouldn’t make things worse (whether you’re 32- or 64-bit – but check out forum posts like http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1889561.html if you are 64-bit). Also, are you trying to open Windows programs by actually directly double-clicking the EXEs (you seem to say that you’re doing that), or opening via the Wine menu? The only thing I can think of is trying to run the program(s) via the terminal, with something like:
wine /home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Steam/Steam.exe
Of course, replace YOURUSERNAME with your actual login/user name, and the path and filename of the EXE to one you’re trying to run.
I’ve recently installed Ubuntu 12.04 64bit, installed wine and microsoft office (which in itself was a lot more hand work than it was previously for 32 bit, if that’s the difference) Now I have office working fine. I see Word in the list of applications in the “Open with…” menu, and when I select it, it works.
What I can’t figure out is how to make this the default. None of the office applications appear in the list in the properties window. When I search for a .desktop file I find:
wim@imp:~$ find . -name ‘*docx*desktop’
./.local/share/applications/wine-extension-docx.desktop
which contains:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Microsoft Office Word
MimeType=application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document;
Exec=env WINEPREFIX=”/home/wim/.wine” wine start /ProgIDOpen Word.Document.12 %f
NoDisplay=true
StartupNotify=true
Icon=EFFC_WINWORD.0
Which seems to be correct according to the article.
Have you got any idea on how to get this working?
Thanks,
Wim
Ok, I figured it out.
The applications list you get from Nautilus in the properties window is taken from the menu. If word is not shown in the menu you will not be able to select it here.
Using Alacarte you can enable word (in the Other menu). You’ll need to pick the right one, though. There are way too many there, all with the same name, that do have a different command underneath. I picked the one that does Word.Document.12, and it works.