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For context, I was using a Linux version of BizHawk (A multi system TAS emulator) on Chromebook via the Linux Terminal that required Mono. There was an error (the error being that it crashed when I tried to make a video dump) where I could not create video dumps despite having the FFMPEG software version necessary to create them. The only way for me to use the video dumping feature was to get an actual FFMPEG software for my Linux Terminal. That fixed the problem but when I told this to someone, they told me that it was not supposed to do that.

They also asked me for the log file and they noticed that I had Wine along with Mono at the time. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the Linux Terminal with only Mono installed this time. I used to have Wine in the original installation but I removed it to see if that fixed the problem. It didn't as there might have been something wrong with the emulator or my Linux Terminal. I know Chromebooks were never designed with games in mind but I needed to use it out of necessity.

I am also confused as well. I wanted to use Mono for programs and Wine for other programs but I am not sure if it would have caused a conflict. Can anyone here tell me what side effects there are to using both emulators together? Will it cause a crash? Will cause some problems doe other Linux programs? My Linux OS on the Linux Terminal was Debian 11 Bullseye.

GAP
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1 Answers1

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Yes, both Mono and Wine can be used simultaneously. But care must be taken, because Mono and Wine handle similar executables (Windows portable executables, known as PE); these are too similar for Linux’s built-in binfmt mechanism to handle, so external support is required. One possible support mechanism is binfmt-support; this includes a pluggable detection mechanism.

Without a mechanism such as binfmt-support, but with binfmt enabled (which appears to be the case on your system), whichever PE handler was set up last wins. This is presumably what happened on your system, and BizHawk ended up being run by Wine instead of Mono, or vice versa. If BizHawk runs in Wine, then you need a Windows version of FFMPEG installed in your Wine setup too; if it runs with Mono, then you need a Linux version of FFMPEG installed.

I don’t know whether binfmt-support can be set up in your environment (Debian 11 supports it, but I don’t know what the integration is like for Debian 11 on a Chromebook). You don’t actually need this mechanism to be able to run programs with Mono or Wine; you can have both Mono and Wine installed, and manually specify which to use:

mono /path/to/program.exe

or

wine /path/to/program.exe
Stephen Kitt
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