I have been installing Rootsmagic 7 and then running it with no trouble in several Debian based Linux operating systems, including Mint, Zorin and Ubuntu, until yesterday. I decided I like Ubuntu so much I'm going to go to it, so I reinstalled it on the entire hard drive on my slightly old Dell I got to run Linux on.
Yesterday, when I installed it and tried to run it on my new install, up popped the GDI+ error! This problem did not previously occur in the same version of Ubuntu installed on the same hard drive on the same computer, so my guess is it's something that causes a problem on an unpredictable basis. Or else GDI+ was somehow installed on the earlier install, perhaps as part of a package, or I installed it for another reason. Rootsmagic also worked fine in the Zorin install I just overwrote, and Zorin is a package that ahs many things added which sort of saves the user some time; it's put out by a group of students for $12.50 . It can be configured to look like versions of Windows and has a pretty interface.
Evidently, the GDI+ error was an issue with trying to run RootsMagic 5 on both Ubuntu and the Mac OS.
I installed the GDI fix for Windows 7 in Winefix, and several other dependency packages for RootsMagic, and Rootsmagic is now running. Or atleast it's opening it and let me enter the key and "register" it. Now, this fix alarmed someone by downloading a huge file for a small fix; it's actually the Windows 7 service pack - but it updated my GDI exe and dlls.
There is also a manually downloadable GDI fix for Windows XP. Now, Rootsmagic 7 runs in Windows XP and Windows 7 (I also ahve it installed on my Windows XP laptop). God alone knows what this fix is; it could even be Winetricks doing the following procedure for you.
Alternatively, one can download the GDI+ redistributable SDK Redistributable: GDI+ from the microsoft web site, at www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18909; version 3102.1360, published 10/13/2009, KB article KB975337; file name WindowsXP-KB975337-x86-ENU.exe . It is for Windows 2000 service pack 4 through Windows XP service pack 3 but also for Vista service pack 1. Vista has the same file system as Windows 7, so I'm betting it runs on Windows 7.
The instructions at https://forum.winehq...php?f=9&t=22588 say
Download the GDI+ redistributable.
Place the self-extracting executable in the root directory of theC drive in yoru wine prefix where RootsMagic is installed and launch the self-extracting executable with WINE.
The winzip self-extractor GUI will appear after you acknowledge the EULA; change the path to C:\windows\system32 and click 'unzip'- now close the self extractor. (Doesn't say if winzip is included in wine or you have to install it maybe with winetricks).
Launch winecfg, open the Library tab adn add a DLL override for gdiplus.dll to "native".
Launch RootsMagic and see what happens.
Evidently this works. It is making all kinds of people very happy.
There is also a fix in Crossover, which costs $50 and allegedly works better than Wine and playonlinux.
GDI+ is also an issue for running Rootsmagic on the Mac, or atleast it was for RootsMagic 5. Fix is similar.
There are other issues.
Rootsmagic needs Flash, Internet Explorer, and the Microsoft XML parser installed, though I'm not clear on what it would need Flash and IE for and Flash didn't install in Winetricks. IE came with RootsMagic. The Microsoft XML parser can be installed in Winetricks.
Also, evidently sometimes Rootsmagic freezes when running it on a Ubuntu machine. Because Linux focuses on running on as much as possible with as few resources as possible, that isn't all that freezes on a Ubuntu machine; the Unity desktop was freezing every few minutes and I had to switch to the Gnome desktop without the advanced graphics that are one possible cause of the problem. Some cards/ drivers are not compatible with Unity, and particularly advanced graphics in Unity - or Windows for that matter. I dont' even run Aero on my Windows desktop with both a modern CPU and a high capacity graphics card.
Anyway, the problem is fixed with Rootsmagic in Wine by configuring Wine to let Wine windows manager control the windows or whatever. I can't find where I wrote it down, but I also found that with some of my games you have to set windows to run in a fake Windows desktop and set the resolution so the fake windows desktop just fills your screen, and the Wine configuration menu still completely is seen inside of the fake windows desktop and you can find the save button.
Be sure to see my reply as well as Rootsmagic may not function fully until you do some more fixes - and I found I could only install them in Playonlinux, the Wine addon for some software that won't just run on Wine.
Dora
