CrossOver Support - Community Forums

Is it possible to run multiple PC programs at the same time or do I need to install them all in the same bottle and they startup at the same time I startup the bottle? Or do I need to run Crossover 2x?

For example I have a Z-board Fang keypad from Ideazon before Steel Series took it over. It never was Mac compatible and it remains the same with Steel Series. Since I am using the mouse mirrored on my left hand (I switched the left and right buttons as well), I am using the Fang with my right hand (mainly for movement). Not all buttons like "1" work so I want to use the PC driver to address the key mapping. I also might want to switch from the game to the Fang configuration to choose a different layout. For raiding and exploring I might want to use different layouts.

Also I might want to use a mouse recorder for repetitive tasks and make it a macro button. For example in Legends of Grimlock I need to flip a switch, turn left, side step right, throw a stone, turn left, step forward, wait for gate to open, step 2x forward, wait for door to open, side step left. I fail each time, but with this editable macro I could play with the time periods in between to speedup or slow the movement.

If this is cheating, that's beside the point. The game might not run optimal with Crossover and instead of me being fustrated all the time, and I am looking for a solution.

You can run as many programs that your system can handle. Crossover is a "translation tool" that allows PC software to be "translated" into native instructions (be it Linux or Mac). Crossover isn't actually "runed" by your system, it is more "used" by the system as any library is. Just one thing, if your software need to interact with each other, they have to be in the same bottle. I'm not talking cut and paste, but actual interaction like one reading the state of the other.

As for you hardware programming/macro stuff, that won't work with Crossover, ever. These macro softwares rely on the native windows driver to accomplish their function. Since you can't use those drivers elsewhere then on Windows, there is no way to use the windows software that came with it and expect a useful result. Case and point, my nostromo N52 gamepad needs a native Linux software to program its macros. Fortunatly for me, there is one for Linux. You might want to look for a "hombebrew" solution, as maybe someone made one on sourceforge or something.

your software need to interact with each other, they have to be in
the same bottle. I'm not talking cut and paste, but actual
interaction like one reading the state of the other.

Okay, so I need to install other programs like the Z-Fang layout config and driver or homebrew solution in the same bottle and make a shortcut on the Mac desktop. Normally there would be a system tray icon for the layout config.

These macro softwares rely on the native windows driver to
accomplish their function.

But this doesn't mean the Z-Fang driver under Windows as well? So, no native Windows driver can be used with Crossover?

As for you hardware programming/macro stuff, that won't work with
Crossover

So, I can also use a Mac macro tool for use in the Crossover game.

Yeah well, no... I'll try to be clearer.

First, the macro software does not interact with software that you run, it interacts with your OS via the drivers. So bottle have nothing to do with it at this point. In other words, macro software modifies the key strokes received by the OS first. That modification modifies in turn what the games receives.

Second, driver are strange beasts, and do not work with Crossover, no matter how much you twist this. Drivers interact with the OS at a very low level. This means Crossover would need to provide a translation of Windows to Mac API so to allow such interactions. I don't believe such work is the focus of Crossover/Wine, or that it will ever be provided. The last attemp to do such a thing was ndiswrapper for wifi cards under Linux (http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ndiswrapper/index.php?title=Main_Page), and you milage may vary. Having once needed ndiswrapper, I can say it can be great, just as it can suck dirt.

Third, yes, if you find a Mac macro tool, it will work with games under Crossover. As stated in my first point, macro tools intercept and modify what is received by the OS, so anything that runs on the OS will also receive that modified signal/keystroke.

I'm trying to keeps things short here, but this subject could fill a book and the details are a little beyond me. If you retain one thing, Windows drivers don't work and neither will your windows Macro software for that Z-fang keyboard. You have to find a Mac native macro software for that keyboard of yours.

Actually, Windows macro software will typically use low-level keyboard and mouse hooks, which will work for programs running in the same bottle.

If it uses custom drivers to interact with specialized hardware, that's different. In theory, USB driver support may be possible, but it's not currently implemented.

Never heard of that! 😋

I often tried the Nostromo N52 software with wine and Crossover, and it never worked. I stopped after a while, because I only have so much time. The explanation I had received for the failure to run was always about the drivers being needed for the macro software to work. I assumed it was the same for the specialty keyboard which is the subject here.

In fact, I would add that the Nostromo software found on sourceforge also had a specialty driver written for it if I remember correctly. So it would confirm that without a driver, things won't work right.

Further, do I understand that there is a way to run drivers under Wine? Because these kind of gadgets do need drivers, otherwise they are treated as regular keyboards (including the N52), and it can get really complicated to change the keys/Macros unders Linux, but I don't know about Macs.

Got any docs I can read? I would love to run the Nostromo software/driver to get it running in Crossver. Anything I would learn, I would pass on of course.