Community Forums - Unsupported Builds

Hi, I am trying to install SimCity Societies on my Mac via CrossOver. I have followed the installation instructions for SCS with CrossOver correctly, however when I try to run the game, I receive an error message asking me to insert a disk (though the CD is already in the disk drive). Is it just, overall, unsupported by CrossOver? I apologize in advanced if this is a stupid question, I really don't know much about computers. Any help is welcome! Thanks~!

http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/dmca

MacOS does not allow direct SCSI access to cdrom drives, which windows games need to validate the cdrom. If SCSI access fails the games usually claim that the cdrom is not in the drive. This means that virtually any modern cd based copy protection fails on Macs.

On Linux SCSI access works, but if the copy protection uses some rootkit driver it will fail on CrossOver on Linux as well.

Every single game i've tried installing using the latest crossover games build, has not worked and fallen on this very issue, regardless of whether the game in question is on the supported list or not. All i get is "No CD inserted, please insert CD".

http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/dmca

Like i said, regardless, not a single game on the supported list have installed and worked as it should have, so i'm very disappointed to say the very least. I wonder what i'm doing so different from other people. Why won't COG recognize the installers of supported games and make me do an express installation in the "other games" category?

I don't get this at all.

James wrote:

Every single game i've tried installing using the latest crossover
games build, has not worked and fallen on this very issue,
regardless of whether the game in question is on the supported list
or not. All i get is "No CD inserted, please insert CD".

http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/dmca

Like i said, regardless, not a single game on the supported list
have installed and worked as it should have, so i'm very
disappointed to say the very least. I wonder what i'm doing so
different from other people. Why won't COG recognize the installers
of supported games and make me do an express installation in the
"other games" category?

I don't get this at all.

Hi there,

Firstly, let me thank you for reminding me this thread existed - since the time of
this thread's original posting, codeweavers site policy has changed in relation to
DRM/DMCA -- for example, look at the "Fine Print" below the 'Post Comment' button
(the one you clicked on to post the above ;) ...cite:

"Please refrain from the mention of DRM circumvention, such as 'no-cd patches'."

So you see, thanks are in order, because now I can get this thread edited to comply
with the new site policy.... now that I know where it is 😎

Secondly, this is the unsupported builds forum...as in, unsupported builds of the
crossover products..ie; the *bsd port and so on. If you're having a problem with a
particular title, you should search the database and see if there's a C4 page here
for the game in question (or look over at WineHQ) and see if you've followed all
the procedures and/or ask questions of other people who actually have the game(s)
involved (hardly anyone sees posts in this forum, because it's for unsupported builds)

Thirdly, as one of the codeweavers devs explains above, if you're on a Mac and some
kind of CD/disc check routine is required by the game, it is highly likely it will not
work in the Mac case (and not all such mechanisms work in linux either I might add,
but the going is a little better) -- this is a constraint/shortcoming of MacOSX and
it's scsi drivers, and there's not a lot that can be done about that unless Mac does
something about their drivers...(or a complete rewrite of the wine code for Mac is
done, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon or so I heard say..)

Finally, you mention some supported titles which you can't get working -- which
games are you referring to? Did you check the entries closely to determine whether
or not they were Steam based games or not? Did the medal ranking signify that the
game was known to work on Mac (and not just linux)? If you feel a game's C4 page
here is in error or misleading, please respond with the name of the game/URL in
question, and I can ask one of our Ninjas to take a look at it.

Cheers!

Flatout and Dreamfall, both showcasing the same error - "no disc inserted". COG did not recognize their installers when i inserted retail copies of both games and such i had to use an XP bottle, utilizing the "unsupported software" steps. As i mentioned, didn't work and i'm quite puzzled as both games have received gold medals for working flawlessly. Max Payne 2 retail copy (not steam), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (which people have gotten running, at least using COG build 7.2.0), Silent Hill 2 - none worked and basically had this same issue. I think one of the titles, can't remember which, required a system reboot but neither a simulated reboot within COG, nor a restart of COG itself, gave any results.

So far this software has not worked for me, unfortunately, with any game.

James wrote:

Flatout and Dreamfall, both showcasing the same error - "no disc
inserted". COG did not recognize their installers when i inserted
retail copies of both games and such i had to use an XP bottle,
utilizing the "unsupported software" steps. As i mentioned, didn't
work and i'm quite puzzled as both games have received gold medals
for working flawlessly. Max Payne 2 retail copy (not steam),
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (which people have gotten running, at least using COG
build 7.2.0), Silent Hill 2 - none worked and basically had this
same issue. I think one of the titles, can't remember which,
required a system reboot but neither a simulated reboot within COG,
nor a restart of COG itself, gave any results.

So far this software has not worked for me, unfortunately, with any
game.

Okay...now we're cooking with gas...let's see how we go here. Flatout I know all too well,
it's one of my favorite semi-arcade driving sims, and I'm an advocate for it as well;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=4119

Note the Steam version is known to work, I have the GOG version which also works for me
in linux, but recently a Mac advocate/user reported this version, nor the CD version, are
seemingly working on the Mac...cite;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=4119;forum=1;msg=69793

I haven't actually seen any debug from a Mac user on this issue, but then I haven't
asked for any because I can see Jack (of codeweavers) has had a poke at it on his test
rigs and concluded that Mac has a problem with this game. Regarding the medal rankings
there for the Mac, they are most likely referring to the Steam version. In so far as
the CD being inserted and the installer not being recognized, this is common with disc
base games - it's actually the autostart script failing ; you have to manually point
cxinstaller to the correct "setup.exe" on the (mounted) CD when this happens. The fact
the CD installation seemingly fails is also reported above -- the information here is
correct as far as I can tell....this is an unsupported title.

The Dreamfall page seems also accurate as well;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=2058

Charles' gold medal relates to the Steam version;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=2058;forum=1;msg=68969

Another user reports the GOG version works;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=2058;forum=1;msg=48606

The rest of the forum/tips&tricks postings, relate directly to troubles regarding the
disc based release of this title - the information here also looks accurate to me...

Max Payne 2 - the C4 page here specifically relates to the Steam release of the
game -- if you are using a disc based install, your best bet is to check over at
the WineHQ AppDB...see;

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=3047

The only C4 page I find related to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is...;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=6369

Somehow, that does sound like the same page you're talking about, do you have the URL please?

The Silent Hill 2 C4 page is a little inconclusive;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=4916

The user report there relates to an older version of COG, it's unclear exactly which install
media was used...and in the Mac case, it can very much depend on which Mac you have (which
version of OSX, which videocard chipset etc)...so it's hard to really define what is actually
working for that person...and ergo, what may/maynot work for others. Again, you might garner
further insight by consulting with the WineHQ AppDB entry for this title....see;

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=4525

As far as I can tell (with the exception of STALKER), everything's exactly as it should be -
get back to me with the URL of the STALKER page you're referring to that ran in 7.2.0 and
I can make further comment on that one, but it all looks like it's all correct and non
misleading ...which is pretty much par for the course around here 😉

Cheers!

All that info is good and well, but i'm still not able to play any of those games unfortunately. I'm not here to whine and moan for the sake of it, i'm more interested in, if at all possible, finding a solution to the issues i'm having and perhaps finding that the mistake is all mine so that i can become one of these happy campers, enjoying these great games on my iMac :)

As for Stalker, i was referring to this guy; http://technochubby.com/2009/04/11/does-it-play-on-a-mac-stalker/

I'm going about it in the exact way it seems you are supposed to, but these games just won't play and i am not savy enough to do the "work-around".

I put in the retail copy, either finding the installer .exe manually or letting COG find the game disc as install source automatically, chosen to create a win-xp bottle using "unsupported software" or used express install. No matter what method i've used, all the games seem to install just fine...until i get to the part where i start the game and it asks me for the cd; which is in fact, already in there.

James wrote:

All that info is good and well, but i'm still not able to play any
of those games unfortunately. I'm not here to whine and moan for the
sake of it, i'm more interested in, if at all possible, finding a
solution to the issues i'm having and perhaps finding that the
mistake is all mine so that i can become one of these happy campers,
enjoying these great games on my iMac :)

Okay....what I am pointing out here, is if you had read the forum postings I've cited
with the same degree of scrutiny I have displayed to you, all this 'well and good info'
would have alerted you to the fact that CD based installations are likely not to work
on the Mac. We can discuss this 'until the cows come home' as it were, and this situation
is not going to change -- disc based DRM systems are known not to work in crossover/wine,
and especially so for the Mac wherein scsi driver limitations are knonw to further compound
the issue. When and where people -have- got disc based game releases to work with crossover
or wine, they have so as a result of;

*using linux where disc based DRM checks may work due to better scsi driver supports

*using official game patches that remove the game's originally shipped DRM software

*by using other softwares to make the title work, which is covered by Codeweavers site
policy regarding DRM/DMCA issue....in short;

"The Digital Rights Management (DRM) software in this program
prevents it from running in CrossOver. If you are in a legal jurisdiction
which allows removal of such software, you may have luck running this
program. Unfortunately, CodeWeavers, because they are subject to the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, will be unable to support you."

In essence, what that paragraph is saying is that discussion on these
Codeweavers forums pertaining to DRM circumventing software, where
to get such software, which software to get and how to install/use such
software, is illegal for Codeweavers to allow to be posted on their US
based business/website...ie; here.

For the record, this is why Steam based titles are so popular in the
Mac and linux camps -- no disc based DRM to stop programs from working.
This is also why digital downloaded titles are also preferred (like GOG,
dirct2drive, etc) for the same reasons - no disc based DRM to deal with.

James wrote:

As for Stalker, i was referring to this guy;
http://technochubby.com/2009/04/11/does-it-play-on-a-mac-stalker/

Ahh, well I can't comment on that at all - you would need ask the person
who posted that what they did, and hope they get back to you on that forum page..

James wrote:

I'm going about it in the exact way it seems you are supposed to,
but these games just won't play and i am not savy enough to do the
"work-around".

Again, please refrain from mentioning DRM circumventing software such as 'no-cd'...

James wrote:

I put in the retail copy, either finding the installer .exe manually
or letting COG find the game disc as install source automatically,
chosen to create a win-xp bottle using "unsupported software" or
used express install. No matter what method i've used, all the games
seem to install just fine...until i get to the part where i start
the game and it asks me for the cd; which is in fact, already in
there.

One more time -- due to limitations in the Mac scsi driver, it is unlikely
you will get disked based DRM checks to work on the Mac - what you are seeing,
are known limitations in/with crossover/wine usage wrt disc based DRM and/or
scsi driver limitations -- end of story. If others have gotten such disk based
titles to work on the Mac, you will have to ask these people directly what they
have done, and people here on the forum...ie; advocates like myself, other user
and/or Codeweavers customers...cannot discuss details here in these forums, due to
legal considerations wrt DRM/DMCA laws. When the above exampled paragraph reads -

"Unfortunately, CodeWeavers, because they are subject to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, will be unable to support you."

That really means what it says - we cannot do anything about this, you will have to
seek out/solicit help from individuals directly, post to the WineHQ forums for help,
look for other forums on the same issue and post question there...that's it, this
is the limit of support we can offer on these crossover forums.

In essence, you are doing something wrong -- you are trying to get games running
that have disk based DRM incorporated that is know not to work in crossover/wine
and/or the Mac OSX operating system. If people have worked around this, you cannot
ask about what they did here (in these forums), and even if you did, the legal policy
precludes people being able to answer your queries here in these forums, sorry, but
that's the long and short of it.

Cheers!

Alright, i guess i have to look into making steam work on my Mac then. Thanks for the info and i never meant to step on anyones toes in any way, just trying to get some answers that's all.

Oh, no problem ... it's a difficult topic to negotiate at best (the whole DRM/DMCA shabang),
and to be honest I had to really struggle with my own wording in replying to you, so that
I didn't find myself saying something that transgressed the very same site policy I refer to.
Unfortunately, that can come across a little abruptly/terse and appear to 'step on toes' -
this is not the case nor my intention, I'm quite happy to spell out the facts at whatever
level of verbosity needed to get the point across/give you a better understanding of the
situation you are seeing/experiencing -- rest assured you haven't trodden on any toes 😉

I will tell you this also (actually a fuller reiteration of something I already mentioned)
-- not all Macs are the same : there are significant differences within the hardware being
used (even the same model Mac..ie; a Macbook...might have one or another different videocard
chipset fitted to it), and what works on one chipset may not work on another. There are big
differences in the level of video driver support from one version of MacOSX to another - what
may work in one, might not in another (or a different configuration/approach is required). Do
be aware of these things - they matter, and will ultimately dictate what happens in practise!

Also, please ask questions on the forums here relating to a specific title -- people who actually
have the same game software/OS/machine as you do may better help you, if they know you're looking
for help/advice -- like I say, hardly anyone reads threads here about such things....being the
Unsupported Builds forum ....

Cheers!

I understand :)

I installed Steam and all works fine with the actual software but the games i've tried to run (demo's of games on steam) won't load after clicking the "launch game". They might not be supported for all i know, but my question is; that's all you do, right? Just install the game via steam and then launch it via the "Launch game" within Steam itself, no tinkering with any files in the steam folder or something like that? (last question here, i promise ^^). I tried to access the Half-life 2 page there, to download a demo of it as it's a COG supported game, but for some reason, Steam wouldn't let me onto the page and it just went white. Weird. I'll try again later i guess.

Thanks.

Last question eh? Cool...that means I get a last answer, right? 😊

My advice is to ask that question in the SteamGUI forum...see;

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=206;forum=1

There are lots of Mac users there (I'm actually linux based), and I'll bet
one of them knowns the answer to that for sure. You should include in your
question...

version of MacOSX you have
version of crossover
what model Mac you have
what videocard it has installed

Cheers!

My apologies for the edits.