How Linux Help Me Play Windows Games
December 31, 2007 – 7:59 pmBesides blogging, my other hobby is to play computer games. Last week, I tried to run my old Arcanum CDROM to have some RPG goodness in Windows but my CDROM is now working! Had my CD drive been faulty all this while?
Then I remember my old Slackware Linux installation and decided to test my CDROM with it. It was then that I realized that Linux can even help me play Windows games!
Is my CDROM at fault? Or should I blame it on Windows?
I boot up my Slackware Linux, insert the Arcanum CD and try to mount the image,
# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Then I tried to access the CD and list down all the files inside,
# ls /mnt/cdrom
file1 file2 file3 …..
Now I have proof that my CDROM is okay, and it is all Windows fault! I still want to play my Arcanum no matter what!
Solution
1- Create an ISO image with dd
I am thinking of creating an ISO image file in Linux so that I can transfer the image to Windows and mount it in my virtual CD program - Daemon Tools Lite. Then I can install it from there and play my games!
To create an ISO file in Linux, I need to unmount my CDROM drive first,
# umount /dev/cdrom
With only one dd (disk dump) command and the game CD inside the driver, an ISO image file will be created with only one command (WOW!),
# dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/home/user/arcanum.iso
p/s To understand what the lines above means, check out the full docs at WikiHow
2- Copy games ISO image to Windows drive
To transfer the image file to my Windows FAT32 partition, I need to mount it first on Linux,
# mount -t vfat /dev/hda2 /mnt/driveD –> this depends on your partition!
and then copy the ISO image to Windows,
# cp /home/user/arcanum.iso /mnt/driveD
Done! Now I just need to reboot my machine to Windows, mount the copied ISO image on drive D to DaemonTools, and install my game from there!
Problem solved! That is one of the ways to play Windows games with the help of Linux. Isn’t Linux awesome?
p/s To really play Windows games IN Linux, try out WINE emulator. It is one of the best ways to run Windows apps on Linux, games included!
Tags: windows, linux, iso, image, tech tips
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