hello spacehey! ^_^
this is my first blog post ever... i didn't live thru the blogging era of the internet.  it seems like a really great way to journal and share info, so im trying it out!!

today's topic:

installing Ableton Live on Linux!!

there are no tutorials that go thru everything u need to get ableton working well, so i'm smashing all the things i've learned on this journey into this post!

prerequisites:

step 1 - installing wine

install winetricks and wine if you don't have them already!

    for arch + derivatives:
        sudo pacman -S wine winetricks

    for debian/ubuntu + derivatives

        sudo apt-get install wine winetricks

step 2 - setting up ur wineprefix

this sets up a prefix just for ableton!  (ill show u how to set up another prefix for vsts in my next tutorial! :3 )

    mkdir ~/wine

    WINEARCH=win64 WINEPREFIX=~/wine/ableton winetricks d3dx9 d9vk dotnet35 dotnet452 dxvk gdiplusvcrun2019 corefonts tahoma

step 3 - installing ableton!

copy the path to your ableton installer file, from the terminal or from a file manager.  then:

    WINEPREFIX=~/wine/ableton wine "PASTE_PATH_TO_INSTALLER_HERE.exe"

* IF YOUR INSTALLER FAILS: run  rm -rf ~/wine/ableton  then start over from step 2,  making sure to remove  gdiplusvcrun2019  from the winetricks command. sometimes vcrun2019 causes issues with installation

* PHOTOSENSITIVITY WARNING: ableton sometimes has an issue on wine where the menus flicker pretty aggressively. this can cause fullscreen flashing if your window is fullscreened. to fix this, refer to step 5 - fixing interface issues

* IF ABLETON HAS JITTERY MENUS: also refer to step 5 - fixing interface issues

step 4 - authorizing ableton!

heres where i ran into some issues - i had to figure this part out myself! 

i'll start with a normal copy of live:

    - go to the authorization screen

    - click 'no internet on this computer'

    - note down the hardware code

    - log into ur ableton account in ur browser

    - sign in and follow the prompts

    - select ur license and click 'offline authorization'

    - drag-n-drop ur license file into the live window!!

now if you, like me, have a 'custom' copy of live that requires a patch in order to work right, there's some extra stuff u need to do:

    - if ableton's open, keep it open. if it hasn't been opened yet, open it with this command:

        WINEPREFIX=~/wine/ableton wine "~/wine/ableton/drive_c/ProgramData/Ableton/Live 12 Suite/Program/Ableton Live 12 Suite.exe"

    - if you've opened ableton and closed it, do this:

        > go to ~/wine/ableton/drive_c/ProgramData/Ableton/

        > if there's a folder there called 'Live 12 Suite_update' or something like that, delete it !!
        > run this command:

            WINEPREFIX=~/wine/ableton wine "~/wine/ableton/drive_c/ProgramData/Ableton/Live 12 Suite/Program/Ableton Live 12 Suite.exe"

    - now go to the authorization screen 

    - click 'no internet on this computer'

    - note down the hardware code
    - exit out of that menu and click 'continue without authorizing'

    - close ableton

    - if u need to copy a dll or an exe from ur 'special version' folder, grab that from ur downloads and paste it into this folder:

        ~/wine/ableton/drive_c/ProgramData/Ableton/Live 12 Suite/Program

    - if it's a dll, there's an extra step u need to do:

        > run this command:

            WINEPREFIX=~/wine/ableton winecfg

        > it'll boot up the winecfg menu, from there go to 'libraries'

        > add a new override, name it whatever your dll is, minus the .dll part (mine was vcruntime140_1)

        > make sure it's set to 'native, built-in' in that order

    - now, open ur 'patcher' program and paste in the hardware code u wrote down earlier. if u didn't write it down and u need to open ableton again, refer to the 'if you've opened ableton and closed it' step. if u dont delete that folder, chances are, the patch won't work and u will have to completely uninstall ableton and start over from step 3. u dont have to do this if u changed 'get automatic updates' to false! ^_^

    - the patcher should give u an authorization file, just drag that into ur ableton window and u should be good to go!

step 5 - fixing interface issues

for flickering menus:

    - go to ~/wine/ableton/drive_c/Users/yourusername/appdata/local/ableton/preferences and create a file called options.txt

    - paste this in (with the hyphen and underscore)

        -_ForceGdiBackend

for jittery interface issues:
this happens to me and it seems to be a hyprland issue, but it might happen with other compositors / window managers as well

    - open winecfg like u did earlier in the tutorial
    - go to 'graphics'
    - check 'emulate a virtual desktop' and change the resolution to the resolution of ur display
    - if that doesnt fix it, also uncheck 'let window manager decorate windows'

using ableton on linux!!

i don't think linux native vsts work in ableton, but i could be wrong! im gonna explain how to set up yabridge in the next blog post, and a lot of those tips will also apply to running windows vsts inside wine for use in ableton!!

enjoy ur linux ableton... i hope this gets some of u guys to ditch windows for good >:3

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