Hello,
Thanks to the program Exagear Desktop, it is possible to play some old windows classics on the Raspberry Pi 2.
https://eltechs.com/product/exagear-desktop/
Basically, Exagear Desktop is a virtual machine that lets you install a x86 linux distribution. This means you have access to wine, which is used to run windows applications. Don't expect amazing performance for windows games : you're aiming at Pentium 133 Mhz speed...
The installation of Exagear Desktop requires the use of the terminal, but it is clearly explained in the documentation. You also have to familiarize yourself with wine. I didn't manage to make the games work fullscreen, because the monitor can't detect the game's resolution. If you have the same problem, you'll have to use winecfg to display a 'windows desktop' : the game will then play in a window adapted to the game's resolution.
Games tested with overcloked PI 2 (1000 MHz, option from raspi-config)
Caesar III and Pharaoh (GOG versions) : the games seem to work great and have aged very gracefully.
Championship Manager 01/02 : Tested with the unofficial tapani patches for two seasons in the irish league. You'll have to mount the iso file before starting the game (iso file has been legally made available for free by Eidos a few years ago). If you restrict yourself to a minimal database, 5000 matches stored, and one or two leagues, performance is fine. You can install the game and official 3.68 patch easily with wine, but the tapani patches won't install : I had to use a Windows machine and then copy the game's folder to the Pi SD card.
Imperialism I (GOG version) : works fine.
Heroes of Might and Magic III (GOG version) : tried it very briefly with a previous version of Exagear (with debian wheezy and wine 1.4.1). Intro was unskippable the first time it was displayed, and the game was a bit slow.
If you have tested other games, it would be great to share your experience in this thread !
Thanks to the program Exagear Desktop, it is possible to play some old windows classics on the Raspberry Pi 2.
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https://eltechs.com/product/exagear-desktop/
Basically, Exagear Desktop is a virtual machine that lets you install a x86 linux distribution. This means you have access to wine, which is used to run windows applications. Don't expect amazing performance for windows games : you're aiming at Pentium 133 Mhz speed...
The installation of Exagear Desktop requires the use of the terminal, but it is clearly explained in the documentation. You also have to familiarize yourself with wine. I didn't manage to make the games work fullscreen, because the monitor can't detect the game's resolution. If you have the same problem, you'll have to use winecfg to display a 'windows desktop' : the game will then play in a window adapted to the game's resolution.
Games tested with overcloked PI 2 (1000 MHz, option from raspi-config)
Caesar III and Pharaoh (GOG versions) : the games seem to work great and have aged very gracefully.
Championship Manager 01/02 : Tested with the unofficial tapani patches for two seasons in the irish league. You'll have to mount the iso file before starting the game (iso file has been legally made available for free by Eidos a few years ago). If you restrict yourself to a minimal database, 5000 matches stored, and one or two leagues, performance is fine. You can install the game and official 3.68 patch easily with wine, but the tapani patches won't install : I had to use a Windows machine and then copy the game's folder to the Pi SD card.
Imperialism I (GOG version) : works fine.
Civilization II : tested with a compact version without any movies. Works great.
Heroes of Might and Magic III (GOG version) : tried it very briefly with a previous version of Exagear (with debian wheezy and wine 1.4.1). Intro was unskippable the first time it was displayed, and the game was a bit slow.
If you have tested other games, it would be great to share your experience in this thread !
Thank to Eltechs for the great instruction and giving ODROID users a trail. This article is written by Eltechs team.
Please share your experience on ODROID forum.
Please share your experience on ODROID forum.
ExaGear Desktop is a powerful emulator for porting almost any x86 applications to ARM-based devices. In a nutshell, if you need some Windows apps or on your Odroid for any specific purpose (e.g. Notepad++ or even MS Word), ExaGear is the best solution to make it happen. Not mentioning the fact, that some native Linux applications, such as Skype and TeamViewer, when launched within ExaGear run even faster than launched via Wine on Linux. If you need more information visit our product page!
Install ExaGear Desktop Trial on Odroid
Our ExaGear Odroid Trial is kept on Odroid repos and is available for the following ODROID models:
Our ExaGear Odroid Trial is kept on Odroid repos and is available for the following ODROID models:
ODROID-XU4 / XU3
ODROID-C2
ODROID-C1+ / C1
ODROID-U3 / U2 / X2 / X
ODROID-C2
ODROID-C1+ / C1
ODROID-U3 / U2 / X2 / X
Within the following OS images on:
Ubuntu 16.04
Debian Jessie
ODROID GameStation Turbo
DietPi
Debian Jessie
ODROID GameStation Turbo
DietPi
1. Connect a keyboard and a mouse to your Odroid device, or connect to it remotely – whatever you got used to.
2. Call for the command line and input the following commands to update the system.
$ apt-get update
3. After a few minutes of auto-updating, you need to proceed with the following command:
$ apt-get install exagear-desktop
4. As soon as the installation is finished, simply switch on the ExaGear software:
$ exagear
5. The pop-up window will appear for you to provide your name and e-mail address. After you are done with that your ExaGear Odroid Trial will be activated and will last for 3 days from the moment of activation.
2. Call for the command line and input the following commands to update the system.
$ apt-get update
3. After a few minutes of auto-updating, you need to proceed with the following command:
$ apt-get install exagear-desktop
4. As soon as the installation is finished, simply switch on the ExaGear software:
$ exagear
5. The pop-up window will appear for you to provide your name and e-mail address. After you are done with that your ExaGear Odroid Trial will be activated and will last for 3 days from the moment of activation.
You might want to check if ExaGear is properly installed on you Odroid device. You can do it the following way:
$ uname -a
You should get the output like:
Linux odroid 4.9.51-64 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Sep 23 03:28:28 UTC 2017 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
6. Finally, we recommend to check that everything is OK by running the “arch” command (it should result in “i686” output):
You should get the output like:
Linux odroid 4.9.51-64 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Sep 23 03:28:28 UTC 2017 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
6. Finally, we recommend to check that everything is OK by running the “arch” command (it should result in “i686” output):
Well, you are done with the installation and activation of your trial, so it’s the very time to enjoy the full power of ExaGear Desktop emulator by playing different famous Windows games on your Odroid device. Of course, gaming on Odroid is just a very small part of what ExaGear software can really do, but this user case is very representative and after all simply cool!
Tobias Schaaf from Odroid Magazine has prepared an outstanding article, covering some of the most popular PC games to be installed and played on Odroid, using ExaGear Desktop as an emulation machine and PlayOnLinux app. Read the ultimate tutorial here or watch a detailed video-guide below!
Moreover, as a bonus, he has prepared a list of games compatibility for Odroid, tested by him personally on Odroid XU4 model. See the table bellow:
Tobias Schaaf from Odroid Magazine has prepared an outstanding article, covering some of the most popular PC games to be installed and played on Odroid, using ExaGear Desktop as an emulation machine and PlayOnLinux app. Read the ultimate tutorial here or watch a detailed video-guide below!
Moreover, as a bonus, he has prepared a list of games compatibility for Odroid, tested by him personally on Odroid XU4 model. See the table bellow:
Linux x86 Compatibility list for ODROID XU3/XU4 running ExaGear 2.1 Desktop
Windows x86 Compatibility list for ODROID XU3/XU4 running ExaGear 2.1 Desktop
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