Running NGS TOPO! under Wine on linux

Somewhere along the way, I rebuilt my home directory and lost my TOPO! wine install. So I am starting from scratch with Fedora 16 and the latest copy of wine in August of 2012.

I own a variety of map sets, each with different versions of TOPO!

My Nevada set ships with version 4.2, which is the most recent version on any of the sets I own, and has some unique issues, see the end of this document.

Installing the New Mexico stuff

wine "c:\topo!\topo.exe"

Note above, the link for the t: device. This lets me run the installer from files on my hard disk rather than having to insert the CD. This is both more convenient and a lot faster. (I should have used this trick to install the Nevada 4.2 version) What I do is to edit the .wine/dosdevices file and change what the t: link points to (or change a symbolic link, see below) then type the command:

wine "t:\setup.exe"

All this would be fine, except that I pruned out all the install stuff from what I keep on my hard disk, so I do this:

inset CDROM number 1 from my New Mexico set
double click so linux actually mounts it
cp -var /media/NM_D01/ nm_xxx
chmod 755 nm_xxx/NM_D01
mv nm_xxx/NM_D01 nm_install
rmdir nm_xxx
cd /home/me/.wine/dosdevice
rm t:
ln -s /u1/topo/nm_install t:
This puts files into nm_xxx/NM_D01, and then I do the directory rename to get what I actually want. The trick to taming the stupid "cp -var" command is to NOT put a trailing dash at the end of the name of the directory you are copying from (and command completion, that I virtually always use, puts one there, that I must remember to delete. See the Arizona instructions at the end of this:

After this I do:

wine "t:\setup.exe"
This goes lightning fast, and puts the files into C:/TOPO! as I have been used to. No license key to install, but it only shows me New Mexico at the top level. It does let me cleanly go through all 5 levels for the entire state. This runs TOPO! version 2.7.7

Installing the California stuff

To add California, I once again need to copy files from my install CD, having pruned the install software from what I keep on my hard drive. This time though, I save some space by deleting duplicate files and making a link to what I already had on my hard drive.

inset CDROM number 1 from my California set
double click so linux actually mounts it
mkdir ca_xxx
cp -var /media/CA_D01/ ca_xxx
chmod 755 ca_xxx/CA_D01
mv ca_xxx/CA_D01 ca_install
rmdir ca_xxx
cd ca_install
rm -rf ca_d01
ln -s ../ca_d01
cd /home/me/.wine/dosdevice
rm t:
ln -s /u1/topo/ca_install t:
wine "t:\setup.exe"
Again the install goes lightning fast (since it runs off the hard drive, it is much faster than installing from CD media). And apparently it is smart enough to notice that I have a more recent version of TOPO! already installed, because once I start TOPO! it is running 2.7.7 and not 2.7.5. It still has the lame business of a state chooser up front and the top level map only showing the state selected.

Installing the Arizona stuff

inset CDROM number 1 from my Arizona set
double click so linux actually mounts it
cp -var /run/media/AZ_D01 az_install
chmod 755 az_install
cd az_install
chmod -R 755 AZ_D01
rm -rf AZ_D01
ln -s ../AZ_D01
cd /home/me/.wine/dosdevice
rm t:
ln -s /u1/topo/az_install t:
wine "t:\SETUP.EXE"
The install takes only a few seconds.

Installing the Nevada stuff

As mentioned above, Nevada (at least the set I have) ships with TOPO 4, which has both advantages and disadvantages. It includes detailed maps of all the national parks. It has many bells and whistles. It takes extra effort to install and integrate older sets (like the 2.x versions I have for other states). The thing I strongly dislike is that it seems to insist on having you insert CD's for levels 4 and 5, but maybe there is a way to get around this and have everything on the hard drive like I do for my 2.x versions. It also requires a product key, which is no problem considering I purchased the set of disks I use.

There is a much better and much faster way than installing from CD media if you have the first CD image on your hard drive. See the notes on Arizona above.

I insert the Nevada CD 1 Then I double click the desktop CD icon (which causes the CD to be mounted as /media/TOPO) Then I do this:

cd ./.wine/dosdevices
ln -s /media/TOPO e:
ln -s /dev/sr0 e::
wine e:\setup.exe

NOTE:This gets installed to a different location than any of my other sets (which play nicely together), namely:

wine "c:\Program Files (x86)\TOPO!\TOPO.exe"

Installing the Nevada set requires a product key (which I have from the inside of the box holding the CD's). It seems to install and run OK, and gives me the whole country at the top 2 levels, and a lot of the country in and around Nevada at level 3. To go beyond these levels, it wants me to insert other CD's - which I of course want to avoid having to do. What I had done with past versions of TOPO is to just put a link into the .wine/dosdevices directory like so:

cd .wine/dosdevices ; ls -l
	c: -> ../drive_c
	d: -> /u1/topo
	e:: -> /dev/sr0
	t: -> /u1/topo/nm_d01
	z: -> /
But this scheme doesn't work with TOPO version 4.2. TOPO version 4.2 still keeps asking me to insert various CD's to get more detailed levels.

Putting all the TOPO! 4.2 maps on the hard drive

There is a way to get TOPO 4.2 to put all the maps on your hard drive. What you do is click on:

 View --> TOPO! Product Setup --> Copy Data CD-ROMS to Hard Drive

After this, you just follow the screen prompts.

And, as a side note, for older versions of TOPO! (prior to 4) the recommended way to put all the disks on the hard drive is:

  1. Insert any CD-ROM you want copied to your hard drive (except disc number one).
  2. Use "My Computer" to inspect the contents of the CD.
  3. Right click on the folder called XX_DOX and hit Copy (for example, CO_DO7 for Colorado disc 7.)
  4. Use the Back browse button to navigate back to your C drive.
  5. Open up your C drive, then program files, open the TOPO! folder you see there, locate the folder called TPO_DATA, right click on it, and hit Paste.
  6. Repeat this for each CD_ROM you want copied to your hard drive.

Adding older versions to a TOPO 4.2 installation

It is also possible to get TOPO 4.2 to integrate maps from older versions of TOPO! What you do is:
  1. View --> TOPO! Product Setup --> Don't have a serial number (radio button).
  2. Insert a CD-ROM (a state disc 2 or higher), wait a few seconds.
  3. Select "Activate New Product"
  4. If a window appears displaying a folder, simply close it.
  5. Select "OK" and TOPO! 4 should now recognize your earlier state version.
These tips are from:
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Adventures in Computing / tom@mmto.org