The Sorry State of Eve Online : Linux : Pop_OS!
This is how to install Eve Online on the Pop_OS! linux distribution. It works on other distributions also, however Pop_OS! is the easiest environment in which functional parity with OSX and Windows can be achieved, kinda.
What you will need
I used Ventoy Ventoy to turn a 8GB USB into a storage device that can both hold ISO files and make them bootable without needing to dedicate the entire device or burn a ISO9660 physical medium.
The Pop_OS! website is https://pop.system76.com/ and I used the https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/nvidia/35/pop-os_22.04_amd64_nvidia_35.iso image. This ISO goes into the data partition of the VENTOY USB
The last âregularâ Eve-Online launcher https://binaries.eveonline.com/EveLauncher-2410154.exe from CCP. Download it int the Pop_OS! after installation or copy it from USB medium as it will be needed.
The lutris Eve-Online âEVE Online without DXVK versionâ from EVE Online - Lutris will be needed also, though this is more an item to bookmark than attempt to download and run later.
I am not going to cover how to install Pop_OS! in detial. I used VENTOY to load the ISO from a USB, set up language, selected the âeraseâ install option and enabled encryption. I did the following important customization immediately after installation:-
Applications | Pop!_Shop | Hamburger Menu ( the three lines next to minimize ) | System Software Sources | Flatpak â Delete everything in here ( two entries )
Why? With flatpak enabled there will potenitally be two options for many of the following steps, turning flatpak off eliminates the possibisity of selection the âwrongâ option. This is not to say flatpak does not work, only to replicate what has been done.
I did not wait for the machine to update to the latest version of packages, as there are a few. After removing flatpak, I next did the following:-
Applications | Pop!_Shop | Fun & Games | Lutris
Click âInstallâ â Wait for completion ( If you see a garbage can icon where install was, its installed )
Appllications | Lutris â Wait for the run time libraries to update.
Open Firefox. Go to the EVE Online - Lutris page and select âEVE Online without DXVK vesionâ ( yes, I know âApril Beta Launcher versionâ exists but if you want things to work do what I tell you ) which will then prompt to check if the link should be opened in Lutris. Select open
Lutris will now load up the setting as desribed in the lutris:eve-online-eve-online-without-d file that was just passed over from firefox. It will fail miserably due to the EveLauncher-1938125.exe file no longer existing on CCPâs repository. Lutris will at this point let you select an alternative file, in this case the EveLauncher-2410154.exe downloaded earlier was selected.
The Eve installation window will now appear with the standard windows installer dialogs. It is safe to answer this as you would for a ânormalâ windows installation. Please note, installing anything to the root of C: is a bad idea and CCP should be ashamed for not respecting the CLSID path conventions. Program binaries go into program files and program data goes into program data. If you select ârun eve nowâ in the last step, the eve launcher will start and begin downloading the minimum viable launcher content.
Here is where things get messy and for once it is not CCPâs fault, though with a small change they could make things easier. The launcher will load and ask the user to log in. If you use a CCP account/password, nothing special needs to be done. You probably are not even reading this guide. For those who have Steam based accounts, you have probably already noticed how clicking the green steam icon will open firefox to steam, but once logged in simply takes you to the âlogging you inâ webpage, without any corresponding account addition in the launcher.
Why? Well, the launcher can handle CCP account logins directly. The launcher has to go externally to resolve a steam login, hence link under the green steam button loading https://login.eveonline.com/account/external?provider=Steam&blahsecretblah when click. What firefox does not know is that the âLogging You Inâ page should be sent into Lutris environment and handed over to eve. If you right-click on the âLogging You inâ page ( aim for the 4 engines on the noctis ) and select âInspect (Q)â a row of tabs will show up in the bottom of the firefox window.
Select the âconsoleâ tab. Here is where things are going wrong. there will be a uri in the from of âeveonline://callback?client_id=eveLauncherTQ&code=blahsecretblah&state=md5sum&remember=trueâ in the bottom.
Note the text âPrevented navigationâ and âdue to an unknown protocolâ. On Windows and OSX, installing the eve launcher sets up an association between eveonline:// and the launcher, much in the same way that clicking a http:// link opens in firefox.
What is breaking is that firefox does not know about the launcher that was installed inside Lutris and has no way to pass on the link, so it does nothing and spits out this console error people will never see.
How to fix it? I have no idea, however we can work around it. From this console message, it seems that that eve accounts are added to the launcher by passing the eveonline:// uri in as an arugment in lutris.
Applications | Lutris | Games | EVE Online â Right Click, Select âDuplicateâ Call it âEVE Online Launcherâ
Right Click âEVE Online Launcherâ and select Configure. Go to the âGame Optionsâ tab. What needs to happen is that âeveonline://callback?client_id=eveLauncherTQ&code=blahsecretblah&state=md5sum&remember=trueâ needs to go into the âargumentsâ box. Click Save.
Here is how this works, or does not, depending on your point of view. If you try to add the âeveonline://â uri to the arguments field of the first icon, its ignored like 99 times of of 100. By making a duplicate, it allows two instances of âEVE Onlineâ to be run in the same virtual âspaceâ concurrently, one without arguments to just be a launcher, the second is there just to pass in âeveonline://â uri. You do have to be quick though, the link steam generates for the launcher is only good for a few seconds, so it is very fiddly to get to work and will probably take multiple attempts.
If you still have the firefox window with the âLogging you inâŚâ message you can try and hit âreloadâ to get a nice fresh âeveonline://â uri. CCP, if you are watching, take note of the angry red text telling you something is wrong.
It may be necessary to âreloadâ and try to copy the text over to the âEVE Online Launcherâ arguments box, save, run several times. It may even be necessary to close firefox and log into steam again. Eventually, the launcher will correctly acquire the login string and an account will show up in the launcher.
This last bit with steam logins is where quite a few seem to get stuck. Yeah, I know you can just create a username for a steam account, though this is not something that would not have to be done if CCP added a function into the launcher to accept the eveonline:// uri directly.
Who knows how many people gave up on what would otherwise be a completely viable option.
Update 20240206:
The new laucher did not appear to force itself to install after downtime today and everything is operating as it did before. I have run up both clients (more than two becomes unplayable ) sucessfully.
Lutris did a small update to WINE, the version is now wine-ge-8-27-x86_64 with no other options changed.
