[GUIDE] How to use Musicbee on Linux (Archlinux/Debian based distro)

[jojo2357]

I am having trouble installing dotnet, and even after I force wine to do so,  I get this sort of error:

Code

00d4:err:explorer:make_explorer_window Failed to create PIDL for L"Z:\\path\\to\\whereYouWantYourWineprefix\\". 

(redacted, of course)

I am using pop-os 21.10 and wine 7.12, which I have already used to run Fusion360.

Heres what I have tried:
1. Create 32 bit wineprefix
   1.1 Leave all settings the same in the GUI that I get, this means a windows 7 spoof
2. Run the winetricks install command as shown above
   2.1 This fails, saying that dotnet48 has been broken since wine 5.18.
   2.2 Force the install anyway.
      2.2.1 It mentioned mono not being installed, but no effect was noticed after uninstalling mono
   2.3 Install works
3. Run the run command as provided and see the error.

I am not a WINE expert, but here are some links that I found that may be of use:
https://wiki.winehq.org/Mono
https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49897
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=2586

[jojo2357]

Eureka! I found it! The problem for me was actually in launching musicbee, i instead ran

Code

WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/ wine MusicBee.exe

and that seems to have worked

[HaploVoss]

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I just tried using Steam "Add a Non Steam Game" option.
Browsed to executable and selected it.
Then chose properties of that item in the list, chose Compatibility and chose Proton (Specifically, I have Proton GE 7.20 that I've installed for other games I chose).
I launched it, ran through setup without issue.
The first launch, it is in an annoying, bordered window so you can't see much of the title-area.
- So, I clicked on the nib of the menu I could see, and changed skins to my favorite dark skin. It automatically restarts. Bang, borderless window as it should be.
- I notice there are some skins and the default skins that the border still appears around, but... I'm sure there are some config switches that could be used.
I've only been playing around with it for a few hours, but my radio stations work, all my files are fine (on "Z" drive) - I LOVE this.
NOTE: Once you've used it and closed it - you need to redo your shortcut so it doesn't keep trying to re-run the setup file:
Open your file manager
- Search your steam folder for 'musicbee'
- Locate the MusicBee.exe in the steam pfx directory similar to this:
--> "/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/compatdata/2464933901/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Desktop/MusicBee/MusicBee.exe"
- copy that location, then paste it into the 'TARGET' field of the steam properties, and then the same location (minus the filename itself) in the 'START IN' field.

Then, if you want to get creative / cure your OCD like I do... grab an icon and an image from somewhere, and dress up your launcher icon and backdrop lol

So - just an option throwing it out there just in case.

Thank you again to MusicBee for my favorite player ever!

[rioUSteC]

Everything is working fine, If I follow this guide, except for syncing to a virtual device. I have created a virtual device on Z:/ on the same mountpoint as the Library is. Setup itself was no issue. But when I try to sync, i get the message, that the device is not available. Any idea?

[MetalGeek]

Latest Musicbee is up and running.  I took a slightly different route. I haevn't touched wine in years so I cannot confirm if any of these steps are not needed or deterimental. Any feedback is appreciated.  I'm running the latest Pop_OS.

Verify i386 support
 Verify 64-bit architecture. The following command should respond with "amd64".

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$ dpkg --print-architecture

See if 32-bit architecture is installed. The following command should respond with "i386".

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$ dpkg --print-foreign-architectures

If "i386" is not displayed, execute the following.

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$ sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Recheck with.

Code

$ dpkg --print-foreign-architectures

Install wine staging
Install WINE on Ubunto

Install .NET

Create prefix for MusicBee and .NET

Code

WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/ wineboot –init 

Install .NET 4.0 and corefonts

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WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/ winetricks --force dotnet40 corefonts

Install xmllite and gdiplus

Code

WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/ winetricks –q xmllite gdiplus

 
set wine to win7 compatability

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WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/ winetricks win7 

Install .NET 4.8

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WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/  wine $HOME/Downloads/ndp48-x86-x64-allos-enu.exe /q 

Install Music Bee

Code

WINEPREFIX=path/to/whereYouWantYourWineprefix/  wine $HOME/Downloads/MusicBeeSetup_3_5.exe 

I did not remove the Win7 compatability setting after installing .NET 4.8.  Not sure if this matters or not.  I let the Installer drop a shortcut on my desktop which works without issue.  Running on an ultrawide 3440x1440 display without making any wine config changes and cpu isage is <1% listening to flac files.

Sources:
Install Wine on Pop_OS
Install wine on Ubunto
Install .NET Framework

[jojo2357]

I got Discord Rich Presence for musicbee running on Linux!

MB Version: 3.5.8447
System info: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS, 64 bit.

I used a plugin I wrote a while ago which simply reports over localhost the media being played, and so all I had to do was write a simple script to read, respond, and report to discord that info.

If i get some requests Ill post a how-to (get DRP, not install MB cuz I dont remember much anymore)

[Bifidusse]

Latest Musicbee is up and running.  I took a slightly different route. I haevn't touched wine in years so I cannot confirm if any of these steps are not needed or deterimental. Any feedback is appreciated.  I'm running the latest Pop_OS.

(...)

Awesome ! Thank you !

I tried several solutions posted here to run MB on Linux, this one is the first I managed to get working. I tested it running a VM (Mint 21.1 on Windows).

Seems to work flawlessy. Plays APE, FLAC, MPC, categories are still defined, special characters are displayed correctly (û, ç etc), cover art are there...

The only issue so far is rating. Flac ratings are displayed as they should, but MPC and APE (APE v2 tag) are wrong if they contain a half-star. So 4,5 becomes 2,5 and 3,5 becomes 2...
No issue with half-star ratings with flac files.

It's quite strange, I mean it's the same program, even if run with an emulator like Wine. Maybe I need to check MB configuration.

Last issue before I install Mint on my laptop instead of Windows

[Chrishd]

Thank you MetalGeek

It works for me, the only problem is that my audio is totally distorted.
Any suggestions?
TY

Christian