Wineprefixes

A WINEPREFIX is simply a folder that Wine uses as a separate Windows environment on your Linux system. Think of it as a virtual "C: drive" where Windows applications believe they're running in Windows.^[1][2]

A clean prefix (also called a vanilla wineprefix) is a fresh Wine environment with nothing extra installed - just the basics.

In simple terms, a wineprefix:

1. Acts like a mini Windows computer inside your Linux system
2. Lets Wine translate Windows programs to work on Linux
3. Keeps all Windows-related files and settings in one place

Why This Matters

It's good practice to use different wineprefixes for different Windows applications. This keeps them separate, like having multiple Windows computers for different tasks. If one application breaks, it won't affect the others.

Types of Wineprefixes

Main Wineprefixes

These are recommended for most visual novels:

Prefix	Purpose	When to Use
proton_ge	General compatibility	First choice for newer VNs
vanilla	Clean Wine setup	For VNs using older engines like kirikiri or BGI

Special-Purpose Wineprefixes

For games with specific codec or component requirements:

Prefix	Primary Use Case
wmp11quartz	Windows Media Player 11 + QuartzCore
lavfilters	LAV Video/Audio Filters
mciqtz32	MCI + QuartzCore codecs
ffdshow	FFDShow multimedia codecs
wmp11	Windows Media Player 11
xact	DirectX Audio codecs
quartz_dx	DirectX + Quartz
wmp10quartz	Windows Media Player 10 + QuartzCore
wmp9	Windows Media Player 9

Choosing the Right Prefix

1. Check the visual novel compatibility list for the recommended prefix.
2. If your game isn't listed:
   • Try prefixes used by games from the same engine or developer.
   • Start with proton_ge, as it provides broad compatibility.
   • If that fails, try vanilla.
   • For persistent video or audio issues, test the specialized media prefixes above.

TIP

In most cases, either proton_ge or vanilla will work. Start with these before exploring the specialized setups.

WARNING

Don't forget to enable Japanese Locale and install appropriate font files inside the prefix if you encounter missing or broken text.

Creating Wineprefixes

NOTE

This assumes you're using Lutris, but ignoring this, you can use the command line just as easily to run your applications.

Recommended wineprefixes

If starting out, setup the basic wineprefixes only.

If you have any issues, visit the Visual Novel Compatibility page. Specific details about other wineprefixes are in this section.

WARNING

You only need to make the prefix one time. Do not modify the prefix once created.

1. Create prefix folders

Create folders for each prefix you'll need. You can use this command to create them all at once:

Basic wineprefixes

mkdir proton_ge vanilla

Special-purpose wineprefixes

mkdir wmp11quartz lavfilters mciqtz32 ffdshow wmp11 xact quartz_dx wmp10quartz

2. Configure prefix settings

In Lutris, visit any game's config and enter these settings:

Game Options:

• Wine prefix: path_to_your_wineprefix_folder (The location of the folder created in step 1)
• Prefix architecture: 64bit (32bit for wmp10 & wmp10quartz)

3. Select Wine version

Based on the prefix type, select the appropriate Wine runner:

Prefix Type	Recommended Runner	Installation Source	Notes
vanilla	Wine 10	protonUp-qt Kron4ek Builds	It has fullscreen issues with some VNs, can use gamescope as a workaround
proton_ge	Proton-GE 10.25	protonUp-qt	-
Others	Lutris 7.2	Default	Do NOT use Lutris 7.2.2 (video playback issues) Disable DXVK for these prefixes

4. Install components (optional)

NOTE

Not every visual novel needs extra components.

To know if your visual novel needs extra components, visit the Visual Novel Compatibility List and search.

For each prefix:

1. Click the 🍷 wine bottle icon (usually on the bottom toolbar), then click Bash Terminal
2. Depending on your wineprefix (e.g., wmp11, lavfilters...), copy the installation command from the Component Installation section below
3. Paste it into the terminal using Ctrl + Shift + V
4. Hit Enter and wait for the installation to complete

After this, done! Run your visual novels!

Component Installation

Warning

If you change the Wine version, you must remake the prefix, as all components will be overwritten by Wine defaults.

Basic Prefixes

vanilla (64bit)

Needs GStreamer libraries for video playback.

• System Lutris: Make sure you have these libraries installed:

  gstreamer gst-plugins-ugly gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-base-libs gst-plugins-base gst-plugins-bad gst-plugins-bad-libs gst-plugin-pipewire gst-libav

• Flatpak Lutris or Steam Deck: No need to install anything as these come bundled in.

proton GE (64bit)

No extra video components needed; should work out of the box.

• If using outside Steam (like Lutris), install umu-launcher.
• Flatpak/Steam Deck Lutris bundles umu-launcher so no need to install it.
• If you have video playback issues try to add Environment variable PROTON_MEDIA_USE_GST=1 (It runs the old proton-ge 9 video playback implementation).

Media Prefixes

Special Codecs

We use a special helper script to install extra codecs, which have additional patches. Download Special Codecs to a folder like ~/Documents. Update paths in the commands below to where you downloaded them (example, ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh).

For more detailed information about the script, see the Special Codecs page.

These prefixes all use "Windows 10" as the reported Windows version, unless stated otherwise.

wmp11quartz (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh wmp11 quartz2

wmp11 (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh wmp11

Media Foundation (MF) (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh mf

quartz_dx (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh wmp11 quartz_dx

lavfilters (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh lavfilters

mciqtz32 (64bit)

sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh mciqtz32

xact (64bit)

winetricks -q --force xact

ffdshow (64bit)

winetricks ffdshow

wmp9 (32bit)

winetricks -q --force wmp9

lavfiltersquartz (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 amstream d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 devenum lavfilters quartz

devenumquartz (64bit)

winetricks -q --force amstream devenum quartz

lavfilterslite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dirac lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

lavfiltersxlite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force devenum lavfilters quartz

lavfiltersplus (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dirac dotnet35 dotnet40 lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

lavfiltersjapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force cjkfonts d3dx9 dirac dotnet35 dotnet40 lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

lavfiltersquartzjapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 lavfilters quartz

lavfilterslitejapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dirac lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

lavfiltersvcrun (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dcompiler_47 d3dx9 dirac dotnet35 lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012 vcrun2013 vcrun2015 vcrun2019

lavfiltersquartzlite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dirac lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008 quartz

lavfiltersjapanese32 (32bit)

winetricks -q --force cjkfonts d3dx9 dirac dotnet35 dotnet40 lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

lavfiltersxlitejapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dirac lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

directmusic (64bit)

winetricks -q --force directmusic gmdls

d3dcompilerxlite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dcompiler_47

d3dcompilerlite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force cjkfonts d3dcompiler_47 d3dx9

lavfiltersd3d (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 lavfilters quartz

directmusicquartz (64bit)

winetricks -q --force directmusic gmdls quartz

dotnet (64bit)

winetricks -q --force dotnet35 dotnet40 dotnet45 dotnet452 dotnet46 dotnet461 dotnet462 dotnet472 dotnet48 vcrun2005 vcrun2008

dotnetvcrunjapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force cjkfonts d3dx9 dotnet40 dotnet45 dotnet46 dotnet461 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012 vcrun2013 vcrun2015 vcrun2019

dxvkplus (64bit)

winetricks -q --force arial courier d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 d3dx9 dxvk2010 lavfilters702 msls31 quartz times

lavfiltersd3djapanese (64bit)

winetricks -q --force cjkfonts d3dx9 dirac d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 lavfilters

lavfiltersd3dlite (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47 lavfilters

dxvkdotnet (64bit)

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 devenum dirac dotnet35 dotnet40 dxvk2010 lavfilters vcrun2005 vcrun2008

IMPORTANT

Manually enable ALL codecs for ffdshow (including MPEG-1/2!) when the popup occurs at the end.

Legacy Prefixes (Currently Broken)

wmp10 (32bit)

winetricks -q --force wmp10

wmp10quartz (32bit)

winetricks -q --force wmp10 && sh ~/Documents/vn_winestuff-main/codec.sh quartz2

general

winetricks -q --force d3dx9 dotnet35 vcrun2003 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012 vcrun2013 vcrun2015

Font Installation

Installing Windows Japanese Fonts

1. Download the Windows Japanese Fonts Pack
2. Extract the fonts
3. Place them in each prefix's fonts directory:

your_wineprefix/drive_c/Windows/Fonts

Saving Disk Space with Symlinks

To avoid duplicating fonts across multiple prefixes:

1. Store fonts in one location (e.g., ~/Desktop/Fonts/)
2. Remove the existing Fonts folder inside the prefix
3. Create a symbolic link:

ln -s "~/Desktop/Fonts/" <your-wineprefix-path>/drive_c/windows/

Tips and Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Video Playback Issues

If you have video playback or lag issues in old VNs, make sure DXVK is disabled.
If using vanilla prefix make sure you have the gstreamer libraries and are using a wow64 build of wine (the name of the wine version ends in wow64) for better compatibility.

Text Rendering Issues

For rendering text issues in-game, ensure fonts are in the prefix and use the Japanese locale environment variable:

LANG="ja_JP.UTF-8"

Fullscreen Issues

Prefixes not using proton runners usually have issues with fullscreen in Visual Novels that use exclusive fullscreen. As a workaround you can use Gamescope

You can also compile your own version of Wine with the fullscreen fixes from proton in a wow64 build:

1. Use wine-tkt-git repository. Read the instructions.

2. Use wine-tkg-valve-exp.cfg as a template. Add _NOLIB32="wow64" at the end to enable wow64 build.

3. Name the .cfg file as wike-tkg.cfg. Place it in ~/.config/frogminer/.

4. Run the compilation .sh script and select 0.

5. Add your build to the Lutris folder: ~/.local/share/lutris/runners/wine/ or ~/.var/app/net.lutris.Lutris/data/lutris/runners/(flatpak), restart Lutris.

WMP11 32-bit Installation

The 32bit installer for wmp11 is broken, but a fix is available. For now, use a 64bit prefix (as of April 21, 2023) with Lutris 7.2.

Wine Configuration Tips

Wayland Support

For Wine 9.22+ (staging) or 10.0+ (stable), the native Wayland driver is enabled by default. The X11 driver still takes precedence if both are available, but you can force Wayland by unsetting the DISPLAY variable:

env -u DISPLAY wine bin.exe

For Wine 9.21 and older, enable the driver with:

wine reg add 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\Drivers' /v Graphics /t REG_SZ /d 'x11,wayland'

FFmpeg Backend

From Wine 10.0 (stable), a new opt-in FFmpeg-based backend is available as an alternative to GStreamer. Enable it by setting: DisableGstByteStreamHandler=1 in the HKCU\Software\Wine\MediaFoundation registry key.

Registry Keys

See the list of useful registry keys maintained by Wine for advanced configuration options.

Wine amd64 vs WoW64

Wine WoW64 versions work on systems without 32-bit libraries but some 32-bit games can have performance issues on those versions. Improvements are being made though

Version Compatibility Notes

• Avoid Lutris 7.2.2 due to video playback issues
• Lutris 7.x versions generally work fine
• Some codecs like mciqtz32 don't work with newer Wine versions
• wmp11_quartz can be installed in newer Proton prefixes

Common Wine versions

If you don't know which Wine/Proton version might be the best for a particular game, try these ones:

• Caffe 7.7
• GE-Proton7-55
• GE-Proton8-6
• GE-Proton9-5
• GE-Proton9-7
• GE-Proton9-9
• GE-Proton9-10
• GE-Proton9-13
• GE-Proton10-4
• GE-Proton10-8
• GE-Proton10-25
• Kron4ek Wine 8.15
• Kron4ek Wine 8.21
• Kron4ek Wine 10.0
• Lutris Wine 6.14-4
• Lutris Wine 7.2
• Proton 5.13-6
• UMU-Proton 9.0-2
• UMU-Proton 9.0-4e
• Wine 5.0
• Wine 5.5
• Wine 5.10
• Wine 6.0.1
• Wine 6.3
• Wine 6.21
• Wine 7.1
• Wine 7.2
• Wine 9.14
• Wine 9.17 (WoW64)
• Wine 9.18
• Wine 10.0
• Wine 10.0 (WoW64)
• Wine 10.4 (staging)
• Wine 10.4 (staging, WoW64)
• Wine 10.5
• Wine 10.10 (staging, WoW64)
• Wine-GE-Proton7-43
• Wine-GE-Proton8-5
• Wine-GE-Proton8-13

Common system packages

Lutris documentation about drivers, Wine dependencies and GloriousEggroll's Blog. Arch Linux users can find Wine optional dependencies on the following package pages:

• umu-launcher
• wine
• wine32
• wine-osu-spectator
• wine-stable
• wine-stable-next
• wine-cachyos
• proton-cachyos
• wine-osu-spectator-wow64
• proton-ge-custom-bin
• proton-ge-custom-rtsp-bin
• proton-xiv-bin
• wine-git
• wine-staging-git
• steam-native-runtime
• steamrun

Additional Resources

• Windows Japanese Fonts Pack
• Wine Registry Keys Guide
• WMP11 32-bit Fix
• Special Codecs
• CodeWeavers Knowledge Base

Contributors

Amb0s

moogul uni Saetron

Changelog

Last edited 1 day ago

View full history

b2b3f34-Update prefixes and SD guide.

f67647d-chore(wineprefixes): add 'proton-cachyos' link

6c4b0c2-chore(wineprefixes): add more Wine links

a34cffd-chore: migrate Bottles compatibility list

094f230-chore: update general documentation

717f149-update stuff

8f5c7fb-Add wmp9

984bbe1-feat(docs): add recommended wineprefixes

331dea3-feat(docs): update special codec section

cc4b0ed-feat(docs): update wineprefixes to be clearer

5b81a44-import existing project

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1. Technically, a wineprefix is controlled by the WINEPREFIX environment variable that points to the directory containing the virtual Windows environment. By default, it's located at ~/.wine/ if not specified. ↩︎

2. Answer from https://askubuntu.com/questions/956244/what-is-a-wineprefix ↩︎