PT4 on Linux?

[Tenshin]

Hi, I've been thinking about making the switch from Win7 to Ubuntu 13.04 but the only thing that keeps me from doing it is that I don't know how PT4 will run on it.
I know that PT4 is not supported on Linux that's why I just want to get some feedback from users who had success and are currently using PT4 on a Linux based OS.
Does it work with just WINE or do I need VM or VirtualBox to make it work? From what I read I understand that the HUD doesn't work at all on WINE but does importing and the replayer work? And how hard will it be to setup VM?
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[kraada]

The last I heard was that it worked with WINE, but for quite a while there was an issue with the HUD due to improper alpha transparency support. You're welcome to give it a try though our trial should work just as well as our full version would. You'll want to install PostgreSQL on your own though and allow WINE access (you'll have to edit pg_hba.conf to give the WINE virtual network access) but that will work much, much better than installing PostgreSQL in WINE (you don't want the extra emulation layer there, trust me).

[Supp3rMario]

The last I heard was that it worked with WINE, but for quite a while there was an issue with the HUD due to improper alpha transparency support. You're welcome to give it a try though our trial should work just as well as our full version would. You'll want to install PostgreSQL on your own though and allow WINE access (you'll have to edit pg_hba.conf to give the WINE virtual network access) but that will work much, much better than installing PostgreSQL in WINE (you don't want the extra emulation layer there, trust me).

REALLY?!? They added that thing then?

Tenshin, tell us how it went then. I used PT3 and tried PT4 on ubuntu when HUD wasn't working, but i managed get everything else working pretty well. Best way to install postgre is to download installer from here. Also install .net, flash and fonts with winetricks, atleast that time it was needed, i think.

[kraada]

I recall hearing that it was at one point. I no longer run Linux as my primary OS so I can't confirm it. Though testing using our trial method isn't going to cause any problems so it's certainly worth checking out if you'd be interested in this.

[PJs Ronin]

I tried Wine a couple of years ago and it just wasn't stable enough for me.

I run Ubuntu Precise, Raring and Saucy in separate HD partitions each with a cloned Win7 guest under Virtualbox. PT4 and the poker clients sit in the VM, Postgres and the archived poker HH files sit on the Ubuntu side... everything 64bit where possible.

Precise and Raring are rock solid.. but I am earning brownie points by borking the Saucy/Win7 set up

[Tenshin]

Ok, so I decided to give it a try today, at worst I would lose 1 or 2 days on this. This is what happened so far.
Ubuntu 13.04 x64 single boot, installed Postgresql 9.0.13 x64 linux native, installed Wine 1.5.31 and then installed Pokertracker 4 and Pokerstars.
There was no pg_hba.conf but there was pg_hba.conf.sample which was like tutorial/guide. Edited that one with the line 'host all all samehost trust' according to the instructions in the file:
# local DATABASE USER METHOD [OPTIONS]
# host DATABASE USER CIDR-ADDRESS METHOD [OPTIONS]
# hostssl DATABASE USER CIDR-ADDRESS METHOD [OPTIONS]
# hostnossl DATABASE USER CIDR-ADDRESS METHOD [OPTIONS]
Seems I got it right on the first try because I could make the database in PT4 and it showed up in pgadmin III.
When starting up PT4 I still got the dialogue to install Postgresql but I chose "No" and still got to the next step and created database.
Imported my settings and set up everything right. Then I started up PokerStars client and pressed 'get hands while playing'.
After I opened a table and PT4 started importing I observed very high CPU and HDD activity. I continued to play more hands and after about 5 minutes hud started showing up, but at the same time my system was slowing a down. After a few more minutes everything was freezing up and I couldn't anything else other than move the mouse cursor. I could still hear the sound from the PS Table so it was a complete freeze. Just that I couldn't do any action and so I had to force restart.
Tried this with both Windows 7 and Windows XP compatibility in Wine but with no success. Btw, manual import works and other functions, just not the HUD.
Any advice?
I'll see if I can do anything else tomorrow, but without a working PT4 hud I'll have to revert back to Windows 7.

[Okok]

Thanks for the posts. I'm very interested in this as well.

[kraada]

That's definitely different behavior than we used to get - we used to get a grey box over the table. Try letting NoteTracker run to completion first via Tools -> NoteTracker and let me know if that helps any. NoteTracker starts with Get Hands While Playing and can use up a considerable amount of CPU.

[Tenshin]

I haven't imported any hands before testing it. New database 0 hands, from the first hand it auto-imports the system seems that's getting overloaded already. Auto-import works fine if I don't have any tables open, but I start playing, from the first hand that it imports from the active table it starts getting overloaded.
So I think it's just the HUD trying to load. I tried playing with HUD options settings, even changed the font of stats and all, but nothing worked.
Gonna check a few more things now...

[Tenshin]

Tried making a simple hud profile with just one stat which was just text. The hud 'button' shows up instantly but hud doesn't load. Again, system load slowly increases, even though CPU is not reaching 100%, so I don't know what it's doing, memory seems to slowly increase, but it's negligible so it might be just disk read/write, I have no idea, but I can tell the computer is struggling with the process.
This time 'Stop Hud' works and once the hud stops there's no more heavy load on the system. If you wait more than 5 minutes or so, PT4 starts hanging and the only way to close it is to end the process.
After all this, it is clear that it's the hud process that's the culprit and it is not related to stats.
Anyway, it was an interesting experience and I really like Ubuntu. Sadly, I don't have the knowledge and the time to further investigate the exact cause of this, if anybody has any suggestions I'll be glad to hear them, but I think tomorrow I'll have to revert back to Win7.