Claude
5cff764d3b
Documents the EA account requirement, first-time login flow, credential caching for machine transfers, community server options if EA shuts down, and the SWBF2 2005 alternative for a launcher-free experience. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01D8ckUJQtj1pH8jtAddBDZs
298 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
298 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) — Wolf/Moonlight Setup
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**AppID:** 1237950
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**Proton:** GE-Proton10-34 (required — stock Proton does not work with EA App)
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**Platform:** Wolf (Games-on-Whales) — WolfSteam Docker container
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---
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## The EA dependency problem
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SWBF2 (2017) has a hard dependency on EA's authentication infrastructure:
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- **Steam** handles payment, library, and game files
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- **EA App** handles identity and authentication — even for offline single-player
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First launch requires an internet connection and an EA account login. After that, EA App
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caches credentials locally and subsequent launches work offline — but only until the token
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expires or EA's servers go dark permanently.
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**What happens when EA shuts down authentication servers?**
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The game becomes unplayable through legitimate means. EA has done this before (Battlefield 2,
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The Sims Online, older Origin titles). For a 9-year-old game with a shrinking playerbase,
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this is a real risk.
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Community options if/when that happens:
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- **Private servers** — the SWBF2 community has projects like Kyber for multiplayer. If EA
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kills auth, expect the community to build replacement auth servers as they did for BF2 (BF2Hub, OpenSpy).
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- **Play SWBF2 (2005) instead** — the classic 2005 Battlefront II runs natively on Linux
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through Proton with zero launcher requirements, no accounts, no phoning home.
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AppID: 6060. It just works.
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**Backing up credentials for machine transfers:**
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EA App caches credentials inside the Wine prefix. Back up the entire compatdata directory:
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```bash
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tar -czf swbf2-prefix-backup.tar.gz \
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/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/
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```
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Restore it on another machine and the cached login travels with it — until the token expires
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(EA tokens last weeks to months). Not a permanent solution but useful for migrations.
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---
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## Why this is hard (technically)
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---
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## The bwrap problem (why you can't just docker exec)
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The WolfSteam container runs Steam as uid 1000 (`retro` inside container).
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`docker exec` carries high Linux capabilities (`CapEff ≈ 0xa8ac35fb`).
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Steam processes have `CapEff=0`.
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When a high-cap shell tries to run bwrap (used by Steam's sniper/pressure-vessel runtime),
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bwrap attempts a privileged uid-map path that fails:
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```
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setting up uid map: Permission denied
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```
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This means you **cannot** run Proton or wine64 via `docker exec` — bwrap always fails.
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Only Steam itself can properly launch programs through sniper+GE-Proton.
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---
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## Solution overview
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1. Intercept the Steam launch with a wrapper script (via launch options)
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2. Spoof Origin registry entries so SWBF2 thinks its launcher is present
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3. Skip link2ea:// entirely — launch `starwarsbattlefrontii.exe` directly
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No EA account needed. No EA App login needed.
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---
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## Step-by-step
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### 1. Find the WolfSteam container name and Steam user ID
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```bash
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WOLF_CONTAINER=$(docker ps --format '{{.Names}}' | grep Wolf)
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echo "$WOLF_CONTAINER"
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STEAM_UID=$(docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" ls /home/retro/.steam/steam/userdata/)
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echo "$STEAM_UID"
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CONFIG_DIR="/home/retro/.steam/steam/userdata/$STEAM_UID/config"
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```
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### 2. Lock localconfig.vdf against Steam overwriting it
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Steam uses atomic rename (write temp + rename) when saving config.
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`chmod 444` on the file is bypassed by the rename. Lock the **directory** instead:
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```bash
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" chmod 555 "$CONFIG_DIR"
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```
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### 3. Set SWBF2 launch options in localconfig.vdf
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Kill Steam first so it flushes and releases the file, then edit:
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```bash
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" pkill -f steam.sh || true
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sleep 3
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CONFIG_FILE="$CONFIG_DIR/localconfig.vdf"
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# The file needs a LaunchOptions entry under AppID 1237950.
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# Find the block and add/replace LaunchOptions:
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" grep -A5 '"1237950"' "$CONFIG_FILE"
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# If LaunchOptions is missing, add it manually to the 1237950 block:
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# "LaunchOptions" "STEAM_UNIX_SOCKET=/tmp/steam.sock /home/retro/ea_install.sh %command%"
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```
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The launch option value must be:
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```
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STEAM_UNIX_SOCKET=/tmp/steam.sock /home/retro/ea_install.sh %command%
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```
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### 4. Write the Origin registry spoof
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SWBF2's binary checks for Origin in the registry before starting. Spoof it by writing
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directly to Wine's system.reg (plain text file — no Wine needed):
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```bash
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SYSREG="/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/system.reg"
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TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" bash -c "cat >> '$SYSREG' << 'REGEOF'
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[Software\\\\Origin] $TIMESTAMP
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\"ClientPath\"=\"C:\\\\\\\\Program Files\\\\\\\\Electronic Arts\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EADesktop.exe\"
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\"InstallDir\"=\"C:\\\\\\\\Program Files\\\\\\\\Electronic Arts\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\\"
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[Software\\\\Wow6432Node\\\\Origin] $TIMESTAMP
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\"ClientPath\"=\"C:\\\\\\\\Program Files\\\\\\\\Electronic Arts\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EADesktop.exe\"
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\"InstallDir\"=\"C:\\\\\\\\Program Files\\\\\\\\Electronic Arts\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\EA Desktop\\\\\\\\\"
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REGEOF"
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# Verify
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" grep -A3 'Software\\\\Origin' "$SYSREG"
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```
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### 5. Write the launch wrapper
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The wrapper receives Steam's full launch chain as `$@` (args 1–11 are the
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sniper+GE-Proton preamble, arg 12 is normally `link2ea://...`). Replace the last
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arg with the actual game executable:
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```bash
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cat > /tmp/ea_install.sh << 'EOF'
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#!/bin/bash
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echo "=== launch $(date) ===" >> /tmp/ea_install.log
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GAME_EXE="/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/STAR WARS Battlefront II/starwarsbattlefrontii.exe"
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exec "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" "$6" "$7" "$8" "$9" "${10}" "${11}" "$GAME_EXE"
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EOF
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chmod +x /tmp/ea_install.sh
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docker cp /tmp/ea_install.sh "$WOLF_CONTAINER":/home/retro/ea_install.sh
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```
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### 6. Launch SWBF2 in Moonlight — first-time EA login
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On first launch Steam passes `link2ea://launchgame/1237950?platform=steam&theme=swbfii`
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to GE-Proton, which hands it to `Link2EA.exe`. EA App opens and shows a login screen.
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**Vulkan shader compilation** appears before the game loads on first run. Let it complete
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— do not skip it. It only runs once and takes several minutes.
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**EA App login:**
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1. Log in with your EA account credentials
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2. Check "Stay logged in" / "Remember me" — this caches the token locally
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3. EA App links your Steam purchase to your EA account
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4. The game launches
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**After first login**, credentials are cached in the Wine prefix at:
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```
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compatdata/1237950/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/EADesktop/
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```
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Subsequent launches skip the login screen entirely.
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### 7. Restore clean state (after confirmed working)
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```bash
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# Restore directory to writable so Steam can save normally
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" chmod 755 "$CONFIG_DIR"
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# Remove LaunchOptions for 1237950 from localconfig.vdf while Steam is stopped
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```
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---
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## Background: what Steam actually passes to the wrapper
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```
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$1 = /path/to/steam-launch-wrapper
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$2 = --
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$3 = /path/to/reaper
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$4 = SteamLaunch
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$5 = AppId=1237950
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$6 = --
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$7 = /path/to/SteamLinuxRuntime_sniper/_v2-entry-point
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$8 = --verb=waitforexitandrun
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$9 = --
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$10 = /path/to/GE-Proton10-34/proton
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$11 = waitforexitandrun
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$12 = link2ea://launchgame/1237950?platform=steam&theme=swbfii ← we replace this
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```
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---
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## What doesn't work (and why)
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### Running msiexec / Wine via docker exec
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`docker exec` carries Linux capabilities that break bwrap. Any attempt to run
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Proton/wine64 outside Steam's own launch chain gets:
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```
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setting up uid map: Permission denied
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```
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### Running the EA App MSI through Wine (INST-14-1603)
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The MSI's `JunoConfigureRegistry` .NET custom action uses `SetSecurityDescriptorSddlForm`
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to set registry ACLs. Wine doesn't support this — the action returns 0 (failure),
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causing the entire install to roll back. `DISABLEROLLBACK=1` doesn't help because
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MSI logs the product as already-registered from the first attempt, causing subsequent
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runs to produce an empty log and exit.
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### link2ea:// approach with EA account
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EA App requires an EA account linked to your Steam account. `ea.com/signup` is
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unreliable. Even with an account, EA Desktop must be installed in the Wine prefix
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(see msiextract bypass below if needed). Bypassing the game exe directly is simpler.
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### msiextract bypass (if EA App files are needed for something else)
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If you need EA Desktop files in the prefix for another reason:
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```bash
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# Copy MSI out of container (appears in drive_c after first launch attempt)
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docker cp "$WOLF_CONTAINER:/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/drive_c/ea_app.msi" \
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/tmp/ea_app.msi
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# Extract on host (bypasses JunoConfigureRegistry entirely)
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sudo apt-get install -y msitools
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mkdir -p /tmp/ea_app_extracted
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msiextract -C /tmp/ea_app_extracted /tmp/ea_app.msi
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PFXBASE="/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/drive_c/Program Files/Electronic Arts/EA Desktop"
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" bash -c "
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[ -L '$PFXBASE/EA Desktop' ] && rm '$PFXBASE/EA Desktop'
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mkdir -p '$PFXBASE/14.2.0.3345'
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ln -s 14.2.0.3345 '$PFXBASE/EA Desktop'
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"
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docker cp "/tmp/ea_app_extracted/Electronic Arts/EA Desktop/EA Desktop/." \
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"$WOLF_CONTAINER:$PFXBASE/14.2.0.3345/"
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```
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---
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## Troubleshooting
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### Game exits in ~6 seconds, no popup
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Check wrapper log inside container:
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```bash
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" bash -c "
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cat /tmp/ea_install.log | tail -20
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find /home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/ -name '*.log' \
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-newer /tmp/ea_install.log 2>/dev/null | xargs tail -20 2>/dev/null
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"
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```
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### "Origin is not installed" popup
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Origin registry entries missing. Repeat step 4 and verify:
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```bash
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docker exec "$WOLF_CONTAINER" grep -A3 'Software\\\\Origin' \
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'/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/system.reg'
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```
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### Wrapper never runs (Steam ignores launch options)
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Steam wrote config before chmod 555 was applied. Kill Steam, verify chmod 555 is set
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on the config directory, edit localconfig.vdf, then start Steam again.
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### localconfig.vdf gets overwritten on Steam shutdown
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`chmod 555` on the directory (not the file) prevents the atomic rename Steam uses.
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### wine64 segfaults outside Steam (exit 139)
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GE-Proton10's wine64 requires the sniper runtime. Never call it via `docker exec`.
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---
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## Key paths (inside WolfSteam container)
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| Path | Description |
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|------|-------------|
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| `/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/` | SWBF2 Wine prefix |
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| `/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/system.reg` | Wine HKLM registry (plain text) |
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| `/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1237950/pfx/drive_c/ea_app.msi` | EA App MSI (~227 MB, appears after first launch) |
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| `/home/retro/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/STAR WARS Battlefront II/starwarsbattlefrontii.exe` | Actual game binary |
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| `/home/retro/.steam/steam/userdata/<uid>/config/localconfig.vdf` | Steam per-user config (launch options) |
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| `/home/retro/ea_install.sh` | Launch wrapper script |
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| `/tmp/ea_install.log` | Wrapper log (inside container, resets on container restart) |
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