Arch Linux

guiodic

Member

Registered: 2018-02-22

Posts: 50

WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

I have some apps installed in WIN32 prefixes that I run with Wine. With the latest Wine update enabling WOW64, these apps no longer start.
Is there any way to solve this without reinstalling them?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,619

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

Did you read the news on the front page?

guiodic

Member

Registered: 2018-02-22

Posts: 50

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

Did you read the news on the front page?

I was hoping someone here in the forum knew of a shortcut to avoid reinstallation.

Paolo86arch

Member

Registered: 2025-06-16

Posts: 1

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

I cannot even create 32-bit wineprefixes anymore. This happens every time I try to create a new one

warning: wine cmd.exe /c echo '%AppData%' returned empty string, error message "wine: WINEARCH is set to 'win32' but this is not supported in wow64 mode."

Fusion916

Member

Registered: 2024-05-18

Posts: 57

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

Just ran into this issue too. Who thought this was a good idea?

SimonJ

Member

From: Alicante, Spain

Registered: 2021-05-11

Posts: 301

Website

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

Same error, a quick downgrade and all is well, I have backed up wine-10.8-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst too :-)

I understand the reasoning but the inability to recreate the old machines is a horrible bug.

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Rlu: 222126

Vain

Member

Registered: 2008-10-19

Posts: 183

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

warning: wine cmd.exe /c echo '%AppData%' returned empty string, error message "wine: WINEARCH is set to 'win32' but this is not supported in wow64 mode."

This looks like you have set the environment variable WINEARCH to win32. That no longer works. If you unset the variable, you should be able to create a new Wine prefix which supports both 32 bit and 64 bit.

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 14,823

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

I succesfully run a win32 app from 1997 and another from 1999 succesfully in win64 prefixes.

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

John_Rochard

Member

Registered: 2025-08-05

Posts: 5

Re: WINE with WOW64 does not run apps installed in WIN32 prefixes

I do have a workaround solution, but you won't care much for it.   Install 'downgrade' ( sudo pacman -S downgrade ) and use it to downgrade the wine to 9.16 ( sudo downgrade wine ) then you can use the 32 bit architecture.  It seems. wine devs are abandoning some classic games I still own and play to this day.  Sure Wine 10+ will play GTA San Andreas or Assassin's Creed, however the frames per second lag something fierce. I estimate it to be running 6 frames per second.  Personally I take no pleasure in using wine and wish I had bought those games for Linux back then.  If wishes were horses the poor would ride for free.