Linux & reprom help?

[Tony1250]

Hi,

My old laptop has been getting progressively slower under the weight of endless windows updates.
The final straw was when it failed to meet the criteria for the ‘upgrade’ to windows 11.
I’ve been wanting to try Linux for a while and this was the push I needed. Early days but first impressions are very good, with the old laptop now flying again. I don’t use it for very much these days so it is more than capable to do what I need it to.
With one exception, so far…
I have a service manual reprom for my 18 plate LC and previously I have used it to good effect.
I’m struggling to get the iso to run.
It mounts easily enough but I have an error message saying it can’t find the auto run software.
I am sure it is due to my lack of understanding and knowledge about Linux in general.
However, before I try to reinvent the wheel I want to ask if anyone here is using the same software and has successfully used the dealer maintenance software.
Thanks for reading this far and if anyone can point a poor newbie in the right direction please I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[SOAA]

What “flavour” of Linux have you gone for?

My initial thoughts are that you may need to install something called WINE, which acts as a kind of emulator / compatibility layer to allow software originally written for Windows to be installed & ran on Linux

 

[MrC99]

As @SOAA says Wine is going to be your friend and there are a number of sites out there which have RepROM running under it (Chromeos example here - Chromeos is Linux under the hood). Note that if you follow any instructions to install Wine you'll likely have to install the 32-bit version of Wine as RepROM is (I believe) a 32-bit Windows program.

Most Linux environments nowadays have graphical interfaces to search for & install software so install a basic version of 32-bit Wine, try running RepROM and report back. Good luck !

 

[Tony1250]

Thanks guys!
I’m using Mint Cinnamon for now as it was the one I kept seeing as recommended for new users.
I did try using wine but probably not the 32 version, I’ll give that a go tomorrow and report back.
Thanks again for the advice

 

[mark-forrest]

I'm just looking for service DVD for my G310GS and will be trying to get it running under Linux.
Am a long time Linux user but not needed anything Windows based for years, apart from occasionally Garmin and Cardo updaters. So no recent experience with Wine.
Just about to load Manjaro on my wife's old Win10 laptop and will probably use that, as Wine on my Raspberry Pi will probably be a bigger task.

 

[adventuredon]

FYI...if you get the windows 11 not supported due to hardware, there is a free install which bypasses the windows check. Its a money making scam. I updated my laptop to 11 when it kept giving me the hardware not meeting standards error etc

 

[SOAA]

as Wine on my Raspberry Pi will probably be a bigger task.

Yeah, ouch I wouldn’t recommend that.

I just cringed at the thought of trying to run Windows x86 code on an ARM processor through WINE.

I’m not even sure that it would work, might be interesting to try. I’m not doing it though

 

[frodi]

FYI...if you get the windows 11 not supported due to hardware, there is a free install which bypasses the windows check. Its a money making scam. I updated my laptop to 11 when it kept giving me the hardware not meeting standards error etc

Any linky?
I have two PC s in work that have this problem

 

[Santa-2512]

If you want to stay windows look at installing win 11 lite, they are ISOs created by the unofficial community to give you a windows loo ess bloatware experience. I'll find the link

 

[MrC99]

Any linky?
I have two PC s in work that have this problem

Don't know if it still works but you used to be able to use Rufus to create a USB installer from a Windows 11 ISO that can then be used to update an existing windows installation as described here.

 

[adventuredon]

Any linky?
I have two PC s in work that have this problem

Thread 'FYI if your PC says you cannot upgrade to Windows 11...'

Sep 12, 2025

I have just used this on mine. No Issues. Takes about an hour. Bypasses the hardware stipulations that Microsoft impose.


Hello Donovan Smith,

Thank you for getting in touch

To update to Windows 11 (Or to a new Windows 11 version), please refer to our dedicated Windows 11 page on our website, which also includes links to Windows 11 Extended Universal Installation, which allows you to install Windows 11 on any computer:
https://www.gcentre.co.uk/statement-on-windows-11/

Once the installer downloads, disconnect from the wifi and the internet and then run...

• adventuredon
• Replies: 20
• Forum: Computer Help

• 

 

[adventuredon]

Don't know if it still works but you used to be able to use Rufus to create a USB installer from a Windows 11 ISO that can then be used to update an existing windows installation as described here.

no need, just use the link..

 

[Mzokk]

I run Linux mint 22.2 Mate on a very old (Circa 2012) Toshiba laptop with an old dual core B950 Celeron processor, but importantly 8GB of ram. I run the Mate edition as it has less memory requirement than the Cinnamon edition. From experience running windows programmes on "WINE" or through "Bottles" is problematical unless for certain older games and older versions of MS office or photoshop. Even running Mapsource or Basecamp has been less than successful.

I've come to the conclusion and put into effect running Windows programmes on Linux using a Windows Virtual Machine in Linux as its just easier. If your reprom runs on older versions of windows go for the oldest one it will run on. For example if it runs on Win 7 run that as a VM as it has less system requirements than Win 10. When you set up the VM you have to split your system resources between the Operating system (Linux mint) and your windows VM. I split mine in half for that old machine so 4GB or ram each when the VM is running and one CPU core each. (when you switch the VM off all resources go back to Linux.) A clean install of a windows VM generally runs pretty well as all the crap is absent, and since it's no longer served by security updates you can prevent it from "seeing" the internet but give it access to your USB ports if you are using the system for diagnostics.

Good Luck.

 

[mark-forrest]

Just an update, installed Manjaro Linux on to my wife's old, originally Win7, cheap Asus laptop with i3 with 6Gb ram. Installed Wine and Winetricks. extracted all the files from the DVD ISO and ran the service software(RSD.exe) with Wine. It asked for Gecko and Mono to be installed and just worked.

I tried manually installing Wine on my Raspberry Pi 5, (official Bookworm OS) and it kept coming up with errors. So instead I loaded Box64 and Wine through Pi-Apps, (not sure if it actually needed Box64). The Wine desktop ran in a window ok and then from there I ran the service software manually. Again it asked to install a couple of libraries and worked. Created a direct link to it on Pi desktop for easy access.

 

[Tony1250]

Quick update.
The laptop I was trying to use is old, circa 2009, and I couldn’t get it to work with a VM, I think the hardware is too basic and I don’t want to spend money on adding memory etc on something that is effectively obsolete tech.
For everything else I do using Linux has made it far more usable than it was under windows, so I’m happy about that.
As for the reprom maintenance software, well I had a eureka moment. I’d completely forgotten that we still had an old desktop PC that was on windows 7. Fired it up, mounted the iso and it works like a dream. It’s banned from internet access and I’ll only use it for vehicle servicing so no need to worry about updates etc.
Thanks to everyone who gave advice and encouragement.
Tony