CamBam for Windows on Linux/Wine

[alex_holden]

I read that there was a new major version of Wine released (version 10.0), so I decided to try running CamBam under it, having completely failed to get it working previously.

I installed the 64 bit version of CamBam.

It doesn't seem to work at all with Mono. Instead, follow these instructions to install Microsoft .NET 4.0 using winetricks into a fresh Wine environment, then install and run CamBam using the same WINEPREFIX:
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=17886

I seem to recall seeing an error dialog saying something about running as administrator the first time I tried to start it, but I didn't change anything and I'm not getting that dialog any more, so I'm not sure what that was about. It asks about setting permissions every time you start it, but you can answer either yes or no and it doesn't seem to make any difference. It accepted my license code successfully and is working in full licensed mode. It seems to mostly work fine and doesn't feel significantly slower than running it natively on Windows. I tried adding a couple of third party plugins and they seemed to work normally.

The one major fail I've noticed so far is that copy/paste only works for text, not for drawing objects or machine operations. No error messages, it just silently does nothing. At least drag and drop works, though only within one window; you can't drag something between two CamBam instances.

Overall, it seems to work much better than the Linux version of CamBam (probably because it's using an old version of .NET rather than Mono), but I will probably need to carry on rebooting into Windows unless somebody knows of a way to fix copy/paste.

[alex_holden]

Great news. I got copy and paste working, both within a window and from one window to another. I can probably finally stop rebooting into Windows every time I want to use CamBam. 

The solution was simply to install .NET version 4.8 instead of version 4.0 into the Wine environment. i.e. follow the same instructions I linked to previously, but install "dotnet48" instead of "dotnet40". That's all I did and copy and paste started working.

I am curious whether Wine also enables CamBam to run on M-series Macs without needing to boot a full Windows VM. I believe it should work in theory (I've seen videos of people using it to run x86 Windows games). If anyone tries it, please post here to let us know if it works.

[jeffgrain]

I have the linux native version running on mint 22.1 and it is stupid fast.. fairly easy to install.. I tried that wine thing for something else.. if I wanted my computer to run that slow I would just stay with windows..   

[alex_holden]

I just did a quick comparison opening the same fairly complex CB file in Windows CamBam under Wine vs Linux native. Clicking around the menus and adjusting parameters in the UI feels instantaneous in both. Moving and zooming around in the drawing window feels fast in both with "show toolpaths" turned off, becoming slightly sluggish (but still usable) under Wine when there are thousands of toolpaths visible on screen. Generating the G-code took 11 seconds under Wine vs 31 seconds native. I don't know why there's such a big difference but that's what I've found.

[alex_holden]

I also rebooted into Windows 11 to compare native Windows CamBam with the same CB file. Moving around and zooming in the drawing window feels snappier than either of the Linux options even with thousands of toolpaths visible, and generating G-Code took just under 10 seconds. Still, 99% of the time I'd rather use the slightly slower Wine option than spend several minutes rebooting into Windows.

[Dragonfly]

I am using CamBam for Linux for many years on Ubuntu 18.04 and Mono "frozen" at version 5.12.
However, decided to install Ubuntu 22 on a dual boot system. But the latest Mono version has the same problems with 'File open' dialog box (no icons on the navigation buttons) and Python scripts do not run. CamBam just crashes out.
In the meantime Microsoft had swallowed Xamarin and I couldn't find a way to downgrade Mono to the last version I know that works correctly. The repository GPG keys are rejected by apt.
Did any of you had succeeded in dealing with Mono problems?

[EddyCurrent]

What about trying ReactOS, https://reactos.org/

[alex_holden]

I am using CamBam for Linux for many years on Ubuntu 18.04 and Mono "frozen" at version 5.12.
However, decided to install Ubuntu 22 on a dual boot system. But the latest Mono version has the same problems with 'File open' dialog box (no icons on the navigation buttons) and Python scripts do not run. CamBam just crashes out.
In the meantime Microsoft had swallowed Xamarin and I couldn't find a way to downgrade Mono to the last version I know that works correctly. The repository GPG keys are rejected by apt.
Did any of you had succeeded in dealing with Mono problems?

No, I have never had much success running CamBam directly on Linux using Mono. Hence why I switched to CamBam for Windows and .NET 4.8 via Wine 10.0.

BTW Ubuntu 22.04 is 3 years old (I'm on Kubuntu 25.04 and the current LTS is 24.04)

[alex_holden]

Update: I just upgraded from Kubuntu 25.04 to 25.10 and copy and paste in CamBam under Wine broke again. It still works within a single window but not from one window to another.

After a bit of experimentation I found that copy and paste works if I force Wine to use native Wayland instead of XWayland (by unsetting the DISPLAY environment variable). On the plus side it feels noticeably faster in native Wayland mode; on the minus side the window resizing controls aren't working properly (I have to leave the main window maximised).

[alex_holden]

I've spent a couple of hours trying to use CamBam under Wine in native Wayland mode so that copy and paste works, but I keep running into other annoying bugs that aren't present in X11/XWayland mode (e.g. drag and drop to change the order of MOPs doesn't work). Unfortunately I can't recommend it for now. Probably going to have to dust off the Windows partition to get some work done. 

[Dragonfly]

BTW Ubuntu 22.04 is 3 years old (I'm on Kubuntu 25.04 and the current LTS is 24.04)

If something works, don't change it.
I stick to that principle. 

[newlinuxuser]

I use cambam for linux with ubuntu 22.04, mono version 6.12.0.182 and everything works good.

[alex_holden]

I use cambam for linux with ubuntu 22.04, mono version 6.12.0.182 and everything works good.

I just tried CamBam for Linux again: copy and paste from one window to another doesn't work and dragging MOPs to change their order doesn't work. Mono 6.12.0.199 on Kubuntu 25.10. On the plus side I'm not seeing the missing button labels bug any more.

[alex_holden]

BTW Ubuntu 22.04 is 3 years old (I'm on Kubuntu 25.04 and the current LTS is 24.04)

If something works, don't change it.
I stick to that principle. 

Yes, staying up to date does bite me occasionally. The trouble is if you never update anything for fear of breaking something, before you know it you're running an ancient unsupported system full of known security vulnerabilities.

[Dragonfly]

I use cambam for linux with ubuntu 22.04, mono version 6.12.0.182 and everything works good.

Do the navigation buttons on 'file open' dialog box appear with their pics with that version of Mono?  Last time I tried buttons are there and can be identified when hovering the mouse pointer but are practically invisible because they have no symbol pictures on them.