Return to Quick Linux Tips

I'm trying to get as much working as possible as quickly as possible. Your continued feedback below would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to use Linux as much as possible and there are only a few applications for which I have no choice but to use Windows for. There is one stubborn Real Estate related website I use called MLXchange that for some mysterious reason was written to require ActiveX controls. I recently ran across the IEs4Linux project which allows you to install various versions of Internet Explorer very easily on most popular Linux distributions.

However MLXchange still didn't work. After some experiementation and Googling I finally figured out the secrets. I assume this should also allow most other websites that require ActiveX to also work. Please let me know in the comments section at the bottom if this does or does not work with other sites.

Installing Internet Explorer

Briefly, IEs4Linux requires wine  and cabextract  which on a yum  based system is very easy to install:

# yum -y install wine cabextract

$ gtar xzvf ies4linux-2.0.5.tar.gz
$ cd ies4linux-2.0.5
$ ./ies4linux
Welcome, greg! I'm IEs4Linux.
I can install IE 6, 5.5 and 5.0 for you easily and quickly.
You are just four 'enter's away from your IEs.

I'll ask you some questions now. Just answer y or n (default answer is the bold one)

IE 6 will be installed automatically.
Do you want to install IE 5.5 SP2 too? [ y / n ] y
        .
        .
        .
IEs 4 Linux installations finished! 

To run your IEs, type:
 ie6 
 ie55
 ie5

Adjust IE Security Settings

The default security settings will not allow ActiveX controls to be run. This is true even when running on a real Windows system.

Just open Tools -> Internet Options -> Security and just set the security level to Low like shown below:

Install a required DLL

If you try to use MLXchange now you'll see an error like this generated by IE 6.0:

Error message:
err:module:import_dll Library MFC42.DLL (which is needed by L"C:\\windows\\system32\\GeacView.dll") not found
err:module:import_dll Library GeacView.dll (which is needed by L"C:\\windows\\Downloaded Program Files\\GeacRevw.ocx") not found
err:module:import_dll Library MFC42.DLL (which is needed by L"C:\\windows\\Downloaded Program Files\\GeacRevw.ocx") not found

What you need to do is find a real Windows XP installation and grab the MFC42.DLL file in C:\Windows\System\  and copy it to your Linux system into the directory for the version of Internet Explorer you will be using.

$ cp mfc42.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/windows/system

The final step is to inform the special WINE installation that you will be installing native DLLs. Just create the file ~/.ies4linux/ie6/config  and put the following lines into the file:

; default for all other dlls
"*" = "builtin, native"

That's it! Now just start ie6 and use the ActiveX website. You're now just that much closer to ditching Windows for good.

Donate via Paypal: All these guides are done on my personal time as a community service. Please consider a donation to allow me to allocate the time to put these together: $ (USD) € (EUR) £ (GBP) $ (CAD) $ (AUD) ¥ (JPY)

The comments section below is only for comments, suggestions or corrections for this guide only. Please do not use this for general Fedora/Linux support. If you do require support for something other than what's described here I recommend using Fedora Forums.

Comments From People Like You! Internet Explorer w/ActiveX on Linux	add a comment
Steven Kovacs 25-Sep-2008 08:44
This is what I am getting when I try installing IE 7 on Fedora 9. IEs4Linux 2 is developed to be used with recent Wine versions (0.9.x). It seems that you are using an old version. It's recommended that you update your wine to the latest version (Go to: winehq.com). python: xcb_lock.c:33: _XCBUnlockDisplay: Assertion `xcb_get_request_sent(dpy->xcb->connection) == dpy->request' failed. Locking assertion failure.  Backtrace: #0 /usr/lib64/libxcb-xlib.so.0 [0x3264a0097c] #1 /usr/lib64/libxcb-xlib.so.0(xcb_xlib_lock+0x17) [0x3264a00af7] #2 /usr/lib64/libX11.so.6 [0x326424c610] #3 /usr/lib64/libX11.so.6(XUngrabPointer+0x1a) [0x326424291a] #4 /usr/lib64/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0(gdk_display_pointer_ungrab+0xae) [0x7ffb007e236e] #5 /usr/lib64/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0(gdk_pointer_ungrab+0x1b) [0x7ffb007b7c79] #6 /usr/lib64/gtk-2.0/modules/libgnomebreakpad.so [0x7ffaff61f69b] #7 /lib64/libpthread.so.0 [0x3262e0ed30] #8 /lib64/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x35) [0x3262232215] #9 /lib64/libc.so.6(abort+0x183) [0x3262233d83] #10 /lib64/libc.so.6(__assert_fail+0xe9) [0x326222b039] #11 /usr/lib64/libX11.so.6 [0x326424c5b7] #12 /usr/lib64/libXrender.so.1(XRenderCompositeTrapezoids+0x23e) [0x3266e060ae] #13 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f64b0cc] #14 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f61ffda] #15 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f623802] #16 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f6229da] #17 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f623335] #18 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f623a04] #19 /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 [0x326f620412] python: xcb_lock.c:77: _XGetXCBBuffer: Assertion `((int) ((xcb_req) - (dpy->request)) >= 0)' failed. Multiple segmentation faults occurred; can't display error dialog I will try IE 6 later, but it this is something you can ponder on and help me out I would greatly appreciate it. I have used Red Hat since V5 and Fedora Core 1 to 6. Now I have installed and am using V9. I never have had any sucess with wine. I hope you can help Cheers, Scoob (Steven Kovacs)
Askar Ali 14-Jun-2008 06:11
Its now working for me on Fedora 9, duno what has been changed coz i didn't do anything just tries to uninstall/install it couple of times. Yes today I have updated my fedora 9 too might be some updates made it working ;)
Drew DeNardo 03-Jun-2008 07:14
I have Fedora 9, too.  I got the same error as below when I did a GUI-based install.  I added "--no-gui" to the ies4liunux command line and everything installed just fine
Askar Ali 27-May-2008 09:13
Okay installation went smooth after adding "--no-gui" to command line, however now when i type "ie6" it take sometime and nothing happen and i got the shell again, any idea what I am missing?
Askar Ali 27-May-2008 08:25
I am trying to install it on Fedora 9, however everytime i run i get error... python: xcb_lock.c:33: _XCBUnlockDisplay: Assertion `xcb_get_request_sent(dpy->xcb->connection) == dpy->request' failed. Locking assertion failure.  Backtrace: #0 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0 [0xfd8767] #1 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0(xcb_xlib_lock+0x2e) [0xfd890e] #2 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 [0xd8b109] #3 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6(XUngrabPointer+0x25) [0xd80d55] #4 /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0(gdk_display_pointer_ungrab+0xba) [0xbf5f54] #5 /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0(gdk_pointer_ungrab+0x1c) [0xbccdd9] #6 /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/modules/libgnomebreakpad.so [0x6b8736e] #7 /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/modules/libgnomebreakpad.so(_ZN15google_breakpad16ExceptionHandler21InternalWriteMinidumpEijPP10sigcontext+0x43) [0x6b87893] #8 /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/modules/libgnomebreakpad.so(_ZN15google_breakpad16ExceptionHandler15HandleExceptionEi+0xa3) [0x6b87e23] #9 [0x12e400] #10 /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x188) [0x2f6028] #11 /lib/libc.so.6(__assert_fail+0xee) [0x2ed57e] #12 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 [0xd8b09e] #13 /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1(XRenderCompositeTrapezoids+0x1fc) [0xebd3bc] #14 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xd253e7] #15 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xcf6141] #16 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xcf9cb4] #17 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xcf8d87] #18 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xcf9795] #19 /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 [0xcf9e41] python: xcb_lock.c:77: _XGetXCBBuffer: Assertion `((int) ((xcb_req) - (dpy->request)) >= 0)' failed. ui/pygtk/python-gtk.sh: line 6:  5248 Aborted                 python "$IES4LINUX"/ui/pygtk/ies4linux-gtk.py
sotterranea 07-Mar-2008 12:24
I downloaded mfc42.cab manually from http://activex.microsoft.com/controls/vc/mfc42.cab and I successfully run ./ies4linux --no-gui. It works! :)
sotterranea 07-Mar-2008 12:16
Under CentOS release 5 (Final) I have the following error:  Installing ActiveX MFC42 /home/myuser/.ies4linux/downloads/mfc42.cab: No such file or directory An error occured when trying to cabextract some files. The full feedback: IEs4Linux will:  - Install Internet Explorers: 6.0  - Using IE locale: EN-US  - Install Adobe Flash 9.0  - Install everything at: /home/myuser/.ies4linux [ OK ] Downloading everything we need  Downloading from microsoft.com:   DCOM98.EXE   0%   mfc42.cab   249973USA8.exe   ADVAUTH.CAB   CRLUPD.CAB   HHUPD.CAB   IEDOM.CAB   IE_EXTRA.CAB   IE_S1.CAB   IE_S2.CAB   IE_S5.CAB   IE_S4.CAB   IE_S3.CAB   IE_S6.CAB   SETUPW95.CAB   FONTCORE.CAB   FONTSUP.CAB   VGX.CAB   SCR56EN.CAB  Downloading from macromedia.com:   swflash.cab [ OK ] Installing IE 6  Initializing  Creating Wine Prefix  Extracting CAB files  Installing IE 6  Installing DCOM98  Installing TTF Fonts  Installing ActiveX MFC42 /home/myuser/.ies4linux/downloads/mfc42.cab: No such file or directory An error occured when trying to cabextract some files.
Sohail Mirza 23-Feb-2008 23:18
For those experiencing the Python segmentation fault, a workaround that helped me is to run ies4linux from the command-line with the --no-gui option.  Bypassing the UI avoids the Python errors you might otherwise experience. So, try the following from your terminal: ./ies4linux --no-gui For all the command line options, try this: ./ies4linux --full-help
Hessu 10-Jan-2008 09:01
I'm getting the same error has Justin: tj@spold ~/ies4linux-2.99.0: ./ies4linux         /home/tj/ies4linux-2.99.0/ui/pygtk/ies4linux-gtk.py:399: Warning: g_object_ref: assertion `object->ref_count > 0' failed gtk.main() /home/tj/ies4linux-2.99.0/ui/pygtk/ies4linux-gtk.py:399: Warning: g_object_unref: assertion `G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed gtk.main() ui/pygtk/python-gtk.sh: line 6:  7076 Segmentation fault      (core dumped) python "$IES4LINUX"/ui/pygtk/ies4linux-gtk.py tj@spold ~/ies4linux-2.99.0: uname -a Linux spold 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 08:02:57 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
Justin 21-Dec-2007 08:44
Every time I try to install ies4linux, I get a python segmentation fault.  Everything installed perfectly for me last time in Fedora 7 before I reformatted my HDD. Here's what it looks like (it's always in line 6) [justin@localhost ies4linux-2.99.0]$ ./ies4linuxui/pygtk/python-gtk.sh: line 6:  6949 Segmentation fault      python "$IES4LINUX"/ui/pygtk/ies4linux-gtk.py
Gnorb 19-Aug-2007 00:04
Installed the package according to the instructions. Installation was flawless. However, I seem to be having an issue with the navigation bar. It seems when I type in an address whatever I type is not recognized by the system (in fact, the preview dropdown just displays question marks). Could the encoding be causing problems? Could the fonts installed be the issue? (I can send a list if necessary.) Thanks.
filo 26-Jul-2007 04:42
Sorry, thanks for tutorial but ActiveX still doesn't works for me either for IE6 or IE5.5. What else I have to do or check ? Should created config file have some  specific privileges ?
Preston Gallwas 06-Jul-2007 10:58
This fix hasn't worked for our Epicenter Centerline KVM system which relies heavily on activex.  Unfortunately, its up to VMWare for the time being.  It appears to work a bit (more) in the new IEs4Linux beta, but the "security" page is blank and I can't set properties for unsafe controls.
Dennis Hedegaard 15-May-2007 10:03
Thanks mate, solved my problem :)
Lijoe Chakiath 23-Oct-2006 06:21
Sir, How can I have 1.1 .NET framework installed for this? One of the software I use need Activex and 1.1 .Net Framework. I tried installing the dotnetfx.exe and it said at one time successfully compeleted. But even after restarting IE and trying to login this IE browser returns with message 1.1 .Net framework not installed, download and install. Your help is highly appreciated here. Regards Lijoe http://chakkys.com

All pictures and text are the property of Gregory Gulik unless otherwise specified. Please contact site owner if you would like permission to use these pictures for your own purposes or to make comments about anything you see here.