Age of Empires II Definitive Edition Desynchronization Issue
PisauraXTX May 12, 2021
Hi everyone.

I just started playing Age of Empires II Definitive Edition on linux. It launches and runs singleplayer perfectly fine. But whenever I try to join an online game, I get a desynchronization issue that ends the game anywhere between a few seconds to a minute into the match.

I tried this solution and did everything as described in the post.
Except I first had to create the directories. /compatdata/ and everything below that did not exist on my computer. Extraction worked without errors, so I did not delete anything.

I tried several different versions of Proton: Proton-6.4-GE-1, Proton Experimental, Proton 6.3-3, Proton 5.13-6 and Proton 5.0-10 all launched and ran the game fine, but all of them also had the desync issue.

Proton-6.8-GE did not launch at all. The launch window comes up and crashes the whole desktop after a few seconds. The clock stops running and it's not possible to interact with any elements on the desktop or taskbar anymore. I was forced to terminate the process on every attempt.

I would be very grateful if anyone could direct me to a solution to play AoE II DE in multiplayer on linux. Or if I'm missing something in the fixes I already tried, please let me know.
This topic has an answer marked - jump to answer.
tuxintuxedo May 12, 2021
QuoteExcept I first had to create the directories. /compatdata/ and everything below that did not exist on my computer.
This is the problem. What protondb basically tells you is to extract the files to your game's proton prefix. I cannot tell you where to look for it, but it surely exists somewhere (it is created on the first start and is changed the next start if you change the proton version).
I think vc_redist can also be installed through winetricks/protontricks (you still have to know where your directories and files are).

Last edited by tuxintuxedo on 12 May 2021 at 2:23 pm UTC
PisauraXTX May 12, 2021
Quoting: tuxintuxedoThis is the problem. What protondb basically tells you is to extract the files to your game's proton prefix. I cannot tell you where to look for it, but it surely exists somewhere (it is created on the first start and is changed the next start if you change the proton version).
Ah yes, thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I suspected that something was wrong with the file paths. The game is installed on a different hard drive, so there are two /steam/steamapps/ directories. I had to go to the one on the hard drive where the game is installed and do the operations there, as described in the protondb post. So I just had to open a terminal and put in the following:

cd /media/TheHardDriveInQuestion/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32/ 
wget "https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe"
cabextract vc_redist.x64.exe
cabextract a10


I ran Age of Empires on Proton Experimental and it worked! Played a whole game without desync, though I had to resign eventually because my team didn't coordinate too well.

Again, thanks a lot!
tuxintuxedo May 12, 2021
I'm glad it worked. Have fun!
philterphil Aug 24, 2021
Hi everyone,

I think I have a similar problem.
I usually use Ubuntu, but I wanted to test Linux Mint. With Ubuntu I had no problems running aoe2 de in multiplayer. Now with Linux Mint I get the out of sync error...

I tried the solution abouth but its not working for me.

This is what the console is telling me. Im not sure what that means behind cabextract a10

user@y700:~$ cd /home/$USER/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32/
user@y700:~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32$ wget "https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe"
--2021-08-24 18:50:29--  https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe
Auflösen des Hostnamens aka.ms (aka.ms) … 23.32.88.234
Verbindungsaufbau zu aka.ms (aka.ms)|23.32.88.234|:443... verbunden.
HTTP-Anforderung gesendet, auf Antwort wird gewartet … 301 Moved Permanently
Platz: https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/7239cdc3-bd73-4f27-9943-22de059a6267/003063723B2131DA23F40E2063FB79867BAE275F7B5C099DBD1792E25845872B/VC_redist.x64.exe [folgend]
--2021-08-24 18:50:29--  https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/7239cdc3-bd73-4f27-9943-22de059a6267/003063723B2131DA23F40E2063FB79867BAE275F7B5C099DBD1792E25845872B/VC_redist.x64.exe
Auflösen des Hostnamens download.visualstudio.microsoft.com (download.visualstudio.microsoft.com) … 2606:2800:133:f17:19e8:2356:251b:2a9, 68.232.34.200
Verbindungsaufbau zu download.visualstudio.microsoft.com (download.visualstudio.microsoft.com)|2606:2800:133:f17:19e8:2356:251b:2a9|:443... verbunden.
HTTP-Anforderung gesendet, auf Antwort wird gewartet … 200 OK
Länge: 25167488 (24M) [application/octet-stream]
Wird in »vc_redist.x64.exe« gespeichert.

vc_redist.x64.exe                                           100%[=========================================================================================================================================>]  24,00M  1017KB/s    in 25s     

2021-08-24 18:50:54 (1003 KB/s) - »vc_redist.x64.exe« gespeichert [25167488/25167488]

user@y700:~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32$ cabextract vc_redist.x64.exe
Extracting cabinet: vc_redist.x64.exe
  extracting 0
  extracting u0
  extracting u1
  extracting u2
  extracting u3
  extracting u4
  extracting u5
  extracting u6
  extracting u7
  extracting u8
  extracting u9
  extracting u10
  extracting u11
  extracting u12
  extracting u13
  extracting u14
  extracting u15
  extracting u16
  extracting u17
  extracting u18
  extracting u19
  extracting u20
  extracting u21
  extracting u22
  extracting u23
  extracting u24
  extracting u25
  extracting u26
  extracting u27
  extracting u28
  extracting u29
  extracting u30
  extracting u31
  extracting a0
  extracting a1
  extracting a2
  extracting a3
  extracting a4
  extracting a5
  extracting a6
  extracting a7
  extracting a8
  extracting a9
  extracting a10
  extracting a11
  extracting a12
  extracting a13

All done, no errors.
user@y700:~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32$ cabextract a10
a10: no valid cabinets found

All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
user@y700:~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/windows/system32$


I also tried several different proton versions and all had the out of sync error.
PisauraXTX Aug 24, 2021
Quoting: philterphilHi everyone,

I think I have a similar problem.
I usually use Ubuntu, but I wanted to test Linux Mint. With Ubuntu I had no problems running aoe2 de in multiplayer. Now with Linux Mint I get the out of sync error...

I tried the solution abouth but its not working for me.

Are you sure you hit the right directory? It's a little confusing in the linked post from ProtonDB, just from the way it's phrased.
philterphil Aug 24, 2021
Thank you for the reply.
Im pretty sure i got the right directory. All folders already existed. And if I search the /$USER/ directory I only get 1 folder with the name compatdata.

This is a picture of the path I used.
https://ibb.co/WkNznYZ
Veowolf Sep 20, 2021
Quoting: philterphilThank you for the reply.
Im pretty sure i got the right directory. All folders already existed. And if I search the /$USER/ directory I only get 1 folder with the name compatdata.

This is a picture of the path I used.
https://ibb.co/WkNznYZ

Hello there. Just use that guide to resolve the problem. I have ckecked, it works.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.