Minor edits: [TL/DR, make sure you also install internet explorer in your wineprefix: ie8 can only be installed on the x86 linux laptop, but ie6 will install in Pi/ExaGear]
1. I've been trying different combinations of components in different wineprefixes and internet connectivity seems to not work or partially work in some of my wineprefixes. By 'partially working' I mean that HF Channel Selector gets stuck "Downloading channel records from the Winlink databse..."? I recommend installing gecko+mono+dotnet35sp1+ie8 on the x86 laptop's wineprefix?(with "winetricks?dotnet35sp1 ie8", then click yes to mono and yes to gecko) before tarring and transferring the tarred wineprefix to the Pi.? If your wineprefix is already on your Pi/ExaGear and doesn't have ie8, you can run "winetricks ie6" to fix the HF Channel Selector stall too.
(Notes: Wine will check ~/.cache/wine for Mono and Gecko install files. If it finds those install files, Wine will automatically them into a new wineprefix. If it doesn't find them, Wine will ask you if you want to install Mono and Gecko - click yes to both).? IE8 won't install in ExaGear.
2. Even if we fix the stalling problem, the RMS Express?HF Channel Selector doesn't seem to work quite right in CrossOver or in any wineprefix I can conjure up.? The Channel Selector is functional, it just takes about 5 minutes to update its propagation indices and sometimes crashes the first time it's loaded.? Just restart it if it crashes.? If you let it run for 5 minutes, then you shouldn't have to do that again - just don't hit the Update Table Via Internet button.? If anybody figures out a fix for this, let me know.? I'm currently experimenting with ITS HF:?
3. An old, working, pdh.dll is actually available for download direct from Microsoft (??), which includes a note that the file is distributable for Win NT.? This exe is actually just a zip file, which can be unzipped with the "unzip" command in the linux terminal (if unzip is installed).? Thus, we are no longer reliant on the zip file on K6ETA's blog or sketchy DLL files.
4. I've made some commands to automate the downloading of components we need:
Winlink Express (formerly RMS Express): https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs/
cd ~/Downloads && wget -r -l1 -np -nd -A "Winlink_Express_install_*.zip" https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs
VARA 4.0.3: https://rosmodem.wordpress.com/
sudo apt-get install megatools -y && cd ~/Downloads && megadl 'https://mega.nz/file/HHAEmQAK#-u8Nje0GcMfcsCdsCHJqHvDcDrIyEn7LKjd9vMwSsk4'
pdh.dll (the "winetricks pdh" version is too new, and the built-in wine dll is not functional, we need an older real dll):
cd ~/Downloads && wget http://download.microsoft.com/download/winntsrv40/update/5.0.2195.2668/nt4/en-us/nt4pdhdll.exe && sudo apt install unzip -y && unzip nt4pdhdll.exe && cp pdh.dll ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32
# don't forget to add pdh to winecfg's DLL overrides: Use (native, builtin)
