Mac e-Sword


What is e-Sword?

e-Sword is a fantastic electronic Bible study program that includes many translations of the Bible, commentaries, dictionaries, and more that was developed to run on Microsoft Windows. Check out the e-Sword website for further details.



I want to run it on my Mac!

Me too! So, I've created a package that combines a free, open-source project called Darwine (v0.9.57) and e-Sword (v7.9.8). I've also pre-installed a number of Bible translations, commentaries, dictionaries, and extras for e-Sword. This will allow Mac users to run e-Sword on their Intel-based Mac. Not sure if you have an Intel-based Mac? This might help: Apple started using Intel processors around January 10, 2006. Also, if you have Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) you need to make sure you have the X11 package installed. Check out this link. If you have Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) the X11 package comes installed by default so you probably don't have to worry about it.



Instructions:

  1. STRONGLY CONSIDER the following: e-Sword requires four native Windows DLL files (msls31.dll, riched32.dll, riched20.dll, oleaut32.dll) to operate correctly in WINE. What does this mean practically? It means that in order to use this software you should own a Windows license. Consider this, have you ever in your life owned a computer that came with Windows? Have you ever in your life purchased Windows or an upgrade for Windows? Yes? Good. You're fine1. Also, I'm totally not responsible if this package royally screws your computer up. It almost certainly won't, but still, I'm not responsible.

  2. If you have Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) you need to make sure you have the X11 package installed. Check out this link for instructions.

  3. Download the Mac e-Sword DMG file (205MB).

  4. Double-Click the "mac_e-sword.dmg" file to mount it. Then open the mounted "mac_e-sword" drive and double-click on the file "runme.command".

  5. A terminal window will open that contains some cryptic looking text. Wait until you see the "[Process Completed]" statement (should take a few minutes) and then close the terminal window.

    1. Open your "Applications" folder, then look in the "Darwine" folder, then look in the "Sample WineLib Applications" folder.
    2. Now control-click (or "right click") on any of the files and select "Get Info".
    3. In the "Info" window look under the "Open with:" heading and select "Other..." from the drop-down box. In the small Finder window that opens find the "Darwine" folder again and open it. Select the file "WineHelper.app" and click the "Add" button.
    4. Now, back in the "Info" window select the "Change All..." button under the "Open with:" heading. When the box pops up asking you if you are sure, just click continue.
    5. Close the "Info" window. Put simply, what we just did was change the file association for all .exe files to "WineHelper.app". You can refer to this website for a more general explaination of what needs to be done.

  7. Look in your "Applications" folder. There should now be a file in this folder called "e-Sword". Double-click on it to launch e-Sword.




FAQ

  1. Can I install additional e-Sword packages?
    Of course! Just download the executable file from the e-Sword webpage and double-click on it as normal. Accept the default installation directory of "C:\Program Files\e-Sword".

  2. Hey, what are these other two programs, "WineHelper" and "X11", that open up when I open e-Sword?
    Ok, well, WineHelper is part of Darwine which is the program that helps us run Windows applications on our Mac. X11 is a program that helps WineHelper. Don't close these other program while you are using e-Sword, but feel free to close them AFTER you've closed e-Sword.

  3. Why is e-Sword kind of chopy?
    When running e-Sword under Darwine scrolling through text and resizing the window can be kind of jerky or chopy. The technical reason why this happens is kind of complicated. To my knowledge there is not a way to "fix" this. If you know of one please tell me.

  4. I minimized e-Sword to the dock and now when I brought it up again it's frozen!
    It's actually not frozen, however I've noticed this happens sometimes. You can get it to start responding again by minimizing it to the dock and bringing it up again. You might have to do this a few times. Just fool around with it a bit and it will come back to life, it's not actually frozen.

  5. What does the installation script actually do to my computer?
    It copies a directory called "Darwine", which contains the Darwine application, into your /Applications directory. It copies a folder called .wine, which contains the e-Sword program and Windows libraries, into the home directory of the user that executed the installation script. It also creates a symbolic link called "e-Sword" in your /Applications directory that points to the e-Sword executable (in ~/.wine).

  6. Hey, your package didn't work for me!
    Ok, sorry. I'm interested in hearing about it though. Send me an e-mail that explains what Mac computer you are using (example, Macbook 2.1GHz), what version of OS X you are running (example, 10.5.2), and a DETAILED description of the problem you're experiencing. No promises, but I might be able to help.




Contact Information

You can contact me by sending an e-mail to: macesword[THE AT SYMBOL]whatisrazar[THE DOT SYMBOL]com. Replace the bracketed text with the symbols they describe. This keeps spam bots from picking up my e-mail address and sending me lots of horrible e-mails.



1I am not a copyright lawyer. This statement does not denote real legal advice. Only download and use the Mac e-Sword package if you have a legitimate Windows license. If you are truly concerned about your Windows licensing status please do your own independent research. You have been properly warned of the contents of the files available on this website. I am not in any way responsible for your actions.