Mac e-Sword


* Now with e-Sword 9.0.2! *


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 (v9.0.2). 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. Also, please note that the Mac OS 10.5.7 update breaks the ability to copy and paste out of e-Sword. I don't currently know of a work-around other than simply not upgrading.



Instructions:

  1. Upgrading from a previous version of this package? See the first question in the FAQ before reading the instructions.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Download the Mac e-Sword DMG file (156MB).

  5. Double-Click the "mac_e-sword-9.0.2.dmg" file to mount it. Then open the mounted "mac_e-sword" drive and double-click on the file "runme.command".

  6. 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.

  8. 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. I'm upgrading from a pervious version of this package. What do I need to know?
    In order to upgrade you just follow the installation instructions as usual. Be aware that upgrading from one version of this package to another will completely wipe out any changes you have made to e-Sword. You will only have the Bibles, commentaries, etc. that I have included with this package installed. Any additional material will have to be re-installed. You will also lose any "study notes" or bookmarks you have made.

  2. 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". One thing to keep in mind though is that e-Sword version 9 uses a different package format than e-Sword version 7. This means packages from version 7 won't work on 9 and vice versa.

  3. I used to be able to copy and paste out of e-Sword and into other programs and now I can't! What happened?
    Mac OS 10.5.7 breaks the ability to copy and paste out of e-Sword. This is related to a change in the version of X11 (Xquartz) they include by default. Hopefully this will be fixed in future updates, but I don't currently know of a work-around other than simply not upgrading.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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).

  8. I have files I'd like to add to the e-Sword application directory (typically "C:\Program Files\e-Sword"), but I can't find it! How can I add these files? Will it work?
    I'll start by saying there is no simple way to do this. The path to the e-Sword application directory is "~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/e-Sword". The '~' symbol resolves to the current user's home directory in OS X (typically "/Users/*username*/"). The '.' in front of the "wine" directory name specifies that it is a hidden directory. You can access it from the Terminal, but it will not appear in the Finder. You can copy your files into the e-Sword application directory this way, but I'm not making any guarantees that it will definitely work. Darwine also creates a "e-Sword" directory in your home directory that it uses to store files that are modified while e-Sword is running (like your Study Notes for instance). If you wish to copy your old study notes from a previous e-Sword installation you may want to try copying them into this directory and overwriting the existing files, but again, no guarantees.

  9. I'd like to download a previous version of the Mac e-Sword package. Are these still available?
    Sure. Mac e-Sword (7.9.8) DMG file (205MB).

  10. When I start e-Sword I see the error message "Make sure that your X server is running and that $DISPLAY is set correctly." or something similar. What should I do?
    This likely means that something has gone haywire with your X11 server or that X11 simply is not installed on your Mac. I would first try installing X11 from your operating system CD (check out this link for instructions). If that doesn't work you can try these instructions I found on a Mac forum for completely removing and re-installing X11 (this is a little technical):
    Messed X11 up, got confused, want to start over? Before you start deleting anything, make sure you have a Leopard's installation DVD available and downloaded the latest X11 package from the Xquartz Project.
    * Delete pretty much all X11 from you system, and let it forget its receipts:
    sudo rm -rf /usr/X11 /usr/X11R6
    sudo pkgutil --forget com.apple.pkg.X11DocumentationLeo
    sudo pkgutil --forget com.apple.pkg.X11User
    sudo pkgutil --forget com.apple.pkg.X11SDKLeo
    sudo pkgutil --forget org.x.X11.pkg
    * Install X11User.pkg from Leopard's installation DVD, which is in /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Optional Install/Optional Installs.mpkg
    * Install X11SDK.pkg from Leopard's installation DVD, which is in /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Optional Installs/Xcode Tools/Packages/
    * Install the latest X11 package release from the Xquartz Project.
  11. 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.