WineASIO

WineASIO provides an ASIO to JACK driver for WINE, enabling professional Windows audio applications to run seamlessly on Linux with low-latency performance.

ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) is the industry-standard Windows low-latency audio driver, commonly used by DAWs, virtual instruments, and audio production software. WineASIO bridges ASIO calls to JACK, allowing you to integrate Windows applications into a native Linux audio workflow with PipeWire/JACK.

Compatible Applications: FL Studio, Native Instruments Kontakt, EZkeys, UVI Workstation, Reaper, and many other professional audio programs.

Professional Audio Production Setup

The screenshot below demonstrates a complete Linux audio production environment with WineASIO seamlessly integrating Windows software into the native JACK/PipeWire audio infrastructure:

• MOTU M4 JACK Settings (left) - Running with optimized low-latency configuration (~10.7ms at 48kHz, 256 frames, 2 periods)
• Patchance (bottom-left) - Visualizing real-time audio routing between WineASIO, PipeWire, and hardware interfaces
• Native Instruments Kontakt 7 (right) - Professional sample library running flawlessly with excellent sound quality via WineASIO

This setup proves that Linux is a fully viable platform for professional audio production, combining the power of open-source tools with industry-standard Windows audio software.

Complete audio production setup: MOTU M4 JACK Settings, Patchance showing WineASIO routing, and Native Instruments Kontakt 7 running via Wine 11

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🎉 Wine 11 Support (v1.4.2)

WineASIO now fully supports Wine 11, including 32-bit applications!

Wine 11 (released January 13, 2026) introduced a new DLL architecture that separates PE (Windows) code from Unix code. This required a complete rewrite of WineASIO's build system and internal architecture.

⚠️ Important: Wine 11 WoW64 Architecture

In Wine 11 WoW64, 32-bit PE DLLs use 64-bit Unix libraries. This is different from traditional Wine where 32-bit used 32-bit Unix libraries.

32-bit PE (wineasio.dll) → WoW64 Thunking → 64-bit Unix (wineasio.so)

This means:

• wineasio.dll (32-bit PE) is installed to i386-windows/
• wineasio.so (64-bit Unix!) is installed to x86_64-unix/ (NOT i386-unix/)

Wine Version Compatibility

Wine Version	Build Method	Status
Wine 11.x	make -f Makefile.wine11	✅ Fully Supported
Wine 10.2+	make -f Makefile.wine11	✅ Fully Supported
Wine 10.0-10.1	make (legacy)	✅ Supported
Wine 6.x-9.x	make (legacy)	✅ Supported

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Building for Wine 11+

Prerequisites

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install gcc-mingw-w64 wine-stable wine-stable-dev libjack-jackd2-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install mingw64-gcc mingw32-gcc wine-devel jack-audio-connection-kit-devel

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S mingw-w64-gcc wine wine-staging jack2

Build Commands (Wine 11+)

Build both 32-bit and 64-bit versions:

make -f Makefile.wine11 all

Build only 64-bit:

make -f Makefile.wine11 64

Build only 32-bit:

make -f Makefile.wine11 32

Installation (Wine 11+)

sudo make -f Makefile.wine11 install

This will:

• Copy wineasio64.dll to Wine's 64-bit PE directory
• Copy wineasio64.so to Wine's 64-bit Unix directory
• Copy wineasio.dll to Wine's 32-bit PE directory
• Copy wineasio.so to Wine's 32-bit Unix directory
• Register the driver with Wine

Manual Installation (Wine 11+)

For custom Wine installations, specify the Wine prefix:

sudo make -f Makefile.wine11 install WINE_PREFIX=/path/to/wine

Default paths for Wine 11:

# 64-bit
sudo cp build_wine11/wineasio64.dll /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-windows/
sudo cp build_wine11/wineasio64.so /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-unix/

# 32-bit (note: Unix .so goes to x86_64-unix, NOT i386-unix!)
sudo cp build_wine11/wineasio.dll /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/i386-windows/
sudo cp build_wine11/wineasio.so /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-unix/

Note: In Wine 11 WoW64, there is NO i386-unix/ directory. All Unix libraries are 64-bit.

Registration (Wine 11+)

After installation, register the driver:

# 64-bit
wine regsvr32 wineasio64.dll

# 32-bit (use syswow64 regsvr32 for WoW64)
wine ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/syswow64/regsvr32.exe wineasio.dll

Or use the Makefile:

make -f Makefile.wine11 register

Verify Installation

make -f Makefile.wine11 verify

This checks:

• All DLL and SO files are in place
• Registry entries are correct

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Building for Wine 10.1 and Earlier (Legacy)

Build Commands

# 32-bit
make 32

# 64-bit
make 64

Installation (Legacy)

# 32-bit
sudo cp build32/wineasio32.dll /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/wine/i386-windows/
sudo cp build32/wineasio32.dll.so /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/wine/i386-unix/

# 64-bit
sudo cp build64/wineasio64.dll /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/wine/x86_64-windows/
sudo cp build64/wineasio64.dll.so /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/wine/x86_64-unix/

Note: Wine paths vary between distributions. Adjust paths accordingly.

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Registering WineASIO

After installing, register WineASIO in your Wine prefix:

wineasio-register

Custom Wine Prefix

env WINEPREFIX=~/my-daw-prefix wineasio-register

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Configuration

WineASIO is configured via the Windows registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\WineASIO).
All options can be overridden by environment variables.

Available Options

Registry Key	Default	Environment Variable	Description
Number of inputs	16	WINEASIO_NUMBER_INPUTS	Number of JACK input ports
Number of outputs	16	WINEASIO_NUMBER_OUTPUTS	Number of JACK output ports
Autostart server	0 (off)	WINEASIO_AUTOSTART_SERVER	Start JACK automatically
Connect to hardware	1 (on)	WINEASIO_CONNECT_TO_HARDWARE	Auto-connect to physical ports
Fixed buffersize	1 (on)	WINEASIO_FIXED_BUFFERSIZE	Buffer size controlled by JACK
Preferred buffersize	1024	WINEASIO_PREFERRED_BUFFERSIZE	Preferred buffer size (power of 2)
Client name	(auto)	WINEASIO_CLIENT_NAME	JACK client name

GUI Control Panel (Wine 11)

A PyQt5/PyQt6 control panel is included for configuring WineASIO settings. When you click "Show ASIO Panel" in your DAW (e.g., FL Studio, Reaper), WineASIO launches the native Linux settings GUI.

How it works:

1. Your DAW calls the ASIO ControlPanel() function
2. WineASIO's Unix-side code uses fork()/exec() to launch wineasio-settings
3. The Python/PyQt GUI reads and writes settings to the Wine registry

Launch manually:

# From Linux terminal
wineasio-settings

# From Wine (using Windows launcher)
wine /usr/share/wineasio/wineasio-settings64.exe

Requirements:

• PyQt5 or PyQt6: pip install PyQt5 or pip install PyQt6

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MIDI Support

WineASIO handles audio only (ASIO). For MIDI with Windows applications under Wine, use Wine's built-in MIDI support:

How Wine MIDI Works

Wine's winealsa.drv provides Windows MIDI API support via ALSA MIDI. To use MIDI devices with JACK:

# Start the ALSA-to-JACK MIDI bridge
a2jmidid -e &

# List available MIDI ports
jack_lsp | grep -i midi

You should see your MIDI devices as a2j: ports:

a2j:Kurzweil KM88 [16] (capture): [0] Kurzweil KM88 (USB MIDI)
a2j:Kurzweil KM88 [16] (playback): [0] Kurzweil KM88 (USB MIDI)
a2j:WINE midi driver [129] (playback): [0] WINE ALSA Input

Connecting MIDI Devices to Wine Applications

Use jack_connect, QjackCtl, or Carla to route MIDI from your hardware to Wine:

# Connect a hardware MIDI keyboard to Wine
jack_connect "a2j:Your Keyboard (capture)" "a2j:WINE midi driver (playback)"

The MIDI devices will then appear in your Windows DAW's MIDI settings.

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Troubleshooting

Settings GUI doesn't open

1. Ensure wineasio-settings is in PATH: which wineasio-settings
2. Check PyQt is installed: python3 -c "from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication"
3. Try launching manually: wineasio-settings

Wine 11: "Unix library not found"

Ensure both PE and Unix libraries are installed:

# Check files exist
ls -la /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-windows/wineasio64.dll
ls -la /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-unix/wineasio64.so

Wine 11: DLL not loading

Make sure the DLL is marked as a Wine builtin:

sudo winebuild --builtin /opt/wine-stable/lib/wine/x86_64-windows/wineasio64.dll

JACK not connecting

1. Ensure JACK is running: jack_lsp
2. Check WineASIO JACK client: jack_lsp | grep -i wine
3. Use QjackCtl or Carla to manage connections

32-bit apps not finding WineASIO

32-bit Windows apps use WoW64. Ensure:

• wineasio.dll is in i386-windows/
• wineasio.so is in x86_64-unix/ (NOT i386-unix/ - Wine 11 WoW64 uses 64-bit Unix libs!)
• Register with 32-bit regsvr32: wine regsvr32 wineasio.dll

No audio from 32-bit apps (Wine 11)

If 32-bit apps load WineASIO but produce no audio:

1. Verify wineasio.so is 64-bit: file /path/to/wine/x86_64-unix/wineasio.so should say "ELF 64-bit"
2. Check for [WineASIO-Unix] debug messages - if missing, Unix library not loading
3. Rebuild with make -f Makefile.wine11 32 and reinstall

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Technical Details (Wine 11 Architecture)

Wine 11 requires a split architecture:

Component	Description	Built With	Install Location
wineasio64.dll	64-bit PE DLL (Windows code)	mingw-w64 -m64	x86_64-windows/
wineasio64.so	64-bit Unix library (JACK interface)	gcc -m64	x86_64-unix/
wineasio.dll	32-bit PE DLL (Windows code)	mingw-w64 -m32	i386-windows/
wineasio.so	64-bit Unix library for 32-bit PE	gcc -m64	x86_64-unix/

Critical: In Wine 11 WoW64, the Unix library for 32-bit PE is 64-bit, not 32-bit!

The PE DLL handles:

• COM/ASIO interface
• Registry configuration
• Host application callbacks

The Unix SO handles:

• JACK connection and audio processing
• Real-time audio callbacks
• Buffer management

Communication between PE and Unix uses Wine's __wine_unix_call interface.

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File Structure

wineasio/
├── asio_pe.c           # PE-side code (Wine 11)
├── asio_unix.c         # Unix-side code (Wine 11)
├── unixlib.h           # Shared interface definitions
├── Makefile.wine11     # Wine 11+ build system
├── Makefile            # Legacy build system
├── asio.c              # Legacy combined code
├── wineasio.def        # Export definitions
├── gui/                # PyQt control panel
│   ├── settings.py     # Main settings GUI
│   └── ui_settings.py  # UI definitions
├── docs/               # Documentation
│   ├── DEVELOPMENT.md              # Developer guide
│   ├── WINE11_PORTING.md           # Wine 11 porting details
│   ├── WINE11_WOW64_ARCHITECTURE.md
│   └── WINE11_WOW64_32BIT_SOLUTION.md
├── tests/              # Test programs
│   └── test_asio_*.c
└── docker/             # Docker build environment

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Change Log

See CHANGELOG.md for the full changelog.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please test with:

• Wine 11.x (new architecture)
• Various DAWs (FL Studio, Reaper, Ableton, Bitwig, etc.)
• Both 32-bit and 64-bit applications

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Legal

Copyright (C) 2006 Robert Reif
Portions copyright (C) 2007 Ralf Beck
Portions copyright (C) 2007 Johnny Petrantoni
Portions copyright (C) 2007 Stephane Letz
Portions copyright (C) 2008 William Steidtmann
Portions copyright (C) 2010 Peter L Jones
Portions copyright (C) 2010 Torben Hohn
Portions copyright (C) 2010 Nedko Arnaudov
Portions copyright (C) 2011 Christian Schoenebeck
Portions copyright (C) 2013 Joakim Hernberg
Portions copyright (C) 2020-2023 Filipe Coelho
Portions copyright (C) 2026 Wine 11 Port Contributors

The WineASIO library code is licensed under LGPL v2.1, see COPYING.LIB for more details. The WineASIO settings UI code is licensed under GPL v2+, see COPYING.GUI for more details.

ASIO SDK Note

WineASIO does not require the Steinberg ASIO SDK to build. All ASIO interface definitions (structures, constants, enums) are implemented independently in this project. This is legally permissible as APIs and interfaces are not copyrightable.

Older documentation (e.g., wiki pages from 2011) may mention downloading asio.h from Steinberg - this is no longer necessary. Additionally, Steinberg has since released the ASIO SDK under GPLv3 (the "Open Source" variant), making it compatible with open source projects.

ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.