Issues Running runMLwiN on macOS with Virtual Machine

[variorum]

I'm new to using R2MLwiN with MLwiN and I could use some help. I'm currently running macOS Ventura (version 13.5.2) and I'm trying to get the MLwiN 30-day trial working with R2MLwiN in R. I downloaded the trial version and got the "MLwiN-30-day.msi" file. I extracted all the files from the msi file and found that the only executable file is "w32_mlwin.exe".

Here’s what I did so far:

Installed the 30-day trial version of MLwiN.

Set the path in R using:

Code: Select all

library(R2MLwiN)
options(MLwiN_path="/Users/Documents/MLwiN-30-day/w32_mlwin.exe")
data(tutorial)
model_1 <- runMLwiN(normexam ~ cons + standlrt + (1 | student), data = tutorial)

However, I keep encountering the error message:

Code: Select all

Error in runMLwiN(normexam ~ cons + standlrt + (1 | student), data = tutorial) : /Users/Documents/MLwiN-30-day/w32_mlwin.exe is not executable

I've read that the trial version might not be fully compatible with macOS and might require running via a Windows virtual machine or Wine.

Has anyone on a Mac effectively ran the MLwiN trial edition with R2MLwiN? If so, could you offer some direction on how to put it up, particularly regarding whether Wine is the best option or a virtual machine? Any advice on particular configuration details or possible hazards to be aware of would also be much appreciated.

[ChrisCharlton]

Unfortunately I have not had much success with running the MLwiN trial under Wine on MacOS versions later than 10.14, as later versions removed support for 32-bit applications and then moved from the Intel to ARM platform. This might change in the future as Wine is developed and experimental support for these is improved. Your most likely chance to get it working is to simply run the software in a Windows virtual machine, at which point
you would install it in the same way as under Windows. Note, that you would also need to run the Windows version of Stata within the virtual machine so that the two pieces of software can communicatee. Another alternative would be to try a commercial version of Wine (e.g. https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover) which might have better support, although I have not tested this. There appears to be a trial version of this available, which you could test to determine this.

[variorum]

thanks for the helpgeometry dash