Support NeoGAF

[Durin]

analog_future

Prototype implementation of VK_EXT_descriptor_heap by HansKristian-Work · Pull Request #2805 · HansKristian-Work/vkd3d-proton

Bringup implementation during spec development. This will have to be rewritten to work alongside at least descriptor buffer paths which will be a glorious mess ... This branch can be used to compar...

github.com

First vkd3d-proton patches for descriptor heap (NVIDIA performance loss in DX12 titles).

Lol, you beat me to it. Was about to link this:


Not sure how long it's going to take them to implement all of this, but the latest Nvidia 590.48.01 driver supports the Vulkan descriptor heap extension too.

I think there is still work that has to be done too in Wine and DXVK, along with work from the Mesa developers. In the next few months or at least by summer I think we might see something close to parity with Windows maybe.

Also, when I asked AI about this BeardSpike , it seemed to indicate these improvements would also benefit intel and amd gpus, just to a lesser extent.

 

[BeardSpike]

Lol, you beat me to it. Was about to link this:


Not sure how long it's going to take them to implement all of this, but the latest Nvidia 590.48.01 driver supports the Vulkan descriptor heap extension too.

I think there is still work that has to be done too in Wine and DXVK, along with work from the Mesa developers. In the next few months or at least by summer I think we might see something close to parity with Windows maybe.

Also, when I asked AI about this BeardSpike , it seemed to indicate these improvements would also benefit intel and amd gpus, just to a lesser extent.

Apparently there are three stages to fix Nvidia performance issues on Linux.

First was adding Vulkan descriptor heap extensions to Nvidia drivers, next vkd3d-proton descriptor heap ext, finally I think Vulkan needs to be patched also.

Wine already is rolling out some Vulkan beta patches.

We will see how it goes in a bit. At least Team Green has some hope it will be done this year.

I'm confused as to when and if, my RX 9070XT will see parity with Windows in Raytracing, lmao

I played around with Black Myth Wukong Benchmark tool.

And without Raytracing, I had like 10 to 15 fps more on Linux compared to Windows.

But with Raytracing enabled I had like 50% performance loss on Linux compared to Windows. Yikes.

Edit:

Huh Durin

Even more AMD ray tracing performance improvements heading to Mesa on Linux

Developer Natalie Vock working for Valve has sent in even more impressive performance improvements for AMD GPUs on Linux with Mesa.

www.gamingonlinux.com

There may be hope for those of us on AMD too! Valve is helping with Raytracing performance on AMD.

I'm happy for both camps really. It seems like improvements will be going to both Team Green and Red on Linux

It seems like new Steam Machine is pushing stuff further along.

 

[Durin]

There may be hope for us on AMD too! Valve is helping with Raytracing performance on AMD.

I'm happy for both camps really. It seems like improvements will be going to both Team Green and Red on Linux.

That's good to hear, and it makes sense that Valve would want this to happen. I know AMD is also trying to improve ray-tracing performance in Windows as well, since they're behind Nvidia in that area.

I'd imagine Valve in general wouldn't want to release SteamOS to the masses to be installable on any PC, if they can't also market that your GPU will have close to parity (or better) performance than Windows.

 

[BeardSpike]

That's good to hear, and it makes sense that Valve would want this to happen. I know AMD is also trying to improve ray-tracing performance in Windows as well, since they're behind Nvidia in that area.

I'd imagine Valve in general wouldn't want to release SteamOS to the masses to be installable on any PC, if they can't also market that your GPU will have close to parity (or better) performance than Windows.

If Valve also makes heavy Anticheat games like COD or BF6 work somehow on Linux, and Raytracing improves close to parity with Windows - it will be the end of dual booting for me, my dudes.

But that's in the future I guess we will see.

It depends if Steam Machine will get market share or more Steam Machines in the future will come when RAM, VRAM and NAND prices will drop down.

Maybe this could pressure developers to support Linux more with their AntiCheats - but that's just wishful thinking at this stage.

But anything could happen really.

Btw.

Work with us - Senior Software Engineer (C++ GOG GALAXY)

Join us

www.gog.com

GOG GALAXY is our desktop client and ecosystem hub - the place where players manage their libraries, connect with the community, and access features that go far beyond a store. Today, it delivers experience on Windows and macOS, but Linux is the next major frontier.

We're looking for a Senior Engineer who will help shape GOG GALAXY's architecture, tooling, and development standards with Linux in mind from day one.

Lots of positive news in Linux gaming space today.

New CEO of GOG is pushing hard for Linux support.

Apparently he is also dead tired with the direction Microsoft is taking Windows right now.

 

[Durin]

It depends if Steam Machine will get market share or more Steam Machines in the future when RAM, VRAM and NAND prices will drop down.

Maybe this could pressure developers to support Linux more with their AntiCheats - but that's just wishful thinking at this stage.

Anything could happen really.

I think if Valve can hit around the price of a PS5 Pro, it has a chance to grow the marketshare more, and if it gets closer to 10% + Valve offering some kind of assistance getting a kind of anti-cheat working things can trend in a good direction. Microsoft screwing up Windows 11's reputation I think will do even more though, lol.

GoG did have that statement addressing Windows 11 not being in a great place, so I'm not surprised to see movement there. If Nexus Mods can also get Vortex working well, that would chip away at the complications around modding too. This year is gonna be interesting.

 

[Wolzard]

Apparently there are three stages to fix Nvidia performance issues on Linux.

First was adding Vulkan descriptor heap extensions to Nvidia drivers, next vkd3d-proton descriptor heap ext, finally I think Vulkan needs to be patched also.

Wine already is rolling out some Vulkan beta patches.

We will see how it goes in a bit. At least Team Green has some hope it will be done this year.

I'm confused as to when and if, my RX 9070XT will see parity with Windows in Raytracing, lmao

I played around with Black Myth Wukong Benchmark tool.

And without Raytracing, I had like 10 to 15 fps more on Linux compared to Windows.

But with Raytracing enabled I had like 50% performance loss on Linux compared to Windows. Yikes.

Edit:

Huh Durin

Even more AMD ray tracing performance improvements heading to Mesa on Linux

Developer Natalie Vock working for Valve has sent in even more impressive performance improvements for AMD GPUs on Linux with Mesa.

www.gamingonlinux.com

There may be hope for those of us on AMD too! Valve is helping with Raytracing performance on AMD.

I'm happy for both camps really. It seems like improvements will be going to both Team Green and Red on Linux

It seems like new Steam Machine is pushing stuff further along.

There are 4 stages:

Vulkan descriptors -> Vulkan driver -> Wine -> vkd3d/vkd3d-proton

We've already passed the first 3 stages, only vkd3d is left. As for the Vulkan driver, it's still in beta and should come as standard in a future driver. Wine is in the staging stage, which is the development version, but Proton uses precisely that version.

 

[jshackles]

Btw.

Work with us - Senior Software Engineer (C++ GOG GALAXY)

Join us

www.gog.com

Lots of positive news in Linux gaming space today.

New CEO of GOG is pushing hard for Linux support.

Would apply but moving to Poland is a bit out of the question. Interviewed there a few years back and seemed like it'd be a great job and nice people (and they had a relocation package) but moving literally across the planet for work is a young man's game.

 

[crackajack]

Linux guys have a long way to go to make everything run, and make everything run also easily. If they just stopped forking everything and combine their work efforts...

My last post was about Lutris enabling access to psplus streaming. Already stopped working the next day ... now had to change to "system 11" (which is proton 11?) since ge-proton did not work anymore. (Proton 10 would not work either)
EGS seems to have installed, also only with System11, shows my library, but can't install any game.
EA and Ubiconnect seem to launch as their own things. EA does not even show a library within Lutris, while Ubi does show one, but it's showing games I do not own and does not show games I do own. Not tried any game from either yet.
Also linked humble bundle even though hb is usually anyway just a steam key supplier and I don't think I ever downloaded a game from them. Linking requires some shenanigans with copying browser cookies. At least that was the way the install process explained. Weird, but whatever. Seems to link it fine. Have not tried installing a game.

Tried PS remote play in Lutris. It gets installed, but can't launch it then.
Websearch showed chiaki-ng as a native linux tool for Sony remote play. Seems to be a nice tool, just can't connect to my account though. Which seems to be an error some people have also on Windows and switching browsers might help then. In my case chiaki, Firefox and Vivaldi does not work. But PS-Plus access in Lutris works, with that same account. Weird stuff.

Next stop Heroic Launcher. EGS integration is very smooth. I guess stuff is pre installed within? Installed two games. Both install and run fine. While Lutris uses the Proton libraries Steam installed, Heroic seems to install their own environment(s). It states it can use the steam stuff when set in global settings, but have not found that. Maybe it is better this way.
Feels like a cleaner, more modern software than Lutris. It only supports EGS and gog though, and amazon gmaing which I never used. So can't replace Lutris anyway.
Result is: launchers for launchers. Insane nonsense.

That glorious Eggroll guy seems to be THE key player but overall it is naturally amateur hour and hopefully we get more native stuff soon. Everything Wine related seems to be hard to get right.

 

[Shockwave_Fox]

You shouldn't have to reinstall everything. The filesystems for Windows and Linux are different, so you can't run them on your 1tb internal unless you made a separate linux partition, but I would VERY much recommend putting Linux on another physical drive if you're gonna dual-boot with windows. You can run CachyOS off an external SSD, but you will have some overhead due to usb, and those external SSDs can get hot unless you got one of those bigger enclosures that helps with heat.

I know that if you want to transfer your Steam games, you can either go to where steam is installed -> steamapps folder, and just copy all of the folders in there, including your appmanifest file, or use the backup option in Steam, and you can select whichever games you want to an external device. Then just transfer them from your external device to whatever storage you install CachyOS on, either copy/pasting the steamapps folder contents where they need to go, or restoring from the backups. Lastly, maybe verify the files for the games, since they have some extra stuff they'll download for proton.

CachyOS has a pretty good wiki to help with basic questions: wiki link


Not sure if you're talking about the handheld version of CachyOS, or just the UI front-end that mimics the Steam Deck interface you can entirely navigate with your controller. If it's the latter, their wiki - essential packages in the "Tools & Stores" section has a command that installs a number of game applications, including Gamescope that is the microcompositor that enhances big picture mode to work like the Steam Deck interface. Be wary if you have an Nvidia card, it's still kinda buggy due to Nvidia's drives being closed, so the CachyOS devs don't know everything inside the driver to make it function properly, but intel or AMD GPUs should be work fine. Over time likely Nvidia will work proper with it though.

Thats awesome, thanks a lot for typing all this out.

 

[BeardSpike]

No, cant get it work as well. Would also like to know how this could be achieved.


But can confirm that the game runs perfectly well on 6.8 for me.

I figured it out with the help of official Hytale Discord but GAF doesn't seem to like a bunch of commands I have to paste even in BBcode, lmao.

Edit: Anyone has a decent copy-paste text site?

Basically long story short you have to install Mangohud through Flatpak as an user and choose 24.08 version, this is the important part as 25.08 doesn't work with Hytale.

Then you have to add launch parameters or run Hytale launcher in bash environment with path pointing out to Flatpak Mangohud as it doesn't seem to like native Mangobud it throws up a bunch of errors in bash environment that native files are shared and cannot be accessed and will be ignored - probably with Steam and Heroic and Lutris, lmao.

I didn't had any experience with Native Flatpak games and using Mangohud with those before so it was a nice learning experience through trial and error.

 

[Codeblew]

I figured it out with the help of official Hytale Discord but GAF doesn't seem to like a bunch of commands I have to paste even in BBcode, lmao.

Edit: Anyone has a decent copy-paste text site?

Basically long story short you have to install Mangohud through Flatpak as an user and choose 24.08 version, this is the important part as 25.08 doesn't work with Hytale.

Then you have to add launch parameters or run Hytale launcher in bash environment with path pointing out to Flatpak Mangohud as it doesn't seem to like native Mangobud it throws up a bunch of errors in bash environment that native files are shared and cannot be accessed and will be ignored - probably with Steam and Heroic and Lutris, lmao.

I didn't had any experience with Native Flatpak games and using Mangohud with those before so it was a nice learning experience through trial and error.

I am not sure what mangohud is but I got it to run on Ubuntu 24.04, with the zinc kernel installed to have a more up to date kernel version. Then I just run the flatpak on the command line with:

flatpak run com.hypixel.HytaleLauncher

 

[analog_future]

Linux guys have a long way to go to make everything run, and make everything run also easily. If they just stopped forking everything and combine their work efforts...

My last post was about Lutris enabling access to psplus streaming. Already stopped working the next day ... now had to change to "system 11" (which is proton 11?) since ge-proton did not work anymore. (Proton 10 would not work either)
EGS seems to have installed, also only with System11, shows my library, but can't install any game.
EA and Ubiconnect seem to launch as their own things. EA does not even show a library within Lutris, while Ubi does show one, but it's showing games I do not own and does not show games I do own. Not tried any game from either yet.
Also linked humble bundle even though hb is usually anyway just a steam key supplier and I don't think I ever downloaded a game from them. Linking requires some shenanigans with copying browser cookies. At least that was the way the install process explained. Weird, but whatever. Seems to link it fine. Have not tried installing a game.

Tried PS remote play in Lutris. It gets installed, but can't launch it then.
Websearch showed chiaki-ng as a native linux tool for Sony remote play. Seems to be a nice tool, just can't connect to my account though. Which seems to be an error some people have also on Windows and switching browsers might help then. In my case chiaki, Firefox and Vivaldi does not work. But PS-Plus access in Lutris works, with that same account. Weird stuff.

Next stop Heroic Launcher. EGS integration is very smooth. I guess stuff is pre installed within? Installed two games. Both install and run fine. While Lutris uses the Proton libraries Steam installed, Heroic seems to install their own environment(s). It states it can use the steam stuff when set in global settings, but have not found that. Maybe it is better this way.
Feels like a cleaner, more modern software than Lutris. It only supports EGS and gog though, and amazon gmaing which I never used. So can't replace Lutris anyway.
Result is: launchers for launchers. Insane nonsense.

That glorious Eggroll guy seems to be THE key player but overall it is naturally amateur hour and hopefully we get more native stuff soon. Everything Wine related seems to be hard to get right.

I dunno, you can't lean heavily on tinkering with apps to make them do things they aren't really designed to do (like psplus streaming) and then complain that the OS isn't simple enough.


If you want simple, just install Bazzite and play your games off of Steam. They will work and work well pretty much 100% of the time.


If you want to tinker and do out-of-the-box stuff, then yeah, you're going to run into some complexity and questions and instability. I haven't run into issues with games from third party launchers, but I would be frustrated there too.

 

[Crayon]

I dunno, you can't lean heavily on tinkering with apps to make them do things they aren't really designed to do (like psplus streaming) and then complain that the OS isn't simple enough.


If you want simple, just install Bazzite and play your games off of Steam. They will work and work well pretty much 100% of the time.


If you want to tinker and do out-of-the-box stuff, then yeah, you're going to run into some complexity and questions and instability. I haven't run into issues with games from third party launchers, but I would be frustrated there too.

This makes sense. I was thinking reading that post, if you are just starting out, it's probably better to use the system out of the box and just get to know it before messing around with a bunch of stuff. Especially stuff that you need to look for guides to do. That's a hint that you are getting into "you're on your own" territory.

 

[Durin]

Tried PS remote play in Lutris. It gets installed, but can't launch it then.
Websearch showed chiaki-ng as a native linux tool for Sony remote play. Seems to be a nice tool, just can't connect to my account though. Which seems to be an error some people have also on Windows and switching browsers might help then.

It might be a browser issue. I would maybe try Brave, since it tends to have the most compatibility without having to resort to using Chrome. I haven't used Chiaki for a while, but it worked pretty smoothly using my Steam Deck.

Feels like a cleaner, more modern software than Lutris. It only supports EGS and gog though, and amazon gmaing which I never used. So can't replace Lutris anyway.
Result is: launchers for launchers. Insane nonsense.

In general I'd agree as well, easily Heroic Games Launcher > Lutris for me. Lutris I only use because for Battle.net, Origin and Ubisoft games, but the only game I really put time in using it was Warcraft 3: Reforged after their big update last year. Heroic though just tends to be a more consistent experience that auto-adds stuff to Steam, and if save progress across devices is super important just go with Ludusavi for backing up saves. I do know the Heroic devs just added support for the Zoom game platform, and they were working with another project to integrate EA Origin in.

I'd also echo that the more tinkering you do, you'll eventually hit a wall where you'd doing something custom that might not work all the time, or break with an update. The cool thing is over time the tools are getting better, and we're also seeing places like GoG hire for their own official launcher on Linux.

 

[lordrand11]

I always hear "Bazzite". Thats what I wanted to try this summer....unless Gabe comes out with a proper desktop SteamOS (and HalfLife3 included for free ).

Bazzite is pretty solid and well maintained though some of the beta updates break features pretty often, I used it for awhile but had that happen (word to the wise use the nvidia-server-drivers package instead of the regular ones and this works best with most gaming-centric distros and is Arch-based and tries to push out the same SteamDeck updates as quickly as possible).

CachyOS is another really good one.

Linux Mint has always been solid too but does take some user input to get just right.

Recently I've fully committed to PopOS and really adore the cosmic environment they've created. It's just a hair more user hands on then Bazzite or Cachy but it looks damn gorgeous. I'm running it on my Gigabyte KF5 laptop atm.

Those are just a few, there's also Garuda, and a few others I can go into detail in if anyone has any questions on them. Linux is my jam.

 

[BeardSpike]

I am not sure what mangohud is but I got it to run on Ubuntu 24.04, with the zinc kernel installed to have a more up to date kernel version. Then I just run the flatpak on the command line with:

flatpak run com.hypixel.HytaleLauncher

GitHub - flightlessmango/MangoHud: A Vulkan and OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, temperatures, CPU/GPU load and more.

A Vulkan and OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, temperatures, CPU/GPU load and more. - flightlessmango/MangoHud

github.com

It can also cap FPS.

 

[crackajack]

I dunno, you can't lean heavily on tinkering with apps to make them do things they aren't really designed to do (like psplus streaming) and then complain that the OS isn't simple enough.

Of course I can complain that Linux needs to get compatibility up to 99,9% and improve idiot proof use sequence to be really a viable option for people to abandon Windows.
I don't expect it to work right now on a perfect level, since most of gaming is not native and making stuff run via compatibility/emulation layers without sacrificing a ton of performance, sometimes even run better, is already quite an achievement. Steam basically did probably 99 of the 99,9 now. Excl the anti cheat problem which is a huge obstacle making it almost impossible to be an actual gaming platform when for some 50% or whatever of their gaming would not be there.
Nevertheless, Linux, the desktop people, not the OS, needs to get their act together which should have happened 20 years ago, long before steam finally made an effort in doing that job. Then the MP situation would have evolved entirely different.

If you want simple, just install Bazzite and play your games off of Steam. They will work and work well pretty much 100% of the time.

If I want simple I just stay with Windows, just like corporations and goverments that are married to Windows for some reason, sometimes without using anything that could not be done with Linux since actually forever, unlike gaming. lol
There are only a few reasons to use Linux. Continuing to use hardware that MS considers to old to support with Linux Light, Lubuntu, Antix etc. And mostly just: fuck MS (or Apple).

It might be a browser issue. I would maybe try Brave, since it tends to have the most compatibility without having to resort to using Chrome.

Brave runs on Chromium/Blink just like Vivaldi? So in theory should be the same. But chromium and chromium is not always the same. I know Edge and Vivaldi also not behave the same with some stuff.
Beyond that, there is not much choice left. Only gnome's epiphany and Konquerer are webkit as an actual alternative.
Remote isn't essential, could just as well use my tablet for the few times I use it. So whatever.

Nothing is truly essential, since I keep Windows on the other drive.

 

[Soodanim]

I figured it out with the help of official Hytale Discord but GAF doesn't seem to like a bunch of commands I have to paste even in BBcode, lmao.

Edit: Anyone has a decent copy-paste text site?

That's unusual, if it won't accept raw text inside [*code] tags it might be worth letting admins know as it could be a bug in the forum software.

The site I think is most well known is https://pastebin.com/ but I don't know if that's the best as I never use it

 

[BeardSpike]

Native flatpak Hytale + flatpak Mangohud

https://pastebin.com/5P24nsc2 pudel Codeblew

Flatseal is also another useful app for managing Flatpak apps launch parameters.

 

[pudel]

Native flatpak Hytale + flatpak Mangohud

https://pastebin.com/5P24nsc2 pudel Codeblew

Flatseal is also another useful app for managing Flatpak apps launch parameters.

Thanks mate!

I had already the flatpak mangohud versions (also the 24.08) installed, because usually flatpaks only work with other flatpak versions. Its a bit strange to me why I just couldnt use flatseal to give the permissions. Or in other words...I dont understand why this bash command is necessary.

 

[BeardSpike]

Thanks mate!

I had already the flatpak mangohud versions (also the 24.08) installed, because usually flatpaks only work with other flatpak versions. Its a bit strange to me why I just couldnt use flatseal to give the permissions. Or in other words...I dont understand why this bash command is necessary.

It isn't necessary per se it's just testing if it works. If it won't it will at least throw you an error why it isn't, like I tried to use my Native MangoHud with it. And I never knew why it wasn't launching.

You can add launch parameters through Flatseal but running command is pretty much automatic.

You can check later on in Flatseal if they were added in. If they were added in you don't have to launch Hytale in bash environment anymore. It should pre-load MangoHud just fine.

 

[Durin]

Brave runs on Chromium/Blink just like Vivaldi? So in theory should be the same. But chromium and chromium is not always the same. I know Edge and Vivaldi also not behave the same with some stuff.
Beyond that, there is not much choice left. Only gnome's epiphany and Konquerer are webkit as an actual alternative.
Remote isn't essential, could just as well use my tablet for the few times I use it. So whatever.

Only mention it because I've had some issues with both Firefox and Vivaldi (even though it is also chromium-based) on even just loading some webpages, that Brave was able to. I only even have Brave installed for those situations, since I prefer Zen Browser, but it being Firefox-based creates problems with some things.

 

[vdb]

I've got Cachy installed on two laptops and a desktop. I've set secure boot up on both laptops but the desktop I can't get to work.

I must need to change a BIOS setting but can't figure out what.

 

[Durin]

I've got Cachy installed on two laptops and a desktop. I've set secure boot up on both laptops but the desktop I can't get to work.

I must need to change a BIOS setting but can't figure out what.

I'm about to go to bed, but just have one question: is your motherboard on the Desktop made by MSI?

If so this CachyOS wiki link does show some additional things you need to do for that. Something about the way that brand does the secure boot setup process that's dumber than others.

 

[spons]

Wiped Windows 11 and installed CachyOS with KDE Plasma a couple of days ago. The "little things" in desktop Linux are just as annoying as Windows (sans AI garbage being shoved in your face), e.g. "Breeze" was selected and applied, yet the Dark version was in effect. Had to change to Dark and then the normal one to actually apply the light theme. Also the icon-based taskbar is apparently a seperate widget, which had to be removed and replaced with an icon-plus-text taskbar widget because that's my preference. Why isn't this just one configurable widget? Who knows. Got to get used to working differently I suppose. This ain't Windows after all.

Anyways, I have an RX 7700 XT, so that should work properly, and it does. LACT for undervolting and raising power limits and memory clocks seems to work fine.

As for games, I've been playing Final Fantasy XIII-2 for hours without crashes or stuttering. Which might be an unexpected game to some, but it's one of the worst performing FF titles on Windows (if it runs at all), being a complete jank-fest. It really is as easy as setting "PROTON_FORCE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE=1 %command%" as the launch parameter in Steam.

The disclaimer here is that I've been using Linux off-and-on since early 2006 (Arch btw, but my first try was with Knoppix). I thought it was amazing at the time to not run Windows, but I never really tried running this as a daily driver. But here we are anyway. I have prior experience through running Linux on my two servers since ain't nobody running Windows on budget VPSes.

 

[Durin]

Also the icon-based taskbar is apparently a seperate widget, which had to be removed and replaced with an icon-plus-text taskbar widget because that's my preference. Why isn't this just one configurable widget? Who knows. Got to get used to working differently I suppose. This ain't Windows after all.

Many things in KDE are pretty modular, especially anything to do with placing UI elements on the desktop. Some of it feels needless, but at least you can make it whatever you kinda want. Would recommend installing Kvantum for making themes look nicer, some of the global ones you can download assume you have it installed with it even.

 

[vdb]

I'm about to go to bed, but just have one question: is your motherboard on the Desktop made by MSI?

If so this CachyOS wiki link does show some additional things you need to do for that. Something about the way that brand does the secure boot setup process that's dumber than others.

Asus. It's driving me mad.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I've got Cachy installed on two laptops and a desktop. I've set secure boot up on both laptops but the desktop I can't get to work.

I must need to change a BIOS setting but can't figure out what.

Mine has a setting for secure boot keys that needs to be "factory reset". Look for something like this.

 

[pudel]

Asus. It's driving me mad.

Is there an indication what could be wrong? How do you know its a bios setting?

 

[BeardSpike]

Mine has a setting for secure boot keys that needs to be "factory reset". Look for something like this.

My AsRock has something similar if I remember right. But it works afterwards if I follow CachyOS guide 1:1.

So basically what this setting does on my mobo isn't turning secure boot on but puts it in setup mode, from what I've understood.

Then I can enroll MS keys and batch-sign stuff.

And only then after I follow CachyOS guide 1:1 my sbctl status shows that setup mode has been disabled and secure boot is enabled.

AsRock branched out of Asus so they may have extra similar naming schemes of things in bios. And probably they do, I would follow the same principals I knew from before if I were in their place, since I'm lazy lmao.

vdb

 

[vdb]

I think I've sorted it. I had a setting in my BIOS that I needed to change.

It keeps it in user mode. My laptops didn't do that.

Thanks to everyone who replied.

 

[Wolzard]

Wiped Windows 11 and installed CachyOS with KDE Plasma a couple of days ago. The "little things" in desktop Linux are just as annoying as Windows (sans AI garbage being shoved in your face), e.g. "Breeze" was selected and applied, yet the Dark version was in effect. Had to change to Dark and then the normal one to actually apply the light theme. Also the icon-based taskbar is apparently a seperate widget, which had to be removed and replaced with an icon-plus-text taskbar widget because that's my preference. Why isn't this just one configurable widget? Who knows. Got to get used to working differently I suppose. This ain't Windows after all.

Anyways, I have an RX 7700 XT, so that should work properly, and it does. LACT for undervolting and raising power limits and memory clocks seems to work fine.

As for games, I've been playing Final Fantasy XIII-2 for hours without crashes or stuttering. Which might be an unexpected game to some, but it's one of the worst performing FF titles on Windows (if it runs at all), being a complete jank-fest. It really is as easy as setting "PROTON_FORCE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE=1 %command%" as the launch parameter in Steam.

The disclaimer here is that I've been using Linux off-and-on since early 2006 (Arch btw, but my first try was with Knoppix). I thought it was amazing at the time to not run Windows, but I never really tried running this as a daily driver. But here we are anyway. I have prior experience through running Linux on my two servers since ain't nobody running Windows on budget VPSes.

You need to check if you made changes in Global Themes or just application styles. This part of KDE's themes is extremely modular and sometimes requires configuring each item individually. Usually, global themes modify everything at once.

Regarding the taskbar, simply click on the taskbar and go to "Show Panel Configuration". Then, hover your mouse over the taskbar icons and a floating menu will appear, where you have the option "Show alternatives". From there you can easily switch between the different types of taskbars.

 

[Durin]

Saw this post get shared around by Bazzite's blog, but it relates to most other gaming distros that matter.

Basic Points

1. Bazzite, PikaOS, Nobara, ChimeraOS, Playtron, Fyra Labs, ShadowBlip (make OpenGamePadUI + InputPlumber) & ASUS Linux formed the Open Gaming Collective (OGC)
   1. Main goal: A way to centralize efforts like kernel patches, input tool and important packages like gamescope under a unified ecosystem rather than each distro separately maintaining these.
      1. All patches shipped by the OGC will be in review for eventual inclusion in to the Linux kernel itself.
   2. Should help with support for features like secure boot, expanded controller/steering wheel support, within the shared project.

Ideally better hardware compatibility, and fewer duplicated efforts will happen

a linux thing that's less fragmentation

---

Bazzite-Specific

1. Bazzite is phasing out HDD for InputPlumber, which SteamOS, ChimeraOS, Nobara, Playtron GameOS, Manjaro Handheld Edition and CachyOS Handheld Edition use (or will).
   1. Features like RGB and fan control for handhelds using these distros will be integrated into the Steam UI, and whatever isn't supported by it gets its own overlay.
2. Bazzite testing the Faugus Launcher (haven't used myself) as a potential replacement to Lutris, as it's apparently more straightforward to use in supporting non-Steam storefronts on Linux.

 

[analog_future]

So I ran a few comparisons. First, Arkham Knight, max settings, native 4k. 175min/424max/297avg on Windows 11. 289min/486max/367avg on CachyOS. A pleasant surprise???


Next, Returnal, max settings, RT ON, at 4K DLAA 4.5 benchmarked out to an 84 FPS average (64 min) with Windows 11. 61 FPS average (48 min) on CachyOS. Pretty huge drop there.


So yeah, work to be done with Nvidia on the Linux side, but I had expected these results. From what I've read, there's DX12 and RT performance gaps with Linux on the Nvidia side right now. Some promising performance increases over the last year though so hopefully that continues through 2026. In the meantime, I'll probably go forward with my plan of playing older/less demanding games on Linux, and the stuff that really pushes my hardware I will play on Windows until Linux/Nvidia catches up.


Definitely going to play around a lot with emulation on Linux as well, as I've read promising things there.

Well as I learn Cachy more, I found that enabling NTSYNC and turning on the game-performance wrapper is recommended for all games. After turning both of these on, I re-ran my Returnal benchmark and got a 77 FPS average maxed out/DLAA/RT ON (vs 61 FPS before). That's only a 7 FPS drop compared to my 84 FPS Windows 11 bench, so in a much more reasonable range.


Will continue to do testing/share here. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

Was able to figure out how to replicate my undervolt/overclock in Windows that I had applied via MSI Afterburner to my Linux setup via LACT.

Now I'm able to benchmark Returnal out to a 79 average (only 5 behind Windows) while also consuming significantly less power/producing significantly less heat. Excellent stuff!

 

[BeardSpike]

Was able to figure out how to replicate my undervolt/overclock in Windows that I had applied via MSI Afterburner to my Linux setup via LACT.

Now I'm able to benchmark Returnal out to a 79 average (only 5 behind Windows) while also consuming significantly less power/producing significantly less heat. Excellent stuff!

I use LACT also and replicate my Windows settings this way.

In Tormented Souls 2 my card consumes much less power compared to Windows, this way it produce less heat also at the same FPS target as Windows.

I thing it was like 20-30 watts less. Which is actually huge difference.

 

[analog_future]

I use LACT also and replicate my Windows settings this way.

In Tormented Souls 2 my card consumes much less power compared to Windows, this way it produce less heat also at the same FPS target as Windows.

I thing it was like 20-30 watts less. Which is actually huge difference.

That's fantastic!

I'm having such a fun time with Linux. It's way more viable as my daily driver than I expected. Really my one remaining problem is this nagging 165hz/VRR black screen issue. Everything else has been great.

 

[BeardSpike]

That's fantastic!

I'm having such a fun time with Linux. It's way more viable as my daily driver than I expected. Really my one remaining problem is this nagging 165hz/VRR black screen issue. Everything else has been great.

Post in thread 'Sony hiring linux dev' https://www.neogaf.com/threads/sony-hiring-linux-dev.1689805/post-270959667

Here I posted exact numbers. Apparently Linux is kinda differently showing up GPU power draw than Windows so it's not exactly 1:1 value, but I see significantly less heat on Linux side for the same FPS target. So it's still better, just a bit misleading.

So it was showing up almost 110W difference in power draw at the same graphics settings, same UV/OC, same level in the game.

But the heat difference was still massive, so I think performance uplift since GPU wasn't as power limited on Linux compared to Windows.

 

[BeardSpike]

I'm having such a fun time with Linux. It's way more viable as my daily driver than I expected. Really my one remaining problem is this nagging 165hz/VRR black screen issue. Everything else has been great.

That's exactly as my Linux gaming adventures went, to the point I only dual boot to Windows for those crazy heavy anticheat games that just won't work on Linux or if I want a huge Raytracing uplift on AMD.

But seeing that Valve is pushing patches to Mesa for 2x performance uplift in Raytracing on AMD on Linux makes me wonder if I will only dual boot to Windows Call of Duty and Battlefield, lmao.

I recently played with some friends No Rest for The Wicked over free weekend on Linux and haven't have had any issues, it worked flawlessly.

And everyone and their mother can run Discord so we were using it as TeamSpeak.

 

[crackajack]

Saw this post get shared around by Bazzite's blog, but it relates to most other gaming distros that matter.

.... and fewer duplicated efforts will happen
....
Bazzite testing the Faugus Launcher (haven't used myself) as a potential replacement to Lutris...

oh, yes, the typical fewer duplicates approach by replacing one thing with a new thing. Linux in a nutshell. lol

Installed yesterday the current version of winetricks- whatever that does better has to be seen- but also a great example in how Linux fails at very basic things. Launching winetricks tells me that it is an old version and that I should update in my package manager. duh, yeah, why is even an old version installed? Updating via pacman can't do shit, since winetricks there is just a year old version for some reason.
"winetricks --self update" in the terminal does it, but why isn't this just a click when launched within winetricks, instead of a vague info and doing/proposing nothing actually?

 

[Durin]

oh, yes, the typical fewer duplicates approach by replacing one thing with a new thing. Linux in a nutshell. lol

That was kind of a Bazzite specific thing, and likely it's because Lutris has a worse learning curve than Heroic for non-steam app store use. If Heroic supported Battle.net, EA Origin & Ubisoft Launcher, I wouldn't even have Lutris on my computer.

I'm just glad their combining efforts on Kernel patches, the performance difference between the gaming distros likely wasn't worth making custom patches for each distro, and instead just have one branch.

Launching winetricks tells me that it is an old version and that I should update in my package manager. duh, yeah, why is even an old version installed? Updating via pacman can't do shit, since winetricks there is just a year old version for some reason.

Yeah, that is odd. Usually Arch-based packages are the most up to date vs debian or fedora system packages. It is why I do think over time more packages are going to be flatpaks, and I've even seen a number of projects go to appimages because doing a universal format bundle is easier than relying on system packagiing maintainers.

 

[rebellio]

Feeling Valve - AMD made deal FSR4 gonna enable only for Steam Machine

 

[Crayon]

Feeling Valve - AMD made deal FSR4 gonna enable only for Steam Machine

Nah. Why keep it only for that?

 

[crackajack]

That was kind of a Bazzite specific thing, and likely it's because Lutris has a worse learning curve than Heroic for non-steam app store use. If Heroic supported Battle.net, EA Origin & Ubisoft Launcher, I wouldn't even have Lutris on my computer.

It's confusing why these projects not just combine their efforts. (of course systemd and its hater exists too, same as wayland and phoenix/Xlibre which sounds a lot like weirdos insisting something is better while either has probably pros and cons.) I read "umu" with all of them, so beside, I assume wine as the very basis, they all use the same crap anyway. Heroic seems fine for EGS while Lutris is more versatile. Faugus might do something else better. Bottles seems another option. All probably know some tricks that enabled certain results. All might eventually offer more and more Win gaming platforms, but cooperation should be faster, since obviously no one is so far able to do everything. Something wine alone actually is supposed to do but never fully did.
I kinda find it interesting to tinker with a system, but the average user would just say fuck that, I want stuff I am used to to just work. Which means double clicking the original setup.exe... and the whole wine process should be entirely invisible.

It is why I do think over time more packages are going to be flatpaks, and I've even seen a number of projects go to appimages because doing a universal format bundle is easier than relying on system packagiing maintainers.

They just need to have a standard for everything imho. Having .deb, .rpm, appimage, flatpak, snap, or other even more niche ones which may or may not be useable once installing some distro foreign additional package manager is just insane to me. For all I care having a lengthy make compile makepkg something something step as the default install could be fine as well, as long it is an invisible one click process to the user.

 

[Durin]

's confusing why these projects not just combine their efforts. (of course systemd and its hater exists too, same as wayland and phoenix/Xlibre which sounds a lot like weirdos insisting something is better while either has probably pros and cons.) I read "umu" with all of them, so beside, I assume wine as the very basis, they all use the same crap anyway.

Well at least among the gaming distros, there has been this organic cross-pollination, and they don't gate their own applications from being used in other ones. Now there is at least positive momentum in not redoing works, but some of the individual apps are their own projects run by people. At least these distros provide the choice to install heroic, lutris and now faugus as options, I don't believe they're taking anything away.

For all I care having a lengthy make compile makepkg something something step as the default install could be fine as well, as long it is an invisible one click process to the user.

I do think flatpak is winning out over time, and immutable distros because they wall off core system files rely on them anyway since Bazzite can't use system package without layering into images or virtualizing them in distrobox. The more new apps I see making Linux versions, typically are doing flatpaks or appimages than anything else, both equivalent to Windows store and exe installers which are the two standards for Microsoft.

 

[BeardSpike]

 

[Wolzard]

oh, yes, the typical fewer duplicates approach by replacing one thing with a new thing. Linux in a nutshell. lol

Installed yesterday the current version of winetricks- whatever that does better has to be seen- but also a great example in how Linux fails at very basic things. Launching winetricks tells me that it is an old version and that I should update in my package manager. duh, yeah, why is even an old version installed? Updating via pacman can't do shit, since winetricks there is just a year old version for some reason.
"winetricks --self update" in the terminal does it, but why isn't this just a click when launched within winetricks, instead of a vague info and doing/proposing nothing actually?

Why are you using winetricks instead of protontricks?
Winetricks evolves more slowly, the repository version was marked as deprecated on January 26th, and on the same day the new version was added to the testing repository.

This has nothing to do with Linux. It looks more like "I installed software blindly." It wouldn't be any different in Windows.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I did it. As a long time Windows user (3.1 - 11) and Xbox lover, I've switched over to CachyOS and love it. Currently, I'm dual booting to get used to the environment and understanding of compatibility. But so far, it's quick, snappy and doesn't nag me to do anything. Extremely customizable to boot. I'm looking forward to this journey.

I find it funny, people have said for the last 20 years that each year is the year of Linux, but with Windows going to hell the way it is, I really hope it takes off now that Steam is aiding the adoption rate among gamers. The only thing that's keeping W11 on my machine is BF6 and a few other games. Other than that, I've had little to no issue running the games I typically play.

 

[BeardSpike]

I did it. As a long time Windows user (3.1 - 11) and Xbox lover, I've switched over to CachyOS and love it. Currently, I'm dual booting to get used to the environment and understanding of compatibility. But so far, it's quick, snappy and doesn't nag me to do anything. Extremely customizable to boot. I'm looking forward to this journey.

I find it funny, people have said for the last 20 years that each year is the year of Linux, but with Windows going to hell the way it is, I really hope it takes off now that Steam is aiding the adoption rate among gamers. The only thing that's keeping W11 on my machine is BF6 and a few other games. Other than that, I've had little to no issue running the games I typically play.

Another CachyOS user here. Welcome brother .

 

[b0uncyfr0]

Right, im at my wits end - how on earth do you force gamescope to use any other type of vsync apart from immediate?

Ive got frame gen running and need stability above all else - good old FIFO would work best but gamescope is stubbborn af. Jesus.

 

[BeardSpike]

Right, im at my wits end - how on earth do you force gamescope to use any other type of vsync apart from immediate?

Ive got frame gen running and need stability above all else - good old FIFO would work best but gamescope is stubbborn af. Jesus.

Spoiler

Gamescope defaults to **immediate / mailbox-style presentation** in some setups (especially with VRR or certain compositors), but you can force other VSync behaviors using flags that control presentation timing and refresh behavior.

Here are the main ways to force non-immediate vsync modes.

---

# Force VSync in Gamescope

## 1. Use `--vsync` flag (newer versions)

Recent gamescope builds support:

```
--vsync <mode>
```

Common values:

```
--vsync immediate # no vsync (what you have now)
--vsync mailbox # low-latency vsync (if supported)
--vsync fifo # traditional vsync (double-buffered)
```

Example:

```
gamescope --vsync fifo -f -- %command%
```

If you want strict VSync:

```
gamescope --vsync fifo
```

---

## 2. Force FIFO via Vulkan present mode

Gamescope is Vulkan-based. You can force FIFO (always vsynced) with:

```
--vk-present-mode fifo
```

Example:

```
gamescope --vk-present-mode fifo -- %command%
```

This is the most reliable way if `--vsync` doesn't exist in your build.

Other modes:

```
fifo = guaranteed vsync
mailbox = low latency vsync
immediate = tearing allowed
```

---

## 3. Disable VRR (if VRR is forcing immediate-like behavior)

If you have VRR enabled, gamescope may choose mailbox/immediate behavior.

Try disabling VRR:

```
--adaptive-sync off
```

Example:

```
gamescope --adaptive-sync off --vk-present-mode fifo
```

---

## 4. Force a fixed refresh rate

If refresh rate is floating, gamescope may not block on vsync correctly.

Set refresh rate explicitly:

```
-r 60
```

Example:

```
gamescope -r 60 --vk-present-mode fifo
```

---

## 5. Steam launch option example

In Steam launch options:

```
gamescope --vk-present-mode fifo -r 60 -- %command%
```

or

```
gamescope --vsync fifo -- %command%
```

---

# If It Still Uses Immediate

Some builds are compiled without present mode overrides exposed. Check your version:

```
gamescope --help | grep vsync
gamescope --help | grep present
```

If neither flag exists, you're on an older build — update gamescope.

---

# Quick Recommendation

Most reliable combo:

```
gamescope --vk-present-mode fifo --adaptive-sync off -r 60
```