Help needed: State of graphics stack on linux for Gaming (OPTIMUS laptop)
This probably was asked countless times already, but given the amount of possible combinations of all the hardware and software, this is probably not surprising.
So, I do have some experience with linux. I ssh into my ubuntu server a lot, I do many bash/terminal tricks, so can't really call myself a newbie in Linux. However, for gaming I would use Windows for as long as I remember myself. With the release of KDE Plasma 6 and Vulkan support getting better, I was thinking about giving it a go, but I'm stuck.
When launching a game that natively supports linux (Dota 2) from Steam, pretty much nothing happens. I see in terminal that there are some errors, but archwiki states that this is normal:
Wrong ELF class
If you see this message in Steam's console output
ERROR: ld.so: object '~/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/gameoverlayrenderer.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32): ignored.
you can safely ignore it. It is not really any error: Steam includes both 64- and 32-bit versions of some libraries and only one version will load successfully. This "error" is displayed even when Steam (and the in-game overlay) is working perfectly.
Other than that I see no errors or anything.
I'm running Arch linux with KDE Plasma 6.0.1, with default Wayland session. My laptop is an Acer Nitro 5 with NVIDIA GPU and I guess also Intel integrated video card. Here are the details:
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Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.1
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.0.0
Qt Version: 6.6.2
Kernel Version: 6.7.9-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12500H
Memory: 15.3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Graphics
Manufacturer: Acer
Product Name: Nitro AN515-58
System Version: V1.13
:::
I have no idea honestly about which driver I have installed, but I did install nvidia package. I'm not sure if it's being used. I also don't know anything about Mesa. Also, this is from my Info Center:
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KWin Support Information:
The following information should be used when requesting support on e.g. https://discuss.kde.org.
It provides information about the currently running instance, which options are used,
what OpenGL driver and which effects are running.
Please post the information provided underneath this introductory text to a paste bin service
like https://paste.kde.org instead of pasting into support threads.
==========================
Version
=======
KWin version: 6.0.1
Qt Version: 6.6.2
Qt compile version: 6.6.2
XCB compile version: 1.16.1
Operation Mode: Xwayland
Build Options
=============
KWIN_BUILD_DECORATIONS: yes
KWIN_BUILD_TABBOX: yes
KWIN_BUILD_ACTIVITIES: yes
HAVE_X11_XCB: yes
HAVE_GLX: yes
X11
===
Vendor: The X.Org Foundation
Vendor Release: 12302004
Protocol Version/Revision: 11/0
SHAPE: yes; Version: 0x11
RANDR: yes; Version: 0x14
DAMAGE: yes; Version: 0x11
Composite: yes; Version: 0x4
RENDER: yes; Version: 0xb
XFIXES: yes; Version: 0x50
SYNC: yes; Version: 0x31
GLX: yes; Version: 0x0
Decoration
==========
Plugin: org.kde.breeze
Theme:
Plugin recommends border size: None
onAllDesktopsAvailable: true
alphaChannelSupported: true
closeOnDoubleClickOnMenu: false
decorationButtonsLeft: 0, 9, 2, 6
decorationButtonsRight: 1, 3, 4, 5
borderSize: 0
gridUnit: 10
font: Noto Sans,10,-1,0,400,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
smallSpacing: 2
largeSpacing: 10
Output backend
==============
Name: DRM
Atomic Mode Setting on GPU 0: true
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I don't even know what is Xwayland and why I have it installed, probably some dependency of KDE.
At this point I'm not even sure what I'm using (is it pure wayland, or x11, or some hybrid of using both), if I have correct GPU drivers (do I have correct drivers for just one of the two video cards, for both, or none at all), if my NVIDIA GPU is even working, if it's being used to run a game or not, and if I have all necessary packages to run Vulkan.
At this point, how do I troubleshoot all of this mess?
First, enable the multilib repo as per the other comment.
Then, to get Vulkan working properly on Optimus, install the following packages:
primus_vk vulkan-tools vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader nvidia-utils lib32-nvidia-utilsAfter that, run
vulkaninfo- if you see info about your graphics card, you will know that Vulkan is working correctly.vkcubeis another app you can run to test Vulkan.Also, according to ProtonDB, you'll need to set the following launch options in Steam for DotA 2:
gamemoderun %command% -novid -high -vconsoleWhen I run vulkaninfo or vkcube, first line of output is:
Is this normal?
Not too sure about that, have installed primus_vk and do you see the cube?
Yes I do see the cube, also I see GPU utilization go up in nvidia-settings. I uninstalled bumblebee and now I see no bumblebee error (obviously).
It's what allows you to run programs that don't have Wayland support.
Wayland + Nvidia proprietary drivers are not a good combo, you'll probably have less issues with x11.
Trying running
nvidia-settings. It will open if you've got proprietary drivers, and you can check the GPU utilisation to see if it's being used.You might need to use a command like
prime-run steamto force steam to use the Nvidia GPU.Check the arch wiki, it'll help you out the most.
Ok, thanks.
prime-run steamdoesn't solve the issue, unfortunately.nvidia-settings exists, I can launch it, and it shows my GPU model. GPU utilization is at 0%, I guess this is normal, because I don't need GPU to run my DE and browser. I'll see if this number changes when I try to launch any of my games.
Do I need xwayland to run steam and my steam games, or does steam work with wayland natively? Is it possible that I'm having the issues with xwayland?
No clue, I don't use Wayland. Try running steam in x11, that'll tell you more.
Trying to use X11 made no difference, so I guess it's not a Wayland issue.
I think with the '32' in your error message, the issue is probably running old 32bit software on a modern 64bit system?
Have you enabled multilib?
There is a bit more info on that on the Steam page in the arch wiki.
I'm pretty sure it's not me using 32 bit software, but anyway, I do have multilib enabled.
I'll check out the link for Steam later, thanks.
Start with the basics, do you see your Nvidia GPU pop up when using
vulkaninfo --summary?If it doesn't pop up, verify that you have the correct vulkan ICD files in:
$ ls /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/There you should have
nvidia_icd.json, nvidia_layers.json. If that's missing, you're missing the nvidia-utils part of the driver.If they are there, but it still don't show in your vulkaninfo sumary, you could try to load the nvidia driver manually;
modprobe nvidia, also check the kernel logsjournalctl -kordmesgand search fornvidiato see whether the driver got loaded correctly?Yes, I do see it listed as GPU0 (PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_DISCRETE_GPU type, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU).
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Nice, then you should be able to run
vkcubeto verify whether your GPU is activated properly.You can do several "iterations" here as well.
mangohud vkcube-wayland- Does it use your Nvidia GPU?mangohud vkcube- Does it use your Nvidia GPU?If Step 2 nor 3 shows your Nvidia GPU you can try and force it with:
mangohud vkcube-wayland --gpu_number 0mangohud vkcubeshows my GPU:mangohud vkcube-waylandthrows this error:Anyway, games run on my laptop now after I changed my partition type to ext4.
Are you sure this is the only error that you get?
Make sure to check if there is a message
Attempt to free invalid pointer. This is a known problem for source games: [Linux] Failure to start with tcmalloc "Attempt to free invalid pointer" and lavapipe built against llvm 16 and workarounds are available.I ran a search in my terminal and there is no «invalid pointer» error.
NVIDIA proprietary driver doesn't play nice with Wayland. To check if the proprietary driver is loaded you can use
lsmod | grep nvidiaif there's output it means the driver is loaded. Since it's an OPTIMUS laptop things will run in general on your integrated board, e.g.glxinfo | grep vendorwill show you MESA information instead of NVIDIA. Technicallyprime-run glxinfo | grep vendorshould show NVIDIA, however I'm not entirely sure that works on Wayland.Everything you said is correct. The problem with running games on my end wasn't Wayland or NVIDIA drivers, it was wrong partition type.
Try forcing it to use Proton (game properties in Steam).
I might try this as a last resort, but why would I use some emulation shenanigans for running something that is native to my platform? It would be easier to just reboot into windows and run dota 2 there instead.
I have read on more than one occasion that Wine is becoming the "Linux Gaming ABI." It's no longer just about Windows. With the huge variety presented by distros, Wine is simply a nice stable target that never moves.
This is an interesting thought, but I'll try to have it working natively first.
I think Dota doesn't run on proton, i had no problems running the native linux version with my laptop intel i7 + nvidia 1050ti, but it was on X11, u can probably choose that on login screen.
What i think you need from a fresh install (i don't remember exactly what i did at the time):
nvidiapackage ornvidia-ltsdepending on which kernel you're using, ornvidia-dkmsplus headers of your kernelnvidia-settings nvidia-utils lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-prime(never used bumblebee i just use prime-run)steamorsteam-native-runtimeprime-run %command%I have all of this (nvidia, steam, nvidia-settings nvidia-utils lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-prime) and nothing works yet. I'm still trying to figure out what I can do.