this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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I tried running i3, using the arch wiki for the nvidia package. It suggested just the 'nvidia' package for a 2080 TI. Launched steam with proton (forget the newest version at the time it was like last month). Nothing would happen when launching any game. Probably doing a lot wrong or something, sorry if this isn't enough info. I did no logging.
First off, I'd recommend you use the nvidia-dkms package, because that can make upgrading kernels easier. Second, let me explain the hierarchy of GUIs on Linux. At the base level, you have the display server. In your case, you are using the X11 display server. The display server is at a very low level, and only handles the rendering of content. The three prominent display servers are X11 and Wayland. The second tier is the window manager. It's pretty much essential, and it lets you move around windows, stack them, etc. You're using i3. The third tier is desktop environment. The desktop environment is completely optional, and it controls things like taskbars, start menus, and system trays. DEs are not needed for computer use, but they can make things like customization easier.
In your case, I don't believe your issue is with your window manager or display server, I believe it is with Steam or Proton. What game are you trying to play? Some games aren't able to be compatible with Proton, unfortunately.
Edit: A few corrections that I just thought of. First off, the display server doesn't "just" handle rendering things. It handles input, and communicates to Linux, which will tell the hardware what to render. Second, I didn't explicitly mention this, but I thought that I should, a desktop environment still relies on a window manager for handling windows, it just adds functionality. Also note I wrote this reply partially in response to another commend, so sorry if I yapped a bit too much.
I have another bookmarked comment telling me to use that. Thank you for all the information. I guess my question was a little vague. I was just thinking a DE might be easier for my setup rather than a port of my laptop setup. I'm bookmarking this, too. I'll give your advice a go the next time I find time to Bork my desktop again. Definitely never buying nvidia ever again.
I don't think your GPU is the issue here as well, I think your game might not work. If you want to try and diagnose the issue, I'd be happy to help. First, add the following to your Steam game options:
PROTON_LOG=1 %command%. Then, run the game. This will make a log file in your home directory, with the prefix "steam-" and then your appid. If you want to upload the log or paste the output here, I can try and look at it and try to help.That may be a while for me. But I will try to remember to swi g back around here and comment in like, a month or two lol whenever Recall is about to hit. I will admit, I tried to launch Sea of Thieves, Elden Ring, Cassette Beasts, and the Master Chief Collection, all which have really great scores on protondb. I chalked it up to inexperience at the time but I'll run these log commands.
If they have good scores on protondb, it's probably an issue with configuration. First, make sure you're running it with proton. Go to the game's configuration > compatibility and tick "force the use of a specific steam play compatibility tool." then select the highest version of proton available(don't choose experimental if your game is supported according to protondb). Then, click play. if needed, proton will install and this should solve your issue. If it doesn't, then you can delete steam(
sudo pacman -R steam), and remove the .steam folder in your home folder. This deletes your configuration for steam, and might help resolve issues. Then, re-install steam(sudo pacman -S steam), and sign in again. Download your game and set up proton as I told you. If that still doesn't work, you'll want to make a post and share the log files.Thats actually exactly how I set it up the first time ahead of time. I followed another guide and had set it to force the use of the newest version of proton, thats when I tried all of those games. I'll have to install arch and try it again and let you know. If my memory serves me well enough to come back here.