I recently made the switch to Linux Mint with a partition on my laptop. For work, it has been quite nice, but gaming has been incredibly difficult. I only managed to get one game to run seemingly without issue, which was Factorio, but any other game, Linux native or otherwise, has been an absolute headache to play, if it even runs at all. I’m using Proton and Protondb, but nothing seems to really work. While I’m willing to put in some work to get my games to run, I don’t know how to figure out what is wrong and what I need to do to fix them.
So, how do I go about fixing this sort of stuff? My method of trying every single version of Proton with various recommended settings/commands from Protondb has not yielded anything beneficial. Additionally, searching the web with errors has also not yielded any meaningful results. For now, my solution is to switch back to windows if I want to play anything other than Factorio.
Thanks for the help.
I have Dell Inspiron 16 Plus with an Intel i7, 32GB of ram, and a 3060m. I installed the games normally through Steam; I didn’t alter the download location, or anything like that.
Since you mentioned that this is a hybrid-GPU laptop, I’d suggest trying to change your default GPU to Nvidia exclusively from the relevant system tray applet. I did use to use Linux Mint on my old Acer gaming laptop and this helped a lot.
My best guess is that you have an GPU that either doesn’t support Vulkan, or has driver issues. But we shouldn’t guess, that’s what logs are for.
For Steam logs, running Steam from terminal as suggested is one way. Do note that error with wrong ELF class for game overlay library when starting any game is normal, since Steam tries to load both 32 and 64 for bit version for each game, and the wrong one will always fail. Arch wiki has more information.
The issue might be with Vulkan, but I’ll check to make sure. Whenever I try to play Black Mesa, it always needs to load Vulkan, despite others saying it only needs to happen once. I’ll adjust the Proton logs and use the terminal output for Steam as well and see if I can find the problem(s). Thanks for the help
Run steam from terminal, launch game, when it crashes/fails to load then check the terminal output for clues on what’s gone wrong. At least you might see some line or error you can share or search for.
I tried that and the terminal did show something. However, the ouput was much longer than I was expecting, so it will take a bit for me to parse through everything.
My laptop has an intel cpu and an nvidia gpu, and I’m running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon. Most of the time I don’t get errors, usually when I try to launch the game. This happens when I try to play Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.
If you’re having issues with EVERY game aside from one, you have an environment problem. Need more system specs to be able to point you in the right direction.
Also, if you have issues with a game, check protondb.com and make sure it has support.
My laptop has an intel cpu and nvidia gpu. I’m currently running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon. I’ve been using protondb.com to check for support, and everything so far has either native support, platinum or gold rating. The games I am currently trying with are Black Mesa and Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.
What are your computer specifications? How did you install your games?
I have Dell Inspiron 16 Plus with an Intel i7, 32GB of ram, and a 3060m. I installed the games normally through Steam; I didn’t alter the download location, or anything like that.
Did you install proprietary Nvidia drivers through the Driver Manager app?
I believe so, yes. My driver is nvidia-driver-550
Since you mentioned that this is a hybrid-GPU laptop, I’d suggest trying to change your default GPU to Nvidia exclusively from the relevant system tray applet. I did use to use Linux Mint on my old Acer gaming laptop and this helped a lot.
My best guess is that you have an GPU that either doesn’t support Vulkan, or has driver issues. But we shouldn’t guess, that’s what logs are for.
For Steam logs, running Steam from terminal as suggested is one way. Do note that error with wrong ELF class for game overlay library when starting any game is normal, since Steam tries to load both 32 and 64 for bit version for each game, and the wrong one will always fail. Arch wiki has more information.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Steam/Troubleshooting#Debugging_Steam
For Proton logs, set environment variable PROTON_LOG=1. You can do it in Steam launch options, see Proton Readme for more info.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton?tab=readme-ov-file#runtime-config-options
With hardware and firmware issues system logs often point to right direction. Again Arch wiki has a good tutorial on it.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd/Journal#Filtering_output
Games often have their own logging too if you need to go there. You’ll need to look those up, as they vary by game.
I hope this helps.
The issue might be with Vulkan, but I’ll check to make sure. Whenever I try to play Black Mesa, it always needs to load Vulkan, despite others saying it only needs to happen once. I’ll adjust the Proton logs and use the terminal output for Steam as well and see if I can find the problem(s). Thanks for the help
Run steam from terminal, launch game, when it crashes/fails to load then check the terminal output for clues on what’s gone wrong. At least you might see some line or error you can share or search for.
I tried that and the terminal did show something. However, the ouput was much longer than I was expecting, so it will take a bit for me to parse through everything.
What ur errors ,what ur hardware,what games u are trying to run.please provide bare minim info
My laptop has an intel cpu and an nvidia gpu, and I’m running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon. Most of the time I don’t get errors, usually when I try to launch the game. This happens when I try to play Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.
What ur nvidia GPU in laptop
I have a 3060m graphics card
What version of nvidia driver u have installed? U can check with nvidia-smi
nvidia-smi shows 550.144.03
If you’re having issues with EVERY game aside from one, you have an environment problem. Need more system specs to be able to point you in the right direction.
Also, if you have issues with a game, check protondb.com and make sure it has support.
My laptop has an intel cpu and nvidia gpu. I’m currently running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon. I’ve been using protondb.com to check for support, and everything so far has either native support, platinum or gold rating. The games I am currently trying with are Black Mesa and Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.
Need actual specs though. Which Nvidia GPU and how much dedicated memory? Better yet, give the model of your laptop.
I have Dell Inspiron 16 Plus with an Intel i7, 32GB of ram, and a 3060m