Getting it to actually work with games is still a crapshoot, though.
Plasma 6.5 has broken tonemapping both with gamescope and proton wayland (which breaks a bunch of other things to boot). The fix was merged just a couple of weeks ago.
To be fair, HDR gaming is pretty bad on Windows, too. (Unless - so I heard - you use RTX HDR, which is still a workaround AND you need a new-dish NVIDIA card, which I don’t have.)
It isn’t a controller issue. That still works through SDL.
Steam Input uses the Steam overlay, it takes your controller input and allows for more custom remapping options, macros, etcetc. I primarily see it being used to let people use a controller to play games that were not designed to play with a controller (by remapping the controller to move the mouse cursor and send keyboard inputs with the controller buttons)
I use Wayland and my xbox controllers work fine. I’d use Steam Input if I could, but most games are already designed to accept controller input directly so the damage is limited.
I cannot for the life of me get HDR working consistently across games on my CachyOS rig. So I would say true. I also find Bluetooth is my biggest pain point for now. I seem to only be able to connect to stuff from the command line. Some Linux hardcores here might roll their eyes at that complaint, but I’m not afraid to admit that I prefer a GUI.
Bluetooth is one of those things that’s a gamble on Linux. On my PC it works perfectly, but on my friends PC it’s barely working at all. Had to help troubleshoot for quite a while until I gave up.
Some Linux hardcores here might roll their eyes at that complaint, but I’m not afraid to admit that I prefer a GUI.
Even most of the Linux hardcores use a GUI. Living 24/7 in a terminal environment is mostly a sysadmin/programmer flex.
The important thing here is that you were able to figure out how to do what you wanted via the terminal, that’s a huge first step since most people just give up as soon as they can’t use a GUI (props to you). Now that you know the commands to do what you want, you can now do the most common useful Linux thing: make a script
It sounds like Bluetooth works, but requires a configuration/setting that the GUI developer didn’t forsee.
What you need to do is to break down the individual tasks that you have to do in the command line (like, enable/disable bluetooth, connect to a device, etc) and type them into a text file instead (one command per line), add #!/bin/bash at the top. Save the file and make it executable (chmod +x filename). Then you can execute the script by typing (from the directory where the script is located) ./enablebluetooth.sh or ./connecttoheadphones.sh
Once you know the scripts work, you can bind them to a hotkey in Plasma Settings under Keyboard Shortcuts -> Add New -> Command or Script -> select your script, and bind it to a hotkey combo. If you wanted to get a bit more advanced, you could probably create some UI buttons that would launch the script when clicked but I don’t know how to do that off of the top of my head.
Once you’re comfortable with the workflow of 1. Figure out how to do it in the terminal, 2. Write a script, 3. Make the script convenient to use/automatic then you’ll come to appreciate the flexibility of the terminal (because you can put it in a script and never have to use the terminal!)
If you try and run into any issues just let me know and I’ll try to get to you pointed in the right direction.
I appreciate the thorough response and the attempt to help, truly I do. But I feel like it’s kind of missed the point a bit.
I actually run a home server, have written some scripts here and there for the server (particularly backup scripts), use VMs and have figured out pass through; my point is that I’m not completely clueless here, while still not exactly being a power user. Even though I’ve done that stuff, and have that knowledge, it’s not a fun user experience for me. When I open my Bluetooth settings, I want it to just work. I don’t want to have to dig into the terminal and troubleshoot stuff.
Windows sucks for a lot of reasons, but I at least, personally, never had issues with Bluetooth or HDR.
I would like it to just work too. That would be amazing. Spending time fixing bluetooth or HDR issues is annoying, 100%. I understand your point.
Like everything, it’s about choosing the trade-off that’s best for you.
The reason that you don’t have to fix these problems yourself in Apple/Microsoft products is that they invest millions of dollars in software engineering labor in order to cover every possible contingency and hardware configuration available and they expect a return on that investment. Instead of spending your time fixing bluetooth issues you can pay money to subsidize Microsoft/Apple fixing it. That has been, for quite a while, the best deal available in personal computing.
Except now they don’t just want to sell you a box with software in it that operates your computer. They also want to spy on you, lock down your device, prevent you from repairing your own system and trap you in a walled garden of subscription services and use their monopoly power to prevent any other alternatives from being able to offer better services.
I don’t like this new bargain, I’d rather write a script or read a wiki. The FOSS world is full of people who understand this dilemma and we’re all working together to make computers better for everyone. Part of that is helping our fellow users come onboard and deal with the issues that they’re facing, that’s what I was aiming for (and even if you don’t need the information, it may help some reader).
Untrue.
Edit: I effortlessly use it on Bazzite. What’s the issue you guys are having?
Actually very true.
Kde has good hdr with Wayland but a lot DEs still are very much a crapshoot, yes
Getting it to actually work with games is still a crapshoot, though.
Plasma 6.5 has broken tonemapping both with gamescope and proton wayland (which breaks a bunch of other things to boot). The fix was merged just a couple of weeks ago.
To be fair, HDR gaming is pretty bad on Windows, too. (Unless - so I heard - you use RTX HDR, which is still a workaround AND you need a new-dish NVIDIA card, which I don’t have.)
Niri has HDR too
You want to explain? Because the last time I checked getting HDR to work with games is a huge hassle.
with KDE and Wayland i have no issues, using Steam launch parameters:
PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 PROTON_ENABLE_HDR=1Linux 6.18
AMD Radeon 9070XT
Mesa 25
This is exactly what I do on Garuda Arch with KDE and Wayland.
I usually use the latest GE Proton 10-x for games with HDR.
Doesn’t this require you to also be on plasma 6.4?
Using proton wayland also breaks steam input, which can be deal breaker.
maybe. i’m on plasma 6.5 and usually on latest.
i can’t speak to steam input, but i’ve not had any controller issues with my 8bitdo and Gulikit.
It isn’t a controller issue. That still works through SDL.
Steam Input uses the Steam overlay, it takes your controller input and allows for more custom remapping options, macros, etcetc. I primarily see it being used to let people use a controller to play games that were not designed to play with a controller (by remapping the controller to move the mouse cursor and send keyboard inputs with the controller buttons)
I use Wayland and my xbox controllers work fine. I’d use Steam Input if I could, but most games are already designed to accept controller input directly so the damage is limited.
I cannot for the life of me get HDR working consistently across games on my CachyOS rig. So I would say true. I also find Bluetooth is my biggest pain point for now. I seem to only be able to connect to stuff from the command line. Some Linux hardcores here might roll their eyes at that complaint, but I’m not afraid to admit that I prefer a GUI.
Bluetooth is one of those things that’s a gamble on Linux. On my PC it works perfectly, but on my friends PC it’s barely working at all. Had to help troubleshoot for quite a while until I gave up.
Even most of the Linux hardcores use a GUI. Living 24/7 in a terminal environment is mostly a sysadmin/programmer flex.
The important thing here is that you were able to figure out how to do what you wanted via the terminal, that’s a huge first step since most people just give up as soon as they can’t use a GUI (props to you). Now that you know the commands to do what you want, you can now do the most common useful Linux thing: make a script
It sounds like Bluetooth works, but requires a configuration/setting that the GUI developer didn’t forsee.
What you need to do is to break down the individual tasks that you have to do in the command line (like, enable/disable bluetooth, connect to a device, etc) and type them into a text file instead (one command per line), add #!/bin/bash at the top. Save the file and make it executable (chmod +x filename). Then you can execute the script by typing (from the directory where the script is located) ./enablebluetooth.sh or ./connecttoheadphones.sh
Once you know the scripts work, you can bind them to a hotkey in Plasma Settings under Keyboard Shortcuts -> Add New -> Command or Script -> select your script, and bind it to a hotkey combo. If you wanted to get a bit more advanced, you could probably create some UI buttons that would launch the script when clicked but I don’t know how to do that off of the top of my head.
Once you’re comfortable with the workflow of 1. Figure out how to do it in the terminal, 2. Write a script, 3. Make the script convenient to use/automatic then you’ll come to appreciate the flexibility of the terminal (because you can put it in a script and never have to use the terminal!)
If you try and run into any issues just let me know and I’ll try to get to you pointed in the right direction.
I appreciate the thorough response and the attempt to help, truly I do. But I feel like it’s kind of missed the point a bit.
I actually run a home server, have written some scripts here and there for the server (particularly backup scripts), use VMs and have figured out pass through; my point is that I’m not completely clueless here, while still not exactly being a power user. Even though I’ve done that stuff, and have that knowledge, it’s not a fun user experience for me. When I open my Bluetooth settings, I want it to just work. I don’t want to have to dig into the terminal and troubleshoot stuff.
Windows sucks for a lot of reasons, but I at least, personally, never had issues with Bluetooth or HDR.
I would like it to just work too. That would be amazing. Spending time fixing bluetooth or HDR issues is annoying, 100%. I understand your point.
Like everything, it’s about choosing the trade-off that’s best for you.
The reason that you don’t have to fix these problems yourself in Apple/Microsoft products is that they invest millions of dollars in software engineering labor in order to cover every possible contingency and hardware configuration available and they expect a return on that investment. Instead of spending your time fixing bluetooth issues you can pay money to subsidize Microsoft/Apple fixing it. That has been, for quite a while, the best deal available in personal computing.
Except now they don’t just want to sell you a box with software in it that operates your computer. They also want to spy on you, lock down your device, prevent you from repairing your own system and trap you in a walled garden of subscription services and use their monopoly power to prevent any other alternatives from being able to offer better services.
I don’t like this new bargain, I’d rather write a script or read a wiki. The FOSS world is full of people who understand this dilemma and we’re all working together to make computers better for everyone. Part of that is helping our fellow users come onboard and deal with the issues that they’re facing, that’s what I was aiming for (and even if you don’t need the information, it may help some reader).
I switched to Linux, so obviously I don’t either.