The new Linux port of Metro Exodus sadly came with a rough launch but for AMD GPU owners it's set to get more playable, with a fix in the Mesa RADV driver now merged. I've been following this quite closely, first posting about it on Twitter yesterday after being told about it.
What's the issue then? Well, this Vulkan port caused a lot of RAM to be eaten from a leak, it got real hungry really fast. A bug report was made with Mesa on April 16, and as of April 19 the fix was merged in - a pretty amazing turn around and shows again the power of open source drivers for solving issues.
Since it's merged it will for sure be in the Mesa 21.2 release, and should also be backported to the next stable update to the current Mesa drivers - hopefully the upcoming Mesa 21.1 release too which would be ideal.
For NVIDIA users, making sure your drivers are up to date is a good idea. My own NVIDIA system seemed more stable with Metro Exodus on the latest 465.24.02 release. There's still crashes in the desert area, but after plenty of research this appears to be very common on even Windows. Adjusting graphical settings down to medium for a bit gets around the areas to cause the crashes.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I don't know anything about the technology, but is my feeling right that the game shouldn't be calling with layout_size=0 in the first place?
1 Likes, Who?
Very nice. I could only play 5-10 minutes before the next crash with my RX590. Othwerwise i ran very smooth
and good looking on ultra settings. So i will just wait a bit until this fix hits Fedora and continue my playthrough then.
and good looking on ultra settings. So i will just wait a bit until this fix hits Fedora and continue my playthrough then.
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I will install it again once this patch reach Manjaro stable.
Hope I can play with my weak notebook.
Hope I can play with my weak notebook.
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~11 hours in. So far the game seems fine for me linux. There's the crashing issue on the desert map, which people say is same problem under windows. Had to lower to medium settings for those parts where it crashed there. Other than that solid experience with few gameplay bugs like floating enemies, floating items etc... No mem leaks noticed. always seems to use 8.5-9.5GB of RAM and ~4GB VRAM.
Arch Linux, MATE desktop, Ryzen 3700X, 32GB DDR4, GTX 1080Ti, 465.24.02 drivers and kernel 5.11 with upds scheduler. Game running on 1440p, Ultra RTX Off, FoV tweaked to 70 from user.cfg, motion blur disabled from there. vkabasalt dlssharpness 0.5.
Will give my full review once i finish the game.
Love how immersive it is! Gunplay is solid also.
Nice to see mesa devs are on it, so more people can enjoy this game.
Arch Linux, MATE desktop, Ryzen 3700X, 32GB DDR4, GTX 1080Ti, 465.24.02 drivers and kernel 5.11 with upds scheduler. Game running on 1440p, Ultra RTX Off, FoV tweaked to 70 from user.cfg, motion blur disabled from there. vkabasalt dlssharpness 0.5.
Will give my full review once i finish the game.
Love how immersive it is! Gunplay is solid also.
Nice to see mesa devs are on it, so more people can enjoy this game.
1 Likes, Who?
I read the merge request and I can't believe it took until now for me to get the Marge/Merge bot joke! 
Mesa guys should be careful though, they might end up getting sued both by Disney and Morrissey!
Mesa guys should be careful though, they might end up getting sued both by Disney and Morrissey!
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DebianUser Apr 20, 2021
Hmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
Last edited by DebianUser on 20 April 2021 at 3:43 pm UTC
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
Last edited by DebianUser on 20 April 2021 at 3:43 pm UTC
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Quoting: DebianUserMaybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
if you already are familiar with debian then yeah the rolling variant would be for you i would think.
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DebianUser Apr 20, 2021
Quoting: XpanderQuoting: DebianUserMaybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
if you already are familiar with debian then yeah the rolling variant would be for you i would think.
I'm pretty familiar with Debian, but there is no rolling variant (it is possible to use testing but its seems to be radical, and testing does not receive updates during freezes).
Maybe Arch is the way to go ?
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Quoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
My "stable" setup used to be Mint + Mesa ppa + Libreoffice ppa + Newest kernel (installed by their update tool) and I've never had problems with just mesa packages updated.
So if you're thinking about change from Debian, but doesn't want to leave the deb group, then I would suggest this :)
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DebianUserI'm pretty familiar with Debian, but there is no rolling variant (it is possible to use testing but its seems to be radical, and testing does not receive updates during freezes).
I don't think using Testing for a while would be that radical.
It's quite some time ago I used it myself, some people say though it would be at least as stable as other distributions' releases. :D
You're right about the freeze, though.
Last edited by Eike on 20 April 2021 at 4:26 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DebianUserI'm pretty familiar with Debian, but there is no rolling variant (it is possible to use testing but its seems to be radical, and testing does not receive updates during freezes).
Maybe Arch is the way to go ?
You will have to change your name here then :D Thats the biggest problem.
Debian testing is fine i think, but yeah i didn't know about the update freezes.
Arch might be too much work, if you don't want to go through all the stuff yourself. So maybe Endeavour OS then. Just keep rolling and rolling.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
3 Likes, Who?
DebianUser Apr 20, 2021
Quoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DebianUserany advice on a good Debian-based distributionMX-Linux, they keep repos and firmware updated. The forums/community is also very helpful and friendly.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: EikeI don't know anything about the technology, but is my feeling right that the game shouldn't be calling with layout_size=0 in the first place?I guess it's a very minimalist game?
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
OK, stay tuned. Give some time...
2 Likes, Who?
DebianUser Apr 20, 2021
Quoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
OK, stay tuned. Give some time...
Thank you very much, i have tried right now:
Install libdrm and meson from unstable with apt-pinning... but steam:i386 (and other packages) is linked to the default libdrm-common version and is uninstalled in the process.
I understand i have to set a prefix in meson, but i also have to update llvm.
After all that, i think i have understand that i have to use LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to select another MESA version.
I have reinstalled default Buster libdrm(-*) and all packages removed earlier, i'm returned to square one.
All that to say i'm not asking without searching first, i think i'm on the right way, but it is definitely out of my knowledge.
Don't hesitate to PM me when you have news on the doc ! :D
1 Likes, Who?
Avehicle7887 Apr 20, 2021
Quoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
OK, stay tuned. Give some time...
Thank you very much, i have tried right now:
Install libdrm and meson from unstable with apt-pinning... but steam:i386 (and other packages) is linked to the default libdrm-common version and is uninstalled in the process.
I understand i have to set a prefix in meson, but i also have to update llvm.
After all that, i think i have understand that i have to use LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to select another MESA version.
I have reinstalled default Buster libdrm(-*) and all packages removed earlier, i'm returned to square one.
All that to say i'm not asking without searching first, i think i'm on the right way, but it is definitely out of my knowledge.
Don't hesitate to PM me when you have news on the doc ! :D
The llvm team have debian packages on their website which are easy to install. It is also possible to compile it from source but I would advise keeping that as a last resort.
0 Likes
Quoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
OK, stay tuned. Give some time...
Thank you very much, i have tried right now:
Install libdrm and meson from unstable with apt-pinning... but steam:i386 (and other packages) is linked to the default libdrm-common version and is uninstalled in the process.
I understand i have to set a prefix in meson, but i also have to update llvm.
After all that, i think i have understand that i have to use LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to select another MESA version.
I have reinstalled default Buster libdrm(-*) and all packages removed earlier, i'm returned to square one.
All that to say i'm not asking without searching first, i think i'm on the right way, but it is definitely out of my knowledge.
Don't hesitate to PM me when you have news on the doc ! :D
Here comes the first part... compile 64bit driver. 32bit will follow.
https://www.goodbytez.de/howtos/compile-mesa-debian-bullseye
It's a simple text file on my web server you can download or simply open in your browser.
I would not recommend mixing/pinning packages... you will run into problems one day.
Oh, you use Buster... than I have bad news for you... I've run into the same situation because of Metro Exodus.
This game is compiled against libc6 2.29 but Buster ships with 2.28. You NEED to update to Bullseye when you want to play the "native" Linux version. All programs/libs in a linux system are compiled against libc6 (GlibC) and there are no Buster backports for that.
Debian Bullseye is currently in soft-freeze and I can recommend it. It's already "rock" solid.
Last edited by johndoe on 21 April 2021 at 1:04 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Avehicle7887Quoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserQuoting: johndoeQuoting: DebianUserHmmm, i think i have to drop Debian... MESA is the only thing problematic (i can have recent packets via flathub integrated to gnome-software, but MESA is another story).
Maybe Ubuntu... any advice on a good Debian-based distribution, maybe rolling release ?
I can debootsrap on my old Windows partition (not booted from 2017).
I use Debian for decades and its simply the best for me.
You have to compile Mesa... its easy and you can switch to any driver version you want by environment settings, symbolic links, ldconfig, etc... so flexible.
This way you can have many drivers installed... like 20.3.1, 20.3.2, 20.3.4... 21.0.1, 21.0.2... you get it.
Maybe I should write a little docu.
Oh, if you write a doc, ill be your first reader !
OK, stay tuned. Give some time...
Thank you very much, i have tried right now:
Install libdrm and meson from unstable with apt-pinning... but steam:i386 (and other packages) is linked to the default libdrm-common version and is uninstalled in the process.
I understand i have to set a prefix in meson, but i also have to update llvm.
After all that, i think i have understand that i have to use LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to select another MESA version.
I have reinstalled default Buster libdrm(-*) and all packages removed earlier, i'm returned to square one.
All that to say i'm not asking without searching first, i think i'm on the right way, but it is definitely out of my knowledge.
Don't hesitate to PM me when you have news on the doc ! :D
The llvm team have debian packages on their website which are easy to install. It is also possible to compile it from source but I would advise keeping that as a last resort.
Yes, this is the right way to do. Backporting LLVM on your own takes hours.
When you are an AMD user you should do that, because radv and radeonsi very often need bleeding edge LLVM.
Also newer libdrm2 is needed more or less.
These are tiny packages which I always backport myself from unstable or experimental when needed. This step is much easier than compiling Mesa but needs you to also compile the 32bit ones before you can install them.
Last edited by johndoe on 21 April 2021 at 1:13 am UTC
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