I got off of using Windows because it’s just too bloated but I still want to enjoy gaming. I like leaning toward min install so the programs I run can have that extra bit of breathing room. I tried using debian testing but I don’t think it has the vulkan/dxvk stuff needed to run lutris without a headache. Is there a recommended distro out there preferably without the bloat of gnome etc?
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I currently run Lutris without problems in Manjaro XFCE build, but have also used in in Debian and Pop! OS. I personally have had very few problems with it in Manjaro. But like everything else, YMMV. 
It worked perfectly for me on Peppermint 9 & 10. It’s a bit more unpredictable on OpenSUSE.
I’m running Lutris on Debian 11.
Getting it to work is straightforward, once you find the right guides.
For example, if you have nVidia graphics, use this guide to install the driver and 32-bit libraries:
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
Then install Lutris from the repository, and it automatically uses DXVK/VK3D.
For extra performance, install gamemode from the repository.
Linux Mint here
RELEASE=21.2
CODENAME=victoria
EDITION=“Cinnamon”
DESCRIPTION=“Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria”
So far so good. Based on a LOT of reading I’ve been doing through this forum, getting the correct versions of lutris, proton-ge and wine seems to be waaaaay more important than the distribution you are using.
It’s funny that linux mint works well for me, because somewhere in my journey I found instructions for lutris/wine/driver/something-or-other that said specifically that it would not work with Mint.
p.s. I’m using a Radeon 6600 video card. My performance in D2R, D3 and Path of Exile(!!) is excellent. Was excellent, the last PoE patch has broken it. Looks like a wine problem not a distribution related problem.
While opinions vary I use Mint 21.x-Xfce (which is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS), 21.2-Xfce currently, as I figure just about anything decent based on Debian/Ubuntu is one of the safer choices in general since they are more likely to be supported and, while there is no strict standard when it comes to Linux, those are probably as close as it will get. but I see Mint as a pretty good option for someone coming from Windows to Linux in general since it’s been around longer than most etc.
it’s also easy to install a NVIDIA driver in Mint through ‘Driver Manager’ as by default it uses the nouveau driver but through the ‘Driver Manager’ one can install a proper NVIDIA driver which seems to be pretty much required for good gaming performance.
when it comes to AMD GPU’s I heard the GPU driver is built into the Linux kernel, so you don’t really need to do anything with these as it will probably just work.
Yeah, that seems to be the general idea. but currently I have to remain on Lutris v0.5.12 instead of the current v0.5.13 due to regressions on at least two games (both have same basic graphics engine) which went from working well in v0.5.12 to basically shot in v0.5.13 as while the games (Mafia: Definitive Edition/Mafia III) technically still start up with v0.5.13, the performance on the main menu is near dead slow, like it’s not using the GPU (as frame rate here is got to be close to nothing), as just navigating the basic main menu with arrow keys is near dead slow where as on v0.5.12 it works as expected with the usual GloriousEggroll runner etc.
Hello everyone! : )
I allow myself to raise this topic because I have too much problem with my current OS and lutris.
I do not know if it comes from the “distro” itself, my configuration or myself. (certainly myself, I am very bad at computers.)
Here are some examples of my many problems:
When I can download linux games, I can’t download windows games. When I can download games the 2d games download but not the 3d ones (why? No lo sé). Either I have a common file error, or wine problems, must source problems, sound problems… (while 90% of my games are gog, the rest is my old but beautiful game boxes CDs…).
Sometimes everything works, but never for long, problems come back and often vary.
What I currently use are:
Pop Os.
My Setup: Memory 16GO. 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-13400 × 16. Nvidia RTX 3060 TI 8GO.
So I’m looking for a “distro” not too complex for a fairly easy experience for beginners. Which is easily compatible with my nvidia graphics card (from what I understood its help not…)
I also like the “Free” side, privacy and security respected.
I have already tested ubuntu (but I don’t want Snap format) but I also had a lot of problems with lutris.
I tested debian and struggled very quickly.
I was thinking about solus (I’ve been hearing about it very well lately). Or Mint (Good reputation for a long time.).
But before I retest everything I would like your feedback. Have you had an easy and simple experience on these distros?
I am a long time Mint user. I see the issues people have with lutris here on Mint/Ubuntu and I am really puzzled because I don’t experience those issues (I have Macbook Pro 2011, 11600k/6700xt, 7700x/4070ti systems all running Mint or Ubuntu flavours). The best advice I can give based on your hardware is to follow a structured process to setup your distro (Ubuntu - you can remove SNAP permanently, or Mint):
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After installation, make sure you update your system - don’t rush in and install new packages and apps, get the base system up to date - then install timeshift (it is available on most distros) and grab a snapshot of this initial install.
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Update your kernel - 5.x kernels are nice but both Mint and Ubuntu have 6.5 kernels, and the new 24.04 Ubuntu will use 6.8
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If you have not already updated your nvidia drivers, on the Ubuntu and Mint repos, use 535 nvidia drivers. This link will then help you get all the other bits needed to game on Lutris - note - It says not for Mint - this is a warning for Mint 21.0 and 21.1 which had a bug requiring manual steps to enable the 32 bit parts of the 2 ppa’s shown. THIS IS NOT COPY PASTE - read the commands you are going to use here - if you are already using 535 then you don’t need to install the 535 part of the command, if you have a newer 40 series card adding the PPA can be good, but you want to install the 550 driver which adds more vulkan features your games can use so change the 535 to 550.
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Most people do not need to use winehq to install Wine, but if you do go down this route, make sure you follow ALL THE STEPS - many people leave our the architecture step and wonder why 32 bit wine doesn’t work.
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Even if you use winehq, you still need a few other gaming dependencies installed - this link will help. Again, this is not a copy paste - read the commands - if you already followed the winehq, you don;t need to install wine64 and wine32, just the other packages that might be missing.
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Ubuntu and its ilk have old versions of Lutris in the repos - sure install them, but head to the downloads area in lutris.net and follow the links to get the latest release version of Lutris. To install this deb, don’t double click. On Mint, right click → open with gdebi. On Ubuntu, Pop etc, you need to open a terminal session where you downloaded the file and run:
sudo apt install ./lutris (press the tab key to complete the file name). The install will complain at the end, but launch lutris and check About Lutris to confirm that the version here matches the deb you downloaded. -
When you are using lutris 0.5.16, you need to set the vulkan ICD loader to match your gpu and not say unspecified on preferences → global options → enable Advanced at the top - it is in the multi-gpu section. This is not needed on 0.5.17
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If you have issues installing games on an external drive (eg /media or /mnt) try to install in the default folder first (/home/user name/Games). Many times it is simple user permissions and ownership on the mounted drive that cause things to fail. If you can install to the ~/Games folder, create a folder on the external drive and use:
sudo chown -R user:user foldername (user is your login user name) and
sudo chmod -R 777 foldername
This will often be enough to allow lutris to install games to foldername on your external drive. -
Make sure you have winetricks installed (it is not part of wine) and run winetricks --version. If it is not 2024 version, run winetricks --self-update to get the latest, and in lutris on the left hand pane under runners, click on wine and then the gear icon - enable use system winetricks - this can save a lot of frustration later with installs.
You know what? you could probably follow this on your current install as well…
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