Steam OR MX Linux OR Laptop ? [Solved]

[~FLOW~]

The issue appears to be that your HD Graphics 5500 is not supported on the Vulkin API set.

The command PROTON_USE_WINE3D=1 tells Proton to use Wine Direct3D emulation, which translates Direct3D calls into OpenGL, instead of DXVK which uses Vulcan to achieve the same.

ok, thanks for the clarification ... so ? if it's working don't fix it ?

[Arnox]

Plug the MX LiveUSB in, boot with persistence, install the Nvidia drivers, reboot to the LiveUSB again, then try to game on it with Steam and see if you get the same issue.

the problem is on the other one, HP - the one without Nvidia

Oh sorry. I misread. Either way, use the LiveUSB and see if there's any issues with it.

[Arnox]

The issue appears to be that your HD Graphics 5500 is not supported on the Vulkin API set.

The command PROTON_USE_WINE3D=1 tells Proton to use Wine Direct3D emulation, which translates Direct3D calls into OpenGL, instead of DXVK which uses Vulcan to achieve the same.

That can't be right. Says here that even my laptop's older HD 4600 supports it. https://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/displayreport.php?id=15925

[CharlesV]

The issue appears to be that your HD Graphics 5500 is not supported on the Vulkin API set.

The command PROTON_USE_WINE3D=1 tells Proton to use Wine Direct3D emulation, which translates Direct3D calls into OpenGL, instead of DXVK which uses Vulcan to achieve the same.

That can't be right. Says here that even my laptop's older HD 4600 supports it. https://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/displayreport.php?id=15925

I agree with you.. My first look around it seems like it is covered... .however... there are quite a few forums that say that HD Graphics 5500 is a problem. It even shows up on a search ON the Vulkan website... But if you search around using PROTON_USE_WINE3D you will find quite a few peeps showing there is an issue.

[~FLOW~]

Unfortunately gaming on linux is still kind of a mess. You need a high end system and to know a lot of stuff about Proton to run even some older games. It's sad because on the same laptops with Windows 10, I had no problems and good fps on Steam games ... well other than the OS...
On Linux, no matter the distro, on almost all games I had to google a little for some new parameters, losing a lot of "fun momentum".
I'm not a gamer, I just like from time to time to play some old ones, maybe some new fun ones, so just for that I can't install a monstrosity like WinOS. The only distro that worked fine for my needs in games was KDE Neon with Wayland, but once I tasted MX Linux, I can't go back.
Anyway, sorry for the rant.

[Arnox]

Unfortunately gaming on linux is still kind of a mess. You need a high end system and to know a lot of stuff about Proton to run even some older games. It's sad because on the same laptops with Windows 10, I had no problems and good fps on Steam games ... well other than the OS...
On Linux, no matter the distro, on almost all games I had to google a little for some new parameters, losing a lot of "fun momentum".
I'm not a gamer, I just like from time to time to play some old ones, maybe some new fun ones, so just for that I can't install a monstrosity like WinOS. The only distro that worked fine for my needs in games was KDE Neon with Wayland, but once I tasted MX Linux, I can't go back.
Anyway, sorry for the rant.

This is also weird because I've tested the original Unreal Tournament on MX Linux with Proton and it's worked beautifully out of the box. And that game is over 20 years old. Admittedly though, you may be talking about something more modern and also, Unreal Tournament was and is even to this day, an insanely well built game. I'll test out Insurgency: Sandstorm, CrossCode and Control: Ultimate Edition with my Titan Xp and report back with those. I would also do CS:GO and HL2, but one, I've already tested those and they also run like a dream out of the box, and two, they don't really count since obviously Valve's gonna want their foremost games supported 100% on Linux.

One thing I might also do is see if Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 will work. That's a NOTORIOUSLY temperamental game, even on Windows 7.

[~FLOW~]

What I tried on HP were : Anno 1404 - History Edition, The Forest, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, AC 2 ... all therese needed the parameter PROTON_USE_WINE3D=1
Anno 1404 and Splinter Cell is working fine, The Forest has 15 fps TOP (unplayable), AC - freezes just after the game starts (in Windows was working fine) ... but this is not so much about the games but Proton I think.

[Arnox]

What I tried on HP were : Anno 1404 - History Edition, The Forest, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, AC 2 ... all therese needed the parameter PROTON_USE_WINE3D=1
Anno 1404 and Splinter Cell is working fine, The Forest has 15 fps TOP (unplayable), AC - freezes just after the game starts (in Windows was working fine) ... but this is not so much about the games but Proton I think.

Ok, so I tested everything EXCEPT Insurgency and Control, but ONLY because my dinky little drive I'm using for Linux can't fit it right now. lol (Yes, yes, I know. Storage is cheap. I need to upgrade...) But yes, here's my final verdict and also why I think you're having issues.

The first game was something I couldn't resist putting first, and that was Dark Forces 2. And surprisingly, the game booted into the movie cutscenes and the menu AND the game all without changing a single setting. Except... The game ran like xxxxxxx. There was also a KDE taskbar glitch that wouldn't go away. Now, I should have just abandoned this and moved on, but I couldn't... Not when I was already this close, so I dinked around with it and read up some posts online. Then I found it. Proton version 5.0-10 (5 something. Can't remember now.) Game runs perfectly now. (This is probably because Proton 5.x is the last version where Proton pretends to be Windows 7.) And may I remind you, this is a game running on some jank ass (Sorry, LucasArts. I really love Dark Forces 2 but this is the truth.) engine from the late 90s held together with duct tape and glue that people had problems running even back in the early 2000s.

Ok though, let's move on. CrossCrode I installed next, and out of the box, it also started having problems... The game itself ran fine, but the window was completely misaligned and I could barely see anything. Dropped that down though to the latest version of Proton 7 and it worked absolutely flawlessly after that. And pay attention here. You're gonna start seeing a trend. After that, Red Faction: Guerilla. This time, I didn't even bother with the default Proton settings and set it immediately to the latest version of Proton 7 as well. Also worked completely flawlessly in Rampage mode with my Titan Xp while I was blowing up full destructible buildings and bridges left and right with a rocket launcher. No slowdowns, no errors, no nothing. Even detected my Xbox One controller was plugged in.

And then... I had a crazy idea. I have a World of Warcraft Warmane private server client for Wrath of the Lich King installed and running great on my Windows drive. What if I just added the WoW.exe to the library as a non-Steam game and ran it with Proton 7? Surely such madness wouldn't work... Clearly a stroke of insanit-

It works flawlessly. Remembered all my old controls and settings and everything. lol

Alright then. Conclusion time. Does Proton work... ? YES. Absolutely! Sometimes even better than Windows... With just a bit of tinkering perhaps. Maybe not even that. Proton 7 should cover almost everything, and if it doesn't, boot up Proton 5 instead. I think the problem you're running into is courtesy of Valve actually. For some stupid ass reason, Proton Experimental is the default for all games you first install. And this is the WORST option. Three games I launched with Experimental, and all of the time, it would run but run VERY badly for one reason or another. So do what I did. Switch the Proton version to the latest version of Proton 7 and see if that fixes things. (Oh, also, remove the launch arguments too to make sure it's running "fresh".)

[~FLOW~]

First of all thank you for the loooong explanations and tests !!
Second, this is weird because a lot of games so far worked better for me with Experimental. And GE-Proton was even better for me, for older games know to set the right resolution, especially with a TV connected to my laptop.
It's so tiresome to keep trying with all the versions of Proton for every game, like russian roulette ...so I kept using GE for some time, I will give one last try with v7 and v5.

[~FLOW~]

PS.
1. Yout are talking about Proton 7.0-4 or Proton Next 7.0-5

Screenshot_20221130_190355.png

2. Does it matter how you install in MX Linux, Steam ?
from package manager, terminal or .deb(from steam)
So far what I notice is from package manager it's easier to uninstall if needed