Linux Pop!_OS & Cosmic Desktop

[alt3rn1ty]

The reason your installer can't see the SSD is likely that Intel VMD is enabled, which takes any NVME drives hostage.

.. Once again many thanks Adeine, I searched and scratched my head for about 3 hours and didn't find this.
VMD was hiding, and Ctrl S revealed it, I am now typing from Firefox in a fully installed PoP!_OS.

VMD is new to me, is it something I need to re-enable now that Linux is installed?.
(AI search results are generally good for this kind of thing, but a couple of conflictions of opinion put me off trusting it)
Edit: Actually never mind, I reworded the question a few more times and got a better result ..

It is generally recommended to keep the Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) controller enabled in the BIOS after installing pop!_OS, especially if your system uses an NVMe SSD, as VMD is designed to optimize performance, power efficiency, and stability for modern Intel platforms.
Disabling VMD can lead to issues such as the SSD not being detected, reduced performance due to fallback to legacy AHCI mode, or boot failures if the system relies on VMD for drive communication.

While VMD is primarily used for RAID configurations and Intel Optane memory support, it also enhances single-drive NVMe SSD performance and provides features like error isolation and hot-plug support, even when not using RAID.
Most modern Intel-based laptops and desktops (2020 and newer) use VMD, and disabling it without a specific need may cause problems.

However, if you are not using RAID or Optane memory and have no performance or boot issues, leaving VMD disabled may be acceptable. But if you encounter boot problems or SSD detection issues after installation, re-enabling VMD in the BIOS and ensuring the appropriate drivers are available during installation may be necessary.

For pop!_OS, which is Linux-based, note that Intel RST/VMD drivers are not supported on Linux, so enabling VMD may result in the system not recognizing the SSD unless the kernel includes native VMD support.
In such cases, keeping VMD disabled might be the safer option unless you are certain your system’s firmware and kernel support it.

In summary, unless you have a specific reason to disable it or are experiencing issues, it is generally recommended to keep VMD enabled for optimal performance and compatibility.
If you are unsure, consult your system manufacturer’s documentation or support for guidance specific to your hardware.

My bold. So I'm going with the safer option at the moment and leave it disabled, although I could try flipping it, see what happens, then flip it back if Pop!_OS doesn't like it. Hmm.

Edit: Also noticed Variable Refresh Rate in the desktop Display settings is set to Auto by default, switched it to off for now.

[adeine]

.. Once again many thanks Adeine, I searched and scratched my head for about 3 hours and didn't find this.
VMD was hiding, and Ctrl S revealed it, I am now typing from Firefox in a fully installed PoP!_OS.

VMD is new to me, is it something I need to re-enable now that Linux is installed?.
(AI search results are generally good for this kind of thing, but a couple of conflictions of opinion put me off trusting it)
Edit: Actually never mind, I reworded the question a few more times and got a better result ..

So I'm going with the safer option at the moment and leave it disabled, although I could try flipping it, see what happens, then flip it back if Pop!_OS doesn't like it. Hmm.

!!

VMD is most likely not useful for you, it was designed to help with Intel Optane or server/RAID setups and otherwise will only cause issues. So much so that Windows went back to disable it by default on newer platforms. You should be able to turn it on if you really want/need it for some reason, but it may require manual setup (can't vouch for these instructions since I don't use Intel/VMD).

I wouldn't really recommend relying on AI for this sort of thing, it's notoriously bad re: making stuff up about what is and isn't supported on various platforms.

Edit: Also noticed Variable Refresh Rate in the desktop Display settings is set to Auto by default, switched it to off for now.

No reason not to try it with Auto unless you don't want VRR at all.

[alt3rn1ty]

VMD is remaining off, I was nearly at that conclusion in my last post, but what you just said has confirmed what I thought.
VRR not sure I need it really, its not something I was aware of in windows and what you said a few posts back raised a beware flag.

Most awkward thing was transferring Thunderbird profiles, the windows ones I backed up were from a newer version of Thunderbird than the one installed in the Pop!_OS distro, so after editing the profile.ini to have the path for the unique profile name, and firing up Thunderbird for the first time, there was a dialogue declaring I was running an older Thunderbird which was a bit misleading .. The problem was I was trying to load the whole profile setup from a newer Thunderbird. So had to launch Thunderbird in a terminal with --allow-downgrade.
Complicating that, I have (among other email setups) 2 GMail accounts, one is used to verify actions in the other and vice versa, and because they were both needing to be newly verfified on this machine with a new OS, I couldn't get the email to verify the other account as they both tried to verify each other at the same time. Solved it by opening both IMAP accounts in browser windows to make the verifications and then Thunderbird was happy authorising both accounts.
Alls well that ends well.

Heroic is installed and logging into GOG .. That's as far as I got, time for installing games over the next week.

Loving Pop!_OS so far, my machine is running a lot cooler now all the Acer/Windows AI stuff is gone.
But have noticed it can be tripped up and a bit of weirdness can happen when doing multiple things at once. My old backed up Music/Pictures, I copied everything within those folders on my USB HD, to the equivalent Linux folders and pasted .. At the end of each of those I had some dialogues locked up, so rebooted to solve it.

Rebooting is a dream, so fast I was back at the login within a few seconds.
The adventure continues

[alt3rn1ty]

Going back to windows:

Game installations
1. No Mans Sky installed with Heroic, Heroic also installed the Proton GE, everything was great and performance of NMS was really good.
2. X4 (native linux) - Heroic installed it all fine, but launching the game it does not download the Ventures extension, so my saves would not load. Also having experienced Frame Generation in the windows version, bit of a shock to see the Linux Native X4 doesn't have Frame Generation. I guess I could install the Windows version and run it through Proton, but ..
3. Cyberpunk 2077 - Heroic installs it fine, but no sound at all in game. And worse thing, it overheats my laptop as I dont think Pop!_OS has very good dynamic management of my fans.

I didn't get to installing Baldurs Gate 3 because the problem with overheating in Cyberpunk is just not something I am going to be able to live with, really dont wish to melt my new laptop.

So thats it for me for now, the sound in Cyberpunk is probably fixable by editing something though we shouldn't have to. But the overheating of the machine is just not acceptable. Pop!_OS needs better control over the fans in response to CPU/GPU temperatures, on this Acer Laptop thats all handled with something called PredatorSense in windows, and there isn't a Linux equivalent.

[adeine]

2. X4 (native linux) - Heroic installed it all fine, but launching the game it does not download the Ventures extension, so my saves would not load. Also having experienced Frame Generation in the windows version, bit of a shock to see the Linux Native X4 doesn't have Frame Generation. I guess I could install the Windows version and run it through Proton, but ..

Ventures extension installed and updated fine for me, did you log in and enable the setting in the game? My saves work fine on both Windows/Linux.

I can't speak to frame generation, not sure why Egosoft haven't enabled it on Linux yet.

3. Cyberpunk 2077 - Heroic installs it fine, but no sound at all in game. And worse thing, it overheats my laptop as I dont think Pop!_OS has very good dynamic management of my fans.

I didn't get to installing Baldurs Gate 3 because the problem with overheating in Cyberpunk is just not something I am going to be able to live with, really dont wish to melt my new laptop.

So thats it for me for now, the sound in Cyberpunk is probably fixable by editing something though we shouldn't have to. But the overheating of the machine is just not acceptable. Pop!_OS needs better control over the fans in response to CPU/GPU temperatures, on this Acer Laptop thats all handled with something called PredatorSense in windows, and there isn't a Linux equivalent.

A cursory search suggests the issue with sound on Cyberpunk might be related to the game defaulting to surround output, which is iffy for people even on Windows. Are there any ingame settings to change this? If not, I am assuming Pop! is using pipewire for audio - do you know which version you have installed? You could also try switching audio=alsa in winetricks to see if it makes any difference.

You should have access to fan controls and other features via acer-wmi on any recent-ish kernel. There are friendly front-ends specific to acer available; these seem to be more or less what you're looking for:

https://github.com/PXDiv/Div-Acer-Manager-Fan-Controls

or

https://github.com/PXDiv/Div-Acer-Manager-Max linked in first repo if you need some of the additional features

[EGO_Aut]

Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS -now i have time to get some expirience
PC: Medion MS-7848 (1.0) - 4790/16GB/Vega56

X4: Vulcan Shader needs a long time to compute, i was hoping it only needs 1x, but its nearly every time
I did load a save over Google Drive from my 1.Win_PC to my 2.PopOs without problems. Now played 2-3 hours without problems, even a benchmark test "save" (i did a video on yt, new-rig vs old rig, but not linux) was much better than on windows. Without graphic flickering and a lot faster (dont nail me, but it was from 20->25 Fps )
The "saves" directory is kind of hidden here: personal directory/.var/app/com,v,,,team/.config/Egosoft/x4/xxnumbersxx/save

Edit:
1. Just had a crash, while loading a save i switched to Firefox, then the game stuck at 13% loading
2. Medival 2 installed (but it did not run 1. try) - now it runs i installed proton 9 over steam, and the vulcan did compute (cant remember if it does with the first try). I did not install DirectX.

Cyberpunk: I am not sure if my rig can handle this game, its a lot of GB - do you think i should try?

[alt3rn1ty]

Ventures extension installed and updated fine for me, did you log in and enable the setting in the game? My saves work fine on both Windows/Linux.

I can't speak to frame generation, not sure why Egosoft haven't enabled it on Linux yet.

Yep logged in, rebooted the game after getting all the settings as they should be .. but the venture extension download before the game starts doesn't happen.
Frame Generation is definitely amiss, and not something I'm happy to compromise on having experienced its benefits on this machine in windows its become an essential feature very fast.

A cursory search suggests the issue with sound on Cyberpunk might be related to the game defaulting to surround output, which is iffy for people even on Windows. Are there any ingame settings to change this? If not, I am assuming Pop! is using pipewire for audio - do you know which version you have installed? You could also try switching audio=alsa in winetricks to see if it makes any difference.

You should have access to fan controls and other features via acer-wmi on any recent-ish kernel. There are friendly front-ends specific to acer available; these seem to be more or less what you're looking for:

https://github.com/PXDiv/Div-Acer-Manager-Fan-Controls

or

https://github.com/PXDiv/Div-Acer-Manager-Max linked in first repo if you need some of the additional features

Thank you for trying to help, but the overheating issue needing something else to be done is also something I'm not happy to accept, for an OS that is supposed to be for gamers cooling should be a priority for the devs ..

.. That said they cannot possibly account for every machine out there, the OS is after all primarily designed for System76 own machines, so I'm going to submit a bug report for the projects on Github, hopefully with enough detail for them to get to the bottom of it.

I'm not giving up though, just delaying adoption until it matures a bit more. I know there is a fair bit of self help with Linux occasionally, but I have experienced in the past with other distros the self help can mess with future updates where the system is expecting certain states which have been undermined with my manual meddling, so I prefer not to have to meddle with patching things myself in an OS I dont fully understand.

Loved Pop!_OS 24.04 otherwise, its ideal for me, it just needs to resolve a few things, and be stable when multi-tasking a few things (and copy/pasting a large amount of files). I am dreading Windows updating to Win 12 (whenever that will be), so really want to be on Linux before then. I might go with Linux Mint until Pop! matures a bit more, but for now I have already gone back to Win 11 using my recovery usb and backups.

Acer have kind of locked me into windows for now, PredatorSense being needed for good fan control, RGB keyboard lighting, and the power profiles which when configured through PredatorSense can be cycled with a press of a dedicated keyboard button (it affects voltage to the System/CPU/GPU and sets Fan control appropriately to be more aggressive the higher you set the power profile) .. Its a beautiful machine but very much dependant upon the custom PredatorSense software (which also controls some parts of the BIOS). The RGB keyboard lighting thing sounds like its not so important, but by default it strobes multicolours, with PredatorSense you can configure it to be a stable single colour at a brightness level you configure. Without PredatorSense it strobes multicolours constantly and is annoying as hell. I raised a ticket with Acer and suggested an update to the BIOS to control the keyboard lighting, their response was it cant be changed (I think I was talking to someone in China .. so gave up, it probably could be a setting or two in the BIOS, seen it before on another laptop where that was the case - But Acer were just giving me the scripted response).

[alt3rn1ty]

Cyberpunk: I am not sure if my rig can handle this game, its a lot of GB - do you think i should try?

Not sure about your system, but Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of options to cut down the demands on a system. The game engine is very good in that department, but if your machine starts to overheat see Adeines advice on system fan control.
I'm not willing to to go down that path with my machine as its unique in its dependancy with PredatorSense, I hope the Linux community can come up with solutions in the future for such machines.

[adeine]

I did load a save over Google Drive from my 1.Win_PC to my 2.PopOs without problems. Now played 2-3 hours without problems, even a benchmark test "save" (i did a video on yt, new-rig vs old rig, but not linux) was much better than on windows. Without graphic flickering and a lot faster (dont nail me, but it was from 20->25 Fps )
The "saves" directory is kind of hidden here: personal directory/.var/app/com,v,,,team/.config/Egosoft/x4/xxnumbersxx/save

That's odd, mine (GOG install through Heroic) are just in ~/.config/Egosoft/X4/save

But Steam likes to have its labyrinthine file structure I suppose.

Acer have kind of locked me into windows for now, PredatorSense being needed for good fan control, RGB keyboard lighting, and the power profiles which when configured through PredatorSense can be cycled with a press of a dedicated keyboard button (it affects voltage to the System/CPU/GPU and sets Fan control appropriately to be more aggressive the higher you set the power profile) .. Its a beautiful machine but very much dependant upon the custom PredatorSense software (which also controls some parts of the BIOS). The RGB keyboard lighting thing sounds like its not so important, but by default it strobes multicolours, with PredatorSense you can configure it to be a stable single colour at a brightness level you configure. Without PredatorSense it strobes multicolours constantly and is annoying as hell. I raised a ticket with Acer and suggested an update to the BIOS to control the keyboard lighting, their response was it cant be changed (I think I was talking to someone in China .. so gave up, it probably could be a setting or two in the BIOS, seen it before on another laptop where that was the case - But Acer were just giving me the scripted response).

Not sure how it is needed when similar tools are available which will do the things mentioned (even down to the keyboard button).

You're probably not going to have an experience that mirrors preinstalled Windows 100% on a gaming laptop with bloatware/tweaking software unless or until manufacturers release them with preinstalled Linux. These kinds of hardware specific tweaks and utilities are always going to be something you have to look into and seek out for yourself. Generally with relatively common hardware which is reasonably accessible to devs there will be options around (such as OpenRGB for a lot of RGB controls on various kinds of desktop hardware, or the acer_wmi frontends linked above).

[EGO_Aut]

I just learned the hard way, that the default pop_os steam install is "flatpack" never ever install the flatpack - take "native steam" debian
With the "flatpack" you will have problems, at least with SteamVR - it needs a native install

[chew-ie]

I just learned the hard way, that the default pop_os steam install is "flatpack" never ever install the flatpack - take "native steam" debian
With the "flatpack" you will have problems, at least with SteamVR - it needs a native install

Yep, that whole flatpak stuff isn't my cup of tea either. Pop!_OS is using this a lot, hence I'm no fan of that distro. While sandboxing is nice here and there - it can cause a lot of trouble if you need a complex setup (e.g. devices - like you experienced it with VR).

[EGO_Aut]

I did some kind of benchmark testing here:
https://youtu.be/KJUAYDo48Ms

Please look in the description, you will find all relevant infos (versions, kernel, drivers,..), and a link to my old windows10 benchmark video.

PS: I was surprised that it now has decreased FPS compared with some month ago Unfortunately, I didn't make a video back then - I didn't know how yet...

Edit: save download https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_Pv1n ... sp=sharing

Edit VR: It runs now with my PICO4 I use WiVRn and Xrizer and did it like described here: https://github.com/chaosmaou/wivrn-guide
I tested:
Google Earth VR
BattlegroupVR
Skyrim 5 VR