The Linux Challenge Part 1 - Setting up a New Installation is always the hardest part.

Windows Sucks, Linux Rules, we all have heard this. yada yada yada, built in spyware, shitty mandatory updates, companies physically shoving LLM’s down people’s throats, make it out how you will, but personally, I’m not willing to deal with even more issues coming from my 128gb Boot Drive that is basically choking to death at this point, and I am tired with Virtual Desktop having issue after issue with the software crashing.

I’ve Dabbled with Linux in the past, mainly as a lightweight Operating System that has mainly served as a way for me to access online Code Editors and do some development on the go, and more recently, as a thin client that basically can access anything I need to as long as Gate-One (a Ubuntu Server install on a iMac from 2010, please kill me) is online.

But that was just me working on the fundamentals, and with Windows 10 having more and more issues running the stuff I need, not to mention it’s imminent death by 2025, I finally decided it was time to start transitioning to the third choice in desktop computing.

Day 1: It Begins

Chapter 1: Distro Hunting

The First thing you learn about Linux, other then the fact that it is literally everywhere, is that there are many variants to it. From Debian to Arch to fucking MacOS I am not joking here, there is just so many options to choose from. I personally have been distro hopping for a bit now, and settled on NixOS after using Fedora and Linux Mint on my Macbook Air, but unfortunately this wouldn’t do, as according to the Linux VR Adventures Wiki > NixOS, Asynchronous Reprojection was broken and needed to be fixed on the kernel level.

After doing some self-debate, I eventually came to the conclusion that I should use a Arch Distribution, Specifically Manjaro. It seemed easy to get installed and I had planned from the get go that this installation was going to live along-side my existing Windows Installation, since Specific Programs I needed were finicky on the Wine compatibility Layer, but also because of another issue that will become relevant later.

Now, I have a saying when it comes to new linux installations, and that is that the setup of one is always the hardest part of getting started. This is the time where you’ll be testing out the things you will be using the Operating System for, and then searching on google for why this works and why this doesn’t, and how to fix it all.

Specifically for me, I have 4 External Partitions, 2 in NTFS, and 2 in ExFat. now, the only reason why I have 2 ExFat partitions was because when I was still using that iMac (2010) as a computer, I had wanted cross-compatibility between MacOS and Windows, thus I had chose ExFat, since both Windows and MacOS could talk to the partitions. Why I had made 2 Partitions? Some stupid Organizational Bullshit. I originally had 4, but quickly disregarded the organization types of the partitions and now everything holds everything.

Now, everything mounted fine, but Steam would not be happy, or rather, Proton would not be happy.

Proton is Steam’s version of Wine, and unfortunately it has a inherent incompatibility with ExFat due to the way Steam handles each game in your library. I am able to get past some of this with Symlinks, but ExFat doesn’t have the ability to do SymLinks, so I can’t really do that.

So, I basically started moving Games around, with the intent being to completely reparation said Drive as well when the time comes for it. But then certain games, even though they said they would work, did not. some tinkering later, I got Helldivers 2 and Battlebit Remastered to launch, and I do recall having some other games like Persona 4 Golden and 100% Orange Juice Run perfectly fine.

Chapter 2: Red Herrings

After getting things “Configured”, I had to get SteamVR and ALVR working, since those two programs basically what 99% of my hours go to on Steam at this point.

At first, everything seemed fine. SteamVR Installed and ran without a Hitch, ALVR Installed correctly, It linked with my headset, but when it came time to launch, ALVR’s SVR driver didn’t get loaded. Weird. Must be a Steam Runtime issue. I installed steam-native through the AUR just in case. Still nothing.

After digging though the files, turns out running the ./vrmonitor.sh file from SteamVR’s install Directory worked fine. but now came Installing and Running VRChat.

Thankfully ProtonGE came in clutch, ProtonGE 9.5 basically allowed VRChat to run fine with minor issues, but as soon as I got in my headset, something was off. Not only was my Framerate locked to 40fps, whenever I moved Worlds from Plank to something that has walls, I had this horrible Jitter that would induce motion sickness on anyone that didn’t have an Iron Stomach.

I tried multiple things, from changing some settings in ALVR, tracking, bitrate, encoding. everything failed to work even slightly.

I tried another VR Game, just to see if VRChat was just having issues running on linux. Vail seemed to have no issues running, but again that jitter persisted.

I did everything I could bar reinstalling the whole OS to get VR Performance up. nothing worked.

I gave it a rest, and decided to come back to the issue later. I still had time, and I could at least Tolerate Windows and Virtual Desktop.

Most people would stop here. They would forget about trying to use Linux and go back to using Windows. because it works. but not me.

Remember. Setting Up a New Installation of Linux is always the hardest thing to getting into Linux.

In Part 2, I’ll outline how I got my Voice Modulator Working on Linux, and why I burned it all down in the pursuit of getting to the bottom of the Jitter I was getting when in VR.