After the hype related to the Steam Deck I decided to give Pop_OS with a GPU passthrough setup another chance. I got a single card setup functional but could barely get a dual-card setup working. Problems included:
* Needed a USB input switcher and two video outputs to use it correctly. I tried Looking Glass but it doesn't work well with NVIDIA cards unless you have one of those $15 HDMI dummy plugs which are all made by sketchy Chinese vendors...
* Because I only have one USB controller, all USB 3 ports got stolen by the VM, leaving only USB 2 for Linux.
* Weird audio pops that I thought I fixed but would come back on reboot.
* Difficult to monitor certain temps.
* Random crashes during long sessions, even on low graphics settings. Hard to debug - you have to pick through both Windows and Linux logs.
* Random FPS drops, especially in LoL.
* Lived in fear of getting banned from some games (Also LoL)
* NVIDIA drivers would sometimes crash trying to rebind the cards when I closed the VM, so I had to reboot the computer anyways, might as well have dual-booted.
* Setting up OBS takes extra work.
Gaming in Linux natively was, for all intents and purposes, the same. The games I play (mostly online multiplayer) are either unavailable or unplayable.
After over two weeks of my computer being semi-functional and my friends asking me for the fifth time when I was going to be back online, I decided it wasn't worth it. I see so many people in these threads praising Linux gaming, saying it's now functional and simple to set up. They must either only play single-player indie games, know something I don't, or are being dishonest.
Very likely the former: the majority of proton users, by necessity, play only single player games (I'm one of them).
I'm trying VFIO at the moment, and so far (but it is very early) seems to be working (I also have an integrated video card which greatly simplifies things). I didn't pass through the whole USB controller, just the specific USB peripherals (mouse+kbd and bluetooth controller for audio). I assume this is not done by actual passthrough but there is some layer of indirection; what would be the disadvantage? more latency?
Latency and the ability to switch between the VM and the host. I have a cheap USB input switcher which I've owned for ages for this purpose.
IIUC unless you're running Looking Glass or some other alternative method, passing through each device individually locks them while the VM is running.
* Needed a USB input switcher and two video outputs to use it correctly. I tried Looking Glass but it doesn't work well with NVIDIA cards unless you have one of those $15 HDMI dummy plugs which are all made by sketchy Chinese vendors... * Because I only have one USB controller, all USB 3 ports got stolen by the VM, leaving only USB 2 for Linux. * Weird audio pops that I thought I fixed but would come back on reboot. * Difficult to monitor certain temps. * Random crashes during long sessions, even on low graphics settings. Hard to debug - you have to pick through both Windows and Linux logs. * Random FPS drops, especially in LoL. * Lived in fear of getting banned from some games (Also LoL) * NVIDIA drivers would sometimes crash trying to rebind the cards when I closed the VM, so I had to reboot the computer anyways, might as well have dual-booted. * Setting up OBS takes extra work.
Gaming in Linux natively was, for all intents and purposes, the same. The games I play (mostly online multiplayer) are either unavailable or unplayable.
After over two weeks of my computer being semi-functional and my friends asking me for the fifth time when I was going to be back online, I decided it wasn't worth it. I see so many people in these threads praising Linux gaming, saying it's now functional and simple to set up. They must either only play single-player indie games, know something I don't, or are being dishonest.
Still want a Steam Deck though.