Valve and linux.

[Abarbarian]

Three articles on how valve is supporting and promoting gaming for linux.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/valve-hits-a-linux-landmark-1500-games-available-on-steam/

A few months after Valve officially launched Steam for Linux in 2013, Gabe Newell gave his LinuxCon keynote crowd a bit of music for their ears. "It feels a little bit funny coming here and telling you guys that Linux and open source are the future of gaming," the Valve head-man said. "It's sort of like going to Rome and teaching Catholicism to the pope."

http://news.softpedia.com/news/valv...-how-to-support-decade-old-games-492074.shtml

As it stands right now, all the game in Valve's catalog have been ported to the Linux platform and it's very likely that any new game to be released from now on will also have Linux support straight from launch.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/valv...o-get-driver-in-linux-kernel-4-3-492204.shtml

Steam Controller support is coming to Linux kernel 4.3
Greg Kroah-Hartman, one the Linux kernel developers, said that sometimes testing drivers for the kernel Releases Candidates might be a drag. On this occasion, he had to test it more thoroughly, just to make sure that it was working as it should and that there were no errors.

"Some days are harder than others when having to test kernel drivers on -RC releases. Note, all of these work perfectly, but I think I need a few more hours of testing just to be sure…" said Greg Kroah-Hartman on Google+.

 

[muckshifter]

interesting ... but Linux doesn't like my mouse, any version.

I suppose I'll have to buy one of them Linux controllers ... naw!

 

[Abarbarian]

Not earth shattering news but a 50% hike in available games in 7 months is noteworthy and holds promise for the future.

What problems are you having with those pesky mice ?

 

[muckshifter]

What problems are you having with those pesky mice ?

Linux doesn't play nice with any of my mice, especially the RAT ... drivers?

 

[Abarbarian]

Linux doesn't play nice with any of my mice, especially the RAT ... drivers?

Looks like a quick fix reading these posts, not a full fix mind you but maybe enough.

https://inuits.eu/blog/rat-5-mouse-and-linux

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=183251

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mad_Catz_Mouse

The Arch solutions should work on your linux as they are dealing with /etc/X11/xorg.conf and .Xmodmap.

 

[floppybootstomp]

RE: Post number one:

A step in the right direction

There must be a fair percentage of users like myself who mostly only stay with Windows for games.

 

[muckshifter]

Looks like a quick fix reading these posts, not a full fix mind you but maybe enough.

https://inuits.eu/blog/rat-5-mouse-and-linux

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=183251

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mad_Catz_Mouse

The Arch solutions should work on your linux as they are dealing with /etc/X11/xorg.conf and .Xmodmap.

working on it now ...

hurdle one, install gedit.

hmmm, it works ... now how the hell did I do that, especially as I haven't a bloody clue what I just did.

let me think
I made a new 50-vmmouse.config file in the etc/X11 folder, copy & pasted the RAT3 code, the RAT 5 is on my Win 10 system, and then plugged in the mouse ... didn't re-log, and it works.



Thanks for finding those links ... I did try myself with crap success, the Mad Cats/Saitek Cyborg lot make crap software for their meeses, but I just love the way they fit my hand.


bloody hell, the acceleration button works!!!!

 

[muckshifter]

ooops ... spoke too soon ... it not working now.


EDIT:

it works now ... needed to use the file xorg.conf ... I didn't have this in Mint.

fingers crossed it keeps working.

 

[Abarbarian]

ooops ... spoke too soon ... it not working now.


EDIT:

it works now ... needed to use the file xorg.conf ... I didn't have this in Mint.

fingers crossed it keeps working.

Your doing better than me as I only have three buttons working on my Dominatrix

Flops I am one of those pc'ers you mentioned.

 

[muckshifter]

don't put yourself down ... I just tried to install Arch in VirtualBox and failed to get past the auto-logon.

I know Arch is basically a command line install, but I tripped up at the first hurdle ... I have Mageia, Mint, Kubuntu Plasma 5 (a very Win 10 lookalike, seems like MS nicked this OS) no problem with these.

I like the way you get a Linux OS the way you want with Arch ... however, need a tutor over me shoulder on that one.

 

[Abarbarian]

Wow

I know nowt about virtual box. Although this guide may help.

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=27596

SB links to a 2015 updated guide but the link is down. I have sent him a fix plea so it should be working very soon.
Things change a lot in Arch which is ok once you have an install but looking for a very current install guide can be a pain. As by the time they are posted they can be out slightly of date.
Your best of reading the wiki. I usually have the wiki open in another pc, Pi or tablet when I install.

I believe this is a guide to install in vb,

https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/arch-linux-installation-with-xfce-desktop/

An you will already have read this

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VirtualBox#Installation_steps_for_Arch_Linux_guests

I doubt you will have any major problems installing you probably missed some small command or some essential extra small library or program.

Have fun.



Nearly forgot to plug my favourite Window Maker, it runs sweet with no gnomey or kdee type of bloat and bugs.

 

[muckshifter]

oh, I have no problems with VB ... and I'm usually very good at finding the information I need.

the mouse is still working great ;-)

 

[Abarbarian]

Steam’s living room hardware blitz gets off to a muddy start

I really do not understand this modern mentality. Lets shout about how great our latest product is,lets build up folks expectations and then launch a buggy product.

Surely you would want your product to work otb and at launch. That way you would get great reviews and folk would flock to buy.

Maybe I am old fashioned. If I buy a spade I expect to be able to dig my garden with it as soon as I get home with it.

We've been putting that entire ecosystem through its paces for a few days now, and while some of those pieces work better than others, all have some trouble living up to the promise of a seamless, hassle-free, PC-on-a-TV-console experience. It's early, and Valve's attack on the living room is far from a vaporware failure, but it's not a shock-and-awe knockout blitz either.

Seems like a pretty fair article to me.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/10/steams-living-room-hardware-blitz-gets-off-to-a-muddy-start/

 

[floppybootstomp]

Maybe it's me but I can't see what the problem is running PC games on a TV.

I have my PC video card HDMI output going to a splitter which feeds both my PC and my TV. The sound from my PC I have going to a (home made) switcher where I can swap the sound between computer and Hi Fi (which is close to my TV).

I enabled this setup mostly to watch videos on the bigger TV screen but I expect if I got some extension USB leads for mouse & keyboard I could play games on the TV.

If you wanted the sound on the TV I suppose you'd take the sound card output to the analog sound in on the TV, but I'm not sure how or if that would work.

I won't be buying the Steam TV interface but I will almost certainly get one of their controllers, assuming reviews are good, if nothing else just out of curiosity, though I do have a pair of MS wireless controllers connected to PC which work great.