Emma ThorpeandClaude Opus 5
0e10083ea4
The libretro dolphin core lags upstream on compatibility in the same way LRPS2 does, so install pkgs.dolphin-emu next to pkgs.pcsx2 and run GameCube and Wii titles through it. The cores stay for the sake of a single frontend and a shared save/state layout. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
411 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
411 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
# Console — living-room games machine
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Flake host: `lyrathorpe-console`. Desktop (`portable = false`, imports
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`../../modules/desktop.nix`). Files: `configuration.nix`, `nvidia.nix`,
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`gaming.nix`, `hardware-configuration.nix`.
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A 4th-generation Core i7 (Haswell) on a UEFI board with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX
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1070 8 GB, wired to a television. It boots straight into Steam Big Picture and
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is driven from the sofa with a Bluetooth controller; keyboard and mouse are
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supported but secondary.
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## Disk
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`hardware-configuration.nix` is a real `nixos-generate-config` scan from the
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installed machine: GPT with a vfat ESP at `/boot` and an ext4 root, both
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addressed by UUID, and no swap device. Nothing else in the host config depends
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on the disk layout.
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## Bootloader
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Ordinary PC UEFI firmware, so **systemd-boot** with
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`canTouchEfiVariables = true` — unlike the Mac Pro, this board is trusted with
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`efibootmgr` NVRAM writes.
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`boot.loader.timeout = 0`: the boot menu is unreadable from a sofa and unusable
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without a keyboard, so the default entry boots immediately. **Hold space at
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power-on** to get the menu back and pick an older generation.
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`configurationLimit = 10` stops the ESP filling up.
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## Graphics — GTX 1070
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Everything driver-related is in [`nvidia.nix`](https://code.emmathe.dev/lyrathorpe/nixfiles/src/branch/main/hosts/Console/nvidia.nix).
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The GTX 1070 is Pascal (GP104), so it is under the same driver constraint as the
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Mac Pro's Quadro P400:
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- **Driver branch 580** (`nvidiaPackages.legacy_580`), _not_ the nixpkgs default
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(`production`, currently 595.x). 580 is the last branch supporting
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Maxwell/Pascal/Volta, maintained as an LTS branch until Aug 2028; a newer
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branch does not drive this card at all.
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- `modesetting.enable = true` — mandatory for Wayland. Without
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`nvidia-drm.modeset=1` neither gamescope nor wlroots gets a usable GBM device,
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and both the Steam session and Sway fail to start.
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- `open = false` — the open kernel modules require Turing or later.
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- Sway runs with `--unsupported-gpu`; wlroots refuses the proprietary driver
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otherwise. gamescope and cage/ReGreet need no such flag.
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- `hardware.graphics.enable32Bit` pulls in the lib32 NVIDIA userspace that
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32-bit Steam titles and Proton's 32-bit prefixes link against.
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The driver is unfree, so it is **not in the binary cache**: the kernel module is
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compiled on the machine. On a Haswell i7 that is a few minutes, not the Mac
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Pro's ordeal, but it recurs on every kernel bump. The package names are
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allowlisted in `unfreePackages` in [`flake.nix`](https://code.emmathe.dev/lyrathorpe/nixfiles/src/branch/main/flake.nix).
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Verify after a rebuild:
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```sh
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nvidia-smi
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lsmod | grep nvidia # nvidia, nvidia_modeset, nvidia_drm
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```
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## Session model — autologin into Steam
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[`gaming.nix`](https://code.emmathe.dev/lyrathorpe/nixfiles/src/branch/main/hosts/Console/gaming.nix)
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sets `programs.steam.gamescopeSession.enable`, which registers a `steam.desktop`
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Wayland session (gamescope wrapping Steam in tenfoot mode) and installs a
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`steam-gamescope` launcher. greetd — already present on every Sway host for
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ReGreet, see [`../../modules/sway.nix`](https://code.emmathe.dev/lyrathorpe/nixfiles/src/branch/main/modules/sway.nix)
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— gets an `initial_session` pointing at that launcher:
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```
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boot
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└─ greetd initial_session (autologin as lyrathorpe)
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└─ gamescope --steam -- steam -tenfoot -pipewire-dmabuf
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├─ Steam library / Proton titles
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├─ [non-Steam] RetroArch
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└─ [non-Steam] Clone Hero
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quit Steam → greetd default_session → ReGreet → pick Sway (keyboard + mouse)
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```
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So there is no greeter at boot and no keyboard needed. Quitting Steam drops back
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to ReGreet, where the ordinary Sway session is available for everything else.
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`services.greetd.restart` defaults to `false` once `initial_session` is set,
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which is what stops a logout looping straight back into autologin.
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Three details worth knowing:
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- The launcher is referenced as `/run/current-system/sw/bin/steam-gamescope`.
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The steam module builds that script privately and only adds it to
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`environment.systemPackages`, so there is no package attribute to point at.
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- `programs.gamescope.capSysNice = true` installs gamescope as a setcap wrapper
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in `/run/wrappers/bin` instead of the system profile. That path precedes the
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system profile on `PATH`, so `steam-gamescope` still resolves it.
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- greetd gives the session the VT for its standard streams, so anything the
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Steam session prints as it dies is erased the moment the greeter repaints.
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`initial_session` therefore runs the launcher under `systemd-cat`, and the
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output is readable after the fact with `journalctl -b -t steam-session`.
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### When the television lands on ReGreet instead of Steam
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greetd starts `initial_session` **once per boot** — the check is the presence of
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`/run/greetd.run` — and if the session process starts and then exits, greetd
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falls through to `default_session`, i.e. ReGreet. A gamescope that dies on
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startup is therefore indistinguishable from autologin never having run, unless
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the logs are read:
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```sh
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journalctl -b -t steam-session # what the session itself said
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journalctl -b -u greetd # whether greetd started it at all
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ls -l /run/greetd.run # exists => greetd has already had its one go
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```
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If greetd never even reaches the session, it prints `unable to start greeter`
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and **exits** — there is no greeter to fall back to and the screen stays blank.
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Recover over SSH (`modules/ssh.nix`), or hold space at power-on and boot the
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previous generation.
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To reproduce a session failure by hand, switch to a free VT and run
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`steam-gamescope` there. Running it from inside Sway is not the same test:
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gamescope picks its nested Wayland backend when `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` is set, and it
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is the DRM backend — the one the boot session uses — that is in question.
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The greeter is **Dvorak**, like every other host here (`modules/sway.nix` forces
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`XKB_DEFAULT_VARIANT=dvorak` on cage). Only relevant if someone else has to type
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a password.
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### Adding non-Steam titles to Big Picture
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RetroArch, PCSX2, Dolphin and Clone Hero are installed system-wide but are not
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Steam titles. Added as Steam shortcuts they appear in Big Picture and inherit
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Steam Input, so the controller works in them without further configuration.
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Steam's own **Games → Add a Non-Steam Game** is the documented route and is also
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the one that tends not to work. Both that dialog's **Browse** button and the
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library-folder picker below go through the XDG desktop portal `FileChooser`
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interface; when the portal is unreachable the client silently falls back to a
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legacy chooser that is blank or inert — Valve
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[#9447](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/9447) and
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[#10415](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/10415), neither
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fixed. Check the portal side before blaming the client:
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```sh
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busctl --user introspect org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop \
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/org/freedesktop/portal/desktop | grep FileChooser
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```
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`modules/sway.nix` enables `xdg-desktop-portal-gtk`, which is the backend that
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implements `FileChooser` (`xdg-desktop-portal-wlr` implements only screenshot
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and screencast), and the generated `sway-portals.conf` routes everything but
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those two to `gtk`. If the interface is missing from the introspection above,
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the backend is not running and that is the fault to chase.
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Independent of the dialog, `steamtinkerlaunch` writes `shortcuts.vdf` directly:
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```sh
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# Steam must be closed -- it rewrites shortcuts.vdf on exit.
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steamtinkerlaunch addnonsteamgame -an="RetroArch" -ep="$(command -v retroarch)"
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steamtinkerlaunch addnonsteamgame -an="PCSX2" -ep="$(command -v pcsx2-qt)"
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steamtinkerlaunch addnonsteamgame -an="Dolphin" -ep="$(command -v dolphin-emu)"
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steamtinkerlaunch addnonsteamgame -an="Clone Hero" -ep="$(command -v clonehero)"
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```
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## Emulation — RetroArch
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`gaming.nix` builds RetroArch through `pkgs.retroarch-bare.wrapper`, which wires
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up the packaged assets, core info and joypad autoconfig profiles. Cores:
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| System | Core |
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| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
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| NES | `nestopia` |
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| SNES | `snes9x` |
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| Game Boy / Color | `gambatte` |
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| Game Boy Advance | `mgba` |
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| Nintendo 64 | `mupen64plus` |
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| Nintendo DS | `melonds` |
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| GameCube / Wii | `dolphin` |
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| Master System / Game Gear / Mega Drive | `genesis-plus-gx` |
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| 32X / Mega CD | `picodrive` |
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| Saturn | `beetle-saturn` |
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| Dreamcast / NAOMI | `flycast` |
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| PlayStation | `beetle-psx-hw` |
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| PlayStation 2 | `pcsx2` (LRPS2) |
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| PSP | `ppsspp` |
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| Arcade | `fbneo`, `mame2003-plus` |
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| DOS | `dosbox-pure` |
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A handful of settings are applied on every launch via `--appendconfig`, so they
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are fixed policy rather than saved preferences — changing them in the UI will
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not stick. Everything else stays user-editable as normal.
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- `menu_driver = ozone` — the controller-navigable menu.
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- `video_fullscreen = true`.
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- `input_menu_toggle_gamepad_combo = 2` — **L3+R3 opens the RetroArch menu**
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from inside a running core. Without a pad combo there is no way to exit a game
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without a keyboard. No retro system emulated here has L3/R3 on its own
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controller, so the binding cannot collide with a game.
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- `system_directory`, `savefile_directory`, `savestate_directory`,
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`playlist_directory`, `screenshot_directory`, `thumbnails_directory` and
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`rgui_browser_directory` — all pointed at the shared library described below,
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rather than scattered through `~/.config/retroarch`.
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An unrecognised key in an appended config is ignored **silently**, so those key
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names are worth keeping in step with upstream if RetroArch is ever bumped
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across a major version.
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### BIOS files and expectations
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Several cores need BIOS or firmware images that are not redistributable and are
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therefore not packaged. Drop them in `/srv/games/bios`, which is RetroArch's
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system directory on this host:
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- **PlayStation 2** (`pcsx2`) — a PS2 BIOS dump. The core will not boot anything
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without one.
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- **Saturn** (`beetle-saturn`) — region BIOS images.
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- **Dreamcast** (`flycast`) — `dc_boot.bin` / `dc_flash.bin` for most titles.
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- **Nintendo DS** (`melonds`) — optional, but DSi mode and some titles want the
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real BIOS/firmware.
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Be honest about the two heaviest cores. `dolphin` and `pcsx2` are libretro ports
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of emulators whose upstream effort goes into their **standalone** builds; the
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cores lag on compatibility and are the first place to look when a GameCube, Wii
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or PS2 title misbehaves.
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That has already happened for PS2: the LRPS2 core was not good enough in
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practice. **`pkgs.pcsx2` and `pkgs.dolphin-emu` are both installed** in
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`gaming.nix` alongside their cores, and are what PS2, GameCube and Wii titles
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should be run through. The cores stay for the sake of a single frontend and a
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shared save/state layout.
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Both are controller-driven and are added to Big Picture the same way as
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RetroArch. The hardware is not the limit here — a GTX 1070 and a Haswell i7 run
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PS2 and Wii comfortably.
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Five cores (`snes9x`, `genesis-plus-gx`, `picodrive`, `fbneo`,
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`mame2003-plus`) carry upstream licences with non-commercial or
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no-redistribution-for-profit clauses, so their derivation names are in
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`unfreePackages` in `flake.nix`. Nothing else in the core set needs it.
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## Games library layout
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Content lives under `/srv/games`, deliberately outside any home directory: it is
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bulky, it is the thing most likely to move to its own disk, and it is shared
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between Steam, RetroArch and Clone Hero rather than owned by one of them.
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Mounting a second drive at `/srv/games` is the only change that move needs.
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`gaming.nix` creates the tree with `systemd.tmpfiles.rules` at every boot:
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```
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/srv/games/
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├── roms/ # RetroArch content browser opens here
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│ ├── nes/ snes/ gb/ gbc/ gba/ n64/ nds/ gc/ wii/
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│ ├── mastersystem/ gamegear/ megadrive/ sega32x/ segacd/
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│ ├── saturn/ dreamcast/
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│ ├── psx/ ps2/ psp/
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│ └── arcade/ dos/
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├── bios/ # RetroArch system dir: BIOS and firmware
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├── saves/ # in-game saves
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├── states/ # save states
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├── playlists/
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├── screenshots/
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├── thumbnails/
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├── steam/ # second Steam library folder
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└── clonehero/
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├── songs/
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└── backgrounds/
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```
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Directory names under `roms/` follow the libretro/ES-DE convention, so a scraper
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or a second frontend recognises them without anything being renamed.
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Everything is `lyrathorpe:users` mode **2775**. The setgid bit matters: the
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owning group is carried onto anything created inside, so a second account — or
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an `rsync` from another machine — does not leave behind files the TV user cannot
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write. The rules create directories if missing and otherwise leave them alone;
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nothing here removes or rewrites content.
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RetroArch is pointed at these paths declaratively. The other two have to be told
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once, in their own UIs:
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- **Steam** — Settings → Storage → the `+` control → add `/srv/games/steam` as a
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library folder. Games installed there survive a reinstall of the OS. That
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picker is the broken one described under
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[Adding non-Steam titles to Big Picture](#adding-non-steam-titles-to-big-picture);
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when it comes up blank, use Steam's own console instead — open Steam with
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`steam -console`, pick the **CONSOLE** tab and run:
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```
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library_folder_add /srv/games/steam
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```
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The directory must already exist and be writable by the user Steam runs as,
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which `systemd.tmpfiles` guarantees. The command does not create it.
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- **Clone Hero** — set the song library path to `/srv/games/clonehero/songs` from
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its settings screen. Clone Hero keeps its own config in `~/.clonehero`.
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## Steam and Proton
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`programs.steam.enable` already arranges most of what Proton needs, and it is
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worth recording so it is not re-litigated:
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- `hardware.graphics` with `enable32Bit` — the 32-bit GL/Vulkan userspace
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Proton's 32-bit prefixes link against.
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- Steam's udev rules (`hardware.steam-hardware.enable`) — controller and
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hidraw access, which is also what lets `dualsensectl` talk to a DualSense.
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- 32-bit PipeWire ALSA (`services.pipewire.alsa.support32Bit`), derived from
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`alsa.enable`, which `gaming.nix` turns on for the older native titles that
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talk to ALSA directly rather than through the Pulse shim.
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- Wine's fonts — Liberation, DejaVu, FreeFont and the Noto set arrive with
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`fonts.enableDefaultPackages` plus `modules/common-nixos.nix`. Liberation is
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metric-compatible with the Microsoft core fonts, so text lays out correctly
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without shipping unfree `corefonts`.
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- `vm.max_map_count` is **1048576** in the nixpkgs default sysctls, above what
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DX12 and Unreal titles need. No override required — this is the one people
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usually copy from Arch wiki posts and it is already handled.
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What is **not** covered by default, and is set explicitly in `gaming.nix`:
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- `systemd.settings.Manager.DefaultLimitNOFILE = "1024:1048576"`. esync opens
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one eventfd per Wine synchronisation object and runs out against systemd's
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default 524288 hard limit in the heaviest titles. Only the hard limit is
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raised; the soft limit stays at 1024, because lifting that breaks
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`select()`-based programs elsewhere on the system.
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- `extraCompatPackages = [ pkgs.proton-ge-bin ]`. The module puts its
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`steamcompattool` output on `STEAM_EXTRA_COMPAT_TOOLS_PATHS`, which is what
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makes **GE-Proton** appear in the client's compatibility list.
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- `protontricks.enable` — winetricks against a Proton prefix, the standard
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repair when a title needs a runtime (dotnet, vcrun, Media Foundation) Proton
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does not ship.
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- `programs.gamemode.enable` — applies the performance CPU governor around games
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that request it.
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One thing is **not declarative**: Steam Play must be switched on in the client,
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once, per account — **Settings → Compatibility → Enable Steam Play for all other
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titles**. Nix cannot set this; it lives in Steam's own config.
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Verify the Proton side after installing:
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```sh
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vulkaninfo --summary # 64-bit ICD
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nvidia-smi # driver up
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ulimit -Hn # expect 1048576
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# in a game's launch options, to confirm esync/fsync are active:
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# PROTON_LOG=1 %command% → ~/steam-<appid>.log
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```
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## Controllers
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- **Xbox One / Series over Bluetooth** — `hardware.xpadneo.enable`. The
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out-of-tree driver; the in-kernel `xpad` handles these badly over Bluetooth
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(wrong button mapping, no rumble). The module enables bluez itself.
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- **Xbox 360, wired** — in-kernel `xpad`, autoloaded by udev on plug-in.
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Nothing to configure. The kernel is built with `CONFIG_JOYSTICK_XPAD=m`,
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`CONFIG_JOYSTICK_XPAD_FF=y` (rumble) and `CONFIG_JOYSTICK_XPAD_LEDS=y`. The
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360 wireless PC receiver uses the same driver and works the same way.
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- **DualSense / DualShock 4** — in-kernel `hid-playstation`, over both USB and
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Bluetooth. No driver config. `dualsensectl` is installed for LED, battery and
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microphone control; it works because Steam's udev rules grant hidraw access.
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- **Clone Hero guitars** — plain USB HID gamepads, handled in-kernel. Nothing to
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configure.
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`hardware.bluetooth.powerOnBoot` is set so the adapter is up before the Steam
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session starts and a pad can reconnect unattended.
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`settings.General.Experimental = true` is what enables battery level reporting
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for Bluetooth gamepads — it is still behind bluez's experimental flag.
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Pair a new controller from Big Picture (**Settings → Controller**), or from a
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Sway session with `bluetoothctl`. If a pad connects but no input arrives, check
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`journalctl -b -u bluetooth` and confirm `hid_xpadneo` is loaded
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(`lsmod | grep xpadneo`).
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The Xbox One / Series USB **wireless dongle** is deliberately not configured. It
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needs `hardware.xone.enable`, which **blacklists `xpad`** — that would break the
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wired 360 pads — as well as `mt76x2u`, and pulls in proprietary dongle firmware.
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Not worth the side effects unless that dongle is actually in use, and if it ever
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is, the 360 pads have to be re-tested.
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## Open problems
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The machine is installed and Sway works. Still outstanding:
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- **Autologin into Steam does not happen** — the television comes up on ReGreet.
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Not yet root-caused; the config side is correct (`initial_session` is present
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in the generated `greetd.toml` and `services.greetd.restart` evaluates to
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`false`), so the suspicion is that gamescope starts and dies on the
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proprietary NVIDIA driver, which greetd treats as a finished session and
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answers by starting the greeter. `gaming.nix` sets `GBM_BACKEND=nvidia-drm`
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and `__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia`, the standard fix, but the combination
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has a history of needing more. Read `journalctl -b -t steam-session` first —
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see [When the television lands on ReGreet instead of Steam](#when-the-television-lands-on-regreet-instead-of-steam).
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- **Steam's file pickers do not open** — both the non-Steam-game **Browse**
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dialog and the library-folder picker. Upstream client bugs with usable
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|
workarounds; see the two sections above.
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|
- **Boot into Big Picture has not been exercised**, since autologin has not run.
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|
- **Television resolution and refresh.** gamescope takes the output's native
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|
mode by default. Add `gamescopeSession.args = [ "-W" "3840" "-H" "2160" "-r"
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|
"60" ]` if a specific mode is wanted.
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|
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|
There is no HDMI-CEC configuration here, so the TV remote will not drive the
|
|
box; that needs a Pulse-Eight adapter or a working CEC bridge on the board.
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|
Nothing boots to a splash screen either — Plymouth was left out deliberately, as
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|
early KMS with the proprietary driver makes it unreliable.
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## Networking
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|
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Wired NetworkManager from `../../modules/desktop.nix`; `modules/ssh.nix` adds
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|
key-only sshd, which is the practical way to administer a machine with no
|
|
keyboard attached. The firewall is default-deny (`modules/workstation.nix`);
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|
Steam Remote Play and local network game transfers open their own ports through
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|
`programs.steam`.
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