Path of Exile on Linux problems

eric1234 · 02-08-2019, 05:32 PM

Hi, I am currently trying to get Path of Exile running smoothly on Linux

I tried following this guide:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile..._run_smoothly/

I had trouble getting the suggested nvidia driver.
Other than that it all seemed to install.

I manually installed the latest Nvidia driver 4.15.23

But, when I play Path of Exile, I still get the dreaded stuttering, the bane of many who try and play it on Linux.
Also there is some sort of memory leak, the longer I play, the bigger the leak. Last time I played for a bit, and when I logged out, and quit all applications, it still showed I was using 2.8 GB of memory. (It's usually around 500-600 MB) I had to reboot to get the memory back to normal.

I know some people have gotten stutter free PoE on Linux.

Any suggestions on how I should proceed?

P.S.
I am running MX Linux
Here is the Quick System Info Dump, so you can see stuff.

Code:

System:    Host: mx Kernel: 4.19.0-1-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 6.3.0 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: MX-18_x64 Continuum Dec 20  2018 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ZOTAC model: ZBOX-EN1070/1060,EN1070K/1060K v: XX 
           serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5.12 date: 05/10/2018 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-7500T bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Kaby Lake 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 21696 
           Speed: 915 MHz min/max: 800/3300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2810 2: 2862 3: 2697 
           4: 2882 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060] vendor: ZOTAC driver: nvidia v: 415.23 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.2 driver: nvidia resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1060/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 415.23 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-H HD Audio vendor: ZOTAC driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           Device-2: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-1-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ZOTAC 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ZOTAC 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: c000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
           IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Intel Wireless 3165 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: c000 bus ID: 04:00.0 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 3.18 TiB used: 556.57 GiB (17.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB model: G-DRIVE mobile USB-C size: 931.48 GiB 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD20SMZM-59H3FS1 
           size: 1.82 TiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 38.20 GiB used: 7.34 GiB (19.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
           ID-2: /home size: 411.06 GiB used: 58.51 GiB (14.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 7.81 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 34 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list 
           1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/antix/stretch stretch main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stretch-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/ stretch/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ stretch main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 223 Uptime: 1h 23m Memory: 15.63 GiB used: 1.70 GiB (10.9%) Init: SysVinit 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 6.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.12 inxi: 3.0.29

Keruskerfuerst · 02-10-2019, 02:21 AM

What computer hardware do you use ?

jsbjsb001 · 02-10-2019, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keruskerfuerst

What computer hardware do you use ?

You need to learn to read posts properly, the OP has clearly stated that above - please read it.

@OP, have you confirmed this "memory leak" is happening with Path of Exile? Did you monitor the memory usage for running processes to confirm this? Does the "stuttering" start when this "memory leak" does?

I don't see any NVIDIA driver suggested in the link you linked, other than in some of the comments. Is that the suggestions you were talking about, and exactly which comment in that same link do you refer to?

Does this same problem happen with the drivers from NVIDIA themselves? Exactly which NVIDIA drivers are you using? Because your output posted says you're using the "ZOTAC driver", which appear to be from ZOTAC themselves (?).

eric1234 · 02-10-2019, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbjsb001

You need to learn to read posts properly, the OP has clearly stated that above - please read it.

@OP, have you confirmed this "memory leak" is happening with Path of Exile? Did you monitor the memory usage for running processes to confirm this? Does the "stuttering" start when this "memory leak" does?

I don't see any NVIDIA driver suggested in the link you linked, other than in some of the comments. Is that the suggestions you were talking about, and exactly which comment in that same link do you refer to?

Does this same problem happen with the drivers from NVIDIA themselves? Exactly which NVIDIA drivers are you using? Because your output posted says you're using the "ZOTAC driver", which appear to be from ZOTAC themselves (?).

Thank you so much for taking the time to help.

I did not monitor memory usage for running processes, BUT, each and every time I play path of exile via Lutris, when I am done, and close the program, my ram usage is over 1.5 GB, when before I started PoE, it was in the 500-600 MB range. I will do some testing with task manager.

Stuttering is constant in PoE on Lutris, and is well reported by others who try to run PoE via Lutris, Play on Linux, or the built in Steam thing, without some alterations such as suggested by the above linked guide.
The link I provided, and tried to follow, is somebody who somehow overcame the stuttering.

The discussion of drivers, is not directly in the link I provided, but in a sub link, to install DXVK
(step 1 of the guide)
https://github.com/lutris/lutris/wiki/How-to:-DXVK
Their suggested method of driver installation did not work, or rather with my feeble skills I could not get it to work.
I used a package inherent to MX Linux called SGFXI, that installed the very latest NVDIA driver 4.15.23
I am not sure why it is being reported as a Zotac driver.
Other than that, I did follow that guide exactly.

I also followed the sub link to get ESYNC working.
(Step 12 of the guide)
https://github.com/lutris/lutris/wiki/How-to:-Esync
This appeared to install perfectly.

Overall, I have no idea what to do now, perhaps the original guide maker has hardware that lets it work, and my hardware will not.
Perhaps having a more recent NVDIA driver installed, as opposed to the exact driver he recommends is the problem.
Perhaps it is something else, I don't see, cause I am a Linux Newbie.

Just guessing, I think the problem is with DXVK and/or Vulcan. As the stuttering I am getting is reported by many others who run PoE without DXVK. (In DirectX9) (Running with DXVK and Vulcan allows DirectX11)

The guide I followed, and is not working for me, was written before the release of Wine 4.0, which supposedly supports Vulcan WITHOUT the need for DXVK.

Perhaps somebody far more skilled at Linux than I will make a guide for PoE, that uses Wine 4.0 and avoids DXVK entirely.

eric1234 · 02-10-2019, 02:16 PM

P.S.
Path of Exile is free to play.
So if anybody is feeling motivated, and does not mind a 15GB download, you can try and tweak it yourself to get it to work.
pathofexile.com

Keruskerfuerst · 02-10-2019, 03:05 PM

How did you partition ?

Can you post lsmod ?

Can you post top while playing ?

Can you try a different distro with an actual kernel ?

You don`t have a powerful processor.

jsbjsb001 · 02-10-2019, 06:35 PM

I don't see what your partitions have to do with anything, so I wouldn't worry about that. About the only useful thing Keruskerfuerst has suggested would be running top while you have your game running, so we know exactly which piece of software isn't releasing memory. As memory should be released when you quit the software in question. MX Linux most certainly does have a kernel, as nothing would be working at all if it didn't. It most certainly would not be a Linux distribution if it didn't use the Linux kernel, but it might be an idea to try a different distribution to see if the same issue occurs on that. You have a Quad-core i5 processor, so that should be more than powerful enough, it's not a Pentium 4 processor.

What I think might be happening is that a Windows library may not be releasing memory rather than Path of Exile itself. It would also be helpful to know if this stuttering is occurring when large amounts of memory are being consumed.

I can understand what you're saying about Wine and alike, unfortunately, it's hit and miss with Wine. I don't really have the Internet at the moment to download 15GiB worth of data, so I can't really test it for you myself.

Try figuring out exactly which process isn't releasing memory, and try the latest driver from NVIDIA themselves, and we'll go from there. Post your findings.

eric1234 · 02-11-2019, 12:50 AM

Update:
Lutris posted an updated Path of Exile with DXVK.
Wine posted a new version Wine-tkg 4.1

I did a clean install of the new Lutris PoE, and installed the Wine 4.1

This seemed to have fixed the memory leak problem!!!

It also has significantly reduced the stuttering, not eliminated it, but at least gotten to semi playable.
(character deaths due to the stutter lag happen less often)

Thank you all for your imput.

At this point, I might just wait on more updates, as they seem to incrementally help.

P.S.
Path of Exile is a 2013 game, I.E. it does not need a super duper machine to run it.
I have gotten decent playability (In the hated Windows OS) with MUCH less hardware than I am using now.

Keruskerfuerst · 02-11-2019, 08:39 AM

You need to install the nivida driver!

Can you post the output of lsmod, which video driver is installed?

Samsonite2010 · 02-11-2019, 08:47 AM

A silly question here, but can you not try it via SteamPlay? At least SteamPlay seems to rapidly update compatibility for Windows games and automatically manages the Wine/Proton settings per game. I am actually stunned at the fact that pretty much every single Windows game now runs directly from the Linux Steam client.