Weekly News Recap (Kodi Steam Deck Support, Pangolin by System76, Fedora/Vanilla OS)
Steam Deck Wednesday’s Deck client beta update adds rollup of gifts in the quick access menu and groups commands if they’re attached to the same controller input Thursday’s Deck client beta update fixes opting into game beta branches and fixes patch notes on Downloads page Decky Loader gets updated; the homebrew plugin launcher can now be installed simply by pressing the “Download” button on the GitHub page Dolphin emulator gets Deck performance improvements be careful where you buy your Deck!
Bottles 50 Adds GameScope Improvements, Enables VKD3D in the Gaming Environment
As is typical around the 14th of each month, Bottles gets a new release. Seems like they’re adopting a new naming scheme. Instead of going by year/month/day, it’s now just one number. I’m guessing “50” indicates that this is the 50th update.
Beside that, here’s the changes:
Features
support userdir/ placeholder for installers checks enable VKD3D in the Gaming environment async fetch of components, installers and dependencies Frontend
GameScope improvements updated link for connection checking improve sentence in installers smoother UI with async code make app name untranslatable, disambiguate Bottles & bottles remove FileChooser class port primary menu to MenuModel Backend
Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes Opting Into Game Beta Branches, Fixes Patch Notes on Downloads Page
Steam Deck gets a new beta client update with fixes for patch notes, OSK, joystick deadzone, and more.
Proton Experimental Improves CJK Character Rendering, Adds Fix for Football Manager 2023
Proton Experimental update is all bug fixes. Except one, which is an improvement in regards to CJK characters rendering “in many games.” No new compatilble titles with this update.
Patch notes are as follows:
fix A Plague Tale: Innocence showing on-screen keyboard when starting the game on the Steam Deck. fix rendering issues during cutscenes in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. fix Japanese keyboard input in Final Fantasy XIV Online. fix Football Manager 2023 crashing when trying to return from a player profile.
Pangolin Laptop by System76 Gets Ryzen 6800U Upgrade, Bigger Battery
The Pangolin laptop by System76 gets a workout in for the new year, sporting a Ryzen 6800U processor, DDR5 memory, higher refresh rate, larger battery, and other upgrades.
Steam Deck Client Beta Adds Rollup of Gifts in QAM, Groups Commands If They’re Attached to the Same Controller Input
New client update out for beta and preview users. Supposedly changing download regions no longer requires a restart, but they still do, based on my testing. A rollup of gifts received has been added to the Quick Access Menu under notifications. Steam Input, desktop Linux, and the virtual keyboard got some fixes as well. Full patch notes are as follows.
General
Changing download regions no longer requires restarting the Steam client Add a rollup of gifts received in the Quick Access > Notifications area Steam Input
I Joined the Fedora Bandwagon (Nobara Project). Here’s My Thoughts
I might not ever go back to Arch again.
Pop!_OS Enables ZRAM, Increasing Available RAM and Improving Game Performance
System76’s Pop!_OS distribution now enables ZRAM. This is thanks to Pop!_OS developer Michael Murphy. Per the Tweet from the official Pop!_OS account, this will increase “the amount of free memory your system has available.” Supposedly this adds “increased FPS in games, or faster simulations and compiler runs,” especially on systems with a low amount of RAM. Someone on the pull request commented that on a PC with 8 GB RAM, the result of ZRAM enablement was “a solid boost from sometimes 80 FPS to 120 FPS (my refresh rate) and other times from 80 FPS to 90 FPS.
