A new version of Bazzite Linux, a Linux gaming distribution based on Fedora Atomic Desktops, has been released. The new version includes various changes, such as Nvidia 555 Drivers, Handheld Daemon Version 3, and full compatibility for the Steam Deck OLED. The proprietary Nvidia drivers have been upgraded to allow a Wayland desktop to run without any difficulties. The Handheld Daemon version 3 now includes correct TDP support, handheld glyphs, and dual gyro support. The update also contains a fix for controllers malfunctioning after suspending, TDP slider capability on Lenovo Legion Go, ASUS ROG Ally, and numerous Ayaneo handhelds, and per-game profile capabilities included in the HHD.
Bazzite 3.5.0 Update Released
Nvidia 555 Drivers on Bazzite
The proprietary Nvidia drivers could finally run a Wayland desktop without having multiple issues that AMD/Intel GPU users weren’t experiencing. Using negativo17’s Nvidia driver 4 repository to get Nvidia drivers here quicker before they hit stable allowed this to happen. If you have Nvidia hardware and have experienced numerous problems such as flickering, sluggish animations, or strange freezes then hopefully this new driver release fixes those issues.
Handheld Daemon Version 3
Handheld Daemon has released a new major version recently. It now has proper TDP support, glyphs for handhelds, and proper dual gyro support. HHD is the software holding handheld support together on Bazzite. Decky Loader is no longer a requirement for functionality on handheld PCs, but will always be available as an option as long as it exists for its plugin support.
Highlights from this new release:
Xbox Elite emulation which has the advantage of extra buttons with no glyphs
Proper dual gyro support
New desktop layout
Fixed controllers breaking after suspending
TDP slider functionality on the Lenovo Legion Go, ASUS ROG Ally, and several Ayaneo handhelds
Per-game profile functionality built-in for HHD
Full Steam Deck OLED Support
The Steam Deck OLED is out of development for Bazzite, and most of the remaining issues are related to installation. Bazzite’s original vision was for the Steam Deck LCD so users can have access to newer base packages, layer system-level packages to the host if needed, and printing support so it functions more like a desktop PC without losing any of the features that makes SteamOS unique like Steam Gaming Mode.
The installer still requires Basic Graphics Mode unfortunately. The hardware requires a kernel patch to be upstream and at this time it is not. There may also be some other inconsistencies that the Steam Deck LCD does not experience since the hardware is newer. However, compared to the state it was at release when using Bazzite, it should be retain all the SteamOS features.
Other Handheld Initially Supported
Outside of the Steam Deck OLED getting proper support for Bazzite, there is now initial support for many ONEXPLAYER handhelds like the ONEXPLAYER 2 PRO 8840U handheld as well as the AYANEO AIR 1S, OXP2/Pro and ONEXFLY handhelds. They should now have proper scaling and rotation out of the box on Bazzite among some other fixes to them. There isn’t any documentation on them on the Handheld Wiki yet, but the Bazzite team would appreciate if someone can contribute their findings if they own one of these devices. The Handheld Wiki is currently going through a massive overhaul due to the recent changes to HHD and integrating it more into the OS for handheld hardware.
Steam Gaming Mode Improvements
Our fork of ChimeraOS’s gamescope-session has been updated with several fixes for multiple handhelds. No more specific patches for hardware is needed anymore with Chimera’s newest version of gamescope-session and their patches. Hopefully most handhelds can use Bazzite out of the box without much post-installation setup now.
Also, KDE Plasma Nested Desktop is back on Handheld/HTPC images in this new update. The issues with KDE Plasma 6 are now resolved upstream and it now functions properly. Users who enjoyed accessing Desktop Mode through Steam Gaming Mode without switching sessions but lost it during Bazzite 3.0.0 can now use it again.
Lastly, there is now a slightly updated boot video and a new suspend animation. Thanks to Sean for these slick animations. It really gives the operating system a unique identity and personality.
AMD Polaris Workaround for Steam Gaming Mode
AMD Polaris GPU hardware are the AMD Radeon RX 400/500 series.
Strange issues with AMD Polaris hardware and Gamescope have been occurring recently, but workarounds have been implemented to prevent issues at this time. Unfortunately, this workaround prevents keyboard & mouse from working in Steam Gaming Mode, which does not affect Desktop Mode.
If you are installing from scratch then you will need a controller that works over USB or a non-Bluetooth dongle to navigate Steam Gaming Mode or to pair your first wireless Bluetooth controller. Keyboard and mouse support will not be functional on this hardware. There has been reports of certain games not launching specifically with this hardware as well. Games that are known to work well on Bazzite may not launch properly on Polaris hardware in Steam Gaming Mode too.
If you rebased to Fedora 39 builds of Bazzite (Bazzite 2.0 images) then you may want to stay there for a little longer until we figure out a different solution and not this workaround. A controller must be paired and functional in Steam before updating to this build. All of the other alternatives do not utilize Steam Gaming Mode at all for Polaris cards at this time until this is fixed upstream.
The current workarounds in place are extremely experimental, and eventually we may have to look into shipping two different versions of Gamescope on Bazzite. A guide will be written soon for this hardware if the issue is not fixed in a timely manner. Auto-starting Steam’s Big Picture Mode without gamescope-session, rebasing to a Desktop variant image, or keep your current functional deployment pinned for the time being are the other alternatives. There may be other fixes for this in the next couple months as well, but sadly Polaris hardware has broken on the current Gamescope version. We are open to other solutions if anyone has any as well, so please get in contact with us on this forum, our Discord, or open a pull request.
MangoHud, DXVK, and vkBasalt Config Templates
Configuration templates are now added to Bazzite which give a generic template to edit for MangoHud, DXVK, and vkBasalt. Some of these tools go under utilized since they usually require some manual intervention from the end-user and creating a configuration file is one of the steps involved with this software. Right clicking in your file manager brings up the templates. It is still recommended to read the documentation for each tool and how to use it, but you can obviously skip the installation instructions when using Bazzite.
Wallpaper Engine Integration Restored
Wallpaper Engine integration broke since Bazzite 3.0.0 released with KDE Plasma 6. The functionality is now restored since it is now compatible with KDE Plasma 6.1. Read the Wallpaper Engine KDE Plugin Usage Guide 5 to set it up on Bazzite. Keep in mind, not every wallpaper will be compatible with Bazzite since most are made with Windows in mind.
New Desktop Applications
New pre-installed applications added to Bazzite for this update! Exhibit 1 is now pre-installed for viewing 3D models on all images. GNOME images will now pre-install Papers 4 and Clapper 3 as replacements for Evince and Celluloid. Waydroid now opens the Setup Guide when attempting to run it without initializing first.
Bluetooth Controller Fixes
No more controller failing to connect! If you encountered issues in the past with Bluetooth controllers on Bazzite, then it should finally be solved, at least on our side. If you still encounter issues with Bluetooth controllers on the latest Bazzite build, then please report it as an issue.
A Thinner Bazzite
Bazzite is now slightly smaller in size for updating! A massive cleanup and overhaul has been done to the system packages to Bazzite. Unnecessary packages have been removed that were causing updates to be massive. A notable removal is System76 Scheduler which is now removed and replaced with the BORE-CPU-Scheduler 10. Feral Gamemode is restored again to the image for those who use that as well. The desktop environment on-screen keyboards like maliit are also now restored.
Base Packages Updated
KDE Plasma 6.1 is released. The Linux kernel is now on 6.9 and Mesa is now upgraded to 24.1.2. Other packages like XWayland, MangoHud, etc. are also upgraded.
