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Notes: Nitrux 2.7.0

By Uri Herrera6 March, 2023April 8th, 2023Notes

Below is a list of release notes we recommend reading before installing the distribution.

📜 Table of Contents

  1. Installing Nitrux
  2. Live Session Information
  3. Upgrading From Previous Versions
  4. Minimal ISO Information
  5. Adding Bluetooth devices, Printers, or additional Wireless Networks
  6. Virtualizing Nitrux
  7. Virtual Appliances Information
  8. Managing AppImages
  9. Managing Debian Packages
  10. Support for Other Self-Contained Formats
  11. Alternative Stores
  12. Using Foreign Architectures
  13. Installing Steam
  14. Using Wine
  15. Using Proton-GE
  16. Nvidia Proprietary Driver Information
  17. Wayland Information
  18. PipeWire Information
  19. MESA Information
  20. Latte Dock Information
  21. Support for Launchpad Personal Package Archives
  22. Compiling Software in Nitrux
  23. Working with overlayroot in Nitrux
  24. Misc. Information

🗒 Notes

Installing Nitrux

  • Check this tutorial to install the distribution.
    • ⚠️  Important: Installation requires an active internet connection to complete.
  • We have added the ability for users to perform full-disk encryption during installation when using the automated partition options in Calamares (Replace partition and Erase disk).
    • Encrypting multiple partitions (if the user selected Manual partitioning) results in a broken system.

Live Session Information

  • The default user and password is nitrux.

Upgrading From Previous Versions

  • To upgrade from previous versions of Nitrux, do the following.
    1. Download and flash the latest ISO.
    2. Boot to the Live session and start Calamares.
    3. After completing the locale, keyboard, and user configuration, select the option to do a “Manual partitioning.”
      1. ⚠️  Important: Before proceeding, we can’t stress enough that users back up their home directory using Kup to a separate device if it is the case that the previous installation was done to a single partition instead of separate root and home (or other) partitions.
    4. Select and delete the previous installation root; do not delete or format other partitions; only select “Keep.”
    5. Select the mount point of all partitions, i.e., home to /home, root to /,  ESP to /boot/efi, /Applications for AppImages, and /var/lib/flatpak for Flatpaks, etc.
      1. Optionally, add labels to the partitions.
    6. Proceed with the installation.
  • We create new media every 30 days; users who prefer media to be available sooner (bi-weekly, weekly, daily, etc.) can contribute to this expense on OpenCollective.

Minimal ISO Information

  • We have discontinued minimal ISO releases of the distribution.

Adding Bluetooth devices, Printers, or additional Wireless Networks

  • ⚠️  Important: Users have to temporarily disable root immutability due to how the software managing these devices and networks works, so read the Notes to know how to work with overlayroot; see Working with overlayroot in Nitrux.

    • Once the user has successfully logged in to the graphical session, proceed to add the devices and networks, then reboot.

Virtualizing Nitrux

  • VirtualBox
    • ⚠️  Important: If using VirtualBox 7.0, do not enable 3D acceleration. We strongly recommend using VirtualBox 6.1.40 instead.
    • OpenGL acceleration is used by default if you use Nitrux in a VM. Disable the compositor in System Settings and utilize a lighter alternative like xcompmgr for better performance.
    • To utilize 3D acceleration in VirtualBox, please use the guest additions ISO from Oracle.
    • After installing the VirtualBox guest additions using the ISO, do not remove the ISO and reboot; remove the ISO from the VM after successfully booting to the session.
    • When creating a new virtual machine in VirtualBox, the graphics controller selected is VMSVGA; starting with VirtualBox 6.1.34, users can change the screen resolution in System Settings.
    • We strongly recommend enabling the following options in the virtual machine settings.
      1. Type: Linux
      2. Version: Debian 10 (64-bit)
      3. Base Memory: 4000 MB
      4. Boot Order: uncheck Floppy
      5. Chipset: ICH9
      6. Extended Features:
        1. Enable I/O APIC
        2. Enable EFI (special OSes only)
        3. Hardware clock in UTC
      7. Processors: 4
      8. Extended Features:
        1. Enabled Nested VT-x/AMD-V
      9. Acceleration: KVM
        1. Hardware Virtualization: Enable Nested Paging
      10. Video Memory: 128 MB
      11. Acceleration: Enable 3D acceleration
      12. Storage Devices: >32GB SATA or NVME
        1. Attributes: Use host I/O Cache
      13. Audio Controller: Intel HD Audio
      14. Enable USB Controller: USB 3.0 (xHCI) Controller
  • VMware Workstation and VMware Player
    • ⚠️  Important: Do not install VMWare Tools from the menu Manage>Install VMWare Tools.
    • We strongly recommend enabling the following options in the virtual machine settings.
      1. OS: Debian 10. x 64-bit
      2. Memory: 4096 MB
      3. Processors: 4
      4. Storage: >32GB
      5. Virtualization engine:
        1. Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI
        2. Virtualize CPU performance counters (disable if your computer does not support this feature)
        3. Virtualize IOMMU (IO memory management unit)
      6. USB Controller:
        1. USB compatibility: USB 3.1
      7. Display:
        1. 3D graphics:
          1. Accelerate 3D graphics
        2. Graphics memory:
          1. Recommended value by VMWare; varies depending on the amount of RAM allocated to the virtual machine. However, the value has to be 128 MB or more.
    • To enable EFI in a VMWare virtual machine, do the following.
      • Open the ‘.VMX’ file of your virtual machine in Notepad (or similar) and add the following line: firmware=”efi”
      • Save the ‘.VMX’ file.

Disclaimer: We do not develop VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation/Player. Please let their developers know if you have issues with these hypervisors, such as graphical problems.

Please follow the recommendations above for an optimum experience.

Virtual Appliances Information

  • We have discontinued OVA releases of the distribution.

Managing AppImages

  • The managed locations (and thus the default) for AppImages in Nitrux are /Applications and ~/Applications.
  • AppImages launched from the application menu will be launched using firejail for sandboxing by default.
  • Some AppImages refuse to run when using Firejail but will run otherwise when using a specific flag. This problem is most visible with some Electron applications or Chromium-based web browsers. To run these AppImages, append the following Chromium flag.
electron-app.AppImage --no-sandbox
chromium-based-browser.AppImage --no-sandbox
    • We strongly emphasize that we do not recommend running AppImages without the sandbox, especially web browsers.

Disclaimer: We do not create, maintain or host the AppImage files the software center lists. These files are created, maintained, and hosted by third parties.

Please let their creators or maintainers know if you have issues with these files.

Managing Debian Packages

Please note that starting from version 2.6.0 to use a package manager users should use Distrobox.

  • If the user requires to use APT (or any package manager), we strongly recommend users use Distrobox; check our tutorial.

Support for Other Self-Contained Formats

  • Nitrux supports Flatpak by default, and Flathub is also enabled by default. However, the order of preference to obtain end-user software is AppImage first, Flatpak second.
    • ⚠️  Important: Users who want to use bleeding-edge Flatpaks can enable Flathub-beta. Do it at your own risk.
flatpak remote-add --user flathub-beta https://flathub.org/beta-repo/flathub-beta.flatpakrepo
  • Nitrux does not support Snaps as its daemon (snapd) requires systemd.

Alternative Stores

  • Users can also use Bauh from the NX Software Center as an AppImage to manage Flatpaks.
    • Nitrux does not come with Bauh by default.

Disclaimer: We do not develop Bauh or Flatpak.

Using Foreign Architectures

  • Nitrux is exclusively a 64-bit Linux distribution; we do not use, include, or provide support for 32-bit software.

Installing Steam

  • Users can install Steam from the applications menu.

Disclaimer: We do not develop Steam or the Steam Flatpak.

Using Wine

  • Users can install Bottles (from the applications menu) or Lutris (from Flathub) to run Windows software.
  • Additionally, users can install Heroic Games Launcher (as an AppImage or from Flathub).

Using Proton-GE

  • Users can download Proton-GE from its repository. Use Proton-GE with the Flatpak releases of Steam, Heroic Games Launcher, Bottles, or Lutris.
    • Download the latest release from Releases.
    • Extract the TAR archive using Ark and move the uncompressed directory to the following path.
#       Path for Flatpak Steam Proton, DXVK, VK3D, etc. installation

$HOME/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/compatibilitytools.d
  • Some programs like Bottles or Heroic Games Launcher can use the same directory Steam uses to find Proton or a custom directory for their Proton installations. These programs also set custom paths for other tools like DXVK or VK3D.
#       Path for Flatpak Heroic Games Launcher Proton, DXVK, VK3D, etc. installation
$HOME/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/config/heroic/tools


#       Path for Flatpak Bottles Proton, DXVK, VK3D, etc. installation
$HOME/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles
  • Users can manually add or update Proton (Proton-GE or other flavors), DXVK, VK3D, etc., or use each program’s settings to manage these installations.

Nvidia Proprietary Driver Information

Please note that starting from version 2.5.0 Nitrux includes the proprietary Nvidia driver

  • For some laptops, it may be necessary to add our X11 configuration for PRIME (where supported) to work correctly.
    • The default TTY for the graphical session can change if your computer utilizes the Nvidia proprietary driver.
    • Create a script with the code below to add our X11 configuration if your laptop requires it, then run the script.
      • ⚠️  Important: The script file below creates files in the root directory, so read the Notes to know how to work with overlayroot; see Working with overlayroot in Nitrux.
      • ⚠️  Important: Nitrux includes the latest version of the Nvidia proprietary driver at release, leading to unsupported older graphics cards.
#!/bin/bash

set -xe

#	Workaround for NVidia GPUs using PRIME configuration.
#	this will make output available on external ports.

test -f /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia.conf && {
    echo 'Nvidia Proprietary Driver installed!, adding X11 configuration.'
        > /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf printf "%s\n" \
            'Section "OutputClass"' \
            '	Identifier "nvidia"' \
            '	MatchDriver "nvidia-drm"' \
            '	Driver "nvidia"' \
            '	Option "PrimaryGPU" "Yes"' \
            '	Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "true"' \
            '	Option "AllowExternalGpus" "true"' \
            'EndSection'

        > /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-amdgpu.conf printf "%s\n" \
            'Section "OutputClass"' \
            '    Identifier "AMDgpu"' \
            '    MatchDriver "amdgpu"' \
            '    Driver "modsetting"' \
            'EndSection'

        > /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-intel.conf printf "%s\n" \
            'Section "OutputClass"' \
            '    Identifier "Intel"' \
            '    MatchDriver "i915"' \
            '    Driver "modsetting"' \
            'EndSection'

        > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf printf "%s\n" \
            'blacklist nouveau'
} || {
    echo 'Nvidia Proprietary Driver not installed!, skipping X11 configuration.'
}

 

Disclaimer: We do not develop the Nvidia proprietary driver.

For issues with the Nvidia driver, including bugs and adding support for graphics cards, please visit Nvidia Support.

Wayland Information

  • Since Nitrux 2.6.0, the distribution includes a Wayland session (Plasma Wayland) by default.

PipeWire Information

  • Since Nitrux 2.6.0, the distribution includes PipeWire by default.

MESA Information

  • As of Nitrux version 2.4.0, we include the most recent version of MESA available, built from MESA’s Git ‘master’ branch, not the “stable” release as most distributions do.
    • Note: Since we include bleeding edge software YMMV. Please report issues with MESA to the MESA developers.

Disclaimer: We do not develop MESA.

Latte Dock Information

  • We include three layouts for the desktop, two are variations of a default top panel and bottom dock, and the other is a single bottom panel. To change between them, right-click the dock or the panel.
    • Note: Using the Global Theme KCM and checking “Use desktop layout from theme” does not change the layout and will cause issues with Latte Dock.
  • ⚠️  Important: Latte Dock is now unmaintained by its developer, meaning there’s no guarantee it will continue to work. We have built our package from the latest available source code. We will replace NX Desktop with Maui Shell in future releases.

Disclaimer: We do not develop Latte Dock.

Support for Launchpad Personal Package Archives

Compiling Software in Nitrux

Working with overlayroot in Nitrux

  • Since Nitrux 2.6.0, the root directory is default set to be immutable, meaning no changes occur to its contents. This change allows us to provide new versions of the distribution with a higher degree of certainty that no changes have occurred to the root that might cause a conflict. And also to avoid sudden issues from upgraded packages coming from a different origin than our repository, which we have a minimal way of controlling. However, we understand that there may be cases where users need to change something in the root directory.
    • ⚠️  Important: Avoid writing data to the root as a user while using the command below, as this will cause an error when exiting the shell session that overlayroot-chroot will create. Any changes to the root directory should be explicitly done only through the shell session after running overlayroot.
      • To modify the contents of the root directory, open the terminal and type the command below. After making the desired modifications, type exit.
sudo overlayroot-chroot

# (... do stuff...)

exit
  • Alternatively, users can temporarily boot with the immutability disabled. To do that, do the following steps.
    • ⚠️  Important: The preferred method to modify the root is the above. If you know what you’re doing, use the method below at your own risk.

      • Press E in the GRUB boot menu.
      • Using the arrow keys, navigate to the bottom and search for the kernel parameter: overlayroot=tmpfs:swap=1,recurse=0, and change the value to disabled.
      • To continue the boot process, press F10.
      • After making the desired modifications, reboot.

Misc. Information

  • Nitrux includes a simple text file called installed_pkgs_end.txt in the root directory that, as its name suggests, lists all installed packages by default in the distribution. Users can use it to compare more extensive changes from release to release, like package updates.
  • Nitrux has various command-line utilities, including a file manager, text editor, web browser, remote desktop, system monitor, and a single game. Below is a list of these command-line utilities.
    • ftp, hdparm, htop, links2, mc, micro, ncdu, tmate, tree, and nsnake.
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