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Running ESO with Steam/Proton on Linux (Alternatively Lutris & Wine) Multiple Questions

Siliziumdioxid
Siliziumdioxid
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Hey People,

So I've been contend with running ESO under Linux via Steam's Proton.
It worked quite well, I got similar FPS and everything.
One can even install Addon's via Minion.

Now the last few updates have for me
It started with regular freezes, but just for a few seconds. But still annoying.
But now It's not working at all.

Am I the only one with this problem?
- Does anyone know how to start the game with console output? (So that I can file a decent bug report)

General survey on Proton users:
- Does it run well for you?
- Do you use Nvidia?
- Do you use Wayland or X11?
- Is performance on par with windows?

Question to the devs:
This game was running on Googles Stadia servers which were Linux machines with Vulcan. Does that mean that there is already an existing Linux version? If so, could you make it avilable to players?

(Nvidia GTX 1050Ti - propietary driver, using X11 with Gnome)
I'm using Arch btw
Guild: Ancaria
  • OsUfi
    OsUfi
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    Open Suse, Tumbleweed.

    I've started Steam through console (just type steam) and gotten useful error messages for games that haven't worked before. Never needed to with ESO.

    - Works fine. Occasionally crashes in huge Cyro battles.
    - AMD Ryzen mini PC 5560u.
    - Wayland and X11 with KDE.
    - Don't know, haven't used Windows since before Vista.

    Sorry that's likely not particularly helpful.
  • OhDios
    OhDios
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    Yes, im having the same issues since jun/jul (i cant be sure) sometimes the game enter with a neat 99fps sometimes is 10fps, but nothing in between, also audio glitch i mean music stop playing for good, or sometimes it sounds like lagging (Even in the loading screen) but isn't an connection issue, everything get fixed closing and opening again , sometimes i need to restart the computer to get ride off this bugs.

    I'm using Steam on Mint, not forcing any particular proton version.
    Nvidia 1070
  • OhDios
    OhDios
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    I forgot to mention that i was using Proton Experimental and now Proton Next (A little better)
  • ettavolt
    ettavolt
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    (Posting to this thread as it is the latest about running on Linux)

    My experience with non-store version (i.e. Bethesda Launcher vs Steam/Epic/etc) on Arch Linux with Gnome DM.

    I use https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher to start it under this version of Valve's Proton: https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases. (AFAIK, it should be selectable in Steam Launcher somehow)

    Just recently GE has released a version with experimental Wayland support, and it works! (Although, somehow, I can get to the char selection screen only every other time). There seem to be no difference in the picture, and now that the Xwayland is gone, input lag should be gone as well. Oh, actually, under Wayland the Bethesda Launcher is less laggy. :wink:

    EDIT: Well, no, Wine-Wayland doesn't work well. After a couple of minutes the graphics hang up, while audio is still being played.

    A couple of years ago network seemed to fare better under Linux, but now, going across the ocean, it sucks anyway. :) Graphic performance was a little bit worse, but they've added some kind of buffer sharing, and it should have been the same since then. Even more certainly so, if you manage to run without Xwayland. That said, even with it I've managed to do a HW-accelerated (iGPU) screen grab @60Hz with the game running at high quality setting on a laptop 3070 (dGPU).
    - Does anyone know how to start the game with console output? (So that I can file a decent bug report)

    https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher suggests using some env variables, but I'm not sure if Steam itself will react to them.
    General survey on Proton users:
    - Does it run well for you?
    - Do you use Nvidia?
    - Do you use Wayland or X11?
    - Is performance on par with windows?

    - Yes, very well. I can do everything I was able to do under Windows. (Although the hardware might be hiding the issues)
    - Yes, in hybrid setup, i.e. in GBM Wayland mode.
    - now Wayland exclusively (although XWayland still runs in the background for no apparent reason).
    - I guess so - I didn't launch it under Windows for a long while.
    This game was running on Googles Stadia servers which were Linux machines with Vulcan. Does that mean that there is already an existing Linux version? If so, could you make it avilable to players?

    AFAIK, Stadia was using Wine.
    Edited by ettavolt on 21 May 2025 15:36
  • frogthroat
    frogthroat
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    I was among the first ones to get the Steam Deck when it came. So, Arch Linux. Used the OS side to install ESO - it needed a lot of tweaking to get to work. I believe nowadays you can just install it on the Steam side.

    I only use it to get daily login rewards, and if an event is going, to get event tickets. Works ok with 30fps and low to medium settings. It's as smooth as 30fps can be, no lags, no jags other than the low native fps. I have only gone to PVP side to return a quest to get tickets. Nothing more. So can't say much about the performance in Cyro or IC.

    Not much of a controller player when it comes to ESO so I play other games on Deck.
  • Pevey
    Pevey
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    Works for me very well on Linux, but I have occasionally had screen stutter, which can also seem like low FPS. Whenever this happens, I make sure to update all packages, including latest Nvidia closed driver and Steam. Then I reboot just to make sure (probably not necessary). After that, the game always works again flawlessly, so I imagine it has to do with some mismatch of the Proton Experimental/Hotfix branch and my other packages.

    Also, if (like me) you tend to launch directly from eso64.exe, make sure you also occasionally open from the launcher as this is the part that prompts the Steam compatibility library to update its shaders for ESO.

    ETA: I consider ESO working way better on Linux than Windows, because when I ran it on Windows, the cooling management software (Corsair iCUE) would hang without me knowing and cause the computer to overheat. I have a basic AIO CPU cooler, and the fans run slowly when the PC is idle, and they speed up when needed when the CPU is actually under some load. When I started ESO, I would have to remember that sometimes (not always) the iCUE software would hang without throwing an error. So I would have to remember to manually force shut iCUE and start it up again after launching ESO. I'm not sure if this was caused by some sort of low-level anti-cheat detection or what. But it was super annoying, and more than once I would of course forget, only realizing after my computer overheated and started flashing red on the motherboard. Not great.
    Edited by Pevey on 20 May 2025 18:31
  • Ragnarok0130
    Ragnarok0130
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    I just went the dual boot route, I do most of my PC tasks in Mint but I boot into a debloated WIn11 for gaming since I play a lot of multiplayer games with non-Linux friendly anti-cheat systems. Dual booting may be an option for when one OS seems to have issues that the other doesn’t so you can go back and forth between them as the current state of the game demands.
  • ettavolt
    ettavolt
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    GloriusEggroll and Etaash Mathamsetty have really improved native Wayland support since I last tried it. The game doesn't crash mid-flight any longer.

    Additionally, the broader community developed a fix for games hanging up while their windows are hidden/occluded/not on the active workspace, culminating with the freshest nvidia driver supporting the fifo-v1 Wayland protocol! If earlier I needed to turn vsync off, bump display refresh rate to above 100Hz, now everything is working fine at 60Hz! (I've also switched to running in-kernel nvidia driver, but I don't think it is the one responsible. Nowadays it is more of an interface for what is coming in nvidia-utils.)
  • loosej
    loosej
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    I haven't logged in the last 4-5 months so I can't comment on recent issues, but my experience before:

    - Does it run well for you?

    Yes, except Cyrodiil, there I'd be booted even faster than before.

    - Do you use Nvidia?

    AMD

    - Do you use Wayland or X11?

    I first tried Wayland (about a year ago now), but that turned out to be a bad idea. Steam was relying on X11, so when using Wayland you basically added an extra translation layer to X11, which was an issue for multiple games. Haven't tried Wayland since, things should have improved from what i read.

    - Is performance on par with windows?

    When it worked, performance was better than on windows.

    Running Arch by the way.
    Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup (source: despair.com)
  • ssewallb14_ESO
    ssewallb14_ESO
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    In 2025:

    - Does it run well for you?
    - Is performance on par with windows?
    Yes, on par with Windows.

    - Do you use Nvidia?
    No.

    - Do you use Wayland or X11?
    Wayland, I'm getting better I/O performance than X11 or even Windows. Minor flickering issue on load screens with Freesync.

    Kubuntu 25.04
    Edited by ssewallb14_ESO on 29 August 2025 14:25
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