When Windows 10 support ends I was planning on transitioning to Linux on my desktop. I just tried CachyOS KDE Plasma and immediately ran into two serious issues:

  1. I could not figure out how to get audio to come out of my headphones. Everything is connected, and sound totally works on Windows 10 with my Audioengine D3 USB DAC, but not in CachyOS. I messed with all the system audio settings, profiles, and mute control, and nothing worked. No audio at all, not from test sound, not from browser.

  2. Apparently Wayland is the name of the default/best video compositor for Linux, but it doesn’t seem to support ycbcr subsampling modes. In Windows 10, I use the Nvidia-provided 4:2:0 subsampling mode with my RTX 2060 Super to get 4K120 support over HDMI to my LG C1 (genuinely hard to see the difference unless you’re running a test pattern). It seems you have to use the X11 compositor in Linux to get that feature, but I’ve read that X11 provides a poor experience compared to Wayland.

Not to mention, my first CachyOS install attempt bugged midway through (installing from DVD disc) and I spent a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to restart the install process not realizing something was borked in that session that was preventing partitions from being formatted for the installer. So I rebooted and manually set to load the installer into RAM, and finally was able to get it to install.

Seeing my experience hasn’t improved since the last time I tried Linux (Mint, a few years ago - really bad audio stuttering), now the plan has switched to sticking to W10 until software inevitably stops supporting it (Nvidia is already ending W10 game ready support this year), and then switching to W11. I’ll just have to use mods to improve the usability, specifically for start menu and right click menu.

I would like to use Linux but it really disappointed me seeing all the hype on LTT’s channel, only to see that it’s still user experience hell. It’s either “works but evil” (Windows) or “doesn’t work but not evil” (Linux) and that’s unfortunate.

  • ahmedezat_katteb@lemmy.worldEnglish
    37·
    2 days ago

    A few things that might save the next attempt, whichever distro you land on:

    Audio: USB DACs on PipeWire usually work, but sometimes they aren’t picked as the default output or end up on an “Off”/“Pro Audio” profile. wpctl status shows whether the D3 is listed under Sinks, and wpctl set-default <id> makes it the default. If it isn’t listed at all, aplay -l tells you whether the kernel sees it. pavucontrol’s Configuration tab is the easiest place to switch the profile to plain stereo output.

    4K120: the 2060 Super only has HDMI 2.0, which is why you need 4:2:0 for 4K120 on the C1 in the first place. A common workaround is an active DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 adapter on the card’s DP port. A good one gets the C1 to 4K120 at full RGB, so the subsampling question goes away on Windows and Linux alike (VRR through those adapters is hit or miss, and cheap ones top out at 60Hz, so check that it specifically lists 4K120).

    Installer: writing the ISO to a USB stick is much more reliable than a DVD, and checking the ISO checksum first rules out a bad download.