The Linux Thread!

[steve_v]

... the full .zip... of what?

The full game (i.e. ksp-linux-0-90-0.zip) from the store.

I have never seen any real use for the patcher, or the launcher for that matter.

EDIT: The patcher appears to work fine for me, but it's a binary with no debugging symbols or source, so good luck figuring out where it's segfaulting...

I have the arial fonts installed for linux, but the debug menu, as well as menus added by mods don't have any text displayed. Is there any other fonts that need installed, or any way to fix this?

What packages did you install? On Debian/*Ubuntu the package 'ttf-mscorefonts-installer' from non-free/multiverse should pull all the fonts you need.

The OP indicates only arial & arialbd are actually needed: make sure the system can see them with e.g. "fc-list | egrep -i 'arial.ttf|arialbd.ttf'"

OTOH, mods 'n stuff may well need other MS fonts, so better off just installing the lot:

Debian based systems: 'apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer'

Arch based systems: check the wiki.

Edited February 13, 2015 by steve_v

[RuBisCO]

But that is version 0.90.0.0, my win7 version is at 0.90.0.705 after patching.

[steve_v]

I wasn't aware of any incremental patches... correct me if I'm wrong. What does that '.705' actually add/fix?

[RuBisCO]

I wasn't aware of any incremental patches... correct me if I'm wrong. What does that '.705' actually add/fix?

Don't ask me, ask Squad. you can check your ksp.log for what increment you are using

[steve_v]

Ahh, but is it actually providing any benefit? anyone happen to know what's in those mystery patches?

I've been running the release versions since forever, doesn't feel like I'm missing anything... but who's to say, I can't find any patch notes etc.

[RuBisCO]

I don't know, maybe it would help me, for example I got a problem with the alt key in Linux not working in KSP as well as typing numbers into mechjeb causes it to activate actions... but I think it is a operating system problem more then a KSP one. From my log:

Win7:

Kerbal Space Program - 0.90.0.705 (WindowsPlayer) BETA

OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (6.1.7601) 64bit

CPU: AMD FX-6200 Six-Core Processor (6)

RAM: 16333

GPU: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (3051MB)

SM: 30 (Direct3D 9.0c [aticfx32.dll 8.17.10.1333])

Linux:

Kerbal Space Program - 0.90.0.0 (LinuxPlayer) BETA

OS: Linux 3.13 LinuxMint 17.1 64bit

CPU: AMD FX-6200 Six-Core Processor (6)

RAM: 15933

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series (2646MB)

SM: 30 (OpenGL 4.4 [4.4.13283 Compatibility Profile Context 14.501.1003])

So where did 400 MB of ram go and a full GB of GPU memeory, and why the diffrence in video card (ok true a R9 280 is just a rebranded Radeon HD 7950)? Anyways sure maybe it does not matter.

[sal_vager]

705 is the build number RuBisCO, 0.90.0 is the seven hundredth and fith build of KSP

The Alt key in *buntu is used by the OS for moving a window by default, which is why it's not used as the Mod key in the Linux builds, and we use another key instead (Right Shift).

I don't know why the number keys activate while using Mechjeb, I guess the Mechjeb window does not tell KSP that it is in use so the action groups aren't off while using it, you'll have to talk to Sarbian about that one.

Dx9 seems to use more RAM than OpenGL, there's a lot of Windows users who force OpenGL because of this, as for your graphics card, it can only report what it detects, either the driver is misreporting or it's not using all the RAM your card has, you can probably find info on exactly what the fglrx driver supports on your card in the fglrx documentation.

Oh by the way in case you missed it the recent Unity release notes say hey fixed the numpad, so you will be able to use that for Mechjeb

Edited February 13, 2015 by sal_vager

[RuBisCO]

705 is the build number RuBisCO, 0.90.0 is the seven hundredth and fith build of KSP

Ok if you say so, just why does the linux say 0 then?

The Alt key in *buntu is used by the OS for moving a window by default, which is why it's not used as the Mod key in the Linux builds, and we use another key instead (Right Shift).

OOH right shift, ok, awesome, problem fixed then!

I don't know why the number keys activate while using Mechjeb, I guess the Mechjeb window does not tell KSP that it is in use so the action groups aren't off while using it, you'll have to talk to Sarbian about that one.

Alright then will take it up with Sarbian then.

Dx9 seems to use more RAM than OpenGL, there's a lot of Windows users who force OpenGL because of this, as for your graphics card, it can only report what it detects, either the driver is misreporting or it's not using all the RAM your card has, you can probably find info on exactly what the fglrx driver supports on your card in the fglrx documentation.

Graphically my R9 280 (or HD 7950, which is what it really is) as been working beautifully compared to my Old HD 5800 which was damaged by water leaking from my ancient water cooler that I have chucked in favor of a very large air cooler. The latest AMD catalyst driver has let me utilize AA and all the bells and chimes in Linux and the game looks great and works smooth with maxed out setting, with exception to having compiz on, then there are some funny artifacts and slow down, but hey I can cube-rotate with KSP! Which makes up for how I can't alt-tab, I just cube trun to a different desktop.

Oh by the way in case you missed it the recent Unity release notes say hey fixed the numpad, so you will be able to use that for Mechjeb

Yeah the keypad does not work for me.

[sal_vager]

Ok if you say so, just why does the linux say 0 then?

Simple, the value gets missed from the log when building the Linux version so it sees a zero, look for the buildID.txt file to see the build of KSP you have.

I can't alt-tab

Alt+tab has been playing up for me as well but not just with KSP, I think it might be due to the change in fullscreen mode in Unity not locking the graphic card anymore but the task switcher doesn't seem to want to work with some programs. To get round that I use control+tab to cycle task bar applications.

Yeah the keypad does not work for me.

And it won't yet, 705 uses a Unity build prior to the numpad fix, but it's coming, check your player log for this line

Initialize engine version: 4.5.5f1 (7684ad0c5a44)

[Hrv123]

Hello, some linux noob question here I just recently moved zo linux and Im almost usless with making things start to work

My queation is, im using .sh file to start x 64steam version (but not with steam/overlay) ksp with code in it I found on this forum, that should make ksp use two cpu cores for better efficiency.

++++++++

#!/bin/sh

export LC_ALL=C

exec taskset -c 2-3 ./KSP.x86_64

++++++++

Now my problem is I want to start ksp with glxosd for fps counter. I just dont know how to add gfxosd into that shell, instructions for runing glxosd are all for either steam luncher or from terminal, but none if you start game from .sh file. I was adding start comand all over the .sh file but nothing work. Help

[Bolche]

Never heard of glxosd. Can you send a link?

You probabily would put a command between "taskset -c 2-3" and "./KSP.x86_64".

[Hrv123]

Never heard of glxosd. Can you send a link?

You probabily would put a command between "taskset -c 2-3" and "./KSP.x86_64".

Just tried it, it start ksp window but it end it asp

https://nickguletskii.github.io/GLXOSD/

[Motokid600]

I plan on trying a Linux installation sooner or later and I was going to follow this particular guide. But it raises some concerns.

"6. Fix the 64 bit version of KSP.

The 64 bit version of KSP comes horribly broken and will not work properly unless you fix it."

This guide is almost a year old so im not sure if that's even relevant anymore. Is such a fix necessary? Other then that if I followed that guide would it work out? Or is there something better I can do?

[sal_vager]

Oh that's the segfault fix, it can still happen to some people, if you find KSP segfaulting for you you can try this.

Just run these in a terminal in the KSP directory, these are for 0.90.0:

echo "0099e747: 00" | xxd -r - KSP.x86_64
echo "0099e74c: 00" | xxd -r - KSP.x86_64

I hadn't considered that using GLXOSD with scripts would be a problem, this should work:

exec taskset -c 2-3 glxosd ./KSP.x86_64

But you don't really need "exec taskset -c 2-3" anyway

[Motokid600]

Hm. See that's the stuff that puts me off Linux. I have no idea what that is. Segfaulting? Im very firmiliar with pc's, but this Linux stuff seems so alien I'm wondering if it's even worth taking the time to install and get working. I'm no coder so... Should I even bother with Linux?

Naturally I'm only interested because of the working 64bit client. But will I just be trading memory issues for a new set of Linux exclusive issues?

Edited February 18, 2015 by Motokid600

[micha]

segfault's are not linux-exclusive. It's short for "Segmentation Fault" and it's a program bug to do with trying to access an invalid memory location. On Linux, the error printout starts with "segfault", hence the name. On Windows you would get a window pop up with a "General Protection Fault" message instead. Same bug, different way to notify the user.

As for whether or not to bother with Linux, these days it's pretty trivial to install and try it out, especially from a Live CD (although it'll be a bit slower that way). Go for one of the more user-friendly distros like Ubuntu or Linux Mint and it's no more difficult (and often easier) than installing Windows. Usage is a bit different, but doesn't take long to get the hang of it.

[lordcirth]

Hm. See that's the stuff that puts me off Linux. I have no idea what that is. Segfaulting? Im very firmiliar with pc's, but this Linux stuff seems so alien I'm wondering if it's even worth taking the time to install and get working. I'm no coder so... Should I even bother with Linux?

Naturally I'm only interested because of the working 64bit client. But will I just be trading memory issues for a new set of Linux exclusive issues?

Linux is not harder, only different. Personally I find it more intuitive. A Segmentation Fault is a pretty generic error type that can happen on many programs, on any OS. The difference is that on Windows you will just get a crash, whereas on Linux you may be told "Segmentation Fault". Odds are you have seen many segfaults before on Windows, you just weren't told what it was.

You certainly don't need to be a programmer to get Linux working. Just install Linux Mint or some other newbie-friendly distrobution and everything should work fine. The installers are actually much better and easier than Microsoft's. You will also have lower CPU + RAM overhead to run KSP. I actually haven't switched to the 64bit version, as I have not yet needed the RAM. I run linux as my daily driver, not just for KSP, but I'm happy to see so many people giving Linux a try because of KSP. Cutting 500MB off your RAM usage can also help a lot for people with <4GB of RAM, I bet.

[Bolche]

You know those annoying messages you get on Windows "This program has stopped working" (or "This program has performed an illegal operation" on older Windows versions?)

That we call a "Segfault".

It's a problem with the program. It's not a Linux exclusive issue, as you are probably already familiar with the issue in Windows. But in Linux we can actually fix it with the code shown.

Personally, in my computer I did not had to apply this. The vanilla version just worked. Try it first, before executing anything.

[Motokid600]

Thanks everyone. That may have been the push I needed to give Linux a go.

[Hrv123]

Oh that's the segfault fix, it can still happen to some people, if you find KSP segfaulting for you you can try this.

Just run these in a terminal in the KSP directory, these are for 0.90.0:

echo "0099e747: 00" | xxd -r - KSP.x86_64
echo "0099e74c: 00" | xxd -r - KSP.x86_64

I hadn't considered that using GLXOSD with scripts would be a problem, this should work:

exec taskset -c 2-3 glxosd ./KSP.x86_64

But you don't really need "exec taskset -c 2-3" anyway

Worked (looks I mess something with first instalation, I purged it and install it again from glxosd site via sudo comand in terminal, Ubuntu Software center glxosd version not starting becouse of some reason hmm hmm) I barely know what Im doing but I love how linux works. Feeling so enlightend each time something start to work in terminal Thank you

EDIT: now half of keybord is suddenly not working in KSP while glxosd is running lol- Now I need a beer...

Something with font missing ahhh. Still love linux+beer

Edited February 18, 2015 by Hrv123

[sal_vager]

You can find the missing fonts here, as for your keyboard I'd check to see if you have a built-in numpad

[AML225]

Guys, I'm having a couple GUI issues with my fresh KSP 64-bit Linux install. Note that these issues are persistant after re-installing and happen modded or unmodded.

Firstly, the thumbnails for researchable parts in the R&D building are blurry, see screenshot below:

Next, I'm having a couple issues in the tracking station:

1) The buttons to filter what is shown (flags, landers, vessels, etc.) are only showing as unlabled numbers

2) The terminate vessel button is blurry

3) The circles that represents the planets on their orbits are blurry

4) The two buttons on the right side of the screen are glitched

See screenshot:

Any help with these issues would be much appreciated. Also, I apologize for the large images, I'm not sure how to make them clickable thumbnails.

[micha]

Firstly, the thumbnails for researchable parts in the R&D building are blurry, see screenshot below:

Check to make sure you've got the latest driver for your video card. For nVidia cards you want the actual driver from nVidia, NOT the opensource one. For AMD and Intel (built-in gfx) you want the latest opensource driver. Plenty of online HOWTO's telling you step-by-step how to check and install - make sure you find one for your actual distro (Linux Mint) rather than generic for best results.

Secondly, check to see if you've got "half resolution" textures enabled in KSP settings. That will reduce the fidelity of icons as well, although it should be affecting all of them not just some of them.

[AML225]

Check to make sure you've got the latest driver for your video card. For nVidia cards you want the actual driver from nVidia, NOT the opensource one. For AMD and Intel (built-in gfx) you want the latest opensource driver. Plenty of online HOWTO's telling you step-by-step how to check and install - make sure you find one for your actual distro (Linux Mint) rather than generic for best results.

Secondly, check to see if you've got "half resolution" textures enabled in KSP settings. That will reduce the fidelity of icons as well, although it should be affecting all of them not just some of them.

Thanks for the help micha! I checked my KSP graphics settings and textures are set for full resolution. Regarding the latest drivers, I am running Ubuntu 14.10 and have an AMD Radeon HD5970 graphics card. I have added the xorg-edgers PPA, is that a good repository to get the latest AMD graphics? How do I go about installing the drivers from this repository?

Thank you!

[sal_vager]

Hmmm, AML225 what are your graphics settings? Your pics look like the window was expanded from a lower resolution than your screen can handle.

As micha noted, the open source driver is better for AMD these days, it should be fairly up to date.