How to install a specific Mesa version?

[bradleypariah]

Hey all, TL,DR:
Kubuntu 23.04.1 currently has Mesa version 23.0.4. The Kisak Mesa PPA currently gets Kubuntu up to 23.1.7, but I need to get back to 23.1.6. How do I do this?

Full story:
I'm having trouble with that new game Starfield. Someone on Reddit suggested I add the Kisak Mesa PPA, which I did, and it immediately solved the problem. Game worked great! ...for a week.

A few days ago, I ran updates, and I saw Mesa had a couple packages getting updated, and didn't think much of it.
Turned out, the update broke Starfield again.
I checked back with the Proton group on Reddit, and someone implied that Starfield works fine on Mesa 23.1.6 (the exact version I upgraded to when I first added the PPA), but the 23.1.7 update indeed broke it.

How to I get back to exactly 23.1.6 so I can play my game?

Obviously I'll lock the package version this time.

I tried getting 23.1.6 directly from the mesa3d site, but installation keeps failing. I'm sludging my way through dependency hell right now (and frankly, I have no idea what a "llvm.wrap file" is), and I'm really hoping there's a more straightforward way to do this.

[claydoh]

How to I get back to exactly 23.1.6 so I can play my game?

It depends on if the PPA keeps older versions or not - they normally don't, as far as I can tell, or recall from running one myself.

Which mesa PPA are you using?

I had the exact opposite problem, a bug in Mesa 23.1.6 breaks Unreal 4 based games, fixed in 23.1.7. I had just purchased Scars Above and the System Shock remake, and could not play them, until my PPA updated to .7. I temporarily moved to a git-build mesa PPA
(the PPA definitely does not provide older versions, nor do any others I have checked)

I'd suggest for the moment downgrading back to stock for the moment, if that works with your game , using ppa-purge to remove the PPA and downgrade things.

OR, try this easier tweak to see if it helps:
Add VKD3D_CONFIG=force_host_cached %command% to the game' Launch Options section in Steam., which seems to work for some, depending on the kernel
But unless you have some sort of a system snapshot to roll back to, you aren't getting 23.1.6 very easily.

The other option is to move to a git-based mesa PPA that updates fare more often (often daily), if that has pre-release fixes relevant to the game.

It seems that the 23.1.16 included a fix specifically for this game, but also broke all the Unreal4 engine-based games, so it was reverted or something in 23.1.7

But some people seem to be running the game on 23.1.6 just fine, apparently

High profile brand spanking new games always have teething problems like this.

[bradleypariah]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, Mesa 23.0.4 doesn't work for Starfield on my system, even when I use that launch option, even though some ProtonDB reports show people using both. Only 23.1.6 works for that specific game on my system.

I purged the Kisak Mesa PPA, rebooted, and added the "Mesa Almost Stable" PPA. Supposedly they offer Mesa 23.2.0, but the only package my system will update is corectl. Mesa is staying at 23.0.4. I don't get it.

[claydoh]

"Mesa Almost Stable" PPA. Supposedly they offer Mesa 23.2.0, but the only package my system will update is corectl. Mesa is staying at 23.0.4. I don't get it.

If you installed corectrl, and followed their directions, you would have created an apt config file to only allow corectrl to be installed and updated from that PPA (the same person who runs that PPA also provides corectrl packages for the project there) as not everyone wants a very bleeding edge mesa updating all the time.
You will want to move that file elsewhere, and update again.

[bradleypariah]

you would have created an apt config file to only allow corectrl to be installed and updated from that PPA.... You will want to move that file elsewhere, and update again.

That worked for updating Mesa, thanks! Unfortunately, Starfield still refuses to run. That's extra discouraging, because now I have no idea how long it will be until Kubuntu is compatible with my game again. If 23.1.6 works, and theoretically nothing between 23.1.7 and 23.2.0 will, I wonder which version Kubuntu 23.10 will have by default?

I guess I might have to figure out how to install 23.1.6 from source after all?

This is rough. I gave up Windows in 2017, and honestly this is the first game I've even had to wonder what my Mesa version was. I had never even installed a Mesa PPA on my system until last week. All of my games just worked. The most I've ever had to do was switch Proton versions (maybe download a GloriousEggroll version here and there), or install the Media Foundation Pack into a PFX.

I had no idea it was so difficult to manage driver versions. Seems odd.

[claydoh]

It probably won't be terribly long, but it is a general mesa problem, or even one fixable via proton updates, maybe.

it seems to take a few weeks for major game related things like this to get fixed, whether by mesa or Steam's proton fixes.
it was three weeks that all those Unreal Engine games were broken, though git mesa had things sooner. I think I could not play them for closer to two weeks.

I had never even installed a Mesa PPA on my system until last week.

You have been on the lucky side, maybe
I have been using them for years now, though the actual *need* has been fairly rare.

I wonder which version Kubuntu 23.10 will have by default?

it will have exactly 23.1.7, i am not sure if it will see any updates past this, I think feature freezes are close, or already in effect for Mantic.

Using the git builds of mesa will net you any fixes sooner.
Building mesa and all its dependencies without completely borking things is not something I'd try myself, and I am quite adventurous/foolhardy, and have done similar things in the past.

yes, it stinks.

[bradleypariah]

So I'm seeing online that some AMD folks are having no issues at all with 23.1.7, but they're on kernel 6.5.2. Perhaps that's the issue. I'm on 6.2.0-31.

I read that it is possible to upgrade to 23.10 early by editing /etc/sources.list and changing every 'lunar' to 'mantic' and saving. Then run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

Question #1: What kernel will 23.10 have? 6.5? -or 6.5.x?
Question #2: How dumb am I if I try this? Should I just wait a month to play Starfield? I have other stuff to play. I guess it's no emergency. I just figure that 23.10 is so darn close to release, it must be pretty solid by now, no?

[claydoh]

I read that it is possible to upgrade to 23.10 early by editing /etc/sources.list and changing every 'lunar' to 'mantic' and saving.

You should not believe everything you read on the internet Just where did you hear such foolishness?
An upgrade is quite a bit more than just changing repos in a text file⁽¹⁾.

Even in pre-release, the process to manually begin an upgrade is (almost) identical to doing so normally.
IF you do so, you will need to ppa-purge your Mesa PPAs, at the very least. Anything that involves more than just desktop applications. Drivers, audio, etc.

⁽¹⁾The upgrade, among other things, disables these PPAs so that their packages do not cause conflicts (PPAs will often have newer stuff than in the next OS release). Mesa and driver PPAs recommend this step.
Not sure if upgrading is worth the effort at the moment, unless you are able to easily roll back

You also might consider the much easier route of installing a newer kernel to your existing install, especially since *buntu keeps three around.
There is always the Ubuntu Mainline kernels, but there are other reputable sources as well.
I used the second one for a while on my AMD based Chromebook, which didn't have usable audio support before about the 6.2.9, among other things that ended up being lacking in current *buntus for that very specific hardware.

The Mainline stuff is way easier to try out, imo, especially with an AMD GPU, though being 'vanilla' builds, there is always the chance some hardware might not have built-in support out of the box

[bradleypariah]

Just where did you hear such foolishness?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comm.../2304_to_2310/

There is always the Ubuntu Mainline kernels

I appreciate you taking the time to talk me through all this stuff. Does this tutorial look safe for installing mainline kernels? https://www.linuxcapable.com/how-to-...-ubuntu-linux/
If things go south, I can always just use GRUB to go back to an older kernel, and then disable the new one(s), right?

[claydoh]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comm.../2304_to_2310/

I love and live on Reddit, but man, you do have to be cautios, lol. And use a 10m pole, plus some hand sanitizer. Antibiotics, too.

I appreciate you taking the time to talk me through all this stuff. Does this tutorial look safe for installing mainline kernels? https://www.linuxcapable.com/how-to-...-ubuntu-linux/

My link has the same set of instructions - it is just adding a PPA. Plus it links to deb files, if you'd rather have that.

If things go south, I can always just use GRUB to go back to an older kernel, and then disable the new one(s), right?

Yup, uninstalling the unwanted kernel will remove it from grub.

[bradleypariah]

Just thought I'd drop a quick update about this, in case anyone else needs the help. The directions here didn't exactly work: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ma...grades/Kubuntu

The "-m" in the code needed to be "-d" instead, but other than that, I was able to upgrade to 23.10 early, and I'm happy to say Starfield works fine on 23.10's kernel and Mesa versions. I played for over an hour last night with no issues.

Thanks, claydoh!

[claydoh]

The "-m" in the code needed to be "-d"

I *really* should have caught that one, or at least added the option to try it. I didn't check if 'formal' upgrades have been turned on yet. Maybe I assumed it had, and they weren't re-using pre-existing content ( I have *never* **ever** done that, ever, when I was editing wiki pages, *ever* )