Hardware Compatibility

Hardware Compatibility

CouchLiteOS runs on most x86-64 PCs and Intel Macs from about 2012 on.

Minimum

• 64-bit (x86-64) PC or Intel Mac, UEFI or legacy BIOS boot
• 4 GB of RAM
• A disk of 32 GB or more to install to (recommended, so that an update can keep the previous version; see Install)
• Wired Ethernet or a supported Wi-Fi adapter (CouchLiteOS is IPv4-only)
• A keyboard for the boot menu and installer
• Targets: 1080p60, 1080p120 where supported, 1440p60, and best-effort 4K60. HDR is not officially supported.

Two ISOs

Both ISOs check the hardware at every boot, so one USB stick can move between PCs.

ISO	Choose it for
couchliteos-<version>-amd64.iso (general)	Intel and AMD graphics, NVIDIA Kepler and older, Intel Macs, virtual machines
couchliteos-<version>-nvidia-amd64.iso	NVIDIA GTX 745/750/750 Ti, GTX 800M/900M laptops, GTX 900, GTX 10, GTX 16, RTX 20/30/40

The NVIDIA ISO uses NVIDIA's driver only for GPUs it supports and the open nouveau driver for any other, so it is the safe pick when you are not sure. Names mislead: the desktop GTX 750 is Maxwell (NVIDIA ISO), the mobile GT 750M is Kepler (general ISO).

Download both from the latest release.

Graphics

Graphics	ISO	Moonlight video decoding
Intel HD/UHD/Iris/Arc (Broadwell and newer)	general	Hardware (VA-API)
Intel Gen4 to Haswell	general	Hardware (VA-API)
AMD Radeon (GCN and newer; older through radeon)	general	Hardware (VA-API)
NVIDIA Maxwell to Ada (GTX 745 to RTX 40)	nvidia	Hardware (NVDEC)
The same NVIDIA cards on the general ISO	general	Software H.264
NVIDIA Kepler and older (GTX 600, GTX 760-780, GT 750M/755M)	general (or nvidia, which falls back)	Software H.264; experimental firmware option
NVIDIA RTX 50 (Blackwell)	not supported yet	-
Virtual machines (Hyper-V, Proxmox)	general	Software

Secure Boot stops NVIDIA's driver and Broadcom's wl Wi-Fi driver from loading; see Install.

Hybrid laptops (Intel/AMD plus NVIDIA) use whichever GPU the firmware starts with, usually the integrated one.

Other hardware

• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / Ethernet: Intel, Realtek, Atheros, MediaTek and Broadcom chips with firmware included. Broadcom chips that need wl (such as the iMac's BCM4360) get it automatically.
• Sound: Intel HD Audio (including HDMI/DisplayPort to the TV), Intel SOF and AMD laptop audio, Cirrus Logic.
• Controllers: Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and other common controllers, wired or over Bluetooth. A desktop without Bluetooth needs a USB Bluetooth adapter for wireless controllers.
• TV control: HDMI-CEC needs a USB CEC adapter.
• Intel Macs: Apple keyboards default to F1-F12; see iMac Late 2013.

Reference machines

Machine	ISO	Notes
Dell OptiPlex 7010 Micro (Core i5-13500T, UHD 770)	general	Hardware decoding. Two matched RAM sticks (2x8 GB) are better than one 16 GB stick for the integrated GPU. Use DisplayPort for 4K60.
Apple iMac Late 2013 (NVIDIA Kepler)	general	Software decoding, 1080p60 target. See iMac Late 2013.

Reported working

Tell us how CouchLiteOS runs on your PC with a Works on my PC report, and we will add it here. If something does not work, report a bug instead.

PC model	ISO	What works	Reporter

To see what CouchLiteOS chose on your machine, open SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS or run /usr/libexec/couchliteos-hwdetect report in TERMINAL.