EDVR flat on Linux (Proton): step-by-step for Steam and non-Steam installs

[arturbac]

Rev 2

What's new in Rev 2

• New sub-point under Before you start: links to my two Linux recipes for the setup around the game (running it without Steam, and one Wine desktop across several monitors).
• Step 1 (Outside Steam) links to the non-Steam recipe.

This is how I run the EDVR desktop (flat) edition with Elite Dangerous on Linux. It covers the Steam version and an install outside Steam (Frontier account, own Proton prefix). Everything below comes from my own runs; what I have not tested is marked as such.

My setup: GE-Proton11-6 with its DXVK, RX 7900 XTX, three monitors as one 9000×2160 Wine desktop. Two accounts: one through Steam, one through the Frontier launcher outside Steam.

Before you start

• Close the game.
• Use 0.18.1 or newer. It includes the Proton fixes from #65 / #66: the constant-buffer map cache (flat_cb_map_cache = auto) and CPU timing clocks off under Wine. Older builds run at roughly half the frame rate under Proton and hitch on foot.
• Download edvr-flat-<version>.zip (not the installer zip) from the releases page and unzip it anywhere. You need these files from it:
  • d3d11.dll
  • edvr-flat.ini
  • edvr_profile.ini
  • LICENSE.txt, DXBC-HASH-LICENSE.txt, FIDELITYFX-SDK-DX11-LICENSE.txt
  • nvngx_dlss.dll and NVIDIA-DLSS-LICENSE.txt only on an NVIDIA card (DLSS; I have not tested it, my card is AMD)
• The Linux setup around the game (not EDVR-specific, so this guide does not repeat it). Two recipes from my tool's docs, both from my own setup:
  • Running Elite Dangerous on Linux without Steam: a launcher script with its own Proton prefix for a Frontier account, sharing the Steam game files. The EHT_* lines in that script are for my overlay; leave them out if you do not use it.
  • Elite on several monitors: a Wine virtual desktop as wide as all monitors (mine is 9000×2160), and a KWin rule that opens it borderless and in place.
• The zip also has edvr-flat-installer.exe. I have not tried it under Proton; everything below is the manual install, which needs nothing but copying files.

Step 1: find the game folder

You need the folder that contains EliteDangerous64.exe. It is Products/elite-dangerous-odyssey-64 inside the game install.

Steam: in the library, right-click Elite Dangerous → Manage → Browse local files. Then open Products/elite-dangerous-odyssey-64. With the default library it is:

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Elite Dangerous/Products/elite-dangerous-odyssey-64

Outside Steam: the same Products/elite-dangerous-odyssey-64 folder, but under wherever the Frontier launcher installed the game inside your prefix (or the folder you pointed your launcher script at). How I set up such a launcher: Running Elite Dangerous on Linux without Steam.

To check you are in the right place:

ls EliteDangerous64.exe

Step 2: do you already have EDHM (or another d3d11.dll)?

ls -l d3d11.dll

• No d3d11.dll: go to step 3.

• d3d11.dll exists (usually EDHM): do not overwrite it. Rename it so EDVR can load it behind itself:

  mv d3d11.dll d3d11_edhm.dll
  

  In step 4 you will set real_dll = d3d11_edhm.dll. The chain is then EDVR → EDHM → DXVK, and it works under Proton.

Outside Steam, if you use symlinks: if your game folder is a farm of symlinks into another install (I share the Steam game files this way), the game runs inside the Steam Linux Runtime container, which only sees the paths it mounts. A d3d11_edhm.dll symlink pointing outside those paths is dead inside the container. Either copy the file, or point the symlink into a path listed in STEAM_COMPAT_MOUNTS. Also never copy EDVR through a symlinked directory, or you will write into the other install.

Step 3: copy EDVR

From the unzipped release, into the game folder:

cp d3d11.dll edvr-flat.ini edvr_profile.ini LICENSE.txt DXBC-HASH-LICENSE.txt FIDELITYFX-SDK-DX11-LICENSE.txt "<game folder>/"

If you are updating and already have an edvr-flat.ini, keep yours and copy only the DLL.

No launch options and no WINEDLLOVERRIDES were needed: Proton already loads a d3d11.dll placed next to the game exe. That holds for my Steam account (empty launch options) and for my non-Steam launcher.

Step 4: edit edvr-flat.ini

Turn TAA on, and set the EDHM chain if you renamed EDHM in step 2:

[fix]
temporal_aa = on

[advanced]
real_dll = d3d11_edhm.dll

Leave real_dll = empty if you have no EDHM.

Do not add a dxvk.conf with d3d11.cachedDynamicResources = c (the old #65 workaround). With 0.18.1 the map cache handles it: in my test on the code that became 0.18.1 (main 4a1d35b, no dxvk.conf), auto decided ON and gave ~80 fps where off gave ~30 (details in #65).

Step 5: game graphics settings

In the game's graphics options:

• Anti-aliasing: off and Upscaling: off in the game. EDVR does the AA.
• Supersampling is the render scale. TAA was applied for me at SS 0.65 and 0.75; SS 1.0 also works but costs a lot of GPU on my 9000×2160. Start around 0.75 and tune.

Step 6: start the game and check that it works

Steam: start Elite Dangerous as usual.

Outside Steam: start it with your usual launcher or script.

In game:

• Press F8 for the EDVR menu: Off / TAA / DLSS / FSR3. Up/Down picks a row, Left/Right changes it, F8 or Escape closes it. Changes save live.
• The first ~1–2 minutes of a session (and after entering a busy place like a settlement) EDVR runs a "passive discovery" and the frame rate is lower. Judge performance only after that.

Logs are in edvr_logs/ in the game folder. What to look for:

• the second line must say the version you installed (e.g. version v0.18.1),
• passive discovery complete,
• treated-jittered in the per-frame lines: TAA is really applied. If you see hdr-route-needs-render-at-least-output, raise SS.

What I measured (RX 7900 XTX, 9000×2160)

• Planet surface, TAA on, map cache auto: ~80 fps without VSync (present p50 12.7 ms); at 60 Hz VSync a steady 60.
• In a settlement (the heaviest place I measured), TAA: about 35–38 fps for me; without EDVR AA the same spot is 65–85 fps. Most of that cost is EDVR's per-draw work, GPU and CPU; it is known to the EDVR team.
• FSR3 instead of TAA costs more GPU (~5 ms vs under 1 ms for the TAA resolve here), so it only pays off with a lower SS.

Undo

In the game folder, with the game closed:

rm d3d11.dll edvr-flat.ini edvr_profile.ini
mv d3d11_edhm.dll d3d11.dll     # only if you renamed EDHM in step 2

Then set the game's own AA and upscaling back.

Notes

• Frontier's launcher may remove d3d11.dll when it verifies the install. Nothing is broken; copy EDVR back.
• EDHM's uninstaller deletes d3d11.dll, which is EDVR's file after step 2. Undo the pair as above instead.
• Not tested by me: the installer under Proton, DLSS (NVIDIA), Lutris/Heroic, Epic installs. If you run any of these, please add a reply with what worked.