After installing: all distros

Linux is running. These are the steps every PS5 Linux user ends up doing, in the order that avoids the most trouble. None of them are generic Linux setup; for your distro's own first steps, use its documentation.

PS5 Bazzite Deck

All of this is already done on PS5 Bazzite Deck apart from changing the password and the optional items. Skip to Set the GPU memory if you want more than the default.

1. Change the password and check SSH

Most images ship with SSH on and a known password. Change it:

passwd

The default users per image are on SSH and getting help. Keep SSH working: it is how you get in when the display goes black.

2. Stop the distro from replacing the kernel

The PS5 kernel comes from ps5-linux-patches, not from your distro. A distro upgrade that installs a stock kernel into the boot partition leaves you with a system that doesn't boot. On Ubuntu and Debian, hold the stock kernel packages:

sudo apt-mark hold linux-generic linux-generic-hwe-24.04 linux-generic-hwe-26.04 \
  linux-image-generic linux-image-generic-hwe-24.04 linux-image-generic-hwe-26.04 \
  linux-headers-generic linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 linux-headers-generic-hwe-26.04

On Arch and Fedora, the linux-ps5 package from the package repository is the kernel; don't install the distro's linux or kernel package alongside it.

3. Disable the screen saver

It is broken on the PS5 and can't be dismissed once it starts. Turn it off in your desktop's power settings before any long install or download. Over SSH, sudo reboot is the way out if it already started.

4. Check the fan and the clocks

What you do here depends on the kernel, see Kernel setup:

• rmuxnet's kernel: the fan follows a temperature curve and the GPU clock scales by itself. Turn the CPU boost on if you want it: echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/boost (put it in a systemd unit to keep it). Don't install ps5-linux-tools for the boost on this kernel.

• Upstream kernels: the CPU stays at 3.2 GHz until ps5_control --boost on. Current packages run the fan curve and the GPU governor by themselves; older ones also need ps5_control --fan on. Install ps5-linux-tools and enable both at every boot:

  git clone https://github.com/ps5-linux/ps5-linux-tools
  cd ps5-linux-tools
  make
  sudo ./install.sh

  On a distro with the package repository, ps5-linux-tools is a package that does the same. Check with sudo systemctl status ps5fan ps5boost.

See Fan control and Clocks and boost.

5. Set the GPU memory

The default vram.txt reserves 512 MB for the GPU and lets it borrow up to half of the rest, which caps games at about 7 GB. For gaming, reserve 6 GB instead: the GPU then has 6 GB guaranteed and can borrow up to about 10 GB in total. Edit vram.txt on the boot partition (it is read as a hexadecimal byte count):

vram.txt

180000000

That memory is no longer available to the rest of the system, so stay at the default on a server or a desktop that doesn't game. For games that need more than 8 GB, raise the ceiling further with ttm.pages_limit, see VRAM.

6. Install the Wi-Fi driver

If you use the internal Wi-Fi, install the driver for your chip, see Wi-Fi. On the Marvell IW620 the driver is out of tree and must be reinstalled after every kernel update, unless your kernel comes from the package repository or is rmuxnet's release, which both bundle it. The MediaTek chips work with the in-kernel drivers in every current kernel. Ethernet works out of the box.

7. Tune cmdline.txt

Two parameters on the boot partition are worth a look, see Kernel parameters:

• video=DP-1:1920x1080@60: the safe boot mode. Keep it, and set your real resolution from the desktop.
• amdgpu.force_1080p=1: caps output at 1080p60. Remove it unless you need it to get a picture at all.

8. Optional

• 40 CU unlock: more GPU power on units whose disabled compute units are good; artefacts on units where they aren't. Original PS5 and Slim only, see 40 CU unlock.
• Swap or zram: a desktop with Steam open can fill the 14 GB that is left, see Memory, VRAM and swap.
• Graphical glitches in a game: add RADV_DEBUG=nohiz %command% to that game's Steam launch options. Don't set it globally: it costs performance in every game, and most don't need it, see GPU performance tips.
• Steam: not the Snap package, see Gaming performance.
• Newer Mesa (Ubuntu only): the PS5's GPU (GFX1013) picks up fixes in newer Mesa releases, and Ubuntu's own packages lag behind. The kisak PPA is the usual source there: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kisak/kisak-mesa then sudo apt upgrade. Arch and Fedora ship recent Mesa already, and on Bazzite it comes with the image.

Gaming performance

Steam and Proton run on the PS5 as on any Linux PC with a mid-range RDNA2 GPU. This page has the settings that matter on the console and the limits you will run into.

Steam and Proton

Don't use the Snap version of Steam (Ubuntu)

Ubuntu's Snap package of Steam runs in a sandbox that gets in the way on the PS5 images. Install Steam from apt instead (or the .deb from store.steampowered.com/about):

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install steam

Pick Proton Experimental in Steam's compatibility settings for the newest fixes, and for games with Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye try the dedicated Proton EAC or Proton BE builds. A game that fails on one Proton version often runs on another; a tool such as ProtonPlus makes switching easy.

Performance tips

The basics (fan and clocks checked, 6 GB in vram.txt, the Wi-Fi driver) are in the Post-install checklist. On top of those:

• Render below 4K. 1800p gives most games a large frame rate gain over 4K for little visible loss; 1440p more so.
• Remove idle=halt from cmdline.txt if you notice micro-stuttering.
• Unlock the extra compute units if your console has good ones, see 40 CU unlock.
• Raise the GPU memory ceiling with ttm.pages_limit for games that need more than the 6 GB setting gives, see VRAM.
• Add swap or zram when a desktop with Steam and a browser open runs out of memory, see Memory, VRAM and swap.
• Skip the desktop. Gamescope started from a TTY, or an image that boots into Gaming Mode, leaves the most memory and GPU time to the game, and Gamescope's frame limiter and upscaler come with it.

Game streaming

With a VCN-enabled kernel (see Hardware video (VCN)), streaming can use H.264 hardware encoding through VAAPI. HEVC encoding only works with I-frames, so keep streaming on H.264. Vulkan video encoding is not available on this GPU (GFX1013).

• Sunshine and Moonlight: set encoder = vaapi in Sunshine and turn HEVC and AV1 off so it stays on H.264. 1080p at 60 and at 120 Hz stream well, and a DualSense connected to the client is passed through. Without VCN the stream fails with [h264_vulkan] Encoding of h264 is not supported by this device.
• Steam Link: works with x264 software encoding at the cost of noticeable CPU time.
• Standalone VR headsets: WiVRn has given better results than Steam Link or ALVR for PC VR. Raise the bitrate if the picture pixelates or the audio stutters.

Known limits

Things every PS5 Linux user runs into sooner or later, whatever the distro.

Limit	What happens	Status
GPU memory ceiling	A game that needs more than the GTT ceiling crashes with Not enough memory for command submission. Raise ttm.pages_limit rather than a fixed vram.txt carve-out, see VRAM.	Documented fix
40 CU unlock	More GPU power on units whose disabled pairs are good; artefacts, a purple tint or crashes on units where one isn't, see 40 CU unlock. Don't use it on a Pro.	Silicon lottery
HEVC encoding	The video engine corrupts colours with P-frames (red screen when streaming or recording). Use H.264, or HEVC with I-frames only, see VCN.	Known not to work
GPU fault at session switches	Switching between a Gamescope session and a desktop can trigger a GPU page fault and ring gfx_0.0.0 timeout, most often at 4K120 on some TVs. It is on the compositor side; keep the desktop at 4K60 and switch sessions at the boot instead, see Boot to the desktop. On a PS5 Pro the fault isn't recovered (GPU Recovery Failed) and the screen stays black until a restart. If you hit it, save the coredump before restarting: sudo cp /sys/class/drm/card0/device/devcoredump/data ~/gpu-coredump.txt.	Open
Failed to pin framebuffer: -ENOMEM	Reported under memory pressure with a desktop and Steam running. No confirmed fix; more zram helped in one report, see Memory and swap.	Open

Memory, VRAM and swap

"VRAM", "GTT" and "swap" get mixed up a lot. This page separates them. The PS5 has one pool of memory, and each term below describes a different part of how that pool is used.

One pool, not two

A gaming PC has system RAM for the CPU and separate VRAM on the graphics card. The PS5 does not: it has 16 GB of unified GDDR6 that the CPU and GPU share. About 14 GB is usable by the OS, and the rest is reserved for firmware, see Hardware overview.

On Linux this means:

• There is no copy between "system RAM" and "video RAM". Both are the same chips.
• Memory given to the GPU is memory taken away from everything else, and the other way around.

The three terms

Term	What it is	Where you set it
VRAM split	Memory reserved up front for the GPU. This is only the minimum.	vram.txt on the FAT32 partition
GTT	Extra GPU memory the driver takes from the rest of the RAM when it needs it. This is what makes VRAM "dynamic".	ttm.pages_limit in cmdline.txt
Swap	Space on a drive (or compressed space in RAM) that Linux uses when normal RAM runs out.	A swap file, a swap partition or zram

The first two decide how much memory the GPU can use. Swap is a general Linux feature for the whole system running out of RAM. They are separate settings.

What "dynamic VRAM" means

The default vram.txt value is 512 MB, but the GPU is not limited to that. The driver takes more memory as a game needs it. The ceiling is:

(vram.txt split) + (remaining RAM not in that split) / 2

Raising vram.txt also raises that ceiling, but it locks that memory away from the rest of the system. For gaming, 6 GB in vram.txt is the usual choice; for everything else leave the default and, if needed, raise ttm.pages_limit, which gives the same ceiling without locking anything. The full explanation, the size table and a worked example are in VRAM.

Not enough memory for command submission

If a game crashes with amdgpu_vm_validate() failed / Not enough memory for command submission while plenty of RAM looks free, you have hit the GTT ceiling, not a lack of RAM. The fix is ttm.pages_limit, see VRAM.

Does swap help games?

Swap helps the system when normal RAM is full: browsers, launchers, shader compilation and similar background work. With only 14 GB usable and the GPU taking its share from the same pool, a Linux desktop with Steam running can fill up.

What this wiki does not claim is that swap raises the GPU memory ceiling. The ceiling formula above only involves vram.txt and the remaining RAM. If a game crashes with the error above, change ttm.pages_limit; adding swap is not the documented fix. A different error under memory pressure, Failed to pin framebuffer: -ENOMEM, has gone away for one user after adding more zram; that is a lead, not a confirmed fix.

Not tested

How the GPU driver behaves when the whole system is deep into swap has not been documented on the PS5 yet. If you test it, share your results on Discord.

Choosing where swap lives

The place you put swap matters a lot, because swap is only useful if it is faster than the alternative (an out-of-memory crash).

Option	Good for	Watch out for
zram (compressed swap in RAM)	Small, fast headroom with no drive wear	Uses RAM to store the compressed pages, so it gives less headroom than a swap file
Swap file on the M.2 SSD	The best drive option: an NVMe drive is fast and large	Only available if you installed to M.2
Swap file on a USB SSD	A reasonable fallback	Slower than M.2, and it shares the USB bus with everything else on the drive
Swap file on a USB flash drive or SD adapter	Avoid	Slow and wears out quickly; swapping to it can make the system freeze

Don't swap to the drive that holds the loader

Your Linux drive must stay plugged in after boot: the loader reads its FAT32 partition. A swap file on that same drive is fine, but if you unplug or lose the drive while swap is in use, the system crashes.

Your image may already have zram or a swap file enabled. Check before adding one:

swapon --show
free -h

If swapon --show lists a device, swap is already active and you may not need to change anything.

Add a swap file

This creates an 8 GB swap file. Change the size to whatever you want. It works on ext4, the filesystem used by the standard images.

sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

Make it permanent by adding it to /etc/fstab:

echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Check that it is active:

swapon --show

Btrfs (for example PS5 Bazzite Deck)

Don't use fallocate on Btrfs. Create the file with Btrfs's own command instead, which sets up the file correctly for swap:

sudo btrfs filesystem mkswapfile --size 8G /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

Remove it again

sudo swapoff /swapfile
sudo rm /swapfile

Then delete the /swapfile line from /etc/fstab.

Use zram instead

zram creates a compressed swap device in RAM. Nothing is written to the drive, so there is no wear, and it is fast. On systemd-based distros the usual tool is zram-generator. Install it with your package manager, then create the config:

/etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf

[zram0]
zram-size = ram / 2
compression-algorithm = zstd

Apply it with a reboot, then check with swapon --show. Some distros enable zram by default, so check first.

Tuning how eagerly Linux swaps

The vm.swappiness setting controls how willingly Linux moves memory to swap. A lower value keeps more in RAM. Check the current value:

cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Set it for the current session:

sudo sysctl vm.swappiness=10

To make it permanent, put vm.swappiness=10 in a file under /etc/sysctl.d/. With zram, a higher value is normal, so leave the default if you use it.

Next steps

Boot options (cmdline.txt): the reference for every kernel parameter. Then:

• PS5 Bazzite Deck: After installing: PS5 Bazzite Deck
• Official or self-built images: Other images, then Distro notes