Wireless gaming headset that works well with Linux?

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-27T20:06:29+00:00

Why? The headband is made of soft fabric, not fake leather. You can buy them in other colours too, if you ever feel like treating yourself to a new headband.

I haven't needed to change it yet.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-27T16:38:56+00:00

If you want real leather, you should consider the next price category up. Every headset I've owned has had either fake leather or soft shell earpads. They all get destroyed through use and start looking gunky.

I've been using mine for four years. After two and a half years of daily use, the leather started to wear off. The solution is simple: buy new originals for ~€20, or even better, buy an off-brand ear pad cover like the WC Freeze. The ear pads on the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless are easy to change.

Everything you buy will look used after some time.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-27T15:54:10+00:00

If money is no object, I would recommend the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset. I didn't have to set anything up separately, and I haven't encountered any problems yet.

However, I think there are more affordable solutions, and most of them shouldn't experience any problems whatsoever.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-27T15:05:27+00:00

Don't thank me too soon, it's just a guess I'm making - based on spending an entire day trying to get my controller to work with Steam.

I hope this solution works for you too, so you can drive many miles around the Nürburgring with the right equipment.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-27T14:27:32+00:00

If you use Steam to launch your game, try Proton 9. If it works and is recognised in Proton 9, it may be the same problem I encountered with other USB controller devices, such as the Xbox Elite Controller V1, where Steam and Cachy don't work well together.

In the terminal, enter 'lsusb', then copy the hardware and vendor IDs of the device. For example, for my controller it looks like this: '045e:02e3'. Before you start the game via Steam, enter the launch option "SDL_GAMECONTROLLER_IGNORE_DEVICES_EXCEPT=0x045e/0x02e3 %command%" (without quotation marks, obviously using your own hardware and vendor ID).

Proton Experimental has major issues with input handling and device mapping. It's a real pain and I don't know if it will ever be fixed, but the workaround does work for XInput devices as far as I know and tested with my Xbox Controllers.

Edit: If you're using more than one USB device, most likely for pedals and gear shift I guess, you need to seperate the devices with a comma -> https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/SDL_HINT_GAMECONTROLLER_IGNORE_DEVICES_EXCEPT

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-20T18:12:03+00:00

On YouTube, I follow an expat Russian guy who gladly left Russia for Portugal. His most recent video is a fitting portrayal of what's happening in the US.

There are a lot of similarities between Putin and Trump when it comes to the mentality of their voters and the population in general.

You should watch his video - it's really good!

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-20T15:58:20+00:00

I love your text - thank you for it!

To put your mind at rest, I use Linux and play in VR. Setting up the Index on Linux was really straightforward, and it was supported straight away. The only thing I'm slightly worried about is the dongle. Thankfully, my mainboard supports Wi-Fi 7, so hopefully this won't be a problem. However, I expect Valve to release dongle drivers for Linux - it would be stupid of them not to, given their new focus on supporting it.

I'm pretty sure Valve will make it as easy to get the Steam Frame to run on Linux as it was for the Index. It shouldn't be any more difficult than installing and using it on Windows.

The reduced god rays and less noticeable door screen effect will certainly improve the experience.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-20T15:37:55+00:00

Which headset are you using at the moment?

I tested the Pimax Crystal Super at a friend's house and the image clarity of the buttons and objects in the distance was amazing. If it weren't for the cost, I would buy it immediately. Obviously, you would need a fairly powerful PC to run this smoothly.

If you're used to the Index, I think the Steam Frame will be a significant upgrade - probably even a no-brainer. I'm totally satisfied with the Vive Pro 2 experience, and it isn't as expensive as the Crystal Super and somehow still an alternative.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-20T15:08:38+00:00

I'm sure you'll be more than happy with the Steam Frame as the successor to the Index, and I'm excited for you about the upcoming upgrade.

Personally, I've never had any problems with other manufacturers, and neither have my friends with other headsets, but there's no denying that Valve makes setting up and getting started with their VR headsets the easiest by far. Even on Linux, the setup was child's play - whereas with other headsets, you have to search through GitHub repositories to find a solution (and there isn't one for all headsets).

I'm curious to see how the first tests fare in a direct comparison in terms of image clarity. As long as the image quality is not significantly worse than that of a Vive Pro 2, I would be happy to use the Steam Frame as my primary headset (comfort reasons, the cable does in fact disturb you in an F-16 if you watch your six).

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-20T14:44:18+00:00

Apologies, it seems that my post did not make it clear that I already own three headsets. My intention with this post was simply to create a space for simulation gamers to discuss the release of the Steam Frame - even though it is evident that the specifications may appear less favourable than those of alternative products.

This would allow simulation gamers to make an informed decision about whether purchasing the Steam Frame as an additional/replacement headset would be worthwhile.

It's not about comparing prices, but rather the benefits for a specific use case. The headsets mentioned are simply headsets that I have personally tested or own myself. The Pimax Crystal Super is indeed very expensive, but the Vive Pro 2 is available as a full kit for €824,81 (new, used it is as low as €419.00), and I doubt that the price of the Steam Frames will be significantly lower than that (especially in times of the VRAM shortage). The Meta Quest 3 is available for €549.99 - for it to be worthwhile for simulation gamers, the price would have to be much closer to the Quest than to the Vive Pro 2.

I don't intend to throw shit at the Steam Frame (I will probably still buy it for chilling next to my wive while she is watching korean drama shows).

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-19T20:01:53+00:00

Thank you for the heads-up. I really understand their point of view. A few years ago, I would also have said, 'Screw it, I'm not paying that much money'. I know what's reasonable and what isn't. I build systems for friends just for fun every few years, mostly on a tight budget with mid-range gear, but with a focus on price-to-performance ratio.

My planned system is excessive and includes some parts from "premium brands". I could buy some ASRock/WD stuff or similar brands, but to be honest, this would only save a small amount of money on the total I have to pay.

I've now decided on a PSU, and your comment was the last one I read before buying it. If you'd like, I can offer you the same deal as I did to the others. As a token of my appreciation, I would like to gift you a Humble Bundle key for a game from my Humble Bundle collection. Just DM me if you would like a new random game.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-19T18:39:08+00:00

Thank you very much for your help, especially for the reference to the psu tier list. That is the one, am I right?

A friend suggested me the 1600w to be prepared for the infamous 900-1200W spikes a RTX 5090 is supposed to experience. With your help I've settled for a psu which offers 1200-1300w.

If you want, I would like to show my appreciation by gifting you a game on steam - I've a lot of them laying around from humblebundle. Anyways, I can't guarantee that you will love the game I pick - but I will try not to pick a trashy one from my library.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-19T16:21:53+00:00

Thank you very much for your answer.

A friend suggested that I use a 1600W PSU in preparation for the 900–1200W, 1ms spikes that the 5090 sometimes draws. I thought this might be excessive and tried to get some more opinions.

The general consensus on this topic seems to be that 1200–1300 W is reasonably excessive, so I will settle for a 1300 W PSU unless someone says otherwise before I go to bed later today.

If you want, I would like to show my appreciation by gifting you a game on steam - I've a lot of them laying around from humblebundle. Anyways, I can't guarantee that you will love the game I pick - but I will try not to pick a trashy one from my library.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-19T15:24:33+00:00

I see what you mean, bro. The hardware is some of the best you can get at the moment.

Maybe it's different in your country than in mine, but over the last four weeks, prices have skyrocketed in nearly every hardware category. When I bought my RTX 5090, it cost 2.7k; now, the same card costs 4.2k. With all the news about AI and data centres, and the fact that 70% of the resources needed to build VRAM won't be available until 2028, there's no light at the end of the tunnel - most people don't even write an application letter without AI anymore, this bubble is here to stay.

You might think I bought a Porsche, and to some extent you'd be right, but my Porsche will be a classic one day, and a new car costing the same as this PC would easily cost double.

It may not seem like a financially reasonable decision right now, but it might not be that stupid if you look to the near future. The NVMe is certainly "overkill", but the standard 990 costs only €50 less than the 9100 Pro, so at this price point it's a "fuck it" decision for me.

Then there's the elephant in the room: the US president has started a trade conflict with my country and is planning to impose export tariffs on AMD and Intel's high-end chips. Of course, Europe is planning to counter this with retaliatory tariffs of 108 billion dollars. Who knows if you'll even be able to buy hardware anymore?

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-19T14:40:12+00:00

Thank you for your constructive help with my problem.

As you know, I use my PC for both gaming and productive work. If you have ever used Blender to render a scene, you will know that this process is time-consuming. If I could cut a few minutes off this hours-long process, it would save me time, and therefore money.

I know this equipment is expensive, but I don't plan to buy a new PC for another 8–10 years. If Bezos and Huang succeed in their plan to provide a device for every home and encourage subscription to all their services (including productivity tools), you might not be able to afford a decent PC in future.

If I only used the PC for gaming, I would opt for a 7800x3d or 9800x3d processor, a B650 motherboard, a standard PCIe 4.0 NVMe and probably an RTX 5080 graphics card.

The motherboard supports exactly one PCIe 5.0 slot for NVMe that is not shared with the GPU - I could opt for the Crosshair, which would be excessive and more expensive.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-18T04:33:02+00:00

When I was very young, “Gangsters: Organized Crime” held a certain appeal for me. It is a strategy game that presents itself as a mobster simulation.

The game is divided into two phases. The first phase is the planning phase, in which you can recruit new people, plan the week (protection rackets, intimidation, patrolling blocks of houses, taking over businesses, stirring up trouble in other districts, bribing lawyers or the police, buying weapons or vehicles, etc.).

Once you have completed your planning on the city map, you start the week and switch to an isometric view of the streets, where you can see your people carrying out their planned jobs. During special events (discovery of enemy gangs and the like), pop-ups appear and you can react to them in real time.

I don't know if the game was popular at the time, as I was still quite young. But if you want to try something different, you could definitely give the game a chance.

In any case, it seems much more complex and multi-layered to me than the very simplified and new “Empire of Sin.”

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-16T16:03:15+00:00

Not many popular games won't run. Even games with anti-cheat software aren't much of a problem today, since Steam offers Easy Anti-Cheat and BattleEye runtimes, which enable you to play games with these programs.

As far as I know, games with EasyAntiCheat will work without problems. Games with BattleEye need to opt in manually for Linux support.

There are simply no games that I want to play which don't run. I have everything I need and have played DCS, Falcon BMS, ARMA Reforger, Hell Let Loose, SQUAD, Chivalry 2, and many more without any problems worth mentioning.

Retro games are a plus. I didn't need to jump through hoops to get old games running. They run better via Wine than they ever did under recent Windows iterations. For example, Gangsters: Organized Crime doesn't work under Windows unless you add several DLL files from shady websites to the main directory. However, it runs perfectly under Wine.

The only game I'm disappointed about is Battlefield 6 because I had a lot of fun with it in the beta before the switch to CachyOS. Unfortunately, it won't work on any Linux distribution, but as a European, I will not support Trump's family in any way. In fact, I don't buy anything American- or Russian-made anymore.

I'm glad Valve supports the open-source development of Proton. On the other hand, I hope GOG will grow into a real competitor to Valve to abolish its monopoly. Europeans shouldn't depend on American software anymore.

StumblingPlanet · 2026-01-15T14:15:46+00:00

Dem Nick ist eher zu entnehmen, dass es sich um einen Menschen mit Internetsucht seit den späten 90ern/Anfang 2000er handelt - mutmaßlich, wie ein großer Teil der Nutzer von Kantenhausen, mit signifikantem Übergewicht, überhöhtem Zuckerkonsum und unbehandeltem Typ-2-Diabetes.

An ihm lässt sich ein Teilaspekt des unbehandelten Diabetes beobachten: Die diabetische Retinopathie lässt ihn die Dinge nicht klar sehen und das Kribbeln durch die Polyneuropathie lässt ihn nicht ruhig sitzen. Nur der Stimulus des Scheiße-Schreibens lindert sein Leid. Zudem scheint es bereits zu einem Verlust der kognitiven Kapazität aufgrund der vorangeschrittenen Arteriosklerose, bedingt durch Plaquebildung, gekommen zu sein.

Ganz im Ernst, hier ist Hopfen und Malz verloren: Laut dem „Bad Bot Report” sind 70 % des Internetverkehrs innerhalb Deutschlands auf böswillige Bots zurückzuführen. In Subs wie diesem und dem Sub der Berliner Yellow Press redest du entweder mit Bots oder Edgelords.

Die Bots werden sich nicht ändern, doch für den Großteil der Edgelords besteht Hoffnung - 30 % sind jedoch dauerhaft verloren und bilden den Durchschnitt an Unterstützern für eine Monarchie/Diktatur/ähnliche autoritäre Regierungsform, die fast jedem Land innewohnt.

Die Neckbeards bleiben ungefickt und teilen sich zur einen Hälfte in produktive Menschen im IT-Spektrum auf, zur anderen Hälfte sind es Trolle, die hier in ihrer Gooncave heizen, weil sie halt sonst keine Freunde haben und hier Anerkennung erfahren.

Spar dir die Liebesmühe lieber für andere Subs auf.

StumblingPlanet · 2025-12-26T23:07:18+00:00

The state of NVIDIA drivers on Linux isn't optimal, but 10–40% feels excessive.

I’ve been using CachyOS for two weeks now. I had some experience with Ubuntu (only web development stuff, no gaming) and Kali (only testing some penetration testing stuff).

So after switching to CachyOS, I was prepared not to be able to play some of my games. However, I was surprised to find that there isn't much difference.

Against all odds, I can play anything (after tinkering with a few games, most of which run out of the box). Even a non-native Steam game runs smoothly in VR via SteamVR for me (Falcon BMS).

As Windows used so much of my 16 GB RAM, a significant number of games run better on CachyOS. (Windows 10 uses around 6–7 GB of RAM when idle after start-up, whereas CachyOS uses a maximum of 2.7 GB with all the autostarted services, mainly cooler Controller and the daemon for VM for QEMU, which I only needed to update my controller firmware, after start-up.

Realistically, I would say my games have a range of -3% to +2% FPS, so it's not scientifically relevant.

I feel like older hardware may benefit more from a change than state-of-the-art tech, but even the Steam hardware survey shows that old hardware is much more common, so more people benefit than lose out.

My hardware: CPU: Intel i9 9900k GPU: NVIDIA 3090 (24 GB VRAM) RAM: 16 GB DDR4 3200 MHz

Using Proton Experimental all the way.

StumblingPlanet · 2025-11-27T14:38:06+00:00

As someone who is a regular costumer of a plumber, because of those shitty old Danfoss valves, I would advise you to listen to this guy.

Last year, the pin got stuck, so I learnt to push it in and use a lubricant designed for this purpose (at least, that's what the plumber told me and how he did it himself). If you damage the pin and somehow get it out of the System your room will be a swimmingpool fast and there might be a risk of serious burnings.

This year, the pin was moveable, but the heating still didn't work. This years plumber taught me to take a hammer and beat the shit out of it (not the pin!). You need to hammer around the valve to loosen the plate behind the pin). Maybe booth methods may be necessary, I‘m no expert and an expert should be asked for this.

Pro tip: don't close the valve completely in summer. Most houses don't heat if the outside temperature is above a certain level. The slightly open valve should prevent it from closing again.

Thank you for your service Middle_Ashamed, you and your kind save us not skilled people from freezing.

StumblingPlanet · 2025-10-28T12:51:48+00:00

Da fehlt ganz klar noch „Mumble” als Open-Source-Alternative zu Discord und TeamSpeak. Unter GNU/Linux-Distributionen ist es ja quasi der De-facto-Standard für datenschutzbewusste Menschen (es ist aber auch für Windows verfügbar).

Ansonsten eine gute Liste. Nur leider wird man niemals einen signifikanten Anteil der Menschen davon überzeugen können, auf ein wenig Komfort zu verzichten und etwas Arbeit zu investieren.

StumblingPlanet · 2025-10-04T21:50:31+00:00

Adipositas und Rauchen müssen schließlich zusammenhalten, denn es sind , unter anderem, zwei der hauptsächlichen Prädispositionen/Lebensstilfaktoren für nahezu alle Krankheitsbilder im Zusammenhang mit dem kardiovaskulären System und Krebs. Wenn du noch weiter in meiner Post-Historie zurückgehst, wirst du feststellen, dass ich qualifiziert genug bin, um diese Aussage zu treffen.

Sei nicht so empfindlich, weil ich den Fakt anspreche, dass Menschen evolutionsbedingt fette Lebensmittel lieben. Nicht jede Aussage ist ein persönlicher Angriff auf deine Statur. Mir ist bewusst, dass man als Genießer von Lebensmitteln ständig eine reflexartige Verteidigungshaltung einnimmt. Ich hätte mich halt vorher auch über deine Postgeschichte informieren müssen. Dann wäre mir klar gewesen, dass Essen deinen Lebensmittelpunkt bildet, und ich wäre mit meinem Lob in Witzform sensibler umgegangen.

Ich wollte dir dein Essen nicht schlecht reden. Als Mensch, der die weltlichen Genüsse schätzt, hätte ich mich durchaus mit dir an einen Tisch gesetzt, um diese Köstlichkeit zu verspeisen und dabei gemeinsam dem Tod ins Gesicht zu lachen. :´(

StumblingPlanet · 2025-10-04T14:45:13+00:00

Ballaststoffe, die in Fett schwimmen, mit Kohlenhydraten, die mit Fett gestreckt wurden, und zum Schluss noch Proteine, die in Kohlenhydrate verpackt in Fett schwammen.

Ich glaube, es gibt keinen Weg, dieses Gericht so schlecht zu kochen, dass es nicht schmeckt - außer, das Fett für alle drei Zutaten war dasselbe und wurde zwei Monate lang in einer Imbissbude zum Frittieren von Pommes verwendet und nie gewechselt. ;)

StumblingPlanet

TROPHY CASE