Post-Installation

After installing Ultramarine Linux, There are a few things you should do to make the most out of your new system.

Install NVIDIA Drivers

NVIDIA drivers were installed during the installation process if you were connected to the Internet during the time of installation. If this didn’t happen or you missed the chance to enable them on first boot, you can install them with these commands:

sudo dnf update # Update the system first, the drivers may not work right if you don't.
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia # Install the NVIDIA kernel module.

Then, reboot your system.

Use NVIDIA Graphics Card as the primary card on Optimus Laptops

This change is is completely optional. You can skip this step if you don’t want to use your NVIDIA Graphics Card as the primary card, or you do not use a dual-GPU laptop connected to an external monitor. It may also cause issues with some applications, such as Steam and Bottles.

Run the following commands to make your NVIDIA Graphics Card the primary Graphics Card:

sudo cp -p /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia.conf
sudo sed -i '10i\        Option "PrimaryGPU" "yes"' /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia.conf # Add PrimaryGPU = yes to the 10th line of the file.

Then reboot your system.

Install Codecs

Ultramarine Linux includes codecs for most of the media you’ll come across. You shouldn’t need to install any additional codecs. Most of these packages below should be installed by default, excluding the VLC and MPV media players, and the libdvdcss library.

However, if you find yourself in the situation where you do not have those codecs (if you converted for example), or require additional codecs other than we have provided (i.e obscure formats, or proprietary codecs not included in any repositories), you can look into the following packages:

• x264 and x265 for better H.264 and HEVC video support - Developed by the VideoLAN (VLC) project.
• FFmpeg (ffmpeg) - A cross-platform multimedia framework that can manipulate, convert and transcode to and from various media formats.
• VLC Media Player (vlc) - A free and open-source media player that can play most multimedia files, can also be used to test out the codecs’ functionality.
• MPV (mpv) - A free and open-source media player that can also play most multimedia files. Can be used as a lightweight alternative to VLC.
• libvpx (libvpx) - A free and open-source codec for VP8 and VP9 video formats.
• libdvdcss (libdvdcss) - A library that can be used to read encrypted DVDs. This is not legal in some countries, so please check your local laws before using it. We also do not provide decryption keys for any encrypted DVDs.
• Opus (opus) - A free and open-source audio codec that can be used for both speech and music. Should be installed by default.
• OpenH264 (openh264) - A free and open-source codec for H.264 video formats. Should be installed by default, required for WebRTC and partially Firefox.
• aptX (pipewire-codec-aptx) - A proprietary codec for high-quality audio streaming over Bluetooth. Required for wireless Bluetooth audio devices that support it.
• nv-codec-headers - NVIDIA’s codec headers for encoding and decoding video on NVIDIA GPUs. Required for hardware-accelerated video encoding and decoding on NVIDIA GPUs. May not be used by default assuming you do not have an NVIDIA GPU.
• LAME (lame) - A free and open-source MP3 encoder. Required for encoding MP3 files.
• PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin - PackageKit plugin that helps you install the above codec packages using GNOME Software/KDE Discover.

Set up Backups

You may want to back up your files to an external volume, you can use Pika Backup or Déjà Dup to do so.

Instructions are available on the Pika Backup and Déjà Dup websites.

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