Linux Gaming @lemmy.ml cron @feddit.org 2 mo. ago

Is it possible to suspend games on PC like the Steam Deck?

Hello fellow Linux gamers,

Is there a way to pause or suspend games and turn off the PC similar to how the Steam Deck handles it? Or is this functionality exclusive to the Steam Deck?

I'm using Arch btw, but feel free to share solutions for other distros as well.

I came across Nyrna, but it seems to only support X11 and not Wayland, according to the description.

17 comments

The Steam Deck doesn't fully shut down, it's just regular sleep mode.
I just tried it on Nobara. Just... application launcher (The start menu icon)->sleep. Waited, and then woke the machine back up and when the machine came back up, the game was still running. No idea if all games will play nice with that, but Satisfactory did.
- I’m confused - doesn’t everyone just leave Satisfactory running to increase production??
  
  /joke
I haven't tried it out, but this is a thing: https://github.com/Merrit/nyrna
- Shame it doesn't support wayland
- How does it work?
Systemctl hibernate/suspend not work?
Weren't there a kill command to pause any app and another to wake it up?
- there is, you send the SIGSTP and SIGCONT to any process for it to be suspended or resumed
  
  Yeah, those. Thanks!
  
  It doesn't work for all games. I think Grey Goo was problematic
  
  (I remember doing thid when I had an Nvidia. Someone noted down that Nvidia does have issues. Maybe I should try again with my AMD)
I don't know exactly how they do it - but I believe it's related to gamescope. I'm pretty sure it just dumps the ram and enters sleep mode.
Never had problems with that on laptops, except when I enabled nVidia graphics. So stay away from that.

It's been a long while since I've tried it on a desktop, never felt the need. I don't even remember if I was on Linux or Windows last time I tried it on a desktop.

So, I guess in general it should work. It's just a simple suspend to RAM. Should be supported by every distribution out of the box.
- Thanks for the hint on nVidia. That might explain my issue
I guess the solution is configuring your power button to enter sleep? That works for Wayland as well. Just don't long-press it to open the power menu...
I'm running Bazzite on LeGo and it does this. No idea what until or settings it uses to achieve it tho.

You've viewed 17 comments.