Build & install gamescope for fresh-install Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat)

gamescope_4_Ubuntu24-04.md

Build & install gamescope for fresh-install Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat)

Due to what appears to be dependency issues, the gamescope package isn't avalible for Ubuntu 24.04. So here's a guide on how to build and install gamescope for Ubuntu 24.04

1. Pull latest git of gamescope

$ git clone https://github.com/ValveSoftware/gamescope.git

2. Install needed dependencies to build gamescope

$ sudo apt install libbenchmark1.8.3 libdisplay-info1 libevdev-dev libgav1-1 libgudev-1.0-dev libmtdev-dev libseat1 libstb0 libwacom-dev libxcb-ewmh2 libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxmu-headers libyuv0 libx11-xcb-dev libxres-dev libxmu-dev libseat-dev libinput-dev libxcb-composite0-dev libxcb-ewmh-dev libxcb-icccm4-dev libxcb-res0-dev libcap-dev wayland-protocols libvulkan-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev cmake pkg-config meson libxdamage-dev libxcomposite-dev libxcursor-dev libxxf86vm-dev libxtst-dev libxkbcommon-dev libdrm-dev libpixman-1-dev libdecor-0-dev glslang-tools libbenchmark-dev libsdl2-dev libglm-dev libeis-dev libavif-dev

3. Build gamescope with meson first

$ meson build/

4. Buid gamescope with ninja

$ ninja -C build/

5. If the ninja build didn't produce any errors, install it to your system.

$ meson install -C build/ --skip-subprojects

3.14.26 breaks building in Ubuntu 24.04 with the wayland-server error, so a revert to 3.14.24 or the last commit before the wlroots update (5e8fddf) is needed to be done first before starting the build.

Here's what I used: git reset 5e8fddf --hard; git clean -fxd; git submodule update --init --force --recursive

Here's a link to the last commit before the wlroots update: ValveSoftware/gamescope@5e8fddf

And here's the breaking commit: ValveSoftware/gamescope@3542c4d

This solution does not seem to work anymore.

FWIW I have a fork of gamescope which builds under ubuntu24 while still having most of the recent upstream gamescope work. I maintain it sporadically but it's still far ahead of 3.14.26 or 3542c4d . It's at https://github.com/adamdmoss/gamescope-ubuntu24

I spent soo long getting this to build (endless dependencies, manual build of luajit, tweaks of the meson build dependencies) ... and then I realised on 25.04 you can just install the pre-built package: sudo apt install -y gamescope

I had to run git submodule update --init after cloning the repo, as the gamescope build instructions say. Before running it, I got an error that the reshade directory did not exist.

bro i get the same but i have a theory:
i see-
wlroots| Dependency wayland-server found: NO found 1.22.0 but need: '>=1.23' (cached)

subprojects/wlroots/meson.build:107:17: ERROR: Dependency 'wayland-server' is required but not found.

A full log can be found at /home/hardik/gamescope/build/meson-logs/meson-log.txt

at last of meson build/
i also ran meson setup build/ but same issue

i see i have wayland 1.22 but meson wants >=1.23. so basiclly an upgrade of wayland fixes this. can someone tell the command to run to update wayland

k so i tried much debugging and i surrender. wait till gamescope makes ubuntu deb package.

i tried so many times, fixed even every meson warnings and dependencies, fixed ninja errors and even gamescope installed successfully but;
whenever i open any app with gamescope, a blank window opens with no gui inside. and i sus the information while building:

the gcc c++ compiler warnings, but they are ignorable

openvr dependency issue, fine, ignorable until not using VR

epoll-shim, ignorable until building from a non-linux system

WARNING: Running the setup command as meson [options] instead of meson setup [options] is ambiguous and deprecated. ==> so just run meson setup build\ instead of meson build\ , sorry guys i may make a type in commands.

but the main:
wlroots 0.18.0

drm-backend     : NO
x11-backend     : NO
libinput-backend: YES
xwayland        : YES
gles2-renderer  : NO
vulkan-renderer : NO
gbm-allocator   : NO
session         : YES
color-management: NO
xcb-errors      : NO
egl             : NO
libliftoff      : NO

gamescope undefined

Subprojects
glm : YES
libliftoff: YES
openvr : YES
stb : YES
vkroots : YES
wlroots : YES

the element saying NO are basically the core root to render and build gamescope and launch perfectly. i tried installing missing dependencies, but all were there. i build the latest wayland and wayland protocols from source to meet the error of "wayland-server".

but dont know how to fix these NO. 
The entire rendering stack(the elements saying no) are just basically not compiled.
plz help someone. i just wanna use gamescope to upscale my games using fsr and some sharpening for minecraft to get a lil performance boost on my potato rig.

k so i tried much debugging and i surrender. wait till gamescope makes ubuntu deb package.
i use ubuntu 24.04.2 lts
i tried so many times, fixed even every meson warnings and dependencies, fixed ninja errors and even gamescope installed successfully but; whenever i open any app with gamescope, a blank window opens with no gui inside. and i sus the information while building:

the gcc c++ compiler warnings, but they are ignorable

openvr dependency issue, fine, ignorable until not using VR

epoll-shim, ignorable until building from a non-linux system

WARNING: Running the setup command as meson [options] instead of meson setup [options] is ambiguous and deprecated. ==> so just run meson setup build\ instead of meson build\ , sorry guys i may make a type in commands.

but the main: wlroots 0.18.0

drm-backend     : NO
x11-backend     : NO
libinput-backend: YES
xwayland        : YES
gles2-renderer  : NO
vulkan-renderer : NO
gbm-allocator   : NO
session         : YES
color-management: NO
xcb-errors      : NO
egl             : NO
libliftoff      : NO

gamescope undefined

Subprojects glm : YES libliftoff: YES openvr : YES stb : YES vkroots : YES wlroots : YES

the element saying NO are basically the core root to render and build gamescope and launch perfectly. i tried installing missing dependencies, but all were there. i build the latest wayland and wayland protocols from source to meet the error of "wayland-server".

but dont know how to fix these NO. 
The entire rendering stack(the elements saying no) are just basically not compiled.
plz help someone. i just wanna use gamescope to upscale my games using fsr and some sharpening for minecraft to get a lil performance boost on my potato rig.

ig our only fast effiecient option is to upgrade to ubuntu 25.04 from ubuntu 24 because gamescope is available as a pre-buuilt package there

Here is my step-by-step guide, to compile Gamescope on Linux Mint 22.1 (based on Ubuntu 24.04), so it should work on Ubuntu 24.04 too.

Install dependencies (I included vulkan-tools to test the cube):

sudo apt install \
    libbenchmark1.8.3 \
    libdisplay-info1 \
    libevdev-dev \
    libgav1-1 \
    libgudev-1.0-dev \
    libmtdev-dev \
    libseat1 \
    libstb0 \
    libwacom-dev \
    libxcb-ewmh2 \
    libxcb-shape0-dev \
    libxcb-xfixes0-dev \
    libxmu-headers \
    libyuv0 \
    libx11-xcb-dev \
    libxres-dev \
    libxmu-dev \
    libseat-dev \
    libinput-dev \
    libxcb-composite0-dev \
    libxcb-ewmh-dev \
    libxcb-icccm4-dev \
    libxcb-res0-dev \
    libcap-dev \
    wayland-protocols \
    libvulkan-dev \
    libwayland-dev \
    libx11-dev \
    cmake \
    pkg-config \
    meson \
    libxdamage-dev \
    libxcomposite-dev \
    libxcursor-dev \
    libxxf86vm-dev \
    libxtst-dev \
    libxkbcommon-dev \
    libdrm-dev \
    libpixman-1-dev \
    libdecor-0-dev \
    glslang-tools \
    libbenchmark-dev \
    libsdl2-dev \
    libglm-dev \
    libeis-dev \
    libavif-dev \
    vulkan-tools

Cloning the git:
git clone https://github.com/ValveSoftware/gamescope.git

Go in the folder:
cd gamescope

Load all the submodules:
git submodule update --init

We build the sources:
meson setup --wipe build

OPTIONAL: If you try to compile and get a wayland server not found, here is the fix:
git reset 5e8fddf --hard; git clean -fxd; git submodule update --init --force --recursive

Now we can install:
sudo meson install -C build/ --skip-subprojects

Once installed, we can test gamescope with:
gamescope -- vkcube

To launch the games on Steam, here is my command line:
gamemoderun gamescope -W 3440 -H 1440 -f -- %command%

(there is no upscaler applied in this command line, only display the game in a 3440x1440 window, fullscreen.)

Now, if you lauch gamescope in a terminal, using gamescope --, you'll probably see an error saying:
No CAP_SYS_NICE, falling back to regular-priority compute and threads. Performance will be affected.

This must be fixed. First local you gamescope executable with which gamescope. When you have your gamescope path, execute:

sudo setcap 'CAP_SYS_NICE=eip' YOUR_GAMECOPE_PATH

Notice that it breaks the steam overlay. To revert:

sudo setcap 'CAP_SYS_NICE-eip' YOUR_GAMECOPE_PATH

Relaunch gamescope in a terminal, and the error should be gone. (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/w4u69f/my_gamescope_was_too_nice_and_yours_is_too/)

bro just upgrade to ubuntu 25.xx
gamescope is prebuilt there.
i upgraded and it worked PARTIALlY
it worked with hyprland but not with gnome(wayland)