FINE! I’ll Try Linux ONE MORE TIME….

Quick Overview

The attempt to switch one gaming PC to Bazzite, an Arch-based gaming Linux distribution, ultimately failed due to a Secure Boot signature error, forcing a fallback to Fedora Linux, while other tested distributions like Pop!OS and CachyOS showed promise for different use cases.

Key Points: The primary goal was to install Bazzite (an Arch-based distro) on a gaming PC, but the installation failed due to a Secure Boot signature error preventing the boot process (15:00). The user switched to Fedora Linux on the same machine, which successfully booted after disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS (12:21). Bazzite documentation suggests enrolling keys via MOK management if Secure Boot is enabled, but the user encountered errors attempting this (14:48). Pop!OS was recommended as the best all-around choice for mixed use (gaming, handheld, desktop) (04:15). CachyOS, also Arch-based and performance-focused, installed successfully, though the user noted it was newer and might require more manual setup than others (06:08, 09:54). The user experienced audio issues in Discord on the initial setup, with the microphone routing directly to the RØDECaster Pro II instead of the expected internal audio device (16:37).

Context: This video documents a challenge where the host attempts to migrate several different PCs—including gaming desktops, a handheld PC (GPD Win 5), and a streaming PC—to various Linux distributions, primarily focusing on gaming performance and ease of use for a newcomer. The initial focus is on Bazzite, a specialized gaming distro, but encountering significant boot issues leads to testing alternatives like Pop!OS, CachyOS, and Fedora.

Detailed Analysis

The video chronicles an attempt to migrate multiple PCs to Linux, starting with Bazzite on a gaming rig. The initial installation of Bazzite failed immediately upon reboot due to a Secure Boot signature error, showing a message: "Verifying shim SBAT data failed: Security Policy Violation" (15:00). The user then attempted to fix this by disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS, but this led to a different error message about needing to load the kernel first (15:01). After reverting BIOS changes, the user tried installing Fedora instead, which booted after disabling Secure Boot (12:21). Later, while testing Bazzite on a different machine, the user encountered issues where Discord audio was incorrectly routed to an external professional audio interface (RØDECaster Pro II) instead of the expected system output (16:37). The user also noted that the Bazzite installer itself warns that the Live ISO is not suitable for benchmarking because it lacks drivers (13:07). Ultimately, the user found Pop!OS to be the most straightforward installation for the gaming desktop, while CachyOS provided a high-performance Arch experience, although the overall challenge of unifying all devices under one distro proved difficult due to hardware/software compatibility hurdles.