Let’s try some games using Box64 on the M1, now that there is a first experimental version of the GPU driver.
This driver provides OpenGL 2.1 profile, so a few games should already be working.
After an update of the Asahi system, and the installation of the “edge” kernel and mesa driver, I also updated box64 to latest version (and setup a BOX64_BASH
env. var. so I can launch shell script to install GOG and HumbleBundle games).
I also built lastest manghud
to try have some info, but many time, it was breaking things, so I used it only a few times.
I started with WorldOfGoo. I tried it before, so I know it works. Without the GPU driver, Software 3D was used, o it was never 60fps.
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/worldofgoo-1-1024x640.png)
And new yeah! 400fps, that’s some better speed, and full proof this driver is already working very nicely!
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/installing_ftl-1024x640.png)
So, lets install FTL, another games, not too demanding graphic-wise
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ftl-1024x640.png)
And it’s working fine here too. Capped at 60fps, as the VSync is there.
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/notahero01-1024x640.png)
I tried another 2D games, Not A Hero
and it was also super smooth (but not working with mangohud
)
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/barony02-1024x640.png)
And a small 3D game: Barony, also working fine, but with a few graphics issue here and there, like on the main title
![](https://box86.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/barony-1024x640.png)
I tried some Unity3D games (using MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.2
), but I was less lucky. They were either crashing (RaceTheSun, ImmortalRedneck) or showing garbage on screen (AbsoluteDrift, BroForce) or plain white screen (MiniMetro).
I also tried PrisonArchitect, that worked fine, and TokiTori 2, that also worked fine. But tried to alter video options resulted in a crash. It might be a box64 issue here.
Starbound, that works fine on other machine, were crashing here. Maybe some box64 bug on machine with non-standard pagesize. Some for Knytt Underground. Box64 needs some debugging on the M1/Asahi.
That was just a quick test, to test the freshly out Mesa MacM1 driver. And it’s really promising, so kudos to the Asahi and Mesa teams!
4 replies on “Box64 on Asahi with experimental GPU driver”
Great news! The power of Linux community ❤️
looking forward to seeing more linux games supported on M1 platform 🙂
Can you include steps showing how you get Box86 running on Asahi?
I didn’t use Box86 but Box64 here.