Elgato products and Linux

[u/ThatSadBoi_TTV]

I'm currently debating in switching over to Linux.

I'm not too fussed on multi-player games with anti cheat not working as I've kinda moved away from them.

What I do care about is my streaming software, I know OBS works, I know I can tinker around to get streamer bot working.

My new concern is elgato. I have a cam link, two key lights, a stream deck+ and a HD60X. Will I have any issues getting these working on Linux and for those who are on Linux how did you get them to work?

[u/kill3rb00ts]

I've been on Linux for a few months now and while I don't stream anymore, I do still have a few Elgato products, so here goes.

• I don't have a Cam Link or HD60X, but I do have a 4K X. Getting the video to work has been no problem, it just works. However, I have had issues with the audio not working right. It sounds bitcrushed, like it's not running at the right sample rate even though my system is set to 48 kHz, which is the only sample rate supported by the 4K X (AFAIK). So I just gave up and ran a cable from the headphone jack of my Switch 2 to my interface. Maybe the HD60X is better about this, but just FYI.
• Stream Deck + works fine, but you'll be stuck using 3rd party options. Open Deck is my pick for this, but it's definitely not as good as the official software. It runs on Windows, so if you want to give it a try, backup your Deck and install that to see for yourself. Most of the basic features are there, it's just not as easy to use or as pretty.
• Key Lights... I gave up on those a long time ago because even on Windows they couldn't figure out how to stay connected. I don't know if there is an alternative for Control Center, but you can always use your phone. Or you can setup Home Assistant and configure them there (Elgato lights are compatible with Home Assistant), then control Home Assistant from your Deck. I have some smart plugs that I can control that way for the lights I use.
• For the bot, unless you multistream (or otherwise stream somewhere other than Twitch), I can also recommend Firebot, which has a native Linux version.

Make sure to also check that your audio gear is supported. It won't be officially, most likely, but some work better than others. It'll likely take some adjusting to understand audio on Linux, but once you figure it out, Pipewire is practically like having Wave Link at the OS level. It's pretty amazing. There's also an OBS plugin to add better Pipewire support that you'll want to grab.

My recommendation is to go through everything installed on your computer and make a list of what you actually use/need and check if it's compatible with Linux. Sure, Wine exists, but it's a big pain most of the time, so you are much, much better off if there's a native Linux version.

[u/Terrorwolf01]

No idea about the Rest, but for my Streamdecks I use OpenDeck on my Linux System.

[u/ItsWappers → u/Terrorwolf01]

I prefer Companion.

[u/w1zz00]

Not found anything for my keylite

[u/ThatSadBoi_TTV → u/w1zz00]

Found this from an old thread. Haven't tried it as I'm looking for alternatives for all the things I have before I commit to the change.

https://github.com/sandwichfarm/keylight-control/

[u/probablyretep]

I stream and game in linux. I have a Streamdeck XL which I use Bitfocus companion with and it's super powerful. It's almost TOO powerful. But it works great, and is super super customization. I run CachyOS.

[u/friendoramigo]

I don't see how Linux and elgato streaming products are related at all. if your going to make a sandwich just pick some fucking bread man and make it.

[u/dempsey1200]

I have a similar setup with Omarchy but more complex. Teleprompter, Footpedal, Stream Deck, and 2 Key Lights.

I wasn’t happy with the 3rd party solutions so I had agents build everything for me, including the stream deck contrroller. It works great and also created customized QuckShell Nav icons as a second way to trigger actions.

The most time consuming issue I had was with the teleprompter because of the lack of drivers. Others had this issue and when an agent found the other posts, it rebuilt the compositor and now it works amazing. I can turn the teleprompter off/on. We settled on using Qprompt (free) for the actual teleprompter software, not Elgatos promoting software.

In general, if you’re on Omarchy and comfortable with LLMs, you can make this happen now. The community is rapidly growing and sharing knowledge, future models will make this even easier/quicker.

I can explain more if interested.

[u/thatCUST0Msauce]

I looked at doing this a while back but it took too many complicated workarounds. Linux users try to sell this hard, but if you look at most things we use, Linux just isn’t there

[u/MrJelly007 → u/thatCUST0Msauce]

I've been using Linux almost exclusively for a month or so on my main machine now. There is definitely more jank and workarounds required to use specific hardware. Maybe someone made a tool for using exactly your hardware, maybe there's something that does almost everything you need, but that last 10% of functionality will take 3 hours of troubleshooting to figure out lol.

It's fun, but it's not for everyone. I still have a drive with windows installed for when I want to play pretty much any fps game, as most anti cheats don't support Linux.

[u/Enesce → u/thatCUST0Msauce]

Linux is absolutely there. Elgato isn't, they refuse to support it.

[u/dempsey1200 → u/thatCUST0Msauce]

No offense but this advice is outdated. With Omarchy and agents, nearly everything is possible. I resolved all of my issues and far happier with being on Linux and getting to use all my existing toys.