Polaris v1.4.11

Host Virtual Display on KDE Plasma gets the game, the controller and the touch it was missing, Spaces keep working across an NVIDIA driver update and a reboot, and couch co-op gets clearer. Polaris 1.4.11 is matched with Nova 1.4.11. Existing settings, paired devices and Spaces keep working.

Host Virtual Display on KDE Plasma

• Plasma uses KWin's own screen by default, even with EVDI loaded, so the game opens on the stream instead of your monitor.
• The game gets the focus on the stream screen, so the controller works from the first press.
• Touch and pen from the client land on the stream screen instead of wherever that point fell across your monitors.
• Your monitors stay where they are when a stream starts.
• The Doctor says when Plasma got another backend and why, when the stream screen runs at a scale other than 100%, and when touch could not reach it. Troubleshooting lists every host finding now, not just the first.

Spaces Across Driver Updates

• NVIDIA driver 615.71.09 gets its own Spaces runtime, so Host Setup no longer asks for a download that does not exist.
• A Space made before a driver update moves to the runtime for the new driver from its card on the Spaces page. Your Steam sign-in and installed games stay.
• Until it moves, Nova says why the Space cannot start instead of failing without a reason.
• Spaces come back after a reboot even when the graphics devices come up in a different order.

Desktop Streaming

• Mirror Desktop streams again on KDE and GNOME when capture is set to wlroots. Polaris now streams with the capture method it found, the one the Doctor already said it was using.
• Changing the host's default mode from Nova takes effect on the next stream, no restart needed.
• When capture really cannot start, Nova shows the reason instead of Error code: -1.
• polaris --help explains --setup-host and each of its options.

Couch Co-op and Controllers

• A device that only watches a stream no longer adds a controller of its own, which games counted as a second player nobody held.
• Troubleshooting's controller test names every player on the host and the pad each one gets.
• The Steam Controller (2026) gets an emulated DualSense when the client reports one, which Moonlight does in its development builds, with its gyro and both touchpads: the left pad on the left half of the DualSense touchpad, the right pad on the right half.

Heads up

• After an NVIDIA driver update, open Spaces and move each Space to the runtime for the new driver before you play in it. The runtime download is a few GB.
• The Steam Controller's back grip buttons are not passed on yet, and Nova cannot read the controller on Android yet, where it shows up only as a keyboard and mouse.
• Every Polaris install or update removes the KMS capture permission. If this host uses KMS capture, run sudo -H polaris --setup-host --enable-kms after installing, then restart Polaris.
• Bazzite hosts should still install the Fedora 44 RPM through rpm-ostree. The system extension stays withdrawn.
• SteamOS remains experimental Desktop Mode support rather than certified Game Mode support.

wget --output-document=./Polaris-fedora44-x86_64.rpm https://github.com/papi-ux/polaris/releases/download/v1.4.11/Polaris-fedora44-x86_64.rpm &&
sudo dnf install "./Polaris-fedora44-x86_64.rpm" &&
sudo -H polaris --setup-host &&
systemctl --user restart polaris

wget --output-document=./Polaris-arch-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst https://github.com/papi-ux/polaris/releases/download/v1.4.11/Polaris-arch-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst &&
sudo pacman -U ./Polaris-arch-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst &&
sudo -H polaris --setup-host &&
systemctl --user restart polaris

wget --output-document=./Polaris-ubuntu24.04-x86_64.deb https://github.com/papi-ux/polaris/releases/download/v1.4.11/Polaris-ubuntu24.04-x86_64.deb &&
sudo apt install ./Polaris-ubuntu24.04-x86_64.deb &&
sudo -H polaris --setup-host &&
systemctl --user restart polaris

wget --output-document=./Polaris-steamos3.8-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst https://github.com/papi-ux/polaris/releases/download/v1.4.11/Polaris-steamos3.8-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst &&
(
set -e
trap 'sudo steamos-readonly enable' EXIT
sudo steamos-readonly disable || exit $?
sudo pacman-key --init || exit $?
sudo pacman-key --populate || exit $?
sudo pacman -Sy || exit $?
sudo pacman -U ./Polaris-steamos3.8-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst || exit $?
sudo -H polaris --setup-host || exit $?
sudo steamos-readonly enable || exit $?
trap - EXIT
) &&
systemctl --user enable --now polaris

Assets: Polaris-fedora44-x86_64.rpm · Polaris-arch-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst · Polaris-ubuntu24.04-x86_64.deb · Polaris-steamos3.8-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst