Polaris v1.4.6

A correctness update for Linux hosts that stream a private display. Nova stays at v1.4.5 and needs no update. Existing settings and paired devices keep working.

Fixed

• A game set to prefer its own virtual display no longer moves a host that already provides a private display onto one. Choosing it deliberately still works.
• One client's display choice no longer becomes the mode the host recommends to the next client, including while a paused session is still resumable.
• Saving credentials names the directory that refused it, who owns it and how to put it right, instead of failing with nothing in the log.
• An encoder that cannot start because the graphics driver is older than Polaris expects now reports both versions, instead of dropping to software encoding without saying why.
• A failed reading from nvidia-smi is no longer stored as the driver version, where it used to survive restarts and hide a driver upgrade from the encoder.
• Polaris says when a virtual display backend has to replace the capture backend you chose, rather than swapping it quietly.

Heads up

• 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 The system extension stays withdrawn.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.
• Steam Input stays manual and read-only.
• No new hardware validation run for this release. The display fix is covered by an automated contract across every stream path, and the private stream path on NVIDIA is unchanged.

wget --output-document=./Polaris-fedora44-x86_64.rpm https://github.com/papi-ux/polaris/releases/download/v1.4.6/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/v1.4.6/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/v1.4.6/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/v1.4.6/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