dot
vizie's NixOS desktop: Hyprland, CachyOS kernel and gaming tweaks
| 1 | # dot |
| 2 | |
| 3 | NixOS configuration for `desktop`: the CachyOS setup from |
| 4 | [Eiziv/dotfiles](https://github.com/Eiziv/dotfiles), rewritten as a flake with |
| 5 | Home Manager. Hyprland (Lua config) under uwsm, logged in automatically and |
| 6 | started behind hyprlock, the patched Waybar and the Eww control centre, the CachyOS kernel and the CachyOS |
| 7 | system tweaks. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Moving from CachyOS: see [MIGRATION.md](MIGRATION.md). The install wipes the |
| 10 | NVMe drive and partitions it with [disko](https://github.com/nix-community/disko). |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ## Layout |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ``` |
| 15 | flake.nix inputs, the desktop system, the packages below |
| 16 | hosts/desktop/ this machine: hostname, Home Manager |
| 17 | disko.nix the drive's partitions and btrfs subvolumes |
| 18 | modules/nixos/ |
| 19 | base.nix Nix, boot, locale, network, firewall, user |
| 20 | cachyos.nix CachyOS kernel + cachyos-settings, file by file |
| 21 | nvidia.nix RTX 3080 Ti, open kernel module |
| 22 | desktop.nix Hyprland, uwsm, autologin, audio, Bluetooth, fonts |
| 23 | gaming.nix Steam, proton-cachyos, gamemode, gamescope, ... |
| 24 | apps.nix desktop apps, Claude Cowork, OpenDeck udev, Flatpak |
| 25 | vm.nix the test VM |
| 26 | modules/home/ |
| 27 | desktop.nix Hyprland, hyprlock, hypridle, hyprpaper, Waybar, dunst |
| 28 | apps.nix kitty, fuzzel, neovim, Firefox |
| 29 | files.nix links the rest of config/ into ~/.config (was symlink.sh) |
| 30 | services.nix desktop background programs as systemd user services |
| 31 | shell.nix zsh (as cachyos-zsh-config), git, gh, ssh |
| 32 | theming.nix GTK, cursor, Qt (qt6ct, Kvantum, kdeglobals) |
| 33 | packages.nix tools the scripts call; imsh-clients, philly |
| 34 | config/ the dotfiles themselves |
| 35 | pkgs/ packages not in nixpkgs, or patched |
| 36 | tools/bench-compare compares MangoHud logs from CachyOS and NixOS |
| 37 | ``` |
| 38 | |
| 39 | ## Everyday use |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ```bash |
| 42 | nixos-rebuild switch --sudo --flake ~/git/dot # apply changes (alias: rebuild) |
| 43 | nix flake update --flake ~/git/dot # newer packages; then rebuild (alias: update) |
| 44 | ``` |
| 45 | |
| 46 | The alias, like the control centre's Desktop update (`tools/nixos-update`), leaves |
| 47 | the kernel alone: git.granstrm.com moves it to the latest CachyOS kernel every |
| 48 | night and builds it into its binary cache (the `ci` output in `flake.nix`), so |
| 49 | the update pulls that commit and downloads the kernel instead of compiling it. |
| 50 | |
| 51 | Every rebuild is a boot menu entry, so a bad one is undone by picking the one |
| 52 | before it. |
| 53 | |
| 54 | **Editing configs.** Apps with a Home Manager module are set in Nix, in |
| 55 | `modules/home/desktop.nix`, `apps.nix` and `theming.nix`: Hyprland, hyprlock, |
| 56 | hypridle, hyprpaper, Waybar, dunst, kitty, fuzzel, Firefox's prefs, qt6ct, Kvantum |
| 57 | and `kdeglobals`. Paths in them (wallpaper, icons, scripts, the terminal) come |
| 58 | from Nix, so change these there and `rebuild`. |
| 59 | |
| 60 | What has no module, or is code rather than settings, stays in `config/` and is |
| 61 | linked straight to this checkout, like the old `symlink.sh` did, so edits apply |
| 62 | without a rebuild: Hyprland's startup rules (`hypr/startup.lua`), the scripts |
| 63 | under `hypr/scripts` and `waybar/scripts`, the Eww flyouts (`waybar/eww`), |
| 64 | fuzzel's launcher and favourites, nvim's `init.lua`, Firefox's `userChrome.css`, |
| 65 | the Kvantum themes, the Philly theme and `~/.p10k.zsh`. (Set |
| 66 | `dot.liveConfig = false` to have them copied into the Nix store instead.) If the |
| 67 | checkout is not at `~/git/dot`, set `dot.repoPath`. |
| 68 | |
| 69 | Configs that programs write themselves (btop, micro, MangoHud/vkBasalt/vkSumi, `mimeapps.list`) are copied in only when missing and then left to |
| 70 | the program. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | **Signal theme.** `config/signal/theme.css` is built into the Signal package |
| 73 | (`pkgs/signal-desktop-themed`), so after editing it run `rebuild` and then |
| 74 | `config/signal/restart`. |
| 75 | |
| 76 | ## Background programs |
| 77 | |
| 78 | Everything Hyprland used to start from `hl.on("hyprland.start")` is a systemd |
| 79 | user service now, started with `graphical-session.target` by uwsm and restarted |
| 80 | if it crashes: |
| 81 | |
| 82 | | Service | | |
| 83 | |---|---| |
| 84 | | `waybar`, `hypridle`, `hyprpaper`, `dunst`, `hyprpolkitagent` | the shell | |
| 85 | | `eww` | control centre and notification flyouts | |
| 86 | | `blueman-applet`, `nm-applet`, `xembedsniproxy` | tray (after Waybar) | |
| 87 | | `xwl-clipbridge` | X11 → Wayland clipboard for Wine/Proton games | |
| 88 | | `autostart-apps` | opens Signal, Discord, Faugus, OpenDeck and WowUp, each as its own unit | |
| 89 | |
| 90 | ```bash |
| 91 | systemctl --user status waybar |
| 92 | journalctl --user -u waybar -f |
| 93 | systemctl --user restart waybar |
| 94 | ``` |
| 95 | |
| 96 | `config/hypr/startup.lua` keeps only what has to live in the compositor: the |
| 97 | startup window rules that place those apps and hide WowUp's window. |
| 98 | |
| 99 | ## Gaming |
| 100 | |
| 101 | - Kernel: `linux-cachyos-latest-lto-zen4` from |
| 102 | [xddxdd/nix-cachyos-kernel](https://github.com/xddxdd/nix-cachyos-kernel), the |
| 103 | same build as CachyOS's znver4 `linux-cachyos` (EEVDF, 1000 Hz, ThinLTO, Zen 4). |
| 104 | Built every night it changes by git.granstrm.com, and downloaded from |
| 105 | `https://cache.git.granstrm.com`. |
| 106 | - cachyos-settings: sysctl, I/O schedulers, THP, ntsync, limits, oomd, PCI latency, |
| 107 | ananicy-cpp with CachyOS's rules, bpftune; see `modules/nixos/cachyos.nix`. |
| 108 | - `proton-cachyos` is installed for Steam under CachyOS's own internal name |
| 109 | (`proton-cachyos-slr`), so Steam's existing choice of it still applies. |
| 110 | ProtonPlus-installed tools in `~/.steam` carry over as they are. |
| 111 | - Launch options: `game-performance %command%`, `gamemoderun %command%`, |
| 112 | `dlss-swapper %command%`, `mangohud %command%`. |
| 113 | |
| 114 | Not ported: CachyOS builds *all* its packages for x86-64-v3/v4; NixOS uses |
| 115 | generic x86-64 builds outside the kernel and Proton. The difference in games is |
| 116 | small. |
| 117 | |
| 118 | `nix develop` opens a shell with nixos-anywhere and nixfmt, on this machine or |
| 119 | the Mac. |
| 120 | |
| 121 | ## Testing in a VM |
| 122 | |
| 123 | ```bash |
| 124 | ./vm.sh |
| 125 | ``` |
| 126 | |
| 127 | Boots this exact system in QEMU, without NVIDIA and with the configs copied in. |
| 128 | You land on the desktop; log out (Super+Delete) to see the login screen. |
| 129 | |
| 130 | ## Custom packages |
| 131 | |
| 132 | | | | |
| 133 | |---|---| |
| 134 | | `waybar` | nixpkgs' Waybar with the three patches from the old PKGBUILD | |
| 135 | | `xembedsniproxy` | standalone build from plasma-workspace 6.7.5, three patches | |
| 136 | | `signal-desktop-themed` | Signal with `config/signal/theme.css` and a transparent window | |
| 137 | | `claude-desktop` | Anthropic's official Linux .deb, repackaged | |
| 138 | | `opendeck` | upstream release .deb, repackaged | |
| 139 | | `breezex-cursor` | BreezeX-Black cursor theme | |
| 140 | | `proton-cachyos` | CachyOS's Proton release, for Steam | |
| 141 | | `python3-desktop` | Python with PyGObject and python-xlib for the scripts | |
| 142 | |
| 143 | Each builds on its own, e.g. `nix build .#waybar`. The `.deb`-based ones and |
| 144 | proton-cachyos say at the top of their file how to update them. |