Installing Software

DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design ships DaVinci Resolve for Linux as its own installer, not as an RPM or Flatpak. RakuOS has a helper that runs that installer for you and applies the fixes Resolve needs on RakuOS. It works the same for the free version and for DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Installing

  1. Download the Linux version from blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve: DaVinci Resolve (free) or DaVinci Resolve Studio. You get a .zip file such as DaVinci_Resolve_Studio_20.2_Linux.zip. Leave it in your Downloads folder; you don't need to unpack it.

  2. Open a terminal and run:

    sudo rakuos setup-davinci-resolve

    It picks the newest DaVinci_Resolve…_Linux .zip (or .run) in your Downloads. To use another file, name it:

    sudo rakuos setup-davinci-resolve ~/Videos/DaVinci_Resolve_20.2_Linux.zip

  3. When it says "DaVinci Resolve is installed.", start Resolve from the app menu. No reboot is needed.

Studio: the first time it starts, Resolve Studio asks for your activation key (or finds your USB dongle). That's Blackmagic's own activation; the helper doesn't touch it.

What the helper does:

  • installs libxcrypt-compat and mesa-libGLU, which Resolve needs, with rum;
  • runs Blackmagic's installer without its package check (it looks for Debian and Red Hat package names);
  • moves Resolve's own copy of GLib aside, since it's older than the system's and stops Resolve from starting;
  • puts Resolve in the local package layer, with /opt/resolve pointing to it. If the installer fails, nothing is changed.

At the end it lists any libraries Resolve still can't find, if there are some. Install the package that provides each one: rum provides '<library>' tells you which.

Updating

Download the new installer and run the same command again:

sudo rakuos setup-davinci-resolve

It removes the old version, installs the new one clean and applies the fixes again. Your settings (configs) and Studio's licence are kept, and so are your projects and media.

Resolve doesn't update with RakuOS updates; run the helper whenever Blackmagic releases a new version. Going from the free version to Studio (or back) works the same way: download the other one and run the helper.

Removing

sudo rakuos setup-davinci-resolve --remove

This removes Resolve, its menu entries, icons and device rules. Your projects, media and Resolve's database in /var/BlackmagicDesign stay where they are.

Good to know

  • Undoing an install or update: right after running the helper, sudo rum layer-rollback goes back to how things were before it (see Package Layers).
  • Resets: a soft reset (sudo rum layer-reset --all) keeps Resolve, because the local layer isn't rebuilt. sudo rum layer-reset local and a full reset remove it; run the helper again afterwards.
  • Graphics: Resolve needs GPU acceleration. On NVIDIA cards, use an -nvidia image (see Drivers); don't install NVIDIA's .run driver or akmod-nvidia.
  • Don't run Blackmagic's .run installer by hand: /usr is read-only, so it fails with "Read-only file system", and it would skip the fixes above.