I installed Mesa extra layers on Linux — here’s how it went

Posted byneifferhussian

I’m Kayla. I tinker. I game a bit. I also write about stuff I actually use. This week, I installed the Mesa extra Vulkan layers on two machines. One is my Arch desktop with an AMD RX 6600 and a Ryzen 5 3600. The other is my older Ubuntu 22.04 laptop with Intel graphics. I wanted better stats on screen and a clean way to pick the right GPU. Did it help? Mostly, yes. But it’s not all roses.
A full play-by-play lives in my separate diary entry, I installed Mesa extra layers on Linux — here’s how it went, but below is the condensed version.
If you're curious about other ways to squeeze extra performance out of your rig, I've shared a few complementary tricks over on DesktopLinuxReviews.
One of those tricks is detailed in my real-life, no-drama guide to installing a tar.gz in Linux.

Let me explain.

What “extra layers” even means (in plain words)

Mesa has some add-on pieces for Vulkan. They’re called layers. Think of them like small tools that sit between your game and your driver.

  • VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay: shows live info on screen. FPS, frame time, GPU, and more.
  • VK_LAYER_MESA_device_select: helps pick which GPU to use when you have more than one.

It’s not MangoHud. It’s simpler and built by the Mesa folks. I like that.

What I installed

I installed packages that ship these layers plus some tools to test. Here’s what I ran.

  • Ubuntu 22.04 (Intel laptop):

    • sudo apt update
    • sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers mesa-vulkan-drivers:i386 mesa-vulkan-layers vulkan-tools mesa-utils

  • Fedora 40 (I tested briefly on a friend’s box):

    • sudo dnf install mesa-vulkan-drivers mesa-vulkan-overlay-layer vulkan-tools mesa-demos

  • Arch Linux (AMD desktop):

    • sudo pacman -Syu
    • sudo pacman -S vulkan-radeon vulkan-mesa-layers vulkan-tools mesa-demos
    • If you’re on Intel on Arch: sudo pacman -S vulkan-intel

Thinking about which everyday distro you should settle on? My side-by-side look at Fedora vs Ubuntu vs Linux Mint might help you decide before you start copy-pasting any of the commands above.

I also checked my Mesa and Vulkan setup after install.

  • glxinfo -B (from mesa-utils/mesa-demos)
  • vulkaninfo | grep -A5 "VK_LAYER"

If you see VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay in that list, you’re set.

How I turned it on

I kept it simple. I used vkcube first. It’s a tiny Vulkan demo.

  • VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay vkcube

Boom. A spinning cube with an overlay on the top-left. It showed FPS and the GPU name. Clean and sharp.

In Steam, I added this to a game’s Launch Options:

  • VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay %command%

And yes, it worked in Proton games too.

For my laptop with both an iGPU and an external AMD card (eGPU case on weekends, I know, I know), I used:

  • DRI_PRIME=1 VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay %command%

That pushed the game to the faster GPU. You can use just DRI_PRIME=1 if you don’t want the overlay.

Tip: If a game looks weird, try not stacking overlays. Don’t run MangoHud and the Mesa overlay at the same time. My CS2 session crashed once when I did that. That’s on me.

Real use: what changed for me

On Arch with the RX 6600:

  • Hades: overlay showed a steady 144 FPS on my 144 Hz monitor. Frame time stayed flat at 6–7 ms. That made me smile.
  • Proton game test (Deep Rock Galactic): saw 110–130 FPS at 1080p medium. Overlay helped me spot a small hitch every 30–40 seconds. I killed a background sync app, and the hitch stopped. Was that magic? No. Just information I could use.

On Ubuntu laptop (Intel iGPU):

  • Without device pick, some Proton games ran on the slow iGPU. Skyrim SE sat around 35–45 FPS at low settings.
  • With DRI_PRIME=1, I got 70–80 FPS when using the eGPU on the same settings. The overlay made the switch obvious. I didn’t have to guess.

Speaking of aging silicon, I also tested a handful of lightweight distros on a Turion-era notebook—check out the best Linux for an AMD Turion X2 if you’ve got similar hardware gathering dust.

Does the overlay boost speed? No. It only shows info. But picking the right GPU does help. A lot.

What I liked

  • It’s built-in tech. No weird scripts. No fuss.
  • The overlay looks plain, but clean. Easy to read.
  • Low overhead. My FPS drop was 1–2 frames at most. Sometimes zero.
  • Good for quick checks. Is it Vulkan? Which GPU? What’s the frame time? You see it at a glance.

What bugged me

  • The overlay isn’t pretty. MangoHud has more toys. Graphs. Themes. This one’s lean.
  • Device selection can feel vague. If you don’t know DRI_PRIME or how your GPUs are wired, it’s a head-scratcher.
  • On Ubuntu, I needed the 32-bit Vulkan driver (that :i386 package) for Proton games. If you skip it, some games don’t run right. I learned that the hard way.
  • Once, OBS plus MangoHud plus the Mesa overlay caused a freeze on game exit. I stopped stacking layers, and it was fine.

Little tips I’d pass along

  • Check layers: vulkaninfo | grep -A5 "VK_LAYER"
  • Quick test: VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay vkcube
  • Steam trick: VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay %command%
  • Hybrid GPU: DRI_PRIME=1 %command%
  • Turn off fast: remove the Launch Option, or run with VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS= %command% (see the full list of Mesa environment variables here)
  • Verify drivers: glxinfo -B shows your Mesa version and GPU

Who should use this

  • You want a simple, native overlay that just works.
  • You switch between GPUs and need proof the game picked the right one.
  • You like tools that stay out of your way.
    For the rest of my gaming-first setup, I lean on the gaming Linux distro I actually use because it saves me from a lot of manual tweaks out of the box.

Who might skip it?

  • You want fancy visuals and charts. You’ll likely prefer MangoHud.
  • You hate touching Launch Options. Fair enough.

A tiny, honest digression

You know what? I thought I’d miss MangoHud a lot here. I didn’t. I still use it for deep testing. But for quick checks, this Mesa overlay felt lighter. It’s like a plain wrench that always fits. Not flashy. Reliable. If you’re still hunting for the perfect environment, my in-depth shoot-out on the best Linux for gaming dives into the wins and woes of each option.

Sometimes, after hours of tweaking drivers and benchmarking frame times, I need a quick mental reset that’s miles away from kernel logs. My guilty pleasure is skimming through these candid sexting stories—they’re short, entertaining reads that give you a fun breather before you dive back into your next compile or gaming session.
Speaking of quick diversions, if you ever find yourself in Southern California and want to browse local classifieds for everything from surfboard rentals to late-night happenings, the revived Backpage scene has an entire section dedicated to Laguna’s coastal community—check it out at Backpage Laguna Beach for an up-to-the-minute list of ads, services, and meet-ups locals are posting.

My take

I’m keeping the Mesa extra layers on both machines. They’re simple, native, and stable for me. On Arch with AMD, it was smooth sailing. On Ubuntu, I had a small setup bump, but nothing wild. The overlay told me what I needed, when I needed it. No guessing. No fluff.

Would I recommend it? Yes. If you want a clean, zero-frills overlay and easy GPU picking, install it. If you want all the bells and whistles, use MangoHud instead—or run both, just not at the same time.

Either way, it’s nice to have