/install-davinci-resolve-centos

A guide on how to install DaVinci Resolve on CentOS Linux

How to install DaVinci Resolve on CentOS

Here are some notes on how to install DaVinci Resolve on CentOS 8.0. Because software is constantly changing, this document is hosted on GitHub Pages. If you find something wrong or outdated, please do open a pull request.

These particular notes were originally worked out from an installation to an HP Z8 G4 workstation with a single GTX 1080 Ti card installed, but the information should be useful for other x86_64 systems as well.

  1. Create a bootable USB drive

    1. On Windows:
      1. Download DVD ISO
      2. Verify the download
      3. Download and use Rufus to create the bootable USB drive
    2. On Mac or Linux:
      1. Download DVD ISO
      2. Verify the download
      3. Use dd to create the bootable USB drive

  2. UEFI settings

    1. Set to boot to a USB drive first
    2. Disable Secure Boot and disable Legacy BIOS mode

  3. Install CentOS from USB

    1. Software selection should be Workstation with only GNOME Applications checked.
    2. Set up DHCP
    3. Set password for root account and create just one administrator account

  4. CentOS's installation interacts with HP's UEFI in such a way as to change the boot order, so reboot, and you'll boot to the M.2 SSD with the fresh installation

    1. Reboot and you'll boot into the M.2 SSD with the fresh installation
    2. Accept the CentOS license
    3. You can then safely eject the USB installation disk

  5. Install CentOS updates and reboot:

    $ sudo dnf update --refresh

  6. Take note of the IP address on the LAN, because you might need to SSH into the machine later.

  7. Install the kernel source:

    $ sudo dnf install "kernel-devel-uname-r == $(uname -r)"

  8. Install EPEL

    $ sudo dnf install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

  9. Install DKMS

    $ sudo dnf install dkms

  10. Prepare for the NVIDIA driver

    1. Download the .run file for 440.31 from NVIDIA's site.

    2. Become the root user:

      $ su -

    3. Make the file executable:

      # chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-440.31.run

    4. Blacklist the nouveau module:

      # echo 'blacklist nouveau' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

    5. Install dependencies:

      # dnf groupinstall "Workstation" "base-x" "Legacy X Window System Compatibility" "Development Tools"
# dnf install elfutils-libelf-devel "kernel-devel-uname-r == $(uname -r)"

    6. Back up and rebuild your initramfs:

      # mv /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)-nouveau.img
# dracut -f

    7. Change the default systemd target:

      # systemctl set-default multi-user.target

    8. Reboot the system:

      # reboot

  11. From the command-line, log into root, navigate to wherever you put the .run file, and then install the NVIDA driver:

    1. # ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-440.31.run

      1. Be sure to install to DKMS

    2. Test the new driver:

      # systemctl isolate graphical.target

    3. If the test is successful, change your default systemd target back so that you boot straight to the GUI:

      # systemctl set-default graphical.target

    4. Reboot:

      # reboot

    5. Confirm that you're running the NVIDIA driver at any time by running $ nvidia-smi

  12. [OPTIONAL] Download and install the latest DeckLink driver

    1. Download the latest driver from the Blackmagic Design website

    2. Become the root user:

      $ su - When prompted, enter your root user's password.

    3. If you already have an older DeckLink driver installed, uninstall it:

      # rpm -qa | grep desktopvideo | xargs rpm -e

    4. If GNOME didn't uncompress it for you already, uncompress the downloaded driver package:

      # tar xvfz /path/to/downloaded/driver/location/Blackmagic_Desktop_Video_Linux_<driver_version>.tar.gz

    5. cd into the rpm folder, since this is CentOS

      # cd /Blackmagic_Desktop_Video_Linux_<driver_version>/rpm/<yourarchitecture>

    6. Install the latest Desktop Video driver, GUI, and Media Express. Type:

      1. # rpm -ivh desktopvideo-<driver_version>.x86_64.rpm

      2. # rpm -ivh desktopvideo-gui-<driver_version>.x86_64.rpm

      3. # rpm -ivh mediaexpress-<version>.x86_64.rpm

        1. The installer might fail and tell you that you mediaexpress needs libGLU.so.1, so install libGLU and try again:

        # dnf install mesa-libGLU

    7. After the installation completes, you should see the terminal prompt. Reboot.

    8. After the machine has rebooted, open a Terminal shell again

    9. Become the root user again:

      $ su - When prompted, please enter your root user's password

    10. You might need to update the firmware on your DeckLink card. Type:

      # BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater update 0

    11. If a firmware update was applied, reboot the machine after it completes. If no firmware update was required, a reboot is not necessary.

  13. At this point, installing Desktop Video to DKMS might have "broken" the grub configuration again. If you try to log into the GUI, the screen will just go black. So we'll need to go rebuild the grub configuration again.

    1. If you can get to a virtual console, log in. Otherwise, SSH into the root account from a different machine on the network.

      1. vim into /etc/default/grub

      2. For the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line, remove rhgb and add rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau", so that the whole line is:

        GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="crashkernel=auto resume=/dev/mapper/cl-swap rd.lvm.lv=cl/root rd.lvm.lv=cl/swap quiet rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau"

      3. Write and close: :wq

      4. Rebuild the grub configuration again:

        # grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg

      5. Reboot:

        # reboot

    2. Alternatively, you can just edit the grub configuration temporarily by hitting e when the grub menu pops up, removing rhgb, adding in rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau, and hitting Ctrl-X to boot, but this is only temporary for the one boot. To permanently blacklist the nouveau driver, you'll have to rebuild the grub configuration by following the steps above.

  14. Now we should be totally ready for DaVinci Resolve.

    1. N.B. If you didn't already install mesa-libGLU for Media Express, Resolve definitely needs it, so make sure to install it:

      1. $ sudo dnf install mesa-libGLU

      2. Then, reboot.

  15. Install DaVinci Resolve

    1. Download and extract DaVinci_Resolve_Studio_16.1.1_Linux.zip (if you have a DaVinci Resolve license dongle or key) or DaVinci_Resolve_16.1.1_Linux.zip from the Blackmagic Design website.
    2. Double-click the .run file to use the GUI installer
    3. Resolve might not launch after the installation--if you run it via the command-line from /opt/resolve/bin/, you can look for clues as to why it might not be able to launch. If some program is missing, try figuring out what Resolve needs and install via dnf.