Quick Start Guide: Setting Up Fedora 43

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Quick Start Guide: Setting Up Fedora 43 for Media & Performance

If you've just installed Fedora 43 and need to get your multimedia codecs and hardware acceleration working, follow these 5 essential steps. This guide is optimized for users with AMD (Ryzen/Radeon) or Intel graphics.

Step 1: Speed Up DNF & Fix the System Clock

First, we make the package manager faster and fix the "Time War" common in Windows dual-boots to avoid SSL errors.

# Open DNF config to increase download speed
sudo nano /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
# Add this line at the bottom: max_parallel_downloads=10

# Sync your clock to prevent SSL connect errors
timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock
sudo chronyc -a makestep

Step 2: Enable RPM Fusion Repositories

Unlock the ability to install patent-encumbered codecs and non-free drivers.

sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf config-manager setopt fedora-cisco-openh264.enabled=1

Step 3: Install Multimedia Codecs (The "Swap")

Replace the limited "free" versions of libraries with the full-featured versions.

sudo dnf swap ffmpeg-free ffmpeg --allowerasing
sudo dnf group upgrade sound-and-video
sudo dnf install libavcodec-freeworld gstreamer1-plugins-bad-freeworld gstreamer1-plugins-ugly

Step 4: Enable VA-API Hardware Acceleration

Ensure your GPU (not your CPU) handles video playback. This is vital for AMD and Intel users.

# For AMD (Ryzen APUs / Radeon Cards)
sudo dnf swap mesa-va-drivers mesa-va-drivers-freeworld --allowerasing

# For Intel (Integrated Graphics)
sudo dnf install intel-media-driver

Step 5: Modern App Support (Flathub & Permissions)

Enable the modern way to install apps and ensure they can "see" your new drivers through the sandbox.

# Enable Flathub
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

# Fix Sandbox Permissions for Fedora 43 driver paths
flatpak override --user --env=LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH=/usr/lib64/dri-freeworld/ --filesystem=/usr/lib64/dri-freeworld/:ro

How to Verify Success

Open your terminal and run vainfo. Look for the line VAEntrypointVLD next to H.264 and VP9. If you see it, your GPU is successfully decoding video!




Comments

chris said…
Here is one last "Welcome Back" tip: Since you're dual-booting, if you ever find yourself unable to boot into Windows after a Fedora update, don't panic. Just run sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg to refresh the boot loader and find your Windows partition again.
5:18 AM
Anonymous said…
Another tip - if you like the minimize application window buttons in GNOME, use this command from the terminal:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ':minimize,maximize,close'
6:35 AM
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