How To Correctly Install DaVinci Resolve On Arch Linux

How To Correctly Install DaVinci Resolve On Arch Linux

archlinux davinci resolve Linux

Abdullah Musa

January 16, 2026

If you are a video editor who got tired of Windows bloatware and decided to move to Linux, you quickly hit a wall. Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are not available on Linux. Yes, Linux has its own editors like Kdenlive, but if you are coming from an Adobe or DaVinci Resolve workflow, adjusting to Kdenlive can feel limiting and frustrating.

The good news is that DaVinci Resolve does work on Linux. The bad news? On Arch Linux, installing it is not a simple “next, next, finish” process or a one-line command. Resolve depends on very specific system libraries, proper OpenCL support, and correct GPU configuration. If even one piece is missing, Resolve may not launch, fail to detect your GPU, or crash without any clear error.

Welcome back to MusaBase! In this guide, I will show you the correct and stable way to install DaVinci Resolve on Arch Linux, without random fixes or workarounds that break after updates. If you want a professional video editing setup on Arch that actually works, you are in the right place.

Here is exactly what we are going to do in this guide:

• Installing DaVinci Resolve on Arch Linux using yay
• Selecting the correct GPU libraries during installation (AMD or NVIDIA)
• Fixing the common yay failed to download DaVinci Resolve error
• Manually downloading the official DaVinci Resolve zip from Blackmagic Design
• Placing the extracted files in the yay cache to complete the installation
• Launching DaVinci Resolve successfully on Arch Linux

This article is focused on the practical, working method only, no unnecessary tweaks or theory. By the end, DaVinci Resolve will be installed and ready to launch on your Arch system. If you just want Resolve running without wasting hours fixing errors, let’s get started.

Note: This guide specifically covers the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve. While the installation process for the Studio (Paid) version is almost identical, the package names in the AUR may differ (e.g., davinci-resolve-studio).

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Table of Contents

• Why Most DaVinci Resolve Installations Fail on Arch
• Prerequisites
• Step 1: Install Required GPU Runtimes
• Step 2: Install DaVinci Resolve on Arch Linux
• Step 3: DaVinci Resolve First Boot on Arch Linux
• Explore More

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Why Most DaVinci Resolve Installations Fail on Arch

If you’ve tried installing Resolve before and failed, you’re not alone. Most users struggle because they treat it like a standard app, but Resolve is a resource-heavy workstation tool that bypasses standard system layers.

The three main reasons for failure are:

• Missing OpenCL/CUDA Runtimes: Unlike other apps, Resolve won't launch without specific Hardware Acceleration libraries (like opencl-nvidia for NVIDIA or rocm-opencl-runtime for AMD).
• Driver Incompatibility: Using open-source drivers (like Mesa) for AMD often leads to crashes; Resolve strictly requires Pro-grade drivers or specific ROCm implementations to function.
• Broken AUR Downloads: The yay helper often fails to fetch the massive 2GB+ source file directly from Blackmagic's servers due to session timeouts, leading to the dreaded "source files not found" error.

By following the manual cache method in this guide, we bypass these hurdles and ensure a clean, stable environment for your GPU to take over.

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Prerequisites

DaVinci Resolve is not just another average application, it communicates directly with the GPU hardware via OpenCL or CUDA. Before proceeding, ensure your drivers are correctly configured, as default Mesa drivers often lead to immediate crashes.

I am running DaVinci Resolve on these Specs:

• Processor: Intel i5 4th Gen 4660
• RAM: 16GB DDR3
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
• OS: Arch Linux
• Desktop Environment: KDE Plasma

Note: DaVinci Resolve requires a minimum of 16GB RAM and a dedicated GPU with properly configured ROCm (AMD) or CUDA (NVIDIA) runtimes to launch reliably on Linux.
While this setup is not ideal for heavy 4K timelines, it performs consistently for 1080p editing and color grading. Performance may vary depending on project complexity and codec usage.

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Step 1: Install GPU Driver Stack & Runtimes

Unlike most apps that rely on your standard display drivers, DaVinci Resolve communicates directly with your GPU’s compute cores. To bridge this gap on Arch Linux, you must install specific Hardware Acceleration runtimes. Without these, the software will either fail to detect your graphics card or refuse to launch entirely, regardless of how powerful your hardware is.

However, before running any command, always remember to update your Arch Linux system to the latest versions to avoid dependency conflicts:

sudo pacman -Syu

Note: 🖥️ After running sudo pacman -Syu, reboot your PC if a kernel update is installed to apply changes and avoid bugs.

Enable Pacman Multilib Support

Before installing the GPU stack, you must enable the Multilib repository in Arch Linux. Many essential graphics libraries and runtimes (like lib32-mesa or lib32-vulkan-radeon) require 32-bit support to ensure full compatibility with professional software like DaVinci Resolve. Without this, your system won't be able to fetch the 32-bit counterparts of your NVIDIA or AMD drivers, leading to broken dependencies.

• To enable multilib support, run the following command:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

• In the opened file, scroll down using your Down arrow key ().
• Find these commented lines:

#[multilib]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

• Remove the # from the start of each line using the Del or Backspace key to uncomment them.
• After removing the #, press Ctrl + O to save the file, then press Enter to confirm, and finally press Ctrl + X to exit the editor.

• After enabling multilib support, sync your system database by running:

sudo pacman -Syu

Below, I have listed the specific GPU driver stack and runtime installation commands for NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. Choose the one that matches your hardware. Since I am personally using an AMD Radeon RX 580, I’ll be installing the AMD-specific stack to ensure my hardware acceleration is fully functional.

For AMD GPUs

• GPU Drivers Stack:

sudo pacman -S --needed mesa lib32-mesa vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-radeon

• Runtime:

sudo pacman -S --needed opencl-mesa ocl-icd

For NVIDIA GPUs

• GPU Driver Stack:

sudo pacman -S --needed nvidia nvidia-utils cuda

• 32-bit Support:

sudo pacman -S --needed lib32-nvidia-utils

Note: You don’t need to manually install CUDA runtimes for an NVIDIA GPU. DaVinci Resolve will automatically detect and use CUDA for hardware acceleration once the NVIDIA drivers are installed.

• mesa: Mesa provides open-source graphics drivers for AMD and Intel GPUs, enabling 3D acceleration and Vulkan support on Linux systems.
• lib32-mesa: 32-bit version of Mesa, required for running 32-bit applications that use 3D acceleration on 64-bit systems.
• vulkan-radeon: Provides Vulkan support for AMD GPUs, allowing for high-performance graphics rendering in supported applications like DaVinci Resolve.
• lib32-vulkan-radeon: 32-bit Vulkan driver for AMD GPUs, necessary for 32-bit applications using Vulkan on a 64-bit Arch system.
• opencl-mesa: Provides OpenCL support for AMD GPUs, enabling compute tasks like video rendering and color grading in DaVinci Resolve.
• ocl-icd: OpenCL ICD loader, required to allow DaVinci Resolve to access OpenCL drivers installed on your system for GPU acceleration.
• nvidia: Installs the proprietary NVIDIA driver, which is essential for running DaVinci Resolve with NVIDIA GPUs.
• nvidia-utils: Provides utility libraries for the NVIDIA driver, required for GPU acceleration in DaVinci Resolve and other applications.
• cuda: Installs the CUDA toolkit, enabling DaVinci Resolve to take advantage of NVIDIA GPUs for accelerated video processing and rendering.

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Step 2: Install DaVinci Resolve on Arch Linux

In this step, we’ll be handling a few manual tasks before actually installing DaVinci Resolve. These steps require some technical know-how, so make sure to follow each instruction carefully to avoid any issues down the line

2.1: Download DaVinci Resolve Installer

DaVinci Resolve is proprietary software, and due to licensing restrictions imposed by Blackmagic Design, AUR helpers are unable to automatically download its installer. As a result, you will need to manually download the DaVinci Resolve installer from the official Blackmagic Design website. Once downloaded, place the installer in the directory where the PKGBUILD file is located. This manual intervention is required to bypass the licensing restrictions and ensure that the installation process runs smoothly.

• Go to Official Blackmagic Design.
• Scroll down on the Homepage and click on DaVinci Resolve Free Download Now, a dialog box with an overlay will appear.
• For the Free Version choose:
  • On the left side, select DaVinci Resolve 20 (Currently Latest) and click on Linux.
• For the Pro/Paid Version choose:
  • On the right side, select DaVinci Resolve Studio 20 (Currently Latest) and click on Linux.
• After clicking on Linux, you will be prompted to fill in your information (e.g., Email, Full Name, Address, etc.). Fill out the form and click on Register & Download.
• In the new dialog box, simply click on the DaVinci_Resolve_X.X.X_Linux.zip file and your DaVinci Resolve will start downloading.

💡 Since DaVinci Resolve installer is a large file, downloading it from the browser can be cumbersome and slow. You can easily download large files like DaVinci Resolve faster and more reliably using a fast and reliable downloader like JDownloader2 on Linux.

After the download is complete, you should have a file similar to this (the version number may vary):

2.2: Install DaVinci Resolve

Important: If you run yay -S davinci-resolve right away, you may face these errors:

ERROR: Failure while downloading file://DaVinci_Resolve_x.x.x_Linux.zip
ERROR: Failure while downloading file://DaVinci_Resolve_x.x.x.zip
  Aborting...
=> error making: davinci-resolve-exit status 1
=> Failed to install the following pacakges. Manual intervention is required:
davinci-resolve - exit status 1

Note: When you run yay -S davinci-resolve, the installation process will fail, but yay will still create essential autogenerated files in the ~/.cache/yay/davinci-resolve directory. These files include PKGBUILD, .SRCINFO, install.sh, and any necessary tarballs. Even though DaVinci Resolve fails to download, the required dependencies will be installed successfully.

Important

Even if yay fails to download or reach the davinci-resolve package, let yay install all the dependencies required by DaVinci Resolve on Linux, such as:

• qt5-webengine
• qt5-websockets
• qt5-webchannel

• When prompted with Packages to cleanBuild?, simply press Enter.
• After cleanBuild, yay will ask for diffs to show?. Press Enter to skip this option; it's typically for developers or advanced users who want to see the changes made.
• After downloading the initial dependencies, yay will download all other dependencies needed for qt-webengine.
• It will prompt multiple times for Confirmation of installation? for all packages and dependencies required by DaVinci Resolve. When prompted, simply press Enter to continue.

Note: If you already have qt packages compiled for another application, yay will install them directly. If you are installing a qt base application for the first time, yay will build these packages from source. This process took 2+ hours on my hardware, and may take more or less time depending on your system.

2.3: Manually Paste DaVinci Resolve .zip File

Now we need to manually copy and paste the davinci-resolve_X.X.X_linux.zip file to ~/.cache/yay/davinci-resolve. To do this, follow these steps:

• I downloaded the davinci_resolve.zip file to ~/Downloads/DaVinci-Resolve, so for me, this command is:

cp ~/Downloads/DaVinci_Resolve_20.3.1_Linux/DaVinci_Resolve_20.3.1_Linux.zip ~/.cache/yay/davinci-resolve/

Important: Double-check the file name of davinci_resolve_20.3.1_Linux.zip. Your version or file name may be different.

• Verify:

2.4: Run DaVinci Resolve Install Command Again

Now, everything is set, and davinci-resolve is ready to install without any errors (hopefully).

• Run:

yay -S davinci-resolve

• After running the yay -S davinci-resolve command again, yay will detect the package and prompt for Packages to cleanBuild?. Simply press Enter to skip; we already have the source file ready in the cache.
• Next, yay will prompt for Diffs to show?. Again, press Enter to skip this and continue.

• After skipping build and diffs options, you will see on the terminal that yay has found the manual DaVinci_Resolve.zip file.
• Next, yay will start extracting the DaVinci_Resolve.zip file.
• After extracting, yay will start working on symlinking variables and dependencies for DaVinci Resolve.

• Finally, after completing the squashfs-root process and tidying install, yay will prompt: Proceed with installation? [Y/n].
• Simply press Enter and DaVinci Resolve will be installed on your system in no time.

Fix Yay Connection Error

If yay fails with a “could not resolve host” error or timeouts or downloads are extremely slow, the most common cause is a problematic ISP DNS. Switching to a reliable public DNS usually fixes this issue instantly.

• Use one of the following commands to set a stable DNS server:

echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf
# OR
echo "nameserver 1.1.1.1" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf

What this does: DNS servers translate domain names into IP addresses. If your ISP’s DNS is slow or unreliable, package downloads can fail or hang. Using Google or Cloudflare DNS improves reliability and usually resolves the error immediately.
If downloads still feel slow after this, your mirrorlist may need optimization. You can follow my guide on Fixing Slow Pacman Downloads to get the best possible speeds.

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Step 3: DaVinci Resolve First Boot on Arch Linux

Now with everything resolved and out of the way, let's start DaVinci Resolve on Arch Linux.

• Run in the terminal:

davinci-resolve

• You can also launch DaVinci Resolve from your application menu:

And, you are in!

Final Thoughts on Stability & Dual Booting

Even though DaVinci Resolve is now running on your Arch system, keep in mind that stability can be unpredictable. Arch Linux is a rolling release, and major system or kernel updates can sometimes break Resolve’s specific dependencies.

I’ve had my share of crashes last year after a major update, and while it is currently working perfectly for me on this new setup, I always recommend a safety net. If you are a professional editor and cannot afford downtime due to unexpected crashes, my advice is to Dual Boot (Windows and Arch Linux). Use Arch for your daily tasks, but keep a stable Windows partition specifically for DaVinci Resolve as a reliable backup.

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Explore More

With DaVinci Resolve successfully running on Arch Linux, your system is no longer just a workstation, it’s a capable video editing and color grading machine. From professional timelines to GPU-accelerated rendering, you now have access to industry-grade tools without leaving your lightweight Arch setup. This is where Arch really shines, minimal overhead with maximum performance where it matters.

Build a Complete Creative Workflow

🧩 The Daily Driver Setup: A powerful editor deserves a solid foundation. If you want your system to feel polished, stable, and ready for real work, follow my guide on how to turn Arch Linux into a reliable daily driver.

🎥 Screen Recording & Tutorials: Whether you are creating editing tutorials, capturing timelines, or recording workflows, pairing Resolve with a proper recorder matters. Check out my OBS Studio guide for Arch Linux to record your screen smoothly and professionally.

📥 Managing Large Media Downloads: Video editing often means dealing with massive footage and asset packs. If you want a reliable IDM-style download manager on Arch, see my guide on using JDownloader 2 as an IDM alternative for handling large files without browser limits.

That wraps up this DaVinci Resolve setup on Arch Linux. You now have a professional-grade editor running on a clean, efficient system. If you run into GPU detection issues, missing codecs, or performance quirks, feel free to drop a comment below and we’ll troubleshoot it properly.

101 out, see you in the next guide.

Abdullah Musa January 16, 2026