Arch Linux User Repository

Hi everyone:

We're just a couple of days out from the closing of the substance3d site. From what I gather, that means it's the end of updates for this AUR package, unless there's a surprise build upstream before the end of the month.

If you wish to continue getting new versions of the Substance suite, I highly suggest picking it up on Steam, because that is the only place where Linux builds will be maintained anymore. You might want to wait until "Substance 3D Painter 2023" is available, though, as then you'll get more updates for your money.

In case, for whatever reason, anyone wants to continue using this (Allegorithmic) package, I'll see about finding a way for users to download the builds themselves after the site's closing (maybe archive.org would help?). I already downloaded every build for myself, so if all else fails, I could just re-upload individual builds on a case basis, but I can see that idea not being popular.

Also, quick reminder: download your license file! If you want to continue using this package after EOL, you'll need it to authenticate yourself. Log into the substance3d site and go to the "Licenses" tab to find it.

Update: Now that the Substance accounts are EOL, users can no longer access their accounts, but it's still possible to redownload your old perpetual license keys. Adobe explains how in their Substance account end-of-life FAQ. As for downloading packages, I have bad news and good news. Bad news: I don't think I'll be publishing the build archive I've been working on. Between redirecting users, potential licensing issues, and security implications, it's pretty much a logistical nightmare. Good news: The existing official download links still work, so people can continue downloading the builds as long as they have the links. (No guarantees these links will continue to work into the future, and if they go down, then so will this package. Sorry!)

All right, my conversation with support about the closing of the old substance3d.com site has finally come to a close, so I suppose I can share what I've learned:

Anyone who currently has an Allegorithmic license (obtained through substance3d.com, the old site) will be able to use builds from the site (which are the basis for these AUR packages) for as long as their license is valid, even after the old site shuts down on September 30. (Make sure to back up your license key files in the meantime, just in case you need to reactivate the software afterward for whatever reason.)

You can also sign up for an Adobe account, but the Allegorithmic license will not transfer, and you'll have to buy a new license from Adobe. You can get a prorated refund for any Allegorithmic license fees after buying an Adobe license; just contact Adobe and provide invoices. I don't advise that for Linux users, though, because…

Standalone Linux builds like the ones used in these packages will remain available for download on the old site, but once the site goes down or your license expires, the only way to download the software on Linux will be on Steam, which you have to buy regardless of any existing licenses (Allegorithmic or Adobe). Adobe license holders will be able to download Substance through Creative Cloud, which is available on only Windows and Mac.

I wasn't able to ascertain whether the suite will continue to receive updates for Allegorithmic users all the way until the site comes to a close, but Allegorithmic builds are still being updated for now. I wouldn't hold my breath that this remains true for long, as the software's still on release 2021. The 2022 release of the software is probably just around the corner, and @lehthanis found out that it'll be available from Adobe or Steam only. (I couldn't verify this, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.)

More info on the transition to Adobe.com is available on the second half of the Substance homepage and on the dedicated FAQ.

Well, that doesn't look good. I don't have Adobe Cloud account and the old download links are gone. If someone has access and/or the download URLs of all Substance Linux apps, you can tell, and I update the AUR packages.

Alternatively, if there is someone with Adobe account who wants to maintain these packages, please tell me.

I spent some time with Adobe customer support and very angrily discovered that you absolutely SHOULD NOT convert your account to a substance subscription through the creative cloud. Your license WILL NOT WORK for this software. There is no standalone linux build for the Adobe Subscription model. This 2021 version will stop receiving updates around November and the 2022 version will be available for linux only on steam, so they tell me. It's probably going to be ~150 dollars and that purchase will cover the entire 2022 lifecycle, and you'll have to buy 2023 on steam when it comes out. Just FYI...DO NOT CONVERT TO ADOBE SUBSTANCE ACCOUNT!

@lehthanis Fixed, my bad, sorry.

@DragoonAethis @spacepluk I'm getting the icon png not validating...is there a way to fix that? Tried downloading it twice.

@spacepluk tbh I'd just remove these? I'm not aware of anything that uses these, and a quick grep through all .desktop files on my computer reveals a lot of these being set to the default value (1.0) or just missing.

@DragoonAethis hmm, it's probably me leaving the wrong version in the desktop files. I'll automate that when I have some time.

@lehthanis It's been a while since I've seriously used Substance, but I did experience such freezes on Intel iGPUs (and that happens occasionally under very high load in games and what not). On Nvidia GPUs everything was fine, so I used that, and everything was fine. Maybe you'd try SSHing into the machine when frozen and having a look at dmesg/journal to see why it freezes for you (OOM or GPU crash)?

Regarding updates, there's three of us keeping this fresh, and as soon as we get the out-of-date notification, we'll take care of it. Just sometimes we have a bit less free time and it takes a day or two :P Still, if you'd like to, you'd have to ask @spacepluk if he's okay with that, and the process is more or less this:

• Download the latest package from Allegorithmic manually.
• Edit pkgver and _build in the PKGBUILD to match the downloaded package.
• Edit Version in the .desktop files (occasionally left out of date :P).
• Run updpkgsums in the directory with downloaded files.
• Run makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO to update the AUR metadata.
• Move/delete manually downloaded files, then try makepkg -si to check if all the files download, hash checks pass and the resultant package installs and works correctly (run the program, make sure nothing is missing from the file structure, etc).
• If done, git add <modified files>, git commit -m "Updated to <version>" and git push origin master - after a minute or so, AUR gets updated with that.

Still have serious stability issues with this program. It often freezes my entire computer and I can't even ctrl-alt-F1. I have to hold my power button down to power cycle the machine to get out of it.

@DragoonAethis, I can help if someone can talk me through it. I actually disappeared for a bit after last update, sorry.

EDIT: Okay, so I've renewed the student license and it actually works pretty well, so weeee

@lehthanis: I've updated all Substance packages to their latest versions, but I no longer have any (student) licenses available, so I can't test them much. Painter does start and load the shaders on the bottom, so it shooooouuuuuuuld be fine, but YMMV. Please do check if it's all good and report back :D

Does anyone have any performance enhancing tricks for this program? It freezes up a lot and overall really bogs down my system. It doesn't crash but it just occasionally runs like ass. I don't seea lot of cpu usage during the hang up either.

Thanks for the quick update!