Running ths game multiple times will do the same, because the pages will stay cached. Operating systems are smart with RAM. Things that were recently used stay in RAM, even though the OS reports it being "free". Read this for some more info: https://www.linuxatemyram.com/
And preload might swallow the filepath arg without doing anything with it.
Instead you could share the output of
preload --help
preload --version
sudo preload --verbose
# followed by running a game
Cause if so, it doesn't actually let you manually add specific files to RAM. It's an adaptive daemon that automatically learns which files your applications use frequently over time and prefetches them. So when you launch it and then play games, it's observing patterns and making predictions.
This also explains why there's no "remove files" command. The files preload loads into RAM aren't locked there; they're in the page cache, which the kernel manages freely. If something else needs that memory, the kernel will evict those cached files automatically. Killing preload via htop should not really do anything, except it not doing it's thing anymore.
Arch was definitely tricky to get right for me at yhe beginning.
You often have a choise between multiple similar tools for each job and you only know the pros and cons or what works and what doesn't after trying.
I did 3-4 fresh installs before getting it right for my needs and hardware. (for example, btrfs with buttermanager requires a completely different fs layout than btrfs with snapper, I picked buttermanager first, didn't like it after 2 weeks and had to do a fresh install)
For that it's handy to have a good backup of your important data, ideally outside of your pc, just so there is no risk of fucking it up somehow.
I definitely recommend using btrfs and using it's snapsotting feature through snapper or timeshift or something else, again, multiple tools for the same job, different pros and cons.
That way you can roll back after fucking something up. But make sure to try it out a couple of times before the case comes where you have to rely on it, so you're sure that it does work and you know how to properly do it.
I prefer arch cause I was able to customize it more and I love the up to date packages and the AUR. But there is some additional maintenance you have to do like once or twice a year and you have to pay attention to news for manual interventions when there is a breaking update. So it is way more involved than other distros. Yet it has been rock solid for me and should be very reliable once you know your way around.
But tbh. as long as you are completely happy with mint, there is no reason to change anything.
I fucked up my systems quite a lot back in the day and had to reinstall everything from scratch, because I was inexperienced. Lost quite a lot of personal data as well, cause I had no backups ofc.
If I were you, I'd try to fix windows rn. (for that you'll probably get better help on the windows reddit)
And then attempt a linux dual boot again but this time preparing a bit better, reading more, using the newest versions, having a backup plan if everything fails again.
If you can do a videocall on your phone through discord or wire I can hop in a session and help you in about 20h from now. Videocall so I can see whats on your screen and tell you what to do.
I have both pinephones and I don't love either...
but I do love their e-ink notepad and SBCs and pinetime etc. basically everything, just not the phone.