Community FAQ
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- About
-
SteamOS
- Can I install Steam OS on the same drive as My Windows OS without formatting it?
- Display / Resolution / Refresh rate issues around Desktop Mode, BPM, and games
- How do I know what version of Steam/SteamOS I am on?
- Hybrid graphics known issues
- I can't install [PACKAGE_NAME] after using Debian repositories!
- What SteamOS is and What it is not
- What multimedia services work in the Steam Browser?
- Where are my game save files?
- Upgrade Support
- Steam Controller
- Steam Link
- Steam Machines
List of community submitted, discovered, and unofficial information around SteamOS, and Steam hardware.
Yes this can be done under the SteamOS expert installation option. As @directhex notes:
First, check whether your PC boots using UEFI or BIOS - you need to make sure you install SteamOS using the same method. [In Windows] Hold Start & press R, type "msinfo32" and hit enter. Look at the row "BIOS Mode".
You'll need to prepare your install media. If you want to use a USB stick and have UEFI, then download the .zip from repo.steampowered.com/download and extract it onto a clean FAT32-formatted USB stick. If you want to use optical media, or BIOS, download the .iso. The .iso is also a valid USB disk image, so you can use a tool like Rufus or Win32 Disk Imager to copy it onto a USB stick. When booting optical media, on a UEFI system, you might see the CD drive listed twice, e.g. "SATA Lite-on" and "UEFI Life-on". Pick the one that corresponds to step 1 above.
You'll need to resize your Windows partition, to free up some space. You can't do this within the regular SteamOS installer (you'll have to use another tool). You can from my fork, Stephenson's Rocket. Go to stephensonsrocket.horse, watch the video tutorials, it covers the whole thing.
Please see the wiki article on steamcompmgr, the dedicated compositor which handles the default session (steamos-session) on initial startup of your machine.
For modification (at your own risk) of the BPM/Steamcompmgr resolution (possibly allowing resolutions above 1080p), please see the Custom Resolutions And Refresh Rates how-to page. Valve, nor the author of this section is responsible for damage to your system.
You can check this by going to to Settings > System (Useful for reporting issues here). If you are unable to access SteamOS, due to any issue, you can boot into recovery mode and check the output of the below set of commands. Disregard # comment blocks.
# Show general OS information
lsb_release -a
# Show specific SteamOS version information
dpkg-query -W steamos-updatelevel
The initial splash screen is black on hybrid graphics (both NVIDIA and Intel graphics) systems and the second boot of the installation process. Leave it alone and installation will continue normally
The same issue that often affects i386 packages needed for applications like PlayOnLinux and PCSX2 require that you remove the changelog files manually. Please backup the file if you wish to store it.
The changelog usually lives at /usr/share/doc/PACKAGE/changelog.Debian.gz
Since the time of writing, the libselinux1:i386 conflict has been resolved. and libattr:i386 have been resolved with Brewmaster beta 2.55 onward . Please note the Debian approach only works if both the amd64 and i386 packages are the exact same version.
If you still experience this, legacy instructions for correcting this are below (example libattr1).
sudo rm -f /usr/share/doc/libattr1/changelog.Debian.gz
sudo rm -f /usr/share/doc/libselinux1/changelog.Debian.gz
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo apt-get install PKGNAME
Please reference this Reddit post. It contains some well written points about SteamOS.
Please the Multimedia services wiki page.
As for saves, some games store them in userdata (as seen below). Be aware, game saves and data located in this manner are not generally backed up. Therefore, if you format your SteamOS machine, or move them, the game will typically not show the save files you had in progress anymore.
ls /home/steam/.local/share/Steam/userdata/[USER_PROFILE_NUMBERS]/
200510 214560 225140 250900 274190 323580 371420 550
The numbers listed above (e.g. 200510) indicate the Steam APP ID. You can find these corresponding games on http://steamdb.info. For instance:
| APPID | APP TYPE | NAME | LAST UPDATED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200510 | Game | XCOM: Enemy Unknown | 22 days ago |
Saves may also be found in the game directory itself:
ls /home/steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Super\ Meat\ Boy
amd64 Levels README-linux.txt supermeatboy.png
buttonmap.cfg locdb.txt resources UserData
gameaudio.dat mariadb-mac-patch.diff steam_appid.txt x86
gamedata.dat README-licenses.txt SuperMeatBoy
These types of save files are not always backed up. Do not assume game saves are being automatically backed up, if Steam cloud service is enabled for a game.
Can I manually backup these saves?
Even as a desktop user, you have read access to the files, just not rw/rwx. You should be able to copy/backup saves, if you wish to.
-rwxr-xr-x 1 steam steam 565 Feb 6 13:12 SuperMeatBoy
Are upgrades from SteamOS 1.0 (Alchemist) to SteamOS 2.0 (Brewmaster) supported?
As DirectHex notes:
There are two key issues:
- Apt will not remove old packages, and add new packages, to reflect the state of packages that are install-time. SO you might have a different set of packages to someone who installed 100% from Brewmaster media. Key example: SysV will not be replaced by systemd, even though systemd is the correct init system for Brewmaster
- All configuration and system tweaks that are part of the "post_login" and "post_install" scripts will be as they were after your Alchemist install, not updated for Brewmaster, as they're on the install DVD but not part of apt
Furthermore, Pierre-Loup (Of Valve) notes:
You definitely cannot upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0; when 3.0 comes out (in a long time) it might make more sense for an upgrade path to exist as machines will have shipped with 2.0. However 1.0 was phased out before the first machines shipped, so working on an upgrade path didn't make sense.
The best way to "get to know" the Steam Controller, is to dive into the configuration menu in-game, or in the Steam settings menu. Here, each area and function is detailed in full on what it does. Aside from this, you can reference the main Steam Controller page and support page. Join the dicussion and more, over at the main landing page.
ProfessorKaos made a video detailing some of the common complaints and what he feels about them. Keep in mind this is merely his opinion from usage, since the Steam Controller was released to preorder purchasers.
Additionally, a comment on that video by 8BitCerberus sums things up well:
Valve actually described precisely this thought process for the ergonomics back in late 2013 or early 2014 (will have to see if I can dig up the interview or article I saw it in), because it tended to more natural positioning of your thumbs over the pads, but also so they can take a rest without actually touching the pads all the time (and thus constantly sending input). You also might notice with typical controllers, that your hands tend to "roll" inward for proper grip, but with the Steam Controller it encourages them to roll outward. Imagine sitting cross-legged and letting your hands fall palm-up on your knees, that's kind of the position the Steam Controller is going for (though not quite so completely relaxed :) ), the curve of the controller seems to be suggesting this, too.
It's something I noticed immediately with the prototype, how natural and comfortable it felt to hold it, even for extended gaming sessions. And that's carried over to the final build, even if the handles are slightly narrower. With my Xbox 360 and Sixaxis/Dualshock 3 I have to take breaks every few hours because my hands get crampy, and don't even get me started on older NES/SNES controllers... how on earth did we make it past our youth without crippling ourselves with those unergonomic beasts?
Video: Picking the Right Steam Machine (Click to play)
