SteamOS offically released

By Snake89
in PC Gaming

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Grand Master

PGHammer

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http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SYSRESTORE.zip You need a Nvidia gfx card to install it

 

Looks like the download server is getting hammered

 

Since it's based on Debian Wheezy, any VME (virtual machine environment) that supports Debian Wheezy should at least be able to run it (Oracle VB, vmWare, Hyper-V).  Also, it extracts to a USB stick (4 GB and larger) - I'm extracting to an 8 GB stick as I type this.

 

I know that there ARE nV GPU drivers for Wheezy - I would think the same would be true on the AMD side.  (It was certainly true before I migrated from AMD to nVidia - they pulled driver support for Wheezy within the past six months?  IMprobable.)

 

The real question is exactly what is the minimum partition this OS needs?

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JJ_

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Torrent link if anyone wants avoid the overloaded http server

 

Q: How do I install SteamOS?
There are two different install methods for SteamOS. '''WARNING: BOTH METHODS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON THE MACHINE'''

The easiest method is an image-based install using CloneZilla. You will need to create a SteamOS System Restore USB stick to perform this install. The image provided here requires at least a 1TB disk.
  • Format a 4GB or larger USB stick with the FAT32 filesystem. Use "SYSRESTORE" as the partition name
  • Unzip the contents of SYSRESTORE.zip to this USB stick to create the System Restore USB stick
  • Put the System Restore USB stick in your target machine. Boot your machine and tell the BIOS to boot off the stick. (usually something like F8, F11 or F12 will bring up the BIOS boot menu).
  • Make sure you select the UEFI entry, it may look something like "UEFI: Patriot Memory PMAP"
  • Select "Restore Entire Disk" from the GRUB menu.
  • System Restore will proceed automatically. When it is complete it will reboot into your freshly re-imaged SteamOS
The second method is based on the Debian Installer. It requires multiple configuration steps:
  • Unzip the SteamOSInstaller.zip file to a blank, FAT32-formatted USB stick.
  • Put the USB stick in your target machine. Boot your machine and tell the BIOS to boot off the stick. (usually something like F8, F11, or F12 will bring up the BIOS boot menu).
  • Make sure you select the UEFI entry, it may look something like "UEFI: Patriot Memory PMAP"
  • Pick "Automated Install" from the next menu.
  • The rest of the installation is unattended and will repartition the drive and install SteamOS.
  • After installation is complete, log onto the resulting system (using the Gnome session) with the predefined "steam" account. The password is "steam". Run steam, accept the EULA, and let it bootstrap. Logoff the steam account
  • Log on with the "desktop" account. The password is "desktop"
  • From a terminal window, run ~/post_logon.sh. This will prompt for a password - enter "desktop". This script will perform the post-install customizations, delete itself, then reboot into the recovery partition capture utility.
  • Confirm "y" to continue and the recovery partition will be created. When it is finished, reboot into your freshly installed SteamOS

 

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Sadelwo

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So it is a Debian based distro. All kinds of good can come from this. Once Valve gets its Intel and AMD drivers up that should be minimal work for Base Debian, Ubuntu, Elementry etc to get optimized support. Even if Steam OS isn't a hit with the masses, having Valve coerce other companies to invest in Linux will only benefit the consumer in the end. Regular driver updates and the Steam touch controller to be for  Linux as the Xbox 360 controller is for Windows. This will be exciting.

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PGHammer

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http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395803871238/ -- This may be useful for some to try without UEFI computers. I'll try it myself later on this evening.

Actually, I'm looking at the Debian/side-by-side method (using either Debian-unstable or, better yet, Debian-wheezy, as a strapper, and do a side-by-side in a VM).

 

I'm waiting to see if any brave soul tried a network install directly from the SteamOS repos - if doable, then any apropos Debian net-install method should work.  (I see no reason why it should NOT work, if the OS is itself standard Debian wheezy.)

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zman982

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Just saw a quick walkthrough of SteamOS on Youtube.  It was more or less big picture mode with some extra options.  The video didn't show the desktop but I expect more videos over the next couple of days that will show that.

 

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trooper11

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So, comments from those that were adamant that SteamOS would be an entirely custom DE? :whistle:

Well it sounds like its just a custom version of Debian right?

What I want to see is what the system looks like for the end user. Does it just dump you into a desktop right now, or does it boot straight into Steam itself.

 

 

What's a DE?

Desktop environment

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trooper11

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Just saw a quick walkthrough of SteamOS on Youtube.  It was more or less big picture mode with some extra options.  The video didn't show the desktop but I expect more videos over the next couple of days that will show that.

Cool, thanks for sharing.

So its about what I expected. It boots you straight into the Steam UI and your experience is living in that.

I did see that option to allow access to the Linux desktop. I'm interested in seeing how that works and if that's just there for development reasons or if its just an option that will be in the final version.

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Athernar

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Well it sounds like its just a custom version of Debian right?

What I want to see is what the system looks like for the end user. Does it just dump you into a desktop right now, or does it boot straight into Steam itself.

 

It's as I said in previous threads, the OS loads into Big Picture as the primary UI, with GNOME in the background if you enable it in the settings. Check Phoronix, they have screenshots.

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Athernar

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How can i make this into a ISO to try on VM..

 

Running SteamOS in a VM defeats the point, if you just want to see what the UI is like you can just load Big Picture on your current Steam install.

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trooper11

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It's as I said in previous threads, the OS loads into Big Picture as the primary UI, with GNOME in the background if you enable it in the settings. Check Phoronix, they have screenshots.

 

 

Thanks, I'll check it out.  Since it was not enabled by default, maybe that means its mostly there for developers.

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The_Observer

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Running SteamOS in a VM defeats the point, if you just want to see what the UI is like you can just load Big Picture on your current Steam install.

 

im keen to look and underline code. keen to seen what i can do with it. 

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