SteamOS now available for download
Are you ready to test Valve's new Linux-based operating system?
Are you ready to test Valve's new Linux-based operating system? Then you can download the 960MB installer here. Do note that downloads seem to be dying randomly, so you may want to use a download manager to complete.
Also note that Valve advises to "wait until later in 2014... unless you're an intrepid Linux hacker already," suggesting the initial release of SteamOS won't necessarily be mainstream-friendly. Also keep in mind that installing SteamOS will erase everything on your machine.
A new FAQ from Valve explains that SteamOS is a fork of Debian 7.1. The 1.0 release is nicknamed "alchemist" and the main tweaks introduced by Valve involve adding third-party drivers and a custom graphics compositor "designed to provide a seamless transition between Steam, its games, and the SteamOS system overlay."
In order to use SteamOS, you'll need a 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of hard drive space, an NVIDIA graphics card (with support for AMD and Intel cards "coming soon,") and UEFI boot support.
As this is a 1.0 release, some features are not supported at launch. Notably, in-home streaming of Windows-based games is not included in this release. That means you'll have to play games that have been directly ported to Linux. Valve says that they plan on releasing fixes "as soon as we are comfortable shipping them," which will be "every few months."
For more info on how to install SteamOS, make sure you read the FAQ.
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Shacknews
replyAndrew Yoon posted a new article, SteamOS now available for download.
Are you ready to test Valve's new Linux-based operating system?-
or not? hahahah
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Using a download manager seems to be helping. That way, you can resume the download whenever it gets interrupted.
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Ah, thanks but I'll just wait for it to get mirrored out or for a .torrent to be created. :)
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There's a torrent linked here http://steamdb.info/blog/35/
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82.6% complete as I type this post >:)
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960MB? Looks like I might not be able to go the normal bootable CD route.
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Do I have to format my flashdrive though? Don't feel like moving everything off of it just to do this.
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Don't think so... I've always used a rewritable CD for stuff like this. Guess it's time to move forward into 2003 and make that $2 investment.
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You'll need to get a flash drive in order to install.
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I shall forever pronounce this operating system as "Steam-O's".
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I'm going to wait this one out until it's out of beta and user-install friendly. My one and only experience with ubuntu earlier this year was straight up awful.
I am rooting for Valve on this, though. I know it's a long game, but it's still exciting to see somoene in the PC space putting gaming on the forefront.-
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If the direct link is slow for you, here's the torrent:
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce-
thank you sir
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What recent games are playable on Linux? Far Cry 3?
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I don't think so. The only AAA games on linux are Valve's. I know a port for Metro:LL is in the works. I'd say a majority of recent indie games are on it though.
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I was looking forward to that 20% boost or whatever it was in performance that *nix was supposed to bring. Don't really need that on Papers Please though ;)
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I thought they said something like 2-300 games were available didn't they?
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http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released&sort_order=DESC&os=linux
There are lots of games. Most recently, Rust and Starbound Early Access.
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Kerbal Space Program is all you need :D
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How are you guys installing this? Is there an easy wat to make abootable ISO?
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seems like you need UEFI which sucks. was gonna putit on an old NB
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Yeah, I've got a well-aged Sager that still (barely) manages to run some of the current gen titles to an acceptable level, and uses an Nvidia graphics card. No UEFI though. In fact there's only one UEFI computer in the whole house, and trust me when I say there's no shortage of computers in this house.
I get why the early version is nit-picky though. Dial in performance on the intended hardware. Once that's sorted, then you start opening it up a bit. At the very least, from a PR standpoint a few thousand people saying "I don't know how it is, I can't run it" is a lot better than those same people saying "I tried running it and it was crap," even if there are valid reasons why it wouldn't run well yet.
Meh, I can be patient. I understand this is step one of a process that's going to take years to really get going. Just so long as EVENTUALLY the thing can run on slightly more variable hardware and can do things beyond just running Steam games, I'll be happy.-
I posted a workaround for non-UEFI systems below. I'm installing using that method now. Should be done soon.
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You can convert it into a bootable image. I didn't cover that here, but:
http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=31223461#item_31223461
Gives basic information about how this works. I need to pull apart the \recovery\live\filesystem.squashfs file as that looks to be the actual /home data, but I cannot open it in Windows since we don't have squashfs4 with LZ in Windows. So I need to boot up a linux live CD and modify it.
I'm actually doing that right now, so I'll have a more advanced guide in how to install this to an existing partition soon.
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it's a bullshit
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Gabe still uses Windows 98
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They could've done worse, it could've been a retarded .tar.gz
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Someone put out a UEFI bypass here http://www.reddit.com/r/SteamOS/comments/1su4t1/uefi_requirement_with_steamos/
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got it installed using this method but it seems my old geforce 7900 go isn't good enough for their gnome setup :(
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1s980x1r0hyflk9/2013-12-14%2010.08.00.jpg-
Crap, the Sager I was going to try this on has the same video card. Guess I'll wait on that then. Not that I expected a 7 year old graphics card would provide me with the optimal SteamOS experience, but as I said above it's still capable of running some current-gen titles acceptably well. Borderlands 2 and Dead Island: Riptide are what spring to mind.
Ah well, I'll just have to wait and see if some enterprising *nix geek patches this problem away, if Valve doesn't do it themselves.
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You should be able to install those drivers yourself. Right now I'm working on getting a system prepped to test this out.
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