Steam for Linux Guide

[SteamOS] Frequently Asked Questions for Steam for Linux

[SteamOS] Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

This will be an ever-expanding FAQ on the most common questions, complaints, and criticisms of SteamOS. I am by no means an expert, but I have a lot of time invested in SteamOS, as well as great interest in it. Some of the FAQ stems from the “PSA: What SteamOS is and is not Reddit post. I wanted to take that PSA, expand upon it, and continue to push the FAQ into greater heights, up to (and possibly further), the November Steam Machines release date.All parties are welcome to request additions, corrections, and deletions. Thank you

General

Q: I use Windows/OS X and would like to keep on using that. How do SteamOS and the Steam Machines affect me?
A: Not at all. Steam and all of your Windows games will work just as before, and games will continue to be released for Windows. The only reason SteamOS might pique your interest, is if you fancy to have a gaming experience in the living room.

Q: I use Linux. How do SteamOS and Steam Machine affect me?
A: Games! All of the games that are released for SteamOS also work on your Linux distribution of choice. Though I’m personally interested in seeing whether games for SteamOS will have a console interface with big buttons and everything, but also allow a desktop-centred interface for desktop Linux users.

Q: Is SteamOS a competitor to Windows?
A: No. Windows does not compete in the console space. SteamOS is a competitor to the XBone and PS4. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is very much a competitor to Windows.

Q: Should I use SteamOS as a desktop operating system?
A: No [1] .

Q: How does Steam In-Home Streaming tie into all of this?
A: Steam In-Home Streaming has two use cases. The first is obvious: If you already have a super powerful gaming rig, it would be wasteful to build a second one solely for the living room. Instead, you can use a cheap Steam Machine in the living room that leverages all the power of the existing machine. The second use case is being able to play (usually Windows) games on a platform that does not support it. Provided I have a Windows desktop and a steady LAN connection, I can play all those games on my Ubuntu or OS X laptop.

The Steam Link is also an excellent substitute for a cheap Steam Machine. It’s basically a Steam Machine with zero horsepower that can stream stuff from other computers. Think Chromecast, but … Steamcast.

Q: But isn’t Linux hard to use?
A: Not anymore. Ubuntu has made a lot of big leaps since 2011. It can be used without ever touching the command line. It is, however, very different from Windows and OS X.

Q: I don’t want to use Linux.
A: Then don’t. That’s the beauty of choice; something console peasants do not have. But don’t berate others for their choices.

What is SteamOS?

SteamOS is a Debian Linux-based operating system in development by Valve Corporation designed to be the primary operating system for the Steam Machine game consoles. It was initially released on December 13, 2013, alongside the start of end-user beta testing of Steam Machines.

SteamOS is designed primarily for playing video games. Users will be able to stream games from their Windows or Mac computers to one running SteamOS, and it will incorporate the same family sharing and restrictions as Steam on the desktop. Valve claims that it has “achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing” through SteamOS. The operating system is open source, allowing anyone to build on or adapt the source code.

Source: Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]

What are Steam Machines?

In October 2013, Valve announced Steam Dev Days; a two day developer conference where video game developers will be able to test and provide feedback on SteamOS and Steam Machines. In October 2013, Nvidia also announced their collaboration with Valve to support SteamOS with the help of a development suite called Nvidia GameWorks which incorporates PhysX, OptiX, VisualFX and other Nvidia-proprietary APIs and implementations thereof.

Source: Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]

This year, at GDC 2015, Valve set the release date for Steam Machines. In November of 2015, Steam Machines will be released. All Steam Machines will support the Vulkan API, a completely new graphics API to rival DirectX 12. Also unveiled, was the Steam Link, an in-home “extender” device which which Valve says will stream (at least on a wired connection) Steam games at 1080p and 60 FPS.

Q: Steam Machines are expensive!
A: Yes. But you can build your own, stick SteamOS on it and put that underneath your telly. I’m hoping that Valve will do something about the wildly varying costs and performances between the Steam Machines, but pre-builts will be pre-builts.

Q: Can’t I simply install Windows on my Steam Machine?
A: Yes. Though ideally you would want to boot Windows straight into Big Picture for a proper living room experience. I can imagine that a lot of tech-savvy people will end up doing this. Then again, Steam In-Home Streaming would save you the cost of an expensive machine and a Windows license.

Hardware Support

Since SteamOS is based on Debian Wheezy, there is a wide amount of hardware support (in general). Common criticisms are the age of packages and graphics drivers. While this is unappealing to some, the stability of Debian Wheezy does provide a stable target for developers go for.

Q: How’s the hardware and peripheral support on Linux?
A: Great! If a little mixed. On Linux, your hardware either works or doesn’t work, and there’s usually very little you can do to change that. This is primarily because all drivers exist within the kernel. This is different to Windows, where drivers usually have to be installed separately. Old hardware usually has excellent support. Newer hardware should be in the newest kernel, so you’ll always want the latest kernel. SteamOS should keep its kernel up-to-date fairly well. Extremely specialised peripherals are a mixed bag. You’ll have to look those up before purchase.

Graphics

Q: How’s the graphics driver situation on Linux?
A: Mixed. Intel has excellent driver support, but only offers integrated graphics. Nvidia offers a great proprietary driver stack, but doesn’t play nice with the open source driver stack. AMD is incredibly mixed. Their proprietary driver usually offers better performance, but is very unstable and generally a bit of a mess. Their open source driver stack is really nice, but usually loses out in the raw FPS game. Vulkan performance is entirely unclear, although Valve has built a working Vulkan stack on Linux [2] for Intel.

Q: How does Vulkan tie into this?
A: Vulkan is a competitor to Direct3D, the graphics part of DirectX 12. They offer a similar feature set. DirectX has only ever run on Windows, so Linux needs an alternative. Vulkan runs virtually everywhere, including Windows. Anything you hear about performance differences between DX12 and Vulkan is fanboyism until both DX12 and Vulkan have their stable releases.

Games

As of March 14th, 2015, the official Steam game count sits at well over 1000 games. With several great games already available, and several AAA games headed to SteamOS / Linux very soon, gaming for Linux gamers has never been better. There is arguably still a very long way to go yet for SteamOS to be a force in the gaming space overall. Regardless, progress is progress.

Q: How’s the game support situation on Linux?
A: All right. Most indie games support Linux. Some studios have also shown (signs of) commitment to Linux, such as Valve, Creative Assembly, Paradox Interactive, 2K Games, S2 Games, CD Projekt Red, RSI and several others. The quality of ports differs wildly. Dying Light runs like utter crap, whereas Left 4 Dead 2 runs fantastically. A lot of folks on /r/linux_gaming[3] have switched over completely, though the situation could be a lot better. Fortunately, Linux gaming is getting better at insane rates.

How to Get It

SteamOS is available directly from Valve. There are however, some important things to keep in mind.

So, what exactly are all these options?

Default Installation
This is a CloneZilla image, provided by Valve developers. Upon starting the USB key, your computers primary hard driver will be wiped, so be advised. This option also requires a 1 TB drive as a minimum. This option requires a UEFI-equipped motherboard.

Custom Installation
This option allows you to fully install SteamOS on drives that are less than 1 TB in total size. This method also allows you to specify expert installation options, which will allow dual-booting operating systems. Be advised this option still requires a UEFI-equipped motherboard.

VaporOS 2
VaporOS is a SteamOS installer with added software and features. It’s main goals are to improve the out of the box experience with SteamOS in both Steam and the desktop. VaporOS 2 includes SSD trim support, a pre-configured firewall, SSH server, a more complete desktop experience (such as Kodi installed by default), custom controller bindings and more. Be advised, in comparison to the official options, VaporOS 2 will default you to the stable Steam client, not the beta client.

Stephenson’s Rocket
Stephenson’s Rocket replaces the Ye Olde SteamOSe project by building back on Valve’s installer with bug fixes and improvements – especially hardware support. I haven’t seen a lot of updates to this one, but it still remains a valid method of getting SteamOS on your computer.

Defunct Versions (Custom)
  • Ye Olde SteamOSe

Installing It

There are several known Installation guides out there. To keep this FAQ short, a listing will be given below. Quick links are also provided to key websites.

Text-based Guides

Video-based Guides
Austin Evans
Tek Syndicate
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