Install SteamOS

[jmelody]

So I wanted to share with everyone how I installed SteamOS. There are other guides out there, but this one uses Hak5 equiptment, so I'm posting it here.

Please note: THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DRIVE. Do not install this on something you are wanting to use for anything other than SteamOS! Reddit has topics on installing on a VM, dual booting, ect. Go check out reddit.com/r/steamos for more on that.

First off, download the SteamOS installer from http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip

Other things you'll need:

A MOBO that supports UEFI bios

WiFi Pineapple (I am using a Mark V, but others should work too as long as you can get client mode)

USB drive (I had problems with a Kingston DT101, so I used a Cruzer Fit that came with a black friday order from the Hak shop)

processor that is 64bit ready (most modern processors)

Nvidia GPU (work arounds can be found on reddit for AMD/Intel)

hard drive you don't need the data off of (I used a 64gb SSD that had Xubuntu 13.04 on it)

some Linux CLI smarts (It should work without this, but it's good to know what your doing)

1. Start by formatting the USB to the default FAT32 format. This takes off any preloaded items that may cause problems.

2. Next unzip the installer to the root of the USB. Do not unzip then copy the folders. I read that this leaves out something the installer looks for, but try it if you want.

3. Shut down your computer

4. (Optional) Unplug any hard drives you want to keep the data on

5. Restart your computer and boot from the "UEFI usbvendornamehere" drive

6. Select the Autoinstall option (I tried the expert install with the Kingston DT101 drive and it tried to install it to the same drive it was reading from)

7. Let the installer do its thing (make sure you read the nottice and pull the USB before your reboot)

8. Boot into the new OS

9. Change the login to use the GNOME session and use login name: steam pass: steam

All of that was straight forward and can be found in the FAQ http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/

Next the instructions say to run steam and accept the EULA blah blah blah. If your using wireless, you'll nottice that the firmware is missing. This is where I come in to help our community. Bust out your Pineapple (I assume you have already used it and it is connected as a client to your WiFi), and plug it into your Ethernet. Sweet, now you have an internet connection. The instructions Steam provides says to run steam to get the EULA, but they didn't put an icon on the desktop to make it easy. Click the "Activities" button and then click the "Applications" button. Select the "Terminal" and just type "steam" (no "s) and hit enter. You should get the EULA. Sign your life, and first born child, over to Gaben and let it run.

After it has finished updating, log out of the account. This time you won't need to log into GNOME, so just enter the login name: desktop pass: desktop

Get back to the Terminal, like we got there before, and enter ~/post_logon.sh and hit enter. Let it do its thing. The screen will go blank, and text will scroll on the screen. When it gets to the end you will have to choose (y/n)...... choose y and hit enter (this is for the recovery). When it's done reboot, and you'll be in the SteamOS.

This is basicly "Big Picture" mode, and to get back to a desktop enviornment:

press Ctrl+Alt+F2

you will be prompted to login from the CLI (use the desktop or steam login and password)

to get a GUI type startx and hit enter

if you want to use root you need to make a password by opening a terminal and typing passwd and pressing enter.

[jmelody]

I rebooted and plugged in my HDD that has games installed, but haven't found a way to mount it yet. When I use nautilus the drive is there, but won't let me mount it. Using sudo makes the drives go away.

Hopefully this will get someone started. Games can be downloaded to the OS drive using the normal methods, but I'm limited on space on this drive.

[jmelody]

I see there have been some views made on this topic, so I'll post some other progress.

After installing SteamOS, I was able to dual boot Xubuntu 13.04 via the normal install process. Everything seems to work just fine, but I am short on space to install games on the SSD. I have harvested a 320gb drive from an older computer, and will be placing the SteamOS install on that. If anyone is intrested, I can also make a VirtualBox installation. From what I can gather, running Steam on a Windows PC will allow you to stream Windows games to the VM.