Ye Olde SteamOSe - a modified SteamOS installer, with support for older and virtualized computers

The future is here, but it's a bit new isn't it? SteamOS is now shipping, in beta form at least, and it's all cool and stuff.

But what about those of us without a modern, UEFI-based computer spare?

Ye Olde SteamOSe is for you.

• SteamOS requires UEFI. Ye Olde SteamOSe works with UEFI or BIOS.
• SteamOS requires a 2GB USB Stick to install. Ye Olde SteamOSe works from a DVD or a 1GB USB Stick.
• SteamOS requires a real computer. Ye Olde SteamOSe has 3D acceleration on VMWare and Virtualbox, out of the box.
• SteamOS says it needs 500GB of disk space, but that's a lie. Ye Olde SteamOSe requires the same amount of space as SteamOS really does - 40.5GB minimum (of that 10GB and any more available is for games).
• SteamOS takes over your PC. Ye Olde SteamOSe supports dual-boot.
• SteamOS only supports Realtek networking, or firmware-free networking. Ye Olde SteamOSe supports everything a modern Linux does, including WiFi.
• SteamOS monopolizes drives. Ye Olde SteamOSe can resize NTFS partitions.
• SteamOS only outputs to HDMI audio. Ye Olde SteamOSe supports almost any sound card with a couple of clicks.
• SteamOS only supports basic partitions. Ye Olde SteamOSe supports LVM and software RAID.

• Clean up audio support to remove unmute step.

A DVD image is always available via BitTorrent at http://directhex.github.io/steamos-installer/

To get started, download the torrent.

Otherwise, clone this repo, and run ./gen.sh.

Just burn the ISO to a blank DVD from your favourite tool, and boot it.

Open a Terminal window from the Utilities section of Applications.

Type diskutil list to get a list of devices - one of them will be your USB stick (e.g. /dev/disk2). Follow the Linux instructions below, with this /dev/diskX entry instead of /dev/sdX

Plug in the USB stick and run dmesg; look for a line similar to this:

[377039.485179] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

In this case, sdc is the device name for the USB stick you just inserted. Now we put the installer on the stick, as root (e.g. use sudo) run

dd bs=1M if=/path/to/yeolde.iso of=/dev/sdX 

sdX should be the USB stick device from the information you received from dmesg. Be sure to use sdX, not sdX1 or sdX2. Then boot into the stick.

Download Win32 Disk Imager and use it to copy the .iso to your USB stick (1GB minimum size).

Pick the "Automatic Install" option to wipe the first hard disk in your system and install SteamOS to it.

For more sophisticated booting - e.g. dual-boot or custom partition sizes - select the "Expert" or "Power User" options - thse are documented on the Wiki.

Beyond that, just follow Valve's instructions from their site, steps 7 onwards under "Custom Installation" - Ye Olde SteamOSe should behave exactly like the real SteamOS, except it works on more systems.

Before you generate a new image you need to ensure that your pull is up to date as things change quickly:

• git pull in the steamos-installer directory will ensure you have the latest code.
• ./gen.sh -d will ensure that you download the latest SteamInstaller.zip

• 3D support is broken in Big Picture Mode itself and in 32-bit games in VirtualBox. This is a flaw in the Debian packaging of the VirtualBox guest drivers.
• Sound card selection, volume levels, etc, must be set with pavucontrol, not the GNOME volume slider.

Test it and report back to #steamos on Freenode

Or support me by donating - Donate via PayPal, Steam, or Amazon. Donations will be used to help with testing - wifi adapters, hard disks, graphics cards, etc.

• Michael Waltz (ecliptik) for his continued contributions.
• Anonymized benefactors for their sponsorship (~400 day VMware key; £60; 1 month reddit Gold; Shoot Many Robots game).
• Various Valve engineers for their help.