Elfforkusu
Member
Based on Debian straight up? Interesting!
And awesome! No weird Canonical shenanigans!
And awesome! No weird Canonical shenanigans!
-
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SteamOS out now (beta)
- Thread starter MRORANGE
- Start date
alf717
Member
Wondering this as well.
Probably because all their test machines use it and they didn't want to bother developing/testing their OS for something without it.
batteryLeakage
Neo Member
Valve's punishing us with old hardware.
After doing ~/post_logon.sh, does anyone else's system hang on reboot at the Steam logo? Not sure if I should just wait it out or try a reinstall. The whole process has been slightly janky/slow for me, so I'm not sure if it worked properly.
*edit* Well, it's a black screen now. We're getting somewhere!
*edit* Well, it's a black screen now. We're getting somewhere!
UEFI is just a BIOS replacement, I don't think it has any effect on how the OS functions, at least it shouldn't considering every other OS works with both.
ScepticMatt
Member
I can't get it running without much work in VirtualBox, so I guess that's it for me.
The initial download rush seems to be over, I don't even get peer connections anymore.
Time for me to stop seeding and play dota
The initial download rush seems to be over, I don't even get peer connections anymore.
Time for me to stop seeding and play dota
Every other OS also supports Intel graphics. Supporting something takes effort, and I would imagine that Valve didn't want to take the effort to support computers that don't use UEFI.
DryvBy
Member
I was going to Stream but yeah, VMWare just says it can't find a file to boot. Maybe because I'm running on fumes.
That would only be the case if UEFI/BIOS need driver support from the OS and even if they did, Debian (what SteamOS is based on) already supports both. Why would Valve remove support? Or rather what feature could Valve have added to make UEFI mandatory?
Its weird, now maybe its due to me not gaming on Linux and just using Linux for servers, but my impression was always that AMD was much more Linux friendly. It was Nvidia who were bad in terms of Linux support.
Who knows. I suppose there's always the chance that they don't support non-UEFI systems for a silly reason like someone at Valve not liking BIOS.
Might have to do with stuff like power management or thermal control or something? As far as I understand, those things can be handled by the UEFI independently of the OS - and those things are quite important for small, console-like boxes.
I got it running! As stated above, game launches are much smoother than Linux BPM. I have no sound in the entire OS though (I tried all my plugged in audio devices, which admittedly are too many).
Popped out to the desktop, and it looks like the kernel isn't detecting any sound hardware at all. I wonder what I can do about that...
Popped out to the desktop, and it looks like the kernel isn't detecting any sound hardware at all. I wonder what I can do about that...
Nvidia is disliked by the more zealous part of the free software community due to providing closed-source drivers. That is understandable. However, their closed source OpenGL drivers work and are actually competitive feature- and performance-wise with their Windows ones (and even on Windows their OpenGL support and performance are already generally better). And that's what's important for a company like Valve when trying to put something like Steam machines on the market.
Partial Gamification
Banned
Manually downloading the drivers was suggested on steam forums. Reported HDMI connection allowed TV sound.
fluffydelusions
Member
My roommate did a quick overview if anyone wants to see if it's worth installing. It's just extremely barebones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS4sTG_Fueg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS4sTG_Fueg
I didn't have spare HD at hand but i got it "working" on virtualbox. Well the desktop part at least.
Here is some info about the procedure http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/0/648814395797000712/
Here is some info about the procedure http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/0/648814395797000712/
Partial Gamification
Banned
I had to look at the wiki and just took some snips. My mostly uniformed understanding is that you are right on the fence but leaning toward UEFI.
edit:
I get error
Mutanthands
Member
Trying the Clonezilla method now. Seems to be much easier, and they've straightened out the server, so it didn't take long to download.
Coolbgdog12
Member
Pfft. I can literally just click big picture mode and I'm using SteamOS.
Intheflorsh
Banned
To be fair, they did say steamOS would essentially be like BPM.
Agreed. I'm hoping they have a little more customized desktop. Gnome is great and all but I was hoping for some steam integrated stuff.
That doesn't seem like the point of steam OS.
TouchMyBox
Member
Yep, without a hitch.
I've done a stage 1 gentoo install though so I've seen some shit.
It's not the point of SteamOS in the short-term. In the long term I imagine they would wish to make it a suitable alternative OS for desktops.
The point of SteamOS is so Valve doesn't have to rely on anyone . I don't see what that has to do with my comment.
Not if you're not on Ubuntu you aren't.
But yeah: Right now it's just Ubuntu booting into Steam Big Picture automatically until you tell it "no, I want to go to Desktop" (kinda like Win 8 and Mehtro. *GASP*) and then it's a "normal" Unbuntu machine.
Exuro said:
May come later, but hopefully that's something on Valve's agenda since KDE/Gnome both leave a little more to be desired in comparison to Windows/OS X's GUI/interfaces.
UnrealEck
Member
I was expecting it to be essentially you turn on your PC, it boots right into big picture mode and you don't see anything else. I'd assume that's what they were going for and maybe have an option in the menu to exit to the desktop for advanced users to add stuff to the system.
Edit there actually is an option to have access to the desktop.
Edit there actually is an option to have access to the desktop.
Thanks for the link!
I did install alsa-base via the debian repos, but it didn't help.
However, plugging my computer into my TV fixed everything. Looks like it's no joke that Steam OS is for set top Steam Machines - audio and video work out of the box super smooth over HDMI.
Launching and exiting games is MUCH BETTER than PC or Linux BPM - it feels like a console. It's hard to describe what I mean by this, except that there's a smooth transition where the UI fades out and the game fades in, rather than a window popping over like a traditional OS. I played Super Meat Boy, Fez, Rogue Legacy, and Monaco with no tearing or issues whatsoever. Some more intense games like Brutal Legend, Trine 2 and Strike Suit Zero are installing now.
I'm much more impressed than I thought I would be. For now, this is definitely not something to install on your main box - Steam OS is not hooked up to the right repositories to easily install other applications. But as a console equivalent it's better than I expected by a long shot.
*edit* as for booting, they haven't 100% gotten rid of the slight "dirt" of a Linux boot - you see grub for a fraction of a second before it auto forwards you to the Steam booter. Other than that and the fact that you see your BIOS, it could be a console boot. It's also super slow on my drive, but I'm using an old 400GB drive my girlfriend had lying around which doesn't have a lot of life left in it.
*edit2* It was my perspective that they were looking for a system that smoothly boots into BPM and smooths out the game->steam->game transitions of BPM. And they have achieved that. I should try and install EUIV and see what happens with it's launcher, though.
Coolbgdog12
Member
Cool trying that out now.
Syphon Filter
Member
..it's big picture mode.
xBladeM6x
Member
A perfect example of not reading making myself look derpy.
StalkerUKCG
Banned
I have a system that boots into XBMC and I can launch steam big picture mode straight from that. All using a Xbox controller. I have emulators launching from within steam also. What benefits would Steam OS provide for me?
Right now I can't see any.
Right now I can't see any.
Syphon Filter
Member
with steam os nearly out i hope they revamp the client for windows like in 2010.
That new smooth compositor is the most interesting part for me right now. You can apparently install the new steamos stuff on regular debian install too. It's not a "true" steamos of course but nice for testing purposes. I'm pretty sure other distros like ubuntu would also work fine with it. I'll test this later. Here is some info http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395815055799/
It is not ubuntu, it is Debian.
It is using a patched 3.10 kernel with the RT patch set and it also is using a heavily modified compositor.
The Tofunator
Member
Any chance someone with SteamOS could put that wallpaper shown onto imgur? I like that more than the two on SteamDB.
That's because there aren't any right now. It's a beta. A real-ass, shit-ain't-done-yet beta.
Installed it in my old PS3 120GB HDD. But ever since I changed my internet provider, I can't get a connection on linux (tried like 5 different distros) so I couldn't do much.
"steamos" shows up on my boot list even after unplugging this HDD. I will try to clear the CMOS later.
NOTE: it won't work on a GPT USB disk, change it to MBR before.
"steamos" shows up on my boot list even after unplugging this HDD. I will try to clear the CMOS later.
NOTE: it won't work on a GPT USB disk, change it to MBR before.
Sir Abacus
Member
Because UEFI will automatically boot from \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI copied to a FAT32 formatted USB key by some moron while booting via BIOS would require you to fuck around with installing a boot loader like GRUB to a USB key which requires special utilities to do from Windows. Given that most idiots have trouble enough dragging and dropping to a FAT32 formatted USB key this is probably the correct choice.
That being said, there's a perfectly serviceable vmlinuz sitting in the install.386 directory. If you know what you're doing making a BIOS bootable USB key using GRUB should be fairly easy.