Steam OS: system requirements and instructions for installing a new OS. Review of SteamOS and Steam Machine: cooperation system and Linux console Installing steamos
But SteamOS is not as smooth as we would like. Below we will share our impressions of working with the system and present the results of some tests. The SteamOS system itself is very economical. If you want to try the latest beta, you will need a computer with a 64-bit AMD or Intel processor. As for video cards, all popular NVIDIA and AMD models no older than AMD/ATI Radeon 8500 are supported. Systems with integrated Intel graphics can be used.
As for memory, Valve recommends at least 4096 MB of RAM, and at least 500 GB of free space on the hard drive. But installation is also possible on less capacious HDDs and SSDs, but if you install games via Steam, you will need additional space - some modern games take up more than 50 GB. SteamOS itself takes up almost six gigabytes on the hard drive. It is recommended to install on a system that supports UEFI.
SteamOS system requirements:
- 64-bit Intel or AMD processor
- At least 4096 MB of RAM
- At least 500 MB of disk space
- Modern AMD, NVIDIA or Intel GPUs
- UEFI support recommended (for installation via USB stick)
Installation
Valve officially supports three ways to install the latest SteamOS beta. On the official page the installation is described as very simple, but in reality everything is more complicated. Since the ASUS ROG GR8 does not have an optical drive, we first decided to use a USB stick. There are two options: you can choose automatic installation by default, which will download a 2.5 GB zip archive from the Internet. Or you can choose a custom installation, in which case you will need to download about one gigabyte. Both options assume a system with UEFI.
If you download the ZIP archive yourself, you will need a USB key with a capacity of at least 4 GB, formatted in the FAT file system with the volume label "SYSRESTORE". The files from the ZIP archive must be extracted to a USB stick. If, like the author, you are used to Mac OS X, where ZIP files are automatically unpacked after downloading, then you need to be careful here. Simply dragging files from the archive onto a USB key does not work, since hidden files are not copied by default. And the installation utility will not start in this case.
After preparing the USB drive, you should boot from it via UEFI. On our ASUS ROG GR8 system, the installation did not work because the utility required a DVD drive with working installation media. So we decided to install SteamOS not from a USB drive, but from the installation DVD. We connected an external DVD drive to the system. And the third method, which is not described in detail on the site, allowed us to successfully install SteamOS.
After successful installation, the system booted directly into the Debian interface and first attempted to download and install the update over the Internet. Unfortunately, the update process is necessary for the subsequent launch of the Steam interface. However, the installed version of SteamOS did not recognize our WLAN module - we had to later install a compatible driver manually. Of course, no one bothers you to connect the system with an Ethernet cable and then perform the update. The update size was only 200 MB; after another restart, SteamOS started automatically in “Big Picture” mode. You only need to enter your Steam account information, after which you can begin to fully work with the system.
It seems to us that the final version of SteamOS could use a simpler installation procedure. If you want to try SteamOS in a virtual environment, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with.
Interface
As we described above, the SteamOS interface is the Big Picture mode of the Steam client. Games can be installed directly from the "Shop" tab of the store or through the "Library" tab. Games supported by the SteamOS platform are marked. Of course, all the necessary settings are available. If you want to switch to the Debian interface and use other programs, such as the office suite, you first need to check the appropriate box in the settings. You can then use the exit button to access an alternative interface. We provided additional screenshots on the previous page.
Comparison tests
Conducting comparison tests between Linux and Windows systems based on SteamOS is not so easy, also due to the limited number of games. There is a game called Metro 2033: Last Light on SteamOS, but there are no SteamOS versions of the popular tests that exist on Windows. In addition, it is not possible to measure the frame rate in an arbitrary scene, since there is no alternative to Fraps either. All that remains is to be content with the built-in game tests - under the same “old lady” Half Life 2: Lost Coast. It's good that different Unigine tests are available for Windows and Linux systems. Below is a small selection of available tests.
| Test | SteamOS | Windows 8.1 |
| Half Life 2: Lost Coast | 149.5 FPS | 204.7 FPS |
| Unigine Heaven 4.0 | 17.2 FPS | 19.6 / 18.2 FPS (DX/OpenGL) |
| Unigine Valley 1.0 | 16.5 FPS | 18.5 / 23.2 FPS (DX/OpenGL) |
All tests show lower performance under SteamOS. This particularly applies to the game Half Life 2: Lost Coast, where the Linux version was almost 25 percent slower. We did not find any significant differences between Windows 8.1 and SteamOS in the Unigine test; at least when using one rendering path, the system running DirectX runs a little faster.
Prospects for SteamOS
Any undertaking is not without its difficulties, so it is not surprising that Valve had to overcome many obstacles in the development of SteamOS. It uses a different platform than Windows, a different rendering path, which is why there are so few games for SteamOS today. Therefore, it is not surprising that today there are just over 1,700 games available for the platform (SteamOS or Linux). That is, about half as many games as are available for Mac OS X. 1,700 games seems like a lot, but most of these games belong to the “indie” category, and there are very few AAA hits among them. The situation is unlikely to change in the future, since most developers focus on the most popular platforms, for PC gamers - Windows and DirectX. In addition, DirectX 12 will provide additional performance gains, and Microsoft will soon introduce a new Windows 10 operating system for various devices. It will provide closer integration between desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets.
If high performance and a rich selection of games are important to you, then it is better to still use the Windows system. But SteamOS not only allows you to run games directly on your gaming system, but also stream the game from a powerful desktop PC. So if you already have a decent gaming PC at home, then with the help you can display the game on a mini PC in the living room. Moreover, a mini-PC for this task does not necessarily need to be equipped with powerful hardware. The cheapest filling is enough. This is where SteamOS will be able to show its full potential, especially since it is available for free compared to Windows. We also note lower hardware requirements. So SteamOS allows you to save money in such situations.
On the other hand, the timing was not chosen to launch SteamOS. If SteamOS systems had hit the market a few years earlier, the outlook would have been more favorable. Still, the new generation of consoles has been on sale for several months now, and many gamers have already switched to the new generation. In addition, we should not forget about the high price of the Steam Machine compared to a console, which can be purchased from 400 euros. For ASUS ROG GR8 you will have to pay twice as much.
Preface
The guide does not translate various phrases that will appear during the installation of SteamOS and on the system itself, since Valve has not yet provided translation strings for the “Steam Translation Server”. When the system is translated into Russian, I will translate the necessary lines.
The translation was prepared specifically for.
What is SteamOS?
How to get to the desktop on SteamOS? All I see is Steam.
To get to the SteamOS desktop, it must be enabled in Steam settings. Select "Settings" (the gear icon at the top right), then select "Interface" and check the "Enable access to the Linux desktop" box. Now the "Exit" button will have an additional option - "Return to Desktop", which will allow you to switch to the SteamOS desktop.
To return to Steam, click on the “Return to Steam” icon.
How are SteamOS accounts configured?
SteamOS comes with two standard accounts. The first is "steam", where Steam and games are launched. This is a non-privileged account. The second is the “desktop”, where the SteamOS desktop is located, on which you can run any non-Steam applications. This account can also use the "sudo" command to gain administrator rights after you set a password.
Please note that these are SteamOS accounts and are not associated with any Steam logins. Even if you decide to log in with multiple Steam accounts, those users will share that desktop and accounts.
How to root SteamOS?
Using a desktop account ("desktop" account) you can become a SteamOS superuser (root), but in this case you will need to set a password.
To set a password, open a terminal window while logged into your desktop account, then type “passwd.” Enter your new password twice.
You can now use the "sudo" command to perform various operations that are native to being a superuser.
I am a beta tester for Steam Machines. How do I get support for SteamOS?
If you have a "Steam Machine", then you should have received an email. a letter inviting you to create an account on Valve's public bug tracker.
Once you create this account, you will be able to use Valve's Bug Reporting app, which will be available on the SteamOS desktop. You will need to connect a keyboard to your SteamOS machine to enter error details. You can also bring up the Error Reporting app by pressing "Win + B". Using "Win + B" is very useful if you want to create a bug report on Steam or a game.
If, for some reason, you cannot use the Valve error reporting application, then you can access it from any browser.
SteamOS is faulty. How to return a working version?
The standard installation of SteamOS includes creating a system recovery partition. You can use this section to return the system to its original form. Steam, games and desktop changes will be saved. To use the recovery partition, you will need to connect a keyboard.
- Continuously press the "ESC" key during boot until you get to the SteamOS boot menu.
- Select "Restore System Partition".
- The system will start and confirmation of actions will be required.
- After restoring your system drive, the system will boot into SteamOS again.
These operations will completely format the disk and return the machine to its original form. Games and changes to the desktop will be lost. To use the boot disk, you will need to connect your keyboard to your SteamOS machine.
- Turn off your PC and then turn it on.
- Press F11 while the system is booting to get to the boot menu.
- Select "UEFI: Centon Centon USB 8.07" to enter the SteamOS boot recovery menu.
- Select "Restore Entire Disk".
- The PC will be reinstalled again.
- When the process is complete, the PC will turn off.
- Turn on your PC to boot into SteamOS.
SteamOS doesn't support my hardware. How to install drivers?
Drivers for SteamOS are supplied as part of the system image and are already integrated by Valve. Valve will integrate new and updated drivers from time to time. The driver installation process should be no different from any other distribution in the Debian community. Otherwise, Valve will repackage new drivers and release them again.
On New Year's Eve, you want to take a break from your daily routine and pay attention to something new. For the soul.
When a few years ago Valve announced the development of its own Linux distribution based on Debian, “tailored” for computer games, I wondered how such a gaming Linux could compete with Windows. It's time to take a closer look at it.
You need to start installing SteamOS by obtaining the distribution, which can be found on this page.
I chose the DVD image as a convenient option for burning to a flash drive or DVD. And when using a virtual machine, it is very easy to load it.
Since Valve’s operating system still hasn’t left beta status, it’s the virtual machine option that I’ll try. You can get acquainted with VirtualBox.
We boot from the downloaded image, and here we have the system installation menu:
I chose expert installation mode. Moreover, one can call him an expert rather conditionally. It will not require any special knowledge from a person who has already installed operating systems on a computer.
By selecting this option, we will immediately see the familiar Debian installer with the SteamOS branding at the top.
After standard questions about the language and keyboard layout, the most common installation of the operating system will begin.
The system will ask a number of more questions, after which it will greet us with the familiar bootloader, at the bottom of which the Debian inscription will modestly flaunt.
After the initial boot, the system first rushed to update the Steam client. Then I continued with the initial setup.
After that, SteamOS rebooted and greeted me with a black screen and the sounds of Steam launching in Big Picture mode. If it weren’t for this sound, I might have thought that the system had frozen, but it became clear that we needed to “dig” towards the video card.
Well, let's do some magic with graphics in VirtualBox.
The first step is to go to your virtual machine's display settings and enable 3D acceleration. It is also recommended to set more video memory; it won't hurt.
Then we boot our machine again with SteamOS installed. Again we admire the black screen and click Ctrl+Alt+F1 to minimize the graphical shell and get into the Linux terminal. To perform operations with the system, you can use the user desktop .
By default, this user does not have a password; you can create one using
passwdYou will be asked to come up with a password and repeat it.
But let's get back to solving the graphics problem. First of all, we need to remove the package from nVidia. This is done by a team
apt-get purge ".*nvidia.*"Please note that this and subsequent commands must be entered as root.
After this, you need to reconfigure X.Org Server.
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorgNow you need to connect the guest OS Additions disk image. This is done through the Devices menu of your virtual machine.
Mounting the Guest OS Additions disk image in VirtualBox This disk needs to be mounted on our system with the command
mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdromthen run the installation of add-ons
sh /media/cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions.runThe result should be something like this:
After this, restart the computer
rebootAfter all these manipulations, SteamOS will delight us with its graphical shell and ask us once again to select a language and time zone.
When logging into SteamOS for the first time After this, you will be able to log into your Steam account or create a new one.
Upon entering, we will see the familiar Steam in Big Picture mode. It is obvious that Valve considers this operating system primarily as an OS for media set-top boxes that will be connected to a TV. Let's try to get to the desktop. By default we were protected from it. Even the exit button only allows you to restart the device or turn it off.
The ability to go to the desktop is enabled in the interface settings. True, all these actions must be done under a Steam account. Otherwise, the settings are greatly reduced, and the meaning of SteamOS is lost as such.
We get to the settings by clicking the gear icon.
Enabling Desktop Access on SteamOS After this, the exit button will acquire new functionality, and we will be able to get to the desktop. 
The list of installed applications is reduced to a minimum, but no one bothers you to install new ones. But here the question is, why do this? After all, there is no point in taking a stripped-down Debian/Ubuntu distribution and then turning it into a full-fledged system.
Summarize. Before us is a highly specialized system, designed not even for personal computers, but for the so-called Steam Machine . Valve is not trying to make a broad offensive against Windows and game consoles at the same time. Now we are talking purely about conquering living rooms, where there should be a Steam Machine under the TV instead of a PlayStation or Xbox. Well, according to Valve. 🙂
So, should I bet? Definitely not on a personal computer. It’s much easier to install the Steam client on your Linux/Windows/OS X and not have any troubles. If you have a computer that you want to use as a gaming computer in your living room, then why not? The Steam skin is mature enough to give you a fun gaming experience in front of your TV. The question here will be about hardware performance, but that’s a completely different story. 🙂
After the release of Windows 8, Gabe Newell launched into an angry tirade and even said that the new OS was a disaster for the game industry, and that he would have to rely on Linux systems. After this, a rumor appeared about Gabe's alleged words that Half life 3 will be exclusive to Linux. Then everyone just laughed at it. But at the end of last year Valve published a large development program for its game sales service Steam, within which several new features were announced, such as Family Sharing,In-Home Streaming,Steam Music and others. But the main novelty from the valves was the entire operating system. Yes, yes, built on Linux.
For now Steam OS is at the beta testing stage and is, in fact, a mode Big Picture, into which new services were immediately built Steam. The system itself is absolutely free and is based on Debian. The developers immediately dotted the i’s and stated that "V SteamOS Graphics and audio processing performance has been significantly improved, and latency when using input tools at the operating system level has also been reduced."
Steam OS installed in recently sent to testers Steam Machines. Also, the appearance of the system was favorably received by game developers. Creator Minecraft,Markus Persson, described the operating system as "amazing news" and the developer Thomas Was AloneMike Bithell called it an "encouragement" for indie games. Other developers such as DICE, creators of the Battlefield series, and Creative Assembly, developers of the Total War series, have said they plan to support their games on SteamOS.
So what does it have to offer? Steam OS so to speak, out of the box?
- Steam Family Library Sharing- A service currently available to all Steam users that allows you to share your library with your family or close friends whom you trust and are not afraid to give your password. The principle of the service is simple: If, say, you have a brother in your family who also has his own account, and you play each other’s games, then you can authorize him on your computer, and you won’t have to constantly switch your and your brother’s accounts. After authorization, your games will be available in your brother’s library, and his in yours. There are restrictions on sharing games that use subscriptions to other services, for example, Max Payne 3 requires a connection to the Rockstar social club, and they do not accept sharing games. More information about the service can be found on the official group page.
- In-Home Streaming- The essence of the service is to play a game on a computer that is physically running on another computer. For example, your brother was given a laptop, but the game he is interested in is on your computer, in your room. But you don’t let him in because you’re kissing your girlfriend. So, so that he stays away from you and doesn’t scrape under the door, this function has been created. You launch a game on your computer and your brother plays it in the living room. Account holders Steam can sign up for a test of this service. Join the group and wait for an invitation.
- Steam Music- A service that adds to Steam music player. You can load any music into it and listen to it while playing. Gabe is also threatening to add a radio to the player and the ability to buy music from the store Steam. If you want to try, then also join the group and wait for an invitation.
And this is just the beginning. Valve promises to expand functionality Steam in future.
As you can see, there are a lot of advances issued for the new OS. And if you remember that Gabe Newell has never done anything that failed, then you can expect that Steam OS There is a chance
- We set ourselves
Well, now, if you haven't fallen asleep yet reading this and you're still interested, let's try to install Steam OS. We will install it on a virtual machine.Preparation
1. The first thing we need to download is the distribution itself. Since the operating system Valve tied to UEFI, I recommend taking the untethered version.
2. You will need it yourself VirtualBox which you can download from the official websiteInstallation process
1. First you need to create a new virtual machine. Let's launch VirtualBox and click "Create". 
- In the pop-up menu, give any name to the new virtual machine. In the remaining windows, select: Linux type, Debian version (64-bit).
- Afterwards, you can simply press “Next”. I allocated 1024MB of memory. The hard drive was allocated 8GB of space. If you just clicked “Next”, then it doesn’t matter how much memory you allocate, the system will dynamically load as much as it needs.
4. The machine has been created, now we will use it. Select the newly created machine and press the "Configure" button. 
- In the "Display" tab, put a tick in the checkbox "Enable 3D acceleration". We bring the “Video memory” parameter to at least 128 MB.
- In the "Media" tab we indicate the secondary IDE master the path to the previously downloaded iso image from SteamOS.
- . Save and press the “Run” button.
8. Click next each time until the installation begins. The installation took me 8 minutes.
9. After installation, you will only need to log in. Login and password steam/steam(Just write login - steam, password - steam Same.)
10. Done! We're on the desktop!The installation process itself is now complete. That's all. Now you can evaluate the new OS from Valve and feel it with your hands.
SteamOS is an open source operating system from Valve, based on Debian GNU/Linux and the GNOME desktop environment.
SteamOS is a free Linux distribution based on the powerful Debian 8 OS, codenamed Debian Jessie, and natively supports the Steam computer game distribution platform. The system is designed for gamers, with the Steam service being the main product used by users to play video games on Linux.
SteamOS Review
Supports computers with UEFI and BIOS
Surprisingly, Valve chose Linux to create an open source gaming operating system. However, users still have the ability to sideload other Linux applications on SteamOS, thanks to the traditional desktop environment that has become GNOME. SteamOS is built on the latest versions of the Linux kernel and supports machines with UEFI and BIOS, a wide range of graphics cards including Nvidia and ATI, as well as modern hardware components.
Mandatory installation
Unfortunately, SteamOS cannot be used as a LiveCD from a USB flash drive or DVD; the system must be installed locally on a hard drive or SSD. Valve provides two installation methods: as a Debian installer - SteamOSInstaller.zip for UEFI systems and SteamOSDVD.iso for non-UEFI systems.
Choose between GNOME and SteamOS desktop environments
Once installed, you can choose between two sessions, one called SteamOS Desktop, where you will encounter a familiar GNOME-based environment, and the second is a Steam session, where you can log into your Steam account and enjoy games. GNOME Session includes various open source applications, including the Brasero burning tool, Evince document viewer, Eye of GNOME image viewer, Iceweasel web browser, GNOME Terminal, GNOME Dictionary, and GNOME Screenshot tool.
Designed for Steam Machines
Valve conceived SteamOS as the operating system for the Steam Machines gaming console. However, any user can install SteamOS and enjoy gaming in a Linux environment.
