In the event you’re envious of the Steam Deck expertise or on the lookout for another to Home windows 11, you are in luck. You may set up the Steam Deck’s working system, SteamOS, on your gaming PC totally free utilizing Valve’s official SteamOS restoration picture.
Whereas Valve would not assure help for each PC but, SteamOS can run on most AMD-powered methods. It solely took an hour to get it up and working on my PC and you are able to do the identical.
Earlier than You Get Began
There are a pair stuff you’ll want to set up SteamOS on your PC, and some issues it’s best to know earlier than attempting this.
For starters, SteamOS hasn’t had a full PC launch but, so it is solely formally supported on a handful of units. You may nonetheless strive to set up it on PCs that do not have official help, however as a basic rule, SteamOS works finest with all-AMD methods. In case you have an Nvidia GPU or an Intel processor, you are extra doubtless to run into points. For this information, I put in SteamOS on a PC with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G CPU and Radeon built-in graphics.
It is also essential to be aware that SteamOS is a distribution of Linux, which implies apps which are solely obtainable on Home windows will not run on it. Most video games that require kernel-level anti-cheat aren’t appropriate, both.
To get SteamOS put in on your PC, you may want an empty USB drive with not less than 8GB of area. I additionally advocate having a second storage gadget on hand, whether or not it is an exterior onerous drive or a USB thumb drive, to again up your PC beforehand.
How to Install SteamOS
1. Backup your PC
Putting in SteamOS requires wiping your PC’s drive, so I like to recommend backing up all the pieces on your PC first. I exploit an exterior onerous drive to again up all my information, however you should utilize any drive you want, together with cloud storage. The essential factor is to save your information on a unique drive than the one you are planning to set up SteamOS on (do not use the USB drive you are going to put your SteamOS restoration picture on, both).
In case you have a number of drives on your gaming PC and need to be sure that information on your different drives is not wiped whereas putting in SteamOS, it is a good suggestion to bodily take away these drives out of your PC.
2. Obtain the SteamOS restoration picture
After backing up your PC, obtain the official SteamOS recovery image. This accommodates the default model of SteamOS that ships with the Steam Deck. It is designed for restoring a Steam Deck (or one other appropriate handheld gaming PC, just like the Lenovo Legion Go S) if one thing occurs to your authentic set up, however you can even use this restoration picture for a brand new set up of SteamOS. After downloading the zip file, extract it.
3. Flash the SteamOS restoration picture to a USB thumb drive
The subsequent step is creating bootable media with the SteamOS restoration picture and an empty USB drive. Make certain the drive you employ has not less than 8GB of storage on it and would not have every other information (the drive will get wiped within the course of of making your bootable media).
To do that, you want a disk picture writing device like BalenaEtcher or Rufus. I used BalenaEtcher. With the empty USB thumb drive plugged in, I chosen “Flash from file” and selected the SteamOS restoration picture extracted from the zip file, then chosen the USB thumb drive because the vacation spot. It might take a number of minutes to flash the SteamOS restoration picture onto your drive. As soon as it is performed, shut down your PC.
4. Boot into the BIOS on your PC and replace your boot precedence
Subsequent, flip your PC again on, however ensure you boot into your BIOS (not your working system). If you do not know the BIOS key to your PC, you will discover it by checking the guide to your motherboard (or laptop computer). Delete and escape are frequent BIOS keys. As your PC is beginning again up, repeatedly press your BIOS key.
The BIOS seems to be completely different relying on your PC, however the setting you want to replace is your boot precedence. This determines which drive your PC boots into first. Ensure you have your USB drive with the SteamOS restoration picture plugged in and set it as the primary possibility in your boot precedence. Save the adjustments and exit your BIOS (which is able to begin the common booting course of).
5. Boot into SteamOS restoration picture
After exiting the BIOS, your PC ought to try to boot into the drive with the SteamOS restoration picture. It could take a couple of minutes for SteamOS to begin up. At first, all you may see is scrolling traces of textual content on a black display screen – that is Linux going by way of the SteamOS startup guidelines. As soon as it is full, your display screen will go black, doubtlessly for a number of minutes, whereas SteamOS is launching.
Ultimately, the SteamOS desktop atmosphere will present up, however this may additionally take a couple of minutes, so depart your PC alone whereas it will get all the pieces up and working. When it is prepared, your mouse and toolbar will seem on display screen, together with 4 icons alongside the highest of your display screen.
To put in SteamOS, double click on the icon labeled “Wipe System & Install SteamOS.” You will get a pop up warning you that this course of will completely delete all the pieces on your gadget. In the event you’re positive you need to go forward with the set up, choose “Proceed.”
6. Enable SteamOS to set up on your PC
After permitting the SteamOS set up to start, a terminal will seem on your display screen. Do not shut it or try to change something in it – this terminal is working the SteamOS set up. Do not try to do anything within the desktop atmosphere whereas that is working, both.
When the method is full, you may see a pop up asking if you need to proceed with a reboot. Choose “Proceed” and let your PC restart. This may additionally take a couple of minutes, so do not hit your energy button or unplug your system.
7. Reboot and setup SteamOS
After rebooting, it’s best to see the SteamOS welcome display screen. Undergo the steps on display screen to get your PC arrange. Once you’re performed, SteamOS will seek for updates, obtain them, and restart once more. After that, it’s best to see the Steam sign-in web page. Log in and you will be good to go!
SteamOS will launch in Steam’s Huge Image Mode because it’s designed for handheld gaming PCs, however you may navigate it with a mouse and keyboard if you need (or a controller). It additionally has a standard desktop atmosphere exterior of Steam the place you may set up different apps, like Discord, and use your PC for every other regular duties like net shopping. To maneuver from Steam to your common desktop atmosphere, choose the Menu button within the backside left, then “Energy” then “Change to Desktop.”
Tip: Epic Video games and GOG do not have Linux apps, however you may play appropriate video games from these apps on your SteamOS PC utilizing the Heroic Games launcher.
Cannot Install SteamOS? Strive These Different Linux Distributions
SteamOS would not have a full PC launch but, so it will not work on each system. If you cannot get it working together with your {hardware}, your finest guess is to set up a unique Linux distribution till SteamOS will get a full launch.
The primary various I like to recommend is Bazzite. This is among the finest Linux distributions for gaming, particularly in the event you’re new to Linux. Bazzite even works on handheld gaming PCs, in the event you’re wanting to substitute Home windows 11 on your handheld.
If Bazzite is not your cup of tea, beginner-friendly distributions like Fedora, Ubuntu, and Mint are additionally good choices. Due to their reputation, it is simple to discover troubleshooting assist for these distributions and every might be configured to resemble Home windows or macOS if you need a extra acquainted desktop atmosphere.
Stevie Bonifield is a contract tech journalist who has written for IGN, PC Gamer, Tom’s Information, and Laptop computer Magazine, protecting all the pieces from customized keyboards to gaming on Linux.