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I am new to ubuntu/linux.

My question will be about installing steam on my second ext4 formatted hdd.

Mind you, not just the downloaded steam games but the steam program and the games. (once i install steam program then i know there is an option to choose the game installation directory from within steam application)

So the hdd is clean without any data on it, it is formatted as ex4 and when I click the mount option from the default gnome disk application, it automatically mounts the hdd as /media/"myname"/"data" where data is the volume label of the disk.

I want to install steam on this disk and just keep it for steam games and gaming purposes.

By now, you must have understood that i could not have yet figured out the linux file system by a long shot, however i intend to.

This is all windows' fault as all we learn in computers these days is where to click and where to double click. When we want more, we just right click.

Anyhow, good riddance for me.

Question: Can steam app/client/program be installed on the above mentioned drive and how ? Do you guys predict any problems for me to face should i manage to do so ?

thanks a lot.

(i suspect i might have broken a few ask ubuntu rules in this post but hey, this is my very first question about linux ever)

edit: i don't have windows on my system. Just ubuntu 18.04

SY CANKIZ
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1 Answers1

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Hey great question for your first. Since you are new to linux as a whole, I'll describe how I went about answering your question.

Now, linux has a bunch of installers varying across distributions, like windows has .exe and .msi based installers. If you look at the steam installer from the website its a .deb package. That package is meant for debian. But, since Ubuntu is a debian derivative most .deb packages seem to work here.

Great, so now we need to know if we can install .deb packages to a specific location. Take a look at this answer about the same. After reading the answer, if you looked into the package the way @soulsource said, you realize we are in the unlucky category where the files have to go where it has to, else steam will not work.

So, what can we do? There are a bunch of alternatives suggested in the shared answer - but, here's my 5 cents.

  1. I don't know about your usage of Ubuntu, but if it is just for steam, may I suggest you install Ubuntu on that HDD itself and let the installer work the way it should and as an added bonus you get to leave your games on the same drive.
  2. Another way that I'd like to suggest is (I haven't tried it, since I don't want to install steam on my Ubuntu) is you play with chroot. Use the install prefix dir mentioned in the shared answer and then copy over whatever is actually required by steam from your actual root file system to your folder, preserving directory hierarchy and write a script to chroot to the folder and then call steam's executable.
  3. Here is the last one I got, install steamOS on that other HDD of yours and don't worry about a thing. It has automatic driver updates (including for graphics) and all the other good stuff.

1 and 3 are by far the easiest. 2 is the toughest, tougher than most answers you will find, but if you experiment with 2 you will learn a great deal about the Linux FS and more because it harder to do this for GUI apps XD. Among the easiest, I would prefer 3 since Valve takes care of everything so that your games always run.

Sam Thomas
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  • excellent and right to the point. you gotta love people who get what you mean... – SY CANKIZ Jul 28 '18 at 17:07
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    now for the first option, i intend to use ubuntu/linux as whatever one daily uses their computer for; nothing less and nothing more. but since i want to keep it clean and safe, i will go for option 3 and install steam os on the said drive. thanks. and i've read the referred post in your message and from what i understand, the file system in linux is like one main kitchen in the house where everyone uses the same cookware to cook where as in windows you have a kitchen and cookware for each and every room in the house. – SY CANKIZ Jul 28 '18 at 17:15
  • @SYCANKIZ Glad to help. Accept the answer if you think it’s a good fit.. it’s the tick-mark right below the up and down arrows used to vote – Sam Thomas Jul 28 '18 at 17:34
  • @SYCANKIZ also you can access the linux desktop thats part of SteamOS. so win-win i guess – Sam Thomas Jul 28 '18 at 17:36
  • i have accepted. my vote for the best answer doesn't count yet. now off to another search for me, to install the steam os on a separate drive on a linux system, w/o windows :) – SY CANKIZ Jul 28 '18 at 17:38
  • @SYCANKIZ https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown – Sam Thomas Jul 28 '18 at 17:50
  • the link you have given doesn't work for me. it boots to ubuntu although i have booted from the selected the usb disk, properly prepared as per your link. may be i will disconnect my primary hdd and force boot into steam os from the only boot option remained but then again what about the dual boot whence i insert the primary hdd with ubuntu on it ? – SY CANKIZ Jul 28 '18 at 18:35
  • Wow, that’s something you will have to find out and post the answer QnA style – Sam Thomas Jul 28 '18 at 18:48
  • OK. QnA style. i keep drifting into forum styles. over and out :) – SY CANKIZ Jul 28 '18 at 18:50