If you fancy trying out StemOS without the need to invest on expensive hardware’s, then this post would guide you on how to install SteamOS on a Virtual Machine using Oracle VirtualBox. I am testing this on VirtualBox version 4.3.10. The performance on a Virtual Machine cannot be compared to installing on an actual physical machine but using a VM would suffice for test purposes.
Heads Up: You must exercise patience if you are to successfully install SteamOS on VirtualBox 🙂
Step 1: Download latest VirtualBox and Install
[button link=”https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads” style=”download” color=”primary”]Download VirtualBox Manager[/button]
Step 2: Download SteamOS ISO
– An ISO file had been made available for ease of installation
[button link=”http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSDVD.iso” style=”download” color=”primary”]Download SteamOS ISO[/button]
Step 3: Create new Virtual Machine
– Create a New Virtual Machine and use recommended settings below
– Under new VM settings, click on System > Motherboard and enable ‘Enable EFI (special OSes only)’
– Under Display > Video, set Video Memory to max (128); check the box ‘Enable 3D Acceleration’
– Under Storage, click the disk icon and choose the downloaded ISO
– Set your Network to Bridged Adapter
Step 4: Install SteamOS
– Start the VM, choose Automated install and press Enter
– Wait until is completed. System will auto reboot
– Choose (recovery Mode) immediately and press Enter
– This should load into Linux terminal
Step 5: Remove NVIDIA Package
– Remove NVIDIA
– Regenerate a new configuration file
Step 6: Install VirtualBox Guest Additions
– Click on Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD image. Then mount the CD-ROM, Install and Reboot VM
– System will reboot into GNU GRUB screen. Select the first option and Enter
– When SteamOS desktop appears, Steam Update would start immediately
– After the update, for some reasons, the Partclone ran. After this bit completes, restart the VM
Step 7: Final Config
Note: At first when the system rebooted, I changed the directory to ‘FS0:’ but noticed that when I list the directory, it was showing contents of the VirtualBox Guest Additions tool. So to fix this, I had to shutdown the VM, under settings I unmounted the CD then reboot again
– On reboot, you will be presented with this screen. At the console, first type ‘FS0:‘ as Fox, Sugar, Zero, colon
– Then type ‘efi\steamos\grubx64.efi‘. Enter and wait for system to reboot
– If everything goes well, you should have your steam desktop with you. You can launch Steam by double-clicking on the Steam icon
Troubleshooting:
For those whose screen might be showing blank as I experienced, you need to ensure that your machine meets the supported hardware requirements. In my case, I have an Intel graphics card which isn’t supported yet 🙁
SteamOS Hardware Requirement
- Intel or AMD 64-bit capable processor
- 4GB or more memory
- 500GB or larger disk
- NVIDIA graphics card (AMD and Intel graphics support coming soon)
- UEFI boot support
- USB port for installation
If you fancy loading to the desktop:
- Press Ctrl+Alt+F1
- From console screen, enter username as ‘desktop’ with no password
- Next type ‘Startx’ to start the Desktop
- If you want to go further, open a terminal and type ‘steam’ to load steam
I will acquire an Nvidia PCI graphics card and try this on a desktop machine and update this post