4 ms·

Does anyone know if this can be installed in VirtualBox? I'd like to try it, but I don't feel like setting up a new computer for it or dual booting.

voltagex_ 13y ago
I suspect so, it's based on Debian 7.1. The main problem is they seem to have put it on a single server instead of the Steam CDN and now no one's able to download it
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  If you use wget, the download'll resume automatically whenever it chokes: wget http://repo.steamstatic.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip But it's choking every percent for me, so I doubt it'll finish.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    wget -c will look for a partial file (so when it bombs out you can just start it again). Sometimes it makes sense to force a file name, that one looks like it will work fine.
- jkrems 13y ago
  They people to use the CDN link and not steamstatic: http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip
tfgg 13y ago
Along these lines, does anyone know the best way to boot from the downloaded zip file in VirtualBox? I'm currently trying to convert the contents to a bootable .iso, but I'm not sure if that'll work.
- jdjb 13y ago
  Use mkisofs to create an iso from the unzipped contents and use the iso like any other install media.
cwyers 13y ago
From the FAQ: "NVIDIA graphics card (AMD and Intel graphics support coming soon)" I believe VirtualBox emulates a graphics card, and not an NVIDIA one, so it may not run even on machines with an Nvidia card.
- wtallis 13y ago
  VirtualBox emulates a generic VESA adapter, with some extensions to pass OpenGL commands to the host (and includes a fork of Wine's Direct3D-on-OpenGL implementation to provide some degree of acceleration for Windows guests). Using a real NVidia GPU from within a VM is possible, but not with VirtualBox, and not with most gaming systems (due to either having necessary hardware features disabled on overclockable Intel CPUs, or AMD systems lacking a second GPU for the host).
voltagex_ 13y ago
Sorry, invalid assumption - it's a zip made to be extracted to a FAT32 drive for UEFI install. This is difficult to do on VirtualBox.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Well, shit. Is there any hope of virtualbox (or even vmware) support?
  - voltagex_ 13y ago
    yes Use another VM or nix install to grab the zip, extract it to a path and run the following: genisoimage -o test2.iso -r -J steamos/ (assuming you extracted the zip to steamos/) I've edited this post to remove most of what I said, the installer as it stands now is designed to work on UEFI compatible systems only and VirtualBox isn't compatible enough. I'm not sure I can be bothered fixing it as the SteamOS TOS forbids distribution of modified versions.
    - sillysaurus2 13y ago
      Oh come on. At least give me a hint on how to fix it. :) You said you got partway through the installation -- did it finish successfully?
      - voltagex_ 13y ago
        Yes, installing an ISO created like that will work, but the way X is configured breaks all of the ttys in VirtualBox. I've got a virtual serial port ready to debug the issue but booting in recovery would work too.
      - voltagex_ 13y ago
        If you're still interested: https://gist.github.com/voltagex/7955961 https://gist.github.com/voltagex/7955961
    - CamperBob2 13y ago
jdjb 13y ago
I got it running under Virtualbox fairly easily. It's not that exciting, just Gnome 3 with a few extra desktop icons. You can choose to login to big picture mode directly from Gdm.

voltagex_ 13y ago

I suspect so, it's based on Debian 7.1. The main problem is they seem to have put it on a single server instead of the Steam CDN and now no one's able to download it

sillysaurus2 13y ago
If you use wget, the download'll resume automatically whenever it chokes: wget http://repo.steamstatic.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip But it's choking every percent for me, so I doubt it'll finish.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  wget -c will look for a partial file (so when it bombs out you can just start it again). Sometimes it makes sense to force a file name, that one looks like it will work fine.
jkrems 13y ago
They people to use the CDN link and not steamstatic: http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip

tfgg 13y ago

Along these lines, does anyone know the best way to boot from the downloaded zip file in VirtualBox? I'm currently trying to convert the contents to a bootable .iso, but I'm not sure if that'll work.

jdjb 13y ago
Use mkisofs to create an iso from the unzipped contents and use the iso like any other install media.

cwyers 13y ago

From the FAQ: "NVIDIA graphics card (AMD and Intel graphics support coming soon)" I believe VirtualBox emulates a graphics card, and not an NVIDIA one, so it may not run even on machines with an Nvidia card.

wtallis 13y ago
VirtualBox emulates a generic VESA adapter, with some extensions to pass OpenGL commands to the host (and includes a fork of Wine's Direct3D-on-OpenGL implementation to provide some degree of acceleration for Windows guests). Using a real NVidia GPU from within a VM is possible, but not with VirtualBox, and not with most gaming systems (due to either having necessary hardware features disabled on overclockable Intel CPUs, or AMD systems lacking a second GPU for the host).

voltagex_ 13y ago

Sorry, invalid assumption - it's a zip made to be extracted to a FAT32 drive for UEFI install. This is difficult to do on VirtualBox.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
Well, shit. Is there any hope of virtualbox (or even vmware) support?
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  yes Use another VM or nix install to grab the zip, extract it to a path and run the following: genisoimage -o test2.iso -r -J steamos/ (assuming you extracted the zip to steamos/) I've edited this post to remove most of what I said, the installer as it stands now is designed to work on UEFI compatible systems only and VirtualBox isn't compatible enough. I'm not sure I can be bothered fixing it as the SteamOS TOS forbids distribution of modified versions.
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    Oh come on. At least give me a hint on how to fix it. :) You said you got partway through the installation -- did it finish successfully?
    - voltagex_ 13y ago
      Yes, installing an ISO created like that will work, but the way X is configured breaks all of the ttys in VirtualBox. I've got a virtual serial port ready to debug the issue but booting in recovery would work too.
    - voltagex_ 13y ago
      If you're still interested: https://gist.github.com/voltagex/7955961 https://gist.github.com/voltagex/7955961
  - CamperBob2 13y ago

jdjb 13y ago

I got it running under Virtualbox fairly easily. It's not that exciting, just Gnome 3 with a few extra desktop icons. You can choose to login to big picture mode directly from Gdm.