Wizard, please read my message again, I am using Linux, I'm running Arch on my laptop (and desktop for that matter), and I am having issues on Linux. I don't even have Windows installed on this machine.
Yes, it's not a Steam Deck, but it's still Linux, it's Arch (which is what SteamOS is based on), and the announcement post, and your reply to me state that it is meant for Linux/SteamOS, not SteamOS specifically/exclusively, so if that's the case, and it is only meant to be run on SteamOS and not Arch (for whatever reason), the wording could be updated in the original announcement post to clear that up.
Except for Valve's proprietary SteamOS software, anything that works on SteamOS also works on Arch, so, I would assume this tool would work, as I mentioned, my issue is that it's not letting me change the installation destination, and because I'm not on a Steam Deck, my home folder is not called "deck". That's all.
OK, that makes more sense. But please understand that this tool was made exclusively for the Steam Deck and so it may never work properly on a plain Linux install. 0x90 can answer you better.
I see, that's understandable, although, unless something in the installer is using any of Valve's proprietary software (which is only a handful of things related to the Steam Deck's game mode), it should work 100% the same on regular Arch.
And as far as I can tell, the home folder thing seems to be the only issue with installing it, it just refuses to change the folder, even though I'm picking another folder by clicking the three dots, the installer just won't update that choice.
I get that it's made with the Steam Deck in mind, but I would be extremely surprised if it doesn't work on regular Arch, that would be a first.
I appreciate you clearing up your answer, I was a bit confused!
We tried supporting native linux a while back and no one cared or bothered to download the software so likely will not go there again. It is my recommendation that we stick exclusively to the Steam Deck with this tool and not try and support every flavor of Linux out there which is just going to shoot our costs even higher for probably a total of 5 people that would even try and use it like you are, not to mention it would probably screw something up with the Steam Deck side of things the more that we try and make it universally compatible.
I remember hearing about that way after the fact, despite being a CH user for more than 8 years and a Linux user wanting CH on Linux for longer than that, I, along with most other Linux users (judging by basically every Linux gaming subreddit post echoing this), never saw any announcement about Linux support, which is why I personally believe that attempt failed. Simply not enough people even knew about it in the first place and only found out way after the fact.
That being said, this is the beauty of using Arch when it comes to "Steam Deck software", it's all supported and working out of the box. Not only that, you have things like debtap, distrobox, and so on, which makes it possible to run basically every application for any distribution on Arch.
The reason this is not working is a unique one that I've never seen before, which is, that the installer is locked to the default name of the Steam Deck home folder, "deck", and therefore won't proceed. Other than that, it should just install the same as it would on a Steam Deck 😀
EDIT: I just created a fresh Arch VM, called my user "deck", and the tool installed without issues, and everything is working, so, as I was saying, the only thing keeping this from working on Arch (and any other Arch based distro) is the installer being locked in on the user being called "deck".
Changing this in the installer, and making it possible to change where you want it installed (instead of the forced path), will make it possible to install this tool on Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Garuda, etc., and open up for the possibility of so many more people being able to use it, instead of only Steam Deck users
[Edited by YumKaax, 12/19/2023 9:14:14 PM]
[Edited by YumKaax, 12/19/2023 9:56:33 PM]
We sent out an email to the database when we added Linux support. We announced it as best we could. We have no intention of trying again as we already barely have time to get to all the PC titles.
I am glad you got it working like you wanted, but like 0x90 said, we have no plans to support this tool outside of the Steam Deck. If we start allowing custom installs and other things then it is only more difficult to troubleshoot actual Steam Deck users. I hope you understand.
Yeah, I've seen that mentioned here before as well, but that's another thing I see being echoed by everyone, that they never received that email, and neither did I personally (I even just did a search in my inbox to make sure).
Not only that, I've never actually stumbled upon or heard about anyone that got the email, or even downloaded the Linux version, ever. So I don't know what happened, but it seems like for whatever reason, that information/email got lost in the transition to basically most users (maybe it's a spam filter thing related to keywords in the mail?? Would seem silly, but it's the only logical reason I can think of, because the number of people that have been talking about a CH Linux version, or how to make CH work under wine, for the last 10 years or so, just doesn't line up with no one downloading the Linux version when it's finally there.
Regardless, it's completely understandable that you guys don't want to work on a general Linux tool and want to focus on the SD, I'm just sad that all that is keeping it from working on every single Arch-based distro out there is a single word, "deck", and that there is no way for Arch users to change that (even knowing there will be no support for any potential issues).
I appreciate all the hard work you guys continuously put into CH, you are absolute legends! 😀
Thanks for testing. We MIGHT add something to next version which MIGHT makes it to work. The official answer is however the same: We only support Steamdeck. And this is only because we cannot install and run other Linux distributions. So MAYBE next version will work for you (or not) and if then maybe at some day it might not (or it might still work). Keep it in mind when you consider purchasing it. I really dont want to hear complaints like "but you did this and that previously and I thought it would be supported and now it does not so **** you". We try our best to make sure everything work flawless but due to limited man power and time we cannot guarantee you that it will (for)ever work on classic Linux distributions. Or focus is on Steamdeck only,
Thank you for the candid answer. I get where you are coming from and I completely understand the decision to only officially support the Steam Deck.
It would be great if you could just let us the choose the path freely.
Just for a quick test I spun up and Arch vm and named the user "deck". I can confirm that this works just fine.
Here is a screenshot:
imgur.com/a/TgctAXS