Get SteamOS Beta running on VirtualBox

14 Dec 2013 at 19:11:03 - 14 comment(s)

This step by step guide will easily let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox. However, please be aware that a VM will not exhibit the same performance level as a bare installation. Gaming (of any type) is likely to be awful. It's fine to try out the install though and have a good overview of the OS. You could try out how to setup a dual boot on your machine for example.

Download SteamOS beta (http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip).

You get a zip file which you need to unzip to then create an iso.

To create the iso from the SteamOSInstaller folder, run:

xorriso -as mkisofs --'Steam OS' -/tmp/SteamOSInstaller.iso --joliet-long -cache-inodes -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-alt-boot -append_partition 2 0x01 /tmp/SteamOSInstaller/boot/grub/efi.img -partition_offset 16 /tmp/SteamOSInstaller

The above commands believes you have the SteamOSInstaller you extracted from the zip in the /tmp folder

Then in VirtualBox, create the New button to create a new VM.

Name it Steam OS for example
Choose Type = Linux and Version = Debian (64 bit)
Select 2048Mb of RAM
Create a virtual hard disk with 500Gb

Now go in the settings of this VM, then Storage and in Controller IDE, click on Empty, click on the little CD, click Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file... and select the SteamOSInstaller.iso created before.

Now click on System in the left menu and tick the box Enable EFI.

Finally, click on Display in the left menu and tick the box for 3D Acceleration and choose the amount of memory you want to allocate.

You can now start the VM, the installer will start and you can choose Automated Install (WILL ERASE DISK)

Now, drink a cup of tea while the install is being done.

When install is finished, you will be asked to click a Continue button to reboot, you should then see the grub bootloader with Steam OS entry, select the entry with recovery mode.

You are now on a shell, you need to uninstall nvidia packages, so you run:

apt-get remove xserver-xorg-video-nvidia nvidia-driver glx-alternative-nvidia libgl1-nvidia-glx libnvidia-ml1 nvidia-alternative nvidia-installer-cleanup nvidia-kernel-common nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-support nvidia-vdpau-driver

Or faster:

apt-get purge ".*nvidia.*"

Delete /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/55-nvidia.conf

Run:

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Give a password to the desktop user:

passwd desktop

Click on Devices -> Insert Guest Additions CD image...

Once that's done, mount it:

mount /media/cdrom

And run the install script for the guest additions

sh /media/cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Reboot

You now choose the first entry in grub (and not the recovery like before), it boots, you can login with the desktop user and you can now run Steam (alt + f2 -> steam -> enter).

If you shutdown the VM and end up in the EFI shell, then you can type the following:

FS0:\EFI\steamos\grubx64.efi

To avoid having to type that line, you can add a file /boot/efi/startup.nsh with the line above in it. You can do this from the EFI shell directly:

fs0:
edit startup.nsh

You write EFI\steamos\grubx64.efi and press ctrl + s, press enter and ctrl + q to quit.

14 comments

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EasierStep - 02 Jul 2015 at 11:07:55
You can now download an ISO directly. http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSDVD.iso saves the first step though it is a 1GB download so you may need a few cups of tea depending on your net speed.
Tree Master - 28 Jun 2014 at 05:35:40
I managed to install Steamos. I get to the desktop of linux where it asks me to install VBoxAdditions. I click yes and it gives me an error and goes away. I'm allowed to roam the desktop while steam downloads. After that is done, it edits the kernel or something and resets. It brings me to Grub Bootlauncher and I select standard (not recovery). It blackscreens and eventually brings me back to the efi at the very beginning. I type "FS0:" and then "efi\steamos\grubx64.efi" and it shows steamos logo and loads up the OS. The logo disappears after about 1 or 2 minutes. Then I hear ambient noises similar to steam big picture, but there is nothing but a black screen. I press ctrl + alt + f2 and it pops up:
SteamOs GNU/Linux 1 steamos tty2
steamos login:_
I go to type in "steam" and it asked for a password. When i type the password it doesnt show up (but i know its just hiding the password you typed), I type in steam as the password and it says login incorrect and asks for another. I type in desktop and it signs into desktop. I don't know how to get beyong this point. This happened to me 3 times with 3 different ISO's. Please reply and tell me a fix or what you did that prevented this.
Adhitya - 28 Mar 2014 at 09:19:11
i keep getting a black screen
Paul J - 16 Dec 2013 at 20:17:56
Any idea what would cause me to get stuck in the EFI?
http://jobson.us/steam_efi.png

Typing exit causes it to go back to that mode.
Krissi - 28 Dec 2013 at 04:14:09
Any idea what would cause me to get stuck in the EFI?
http://jobson.us/steam_efi.png

Typing exit causes it to go back to that mode.
Krissi - 28 Dec 2013 at 03:25:52
Any idea what would cause me to get stuck in the EFI?
http://jobson.us/steam_efi.png

Typing exit causes it to go back to that mode.
Paul J - 16 Dec 2013 at 20:25:29
Any idea what would cause me to get stuck in the EFI?
http://jobson.us/steam_efi.png

Typing exit causes it to go back to that mode.
bahumbug - 16 Dec 2013 at 14:49:24
Is there a minimum requirement for Steam to open?
lelele - 16 Dec 2013 at 13:21:34
Don't hate bro, this is still easy as for something done in Linux.
gabenewell - 15 Dec 2013 at 11:42:15
I appreciate this guide and it's quite well presented, so I don't mean this to be a harsh criticism but...

Don't be retarded. This is not a guide that will "EASILY let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox" (emphasis mine). This is like 10 steps (that looks like 20 steps) of mostly 1980's command line gibberish. In any non-Linux OS an "easy" guide is at most 5 steps of point-clicking your way to success. This kind of rose-colored-eyeglass-skewed-reality is precisely what helps contribute to desktop Linux's rightful current place as an esoteric OS whereupon a guide like this would actually be described as "easy".

Otherwise, thanks for the guide, assuming it actually works.
EasyisEasy - 02 Jul 2015 at 11:14:07
I appreciate this guide and it's quite well presented, so I don't mean this to be a harsh criticism but...

Don't be retarded. This is not a guide that will "EASILY let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox" (emphasis mine). This is like 10 steps (that looks like 20 steps) of mostly 1980's command line gibberish. In any non-Linux OS an "easy" guide is at most 5 steps of point-clicking your way to success. This kind of rose-colored-eyeglass-skewed-reality is precisely what helps contribute to desktop Linux's rightful current place as an esoteric OS whereupon a guide like this would actually be described as "easy".

Otherwise, thanks for the guide, assuming it actually works.
Anonymous - 02 Jul 2015 at 11:05:40
I appreciate this guide and it's quite well presented, so I don't mean this to be a harsh criticism but...

Don't be retarded. This is not a guide that will "EASILY let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox" (emphasis mine). This is like 10 steps (that looks like 20 steps) of mostly 1980's command line gibberish. In any non-Linux OS an "easy" guide is at most 5 steps of point-clicking your way to success. This kind of rose-colored-eyeglass-skewed-reality is precisely what helps contribute to desktop Linux's rightful current place as an esoteric OS whereupon a guide like this would actually be described as "easy".

Otherwise, thanks for the guide, assuming it actually works.
fiddlefingers - 17 Dec 2013 at 20:33:20
I appreciate this guide and it's quite well presented, so I don't mean this to be a harsh criticism but...

Don't be retarded. This is not a guide that will "EASILY let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox" (emphasis mine). This is like 10 steps (that looks like 20 steps) of mostly 1980's command line gibberish. In any non-Linux OS an "easy" guide is at most 5 steps of point-clicking your way to success. This kind of rose-colored-eyeglass-skewed-reality is precisely what helps contribute to desktop Linux's rightful current place as an esoteric OS whereupon a guide like this would actually be described as "easy".

Otherwise, thanks for the guide, assuming it actually works.
ttux - 15 Dec 2013 at 12:43:38
I appreciate this guide and it's quite well presented, so I don't mean this to be a harsh criticism but...

Don't be retarded. This is not a guide that will "EASILY let you install Steam OS beta on virtualbox" (emphasis mine). This is like 10 steps (that looks like 20 steps) of mostly 1980's command line gibberish. In any non-Linux OS an "easy" guide is at most 5 steps of point-clicking your way to success. This kind of rose-colored-eyeglass-skewed-reality is precisely what helps contribute to desktop Linux's rightful current place as an esoteric OS whereupon a guide like this would actually be described as "easy".

Otherwise, thanks for the guide, assuming it actually works.