I don't know about SteamOS specifically but you can dual boot windows and Linux on the same drive. Each can exist on their own. The partition will still show up in windows but you can ignore it and it won't do anything. The problem is Windows and GRUB for Linux. Windows has a bad habit of just bulldozing GRUB and making Linux unbootable.
this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Steam Deck
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Thanks for the warning.
This isn’t the Linux/SteamOS boot drive. It’s an SD card. I tell it to boot to the internal storage or the SD card using the option in the Steam Deck BIOS.
Because of this and because it’s a Windows-To-Go install, neither OS should interact with the other’s bootloader. Theoretically.
Linux/SteamOS should just see this SD card as a data drive.
Ok I got ya now. So are you wanting Windows and Steam OS on the same Sd card as well as steam OS on the internal hard drive?
Although not a direct answer, just wanted to give my experience.
Originally used a dedicated SD card for Windows, it worked fine but was warned that the constant read/write on the card could cause it to fail quicker than its normal lifespan. Since I didn’t want to fiddle with it in another year or two, I ended up getting a bigger internal drive (2tb nvme) and dedicated 1tb to SteamOS and the other TB to windows. Then have a 1tb SD card for the majority of games on my SteamOS side of the house.
I personally use a custom windows 10 install for that side, which helps prevent Windows from overriding the REFInd boot. However I did notice that when I updated SteamOS to the main branch, it borked REFInd and had to select SteamOS boot file through the file manager on boot, then reinstall REFInd via the normal script on desktop mode.
Just some considerations for you as your journey through your dual boot adventure.
That’s great info. It’ll be so nice when dual boot is officially supported. I wonder if it’s taking so long to roll out because they want to make sure it works well and it’s easy to use.
Most likely that. Assuming they want to find a way to prevent the boot manager from getting borked on updates for both sides of the fence. If they roll it out half-baked they’ll probably get flooded with tech tickets which would eat bandwidth for other issues. Basically preventing them from getting dragged down the support rabbit hole. In current state, if you muck up your install it’s on you to fix/troubleshoot.
For those that are more familiar with this process like you and me, it’s not a real hassle. But when you push out a new “feature”, they have to resolve for the lowest common denominator, which would consist of the more “casual” users. Bearing that in mind, you can probably see why they want to flesh it out a bit more.
Final Update:
I could not successfully clone the Windows partition from one card to another.
So I’m wiping the card I’ve been using with SteamOS, and I’m installing Windows-To-Go. Then I’ll shrink the partition. Finally, I’ll add a Linux partition in the empty space. I assume SteamOS will like it just fine.
Update: I’m going for it. The only games I have on the SD card I don’t care much about. The other games are on the internal storage. So if this doesn’t work out, I’ll just reformat the card.
I ended up using KDE Partition Manager since it’s included in the Steam Deck Desktop environment.
This is taking a long time. A quick web search says that’s normal. Probably would have been better off just wiping, installing Windows-To-Go, resizing the Windows partition, and then adding a Linux partition.
It’s been over 20 minutes that’s it’s sitting at:
Move the file system on partition 'dev/mmeblkop1 to sector 999,874,560
Edit: 7hrs later and it’s 47% done with that step.