Install Steam Linux Games on Different Hard Drive?

[Elite_07]

I'm new to linux/ubuntu, so bare with me here. I partitioned my SSD to have windows and Linux, which fills it up pretty good. I can't install many games, so I want to create another steam library location on my 2 TB HDD. However, when I go to the Steam settings under the "DOWNLOADS" tab and try to add another library, I only see my root "/" directory of my linux installation. I don't seem to have the ability to access my 2TB HDD, or even the windows partition.

I'm wondering if i'm just doing something wrong, or adding another steam library on a different Drive/partition isn't supported yet.

Thanks for any help/information you can provide.

[wt7]

I would first use gparted to create an ext4 partition on your drive.
If you have an external ext4 partition, then you need to give it a permanent mount point and take ownership.
To take ownership, search "how to take ownership of a drive linux, chown"
To give a permanent moint point I followed this →http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1668813
*Use blkid command to get UUID for fstab edit.
*helpful fstab edit info: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1855962.html
In the same situation, this helped me successfully create a working extended Steam Library on an external, ext4 partition.

[Elite_07]

Thanks for the quick response. I'll give that a go and see what happens.

So I take it you can only install steam games on ext4 drives/partitions? That's a shame, I hoped i would've been able to just use the NTFS 2TB drive without changing anything. Oh well.

[Elite_07]

Great news, I figured out some stuff on my own and I can now use my NTFS 2 TB hard drive without creating a separate ext4 partition. I'll explain how I did it just in case anyone stumbles across this thread with the same problem.

To use a different drive or partition that is formatted to NTFS for a steam library, first you need to mount your drive to linux. I used this tutorial: http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/04/auto-mount-windows-ntfs-partitions-in-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/. However once you get to the part of the tutorial where you are editing the /etc/fstab file with gedit, instead of coping and pasting what the writer of the tutorial gives you, type this without quotes: "UUID=(Your UUID) /mnt/Windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0". After that, just continue the tutorial I linked as normal. (I figured this out from a steam support page here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7611-FHLZ-4319.)

After you reboot, add a new steam library location under the downloads tab of the settings and navigate to /mnt/Windows, you should see your drive or partition as normal. No need to create a separate partition and format to ext4

Of course, you don't have to use the /mnt/Windows location for mounting your drive. You can change it to whatever you want if you apply the tutorial to a different directory.

Hope this helps anyone out out there.

[White Boy]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/440/discussions/0/864969482000076486/

I kinda put it in different discussions,but i hope this will do

[TheWeaverman]

I used

sudo lsblk -f

and found my HDD under /media followed the directory down to my file of games I'd installed there from my windows partition and it worked like a charm! (mainly for someone who stumbles onto this thread while searching for a solution like I did)

[Cxpher]

You can add the new location for your Steam Library from the Steam Linux Client settings. There's an option to add other locations for your games.

[wt7]

Originally posted by Cxpher:

You can add the new location for your Steam Library from the Steam Linux Client settings. There's an option to add other locations for your games.

It's been three years since the topic was posted. Things have been constantly updated.

[Divaltor]

Originally posted by wt7:

Originally posted by Cxpher:

You can add the new location for your Steam Library from the Steam Linux Client settings. There's an option to add other locations for your games.

It's been three years since the topic was posted. Things have been constantly updated.

[*Sztabix*]

jo

[Republic John]

PROBLEM STILL EXISTS in 2018

I installed the latest version of Linux Peppermint on my Dual-boot SSD, and have been trying for DAYS to get Steam games to appear on my 1Tb WD Black, But, It seems Linux will not let me find anything installed on it each time I boot up the PC.
Game Files I shifted/relocated are there.. in mysterious places, but they are annoying in tracking down, or handling, and I do not want Linux to be a life-suck.

Most people do not want to spend a thousand hours figuring out how to do what XP takes me 1-minute to do.

So, Linux might change, but it is still as specialised (not for normal people( as it ever was, but it can be better than vanilla Windows 8.1 ..... until you install CLASSIC SHELL.

[SamCoupe]

Originally posted by Maggots Fad:

PROBLEM STILL EXISTS in 2018

I installed the latest version of Linux Peppermint on my Dual-boot SSD, and have been trying for DAYS to get Steam games to appear on my 1Tb WD Black, But, It seems Linux will not let me find anything installed on it each time I boot up the PC.
Game Files I shifted/relocated are there.. in mysterious places, but they are annoying in tracking down, or handling, and I do not want Linux to be a life-suck.

Most people do not want to spend a thousand hours figuring out how to do what XP takes me 1-minute to do.

So, Linux might change, but it is still as specialised (not for normal people( as it ever was, but it can be better than vanilla Windows 8.1 ..... until you install CLASSIC SHELL.

Are you actually looking for help or just venting?

You're still seeing this problem because it's by design and the behaviour is pretty much the same as windows... Before you can use a hard drive in windows you have to use the disk manager to initialise it (partition it), format it and choose what folder to mount it on or what drive letter to assign it. On most linuxes you use the disk manager (a gui application) to partition and format a hard drive and choose what folder to mount it on.

Without doing these steps in both windows or linux you won't be able to use a hard drive other than whatever you setup when you installed the OS to store steam games.

Obviously with windows there is a bit more automation if your hard drive has already got a formatted partition that windows understands but this kind of automation can have drawbacks.

[Republic John]

Originally posted by SamCoupe:

Originally posted by Maggots Fad:

PROBLEM STILL EXISTS in 2018

I installed the latest version of Linux Peppermint on my Dual-boot SSD, and have been trying for DAYS to get Steam games to appear on my 1Tb WD Black, But, It seems Linux will not let me find anything installed on it each time I boot up the PC.
Game Files I shifted/relocated are there.. in mysterious places, but they are annoying in tracking down, or handling, and I do not want Linux to be a life-suck.

Most people do not want to spend a thousand hours figuring out how to do what XP takes me 1-minute to do.

So, Linux might change, but it is still as specialised (not for normal people( as it ever was, but it can be better than vanilla Windows 8.1 ..... until you install CLASSIC SHELL.

Are you actually looking for help or just venting?

You're still seeing this problem because it's by design and the behaviour is pretty much the same as windows... Before you can use a hard drive in windows you have to use the disk manager to initialise it (partition it), format it and choose what folder to mount it on or what drive letter to assign it. On most linuxes you use the disk manager (a gui application) to partition and format a hard drive and choose what folder to mount it on.

Without doing these steps in both windows or linux you won't be able to use a hard drive other than whatever you setup when you installed the OS to store steam games.

Obviously with windows there is a bit more automation if your hard drive has already got a formatted partition that windows understands but this kind of automation can have drawbacks.

Were you bored or trying to help by not indicating where the actual information is to do that without my spending years searching and becoming forced to decipher every obtuse clue out there on what actual thing to do..

Dont bother... (answering)

Succinctly...

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT USING LINUX.

[gabrielcarvfer]

Nowadays you can install the flatpak version and before adding the external library, allow the flatpak sandbox to reach the drive.

Install flatpak (check instructions for your distro in https://flatpak.org/setup/)
Install Steam (flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam)
Allow Steam sandbox to reach the external drive (flatpak override --user --filesystem=/path/to/mounted/drive com.valvesoftware.Steam)
Run Steam and add the library folder in the mounted drive

Sources:
https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.valvesoftware.Steam
https://askubuntu.com/a/1135620

[Chewy 1k]

I have a problem like this i install ubuuntu 19.10 on my 1TB harddrive then instal;led nba2k 20 on my other internal harddrive, to save space on my primary harddrive. now sense i uninstalled 2k on my main harddrive and installed it on my other harddrive i click play and the game acts like its about to start and then just fails can someone help me with this please, both harddrives are ext4

[silentgameplays]

Actually kind of funny how you can do anything on Linux the easy way sometimes instead of going down into fstab and screwing up everything else in the process.

You need to mount it and the easiest way to do it is to use gnome disk utility on any distro on Debian-based it comes by default in case it does not then:
sudo apt-get install gnome-disk-utility

On Arch-based
sudo pacman -S gnome-disk-utility

And instead of auto option set to manual via GUI and put in this line which is by default nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show in Edit mount options and it should look like this,but don't forget to forpat the partition for use with ext4 or ntfs or whatever,for Linux best ext4:

nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show,auto

That's it you good
Works and tested on ArchLinux,Manjaro,Debian,Ubuntu and their counterparts.