How to move mod folder to SD card on steam deck

[Kure]

I know where the mod folder is located. I know how to put mods into the game. I just want to know how to move the mod folder from the main steam deck storage to the SD card.

(ᴮᵉˡˡᵒʷ ⁱˢ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᵐᵉ yₐₚₚᵢₙ' ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᴵ ᶠᵒᵘⁿᵈ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ. ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ᵘˢᵉˡᵉˢˢ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵃ ˢᵒˡᵘᵗⁱᵒⁿ)

I'm a sims 4 veteran and I've been playing this game for years on my laptop. Long story short, laptop kinda slow, got steam deck, want to play sim on steam deck. I got everything working, and figured out how to put mods into the game. Now that only thing left is to transfer my mods and CC from my laptop to my steam deck. HOWEVER, my steam deck does not have that much space on it available.

(For those who don't know, the mod folder is located here:
home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods)

If I try to move the document folder from the proton folders location to my SD card, the game crashes because it cannot locate the document folder. I assume that this has something to do with the fact that if the game is being launched through proton, it can only use the files located in it's dedicated "compdata" folder (The one with all the funny numbers).

I've seen someone make origin read there SD card with some fancy command for the "launch options" in "propertys" for the app settings, but not only was there command only for the origin app and not the actual sims 4 game (which is ran through the ea app), I DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT HOW ANY OF THAT WORK!

Buuut... That's enough of me yappin'! Please help me if you have a solution PLEEEAAAASS🙏

[Jack Schitt]

Assuming you know how to copy/paste on SteamDeck and how to open the terminal:
Move (cut/paste) the mods folder to the SD then create a symbolic link to that location in the terminal. Example command:

ln -sf /run/media/SD/MODS/DIRECTORY /PATH/TO/CURRENT/MODS/DIRECTORY

[Kure]

Cool cool cool... I was following until you mentioned a specific command. I do in fact know how to open the terminal though. Would the exact command you put in work if I replace some stuff with the name of my SD?

This still a great start, so thank you so much!!!

[Jack Schitt]

The command I wrote is an example. You have to replace the words in the part of the command that says "/path/to/current/mods/directory" and "/SD/MODS/DIRECTORY" with what they are on your device.

ln -sf are the command elements the terminal understands.
Type a single space after the command elements

then enter the file path to your SD card where you want the mods to run from.

then a single space

then the path where the mods currently are:
home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods

[Kure]

Update: I have been opening the terminal by right-clicking on the mod folder after moving it to the sd card, and entering this command:

In -sf /run/media/deck/sim_4_drive/Mods /home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods

I am met with ``bash: In: command not found``
i was thinking it could have something to do with the sd drive name having space, so i was told to put an _ where the spaces are.

am i stupid?

[Jack Schitt]

Not stupid. Everyone in the world isn't required to know Linux commands and how to use or write them. Did you use the $ convention?

$ ln -sf <path to new directory> (space) <path to old directory>
the dollar sign is a 'convention' that tells the linux system the command should be run as a non-admin.

# <command> <input that command requires>
the pound sign tells the linux system to run the command elevated with admin privileges.

If your file path has a spaces in it like C:\Program Files (x86)\My Crap\the junk I have\
wrap it in double quotes: "C:\Program Files (x86)\My Crap\the junk I have\"

It's been a while since I played around with linux commands, I'm rusty with it, and I don't own or have access to a Steam Deck.
Doing what I can.

[Kure]

... I got it to work

1) Thank you so much, what you said the first time technically worked. Just know that none of this sarcastic anger is directed at you, but instead myself

B) I did a stupid and thought you had typed "in" instead of "Ln" because a capital "i" looks exactly like a lower case "L"

三) it was way more simple, because all I had to do was drag the folder to the SD card, and click move. And then drag it back. Every time you drag something to another file, it ask you a prompt to either:

Move.

Copy.

OR LINK

Which I've seen at least 15 times (no exaggeration) while trying this

Thank you so much for all of your help though! I seriously mean it❤️

[Jack Schitt]

The best part: We got it working!
I've been coding for decades. It's impossible to count how many times I've done things like that.

[Kure]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

Assuming you know how to copy/paste on SteamDeck and how to open the terminal:
Move (cut/paste) the mods folder to the SD then create a symbolic link to that location in the terminal. Example command:

ln -sf /run/media/SD/MODS/DIRECTORY /PATH/TO/CURRENT/MODS/DIRECTORY

Here's the answer in a separate text box

On a steam deck, go to desktop mode, then go to your files (dolphin), in your files, go to the file you want to move, and you need to drag it to the SD card. You can open a new window with the SD card open, or just drag it to the folder on the quick menu. Every time you drag a file to another location it should ask you three prompts: "Move here," "copy here," or "Link here." (I promise this is important) Once you drag it to the SD card, click "move here." Then drag it back to the original location, but this time, click Link here." Once you do that, everything is done. Any mods you put in this folder in your SD card should show up in the game upon launching it, but it will stay in the SD card. You can do this to just your mods folder, or the entire Sims 4 folder that they are located in.

The quoted post also works if you are willing to go into the terminal

(Mod folder location: home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods