Getting Started

[Frank]

Welcome to the Steam for Linux limited beta program! This post contains information on important issues including installing the Steam for Linux client, configuring your graphics card, and reporting issues. Please read this entire post

The following information applies to the Steam for Linux client limited beta. The client targets Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and is fully-featured with access to the Steam Store, your Linux game library, your Friends list, and Community content. In addition to the client, a varied selection of Linux games is available for purchase and download.

Hardware and Software Requirements
Steam for Linux requires the following:
*1 GHz Pentium 4 or AMD Opteron with 512 megabytes of RAM and 5 gigabytes of hard drive space, or better.
*Internet connection (Cable/DSL speeds recommended)
*Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, fully updated
*Latest graphics driver
*NVidia driver support - For recent cards (e.g. series 8), you will need to install 310.x. For older cards, driver 304.x supports the NVidia 6 and 7 GPU series. To access these drivers, first update your cache and then install the specific driver you need from the list in Additional Drivers.
*AMD driver support - For recent cards (e.g. series 5 and above), we recommend installing the 12.11 driver. For older cards, Catalyst 12.6 supports the HD 2400 Pro card and is the latest for the 2 and 4 GPU series.
*Intel HD 3000/4000 driver support - you will need to use the latest Mesa drivers, Mesa 9 or later. For installation instructions, see here[wiki.ubuntu.com].

Getting Started
Install the Steam for Linux client:
1. Download the steam.deb package from this location: http://media.steampowered.com/client/installer/steam.deb .
2. Open a graphical file manager (for Ubuntu 12.04, click the folder icon on the Unity Launch bar).
3. Navigate to the directory containing steam.deb and double-click it. This launches Ubuntu Software Center and installs the package.
*If you prefer to install from the command-line, use gdebi. Install the gdebi-core package (apt-get install gdebi-core) and then install the Steam for Linux package (gdebi steam.deb).
4. For a list of games supported by Steam for Linux either vist this page or click Store (from the client) and then the Linux tab on the far-right.
We recommend that you join the Steam for Linux official game group, located here. You will find future beta announcements and other information posted here as well as an active discussion forum.

Reporting Issues
If you encounter any issues while using Steam for Linux or playing any of the available Linux games, search the forums forum to see if your issue has already been reported. If you can not find it, please create a new post (in the appropriate sub-forum) with the following information:

• Title the post Issue Report: <problem description>.
  
• In the body provide a detailed description of the issue, including any output from the command line or crash logs generated by the issue.
  
• Steps for reproducing the issue.
  
• Your system information. The easiest method is to open Steam for Linux and click About | Hardware Information. Once your information appears, right-click within the dialog and choose Select All, right-click again, and then choose Copy. Paste this information into your post.

Current Issues
For the list of current issues with the Steam for Linux client, see the Release Notes post and the Steam for Linux support site.

Configuring Your Graphics Card
Ubuntu 12.04 offers open-source driver support for NVidia, AMD, and Intel cards. If you are using an NVidia or AMD card, we highly recommend that you install the latest vendor-supplied drivers for your graphics card. These provide optimal performance and are fully-featured.

Configuring Sources
Depending on your card, it is important that you properly configure your package sources before looking for the latest drivers.
*For NVidia cards, the nvidia-experimental-310 NVidiaNVidia driver is currently in the universe repository instead of restricted (this is being fixed by Canonical as of this writing). You can enable this repository by opening Ubuntu Software Center, selecting Edit | Software sources... and then enabling the Community-maintained free and open-source software (universe) option. In addition, for the latest vendor-supplied drivers enable the Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted) option on the Ubuntu Software tab.
*For AMD cards, the Catalyst 12.11 drivers are currently located in the precise-proposed repository. Enable this repository by opening Ubuntu Software Center, selecting Edit | Software sources... and then enabling the Pre-released updates option on the Updates tab. In addition, for the latest vendor-supplied drivers enable the Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted) option on the Ubuntu Software tab.
*For Intel cards, you must enable their PPA repository. For instructions, see here.
Once Ubuntu Software Center has been configured properly for your card, update the package cache by following these instructions.

Additional Drivers (for AMD and NVidia only)
Configuring the latest vendor-supplied drivers for NVidia or AMD cards can be done using Additional Drivers. For more information, see here.

Reboot Your System
Once you have installed the latest drivers, reboot your system to start using the newly-installed driver. For additional information on configuring your graphics card, see here[wiki.ubuntu.com] or the Steam for Linux support site.

[johndrinkwater [🐧︀ 🎮]]

Having a problem locating hardware information, as ‘About | Hardware Information’ does not exist for me. Help | System Information is probably what you want, but its impossible to select all & copy text.

[callen92]

If you are still having trouble, open up a terminal and type in this command:

lspci

This will give you a list of the hardware in your system

[johndrinkwater [🐧︀ 🎮]]

I’m happy to give lspci, *if thats what Valve wants*, but they didnt ask for solely that :)

[Frank]

Originally posted by johndrinkwater:

Having a problem locating hardware information, as ‘About | Hardware Information’ does not exist for me. Help | System Information is probably what you want, but its impossible to select all & copy text.

You're correct johndrinkwater, we meant to say click on Help and then System Information. You should be able to then move your mouse inside the edit control containing your information and right-click, bringing up the context menu. It should have a Select All and Copy menu commands. You can use those to capture the information we need.

[[Linux] MrSchism]

I just noticed the following by reading the initial post:

If you encounter any issues while using Steam for Linux or playing any of the available Linux games, please create a new post in the Limited Beta [url]forum with the following information

Not sure how you wanted the URL set up, but it's... not.

[Frank]

Thanks MrSchism. The post has been fixed.

[[Linux] MrSchism]

Not a problem. I hate being that guy who points things like that out.

[Felix]

Originally posted by MrSchism:

Not a problem. I hate being that guy who points things like that out.

Someone's got to do it! ;)

[trumbitta]

oh :-/ There are only FPS :-/ I don't really like them... Any hope to get an action RPG (from Soldier of Fortune 2 to Half Life, to [insert yours here], to Skyrim) or anyother genre except FPS?

[Frank]

Initial content for this thread has been updated with information about the latest AMD graphics card driver release.

[DBG]

Looking forward to installing this when I get home; I'm very curious if I can get an increase in performance in TF2!

[Zigg]

Will the steam for linux client run on Ubuntu 12.10?

[Evil Penguin]

Originally posted by Zigg:

Will the steam for linux client run on Ubuntu 12.10?

Yes.
I'm running it on 12.10 64-bit.

[drpaneas]

If you have problems with drivers and Ubuntu, try my script
http://ubuntuxtreme.com/howto/how-to-install-nvidia-drivers-304-64/

BTW I use latest (beta) drivers from nVIDIA.

[Iperpido]

...And how about notebooks with double video card (Nvidia Bumblebee)?
Bumblebee worked just fine for me for both native games (like Open Arena, Urban Terror, or alsto the "Humle Bundle" Games) and Windows games under Wine.
But... i heared lots of people having problems with Steam, because even if they run it using Optirun, then the games are executed normally and are launched using the Intel card.

There's a sort of workaround available right now?