Problems with multiple OS with common Steam storage

[Khaine]

I switch between MAC and Windows while using Steam on both. My games are on an external SSD, some installations are MAC native, some are Windows, some have support for both platforms.

The problem: when you use common storage for your games on different operating systems, Steam's auto update will delete games that aren't supported on the current OS and try to download the supported version if any.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Use a common games storage, like external disk.
2. Install a game with native support for both Mac and Windows.
3. Lets say we have installed it on a Windows.
4. Use the same storage on a MAC machine.
5. The MAC Steam will start auto update that will see the game is supported on MAC too. It will delete the Windows files and start downloading the MAC version of it.

Example game could be any of the Total War: WARHAMMER series. They are nearly 100gb each, imagine when the Steam client deletes it to replace it with the version for the current platform. My internet and SSD are already screaming. Sometimes it just deletes the game if it isn't supported at all on the current platform.

Workaround: disable the auto update of these games. But this isn't convenient.

Expected: ASK me if I want to change the platform's installation files. Same goes for the Steam redistributable files that are several hundred megabytes. Or add these downloads in the queue but make them manual.

Please make the client smarter than that.

[Satoru]

1) Steam does not support external drives so that's a problem. The most common scenario is that your games look 'uninstalled' when the drive is disconnected, or you exit steam the wrong way, or any number of things.
2) Games can have mac and windows specific builds meaning a 'shared' storage is going to be universally terrible. they have different file structures, and generally different depots etc

So again

* Do not use external drives as steam does not support them
* If you are insistent on doing this, make a library that is SEPARATE for each OS. You cannot 'share' them

[Supafly]

install Steam on the External drive.. If it needs two different installation/version of Steam for both Windows and MAC install Steam to 2 locations on the external drive...for example

..\SteamMAC\
..\SteamWindows\

Run the version of Steam from either folders based on what OS you are using.

[Khaine]

Of course Steam supports external drives, and it's a big help moving your games around without being tied to given hardware and having to download them again or deleting because of lack of space. You can choose any drive you have for Steam library and it detects instantly when I connect a drive with a library on it and I can see my games light up in the list.

Having Steam installed on two different places won't solve anything as it will still have common library - the external SSD and the same problem will happen again. Actually it's exactly what I have at the moment, different MAC and Win installations.

I just found out that MK11 (120GB) and SF6 Demo (20GB) are both gone by just opening Steam on MAC. The folder is there but most of the files are missing. Another game is not detected as installed anymore and I can't run it even manually despite the files being there.

It can't be that hard, and I say that as a software developer myself. Just stop the stupid auto correction/deletion of games. ASK me at least. I won't buy separate disks for Windows and MAC just because the Steam client is stupid.

I imagine the people gaming on dual operating system aren't that much, but the fix doesn't seem to be complex either. On a second thought, with the Apple M-series chips the problem will only deepen, even though further in time.

[Supafly]

I've ran Steam on an external drive with games on that drive specifically so I can plug it into systems that are not my own and access whatever games I have on it without needing to install on another system. I suggested this as a option with how things are currently, potentially.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Of course Steam supports external drives,

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4578-18A7-C819-8620

External Hard Drives
External hard drives are not recommended for use with Steam or Steam's games. Aside from many potential performance issues, external hard drives may connect or disconnect from the computer at inopportune times as part of their normal operations. If you encounter this issue with an external drive, install Steam and your games to an internal drive instead.

While external drives may work on Steam, they are not supported, nor recommended and are at your own risk.

[Khaine]

This has nothing to do with my issue.

Imagine for the sake of argument it's on the internal SSD and I use virtual Windows on the MAC, something all MAC users do, and it works perfectly fine, apart of my problem.

I can't believe I have to argue for something so lame and easily fixable.

Originally posted by Supafly:

I've ran Steam on an external drive with games on that drive specifically so I can plug it into systems that are not my own and access whatever games I have on it without needing to install on another system. I suggested this as a option with how things are currently, potentially.

It means that I would need 2 disks one for MAC and one for Win, which obviously I don't want to. Dual disks would solve the problem with single installation too, but this isn't the way.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Khaine:

This has nothing to do with my issue.

In part, it does, as you claimed Steam supported external drives.

I wasn't arguing the rest, though I doubt as many as you thing actually have virtual windows on their mac. Of those I know who use a Mac, none use virtual windows. Those who I know who want to use windows and a mac, tend to build a separate computer for windows.

Originally posted by Khaine:

It means that I would need 2 disks one for MAC and one for Win, which obviously I don't want to. Dual disks would solve the problem with single installation too, but this isn't the way.

Something so few would use, doesn't mean that Valve needs to do it. You have alternatives that you can use, but don't want to.

Another solution is to only use Windows Steam for gaming as all those game will be available for Windows.

Same as with Windows 7 users refusing to update to Windows 10, it more a personal choice then it is something for Valve to fix, but good luck with getting a change made.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Of course Steam supports external drives,

No it does not

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4578-18A7-C819-8620

External Hard Drives
External hard drives are not recommended for use with Steam or Steam's games. Aside from many potential performance issues, external hard drives may connect or disconnect from the computer at inopportune times as part of their normal operations. If you encounter this issue with an external drive, install Steam and your games to an internal drive instead.

People need to stop saying it does. Steam outright tells people NOT TO DO THIS

Originally posted by Khaine:

It means that I would need 2 disks one for MAC and one for Win, which obviously I don't want to. Dual disks would solve the problem with single installation too, but this isn't the way.

The file and data structures for Mac and PC games are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT you can't 'share' them between PC and Mac

You've already been told what you want to do in your utterly unsupported mechanism. Make 2 different steam libraries one for PC and one for Mac. That's the solution. There is no magical thing where by a steam library would have or even need 2 different OS platforms installed on the same library.

[Khaine]

External Hard Drives
External hard drives are not recommended for use with Steam or Steam's games. Aside from many potential performance issues, external hard drives may connect or disconnect from the computer at inopportune times as part of their normal operations. If you encounter this issue with an external drive, install Steam and your games to an internal drive instead.

Obviously they are supported or I wouldn't be here at all, they are not recommended for the reasons they listed which I find very unlikely nowadays and none of which is the problem here.

And I was already told? Like your opinion is of Gabe himself. You not needing something doesn't make it valid for everyone. This is the place for suggestions and I am making one. What I am doing is absolutely supported and it's obviously working well, just the stupid auto update needs minor fine tuning.

True that MAC users mostly don't need Windows, but if you game on your MAC you still need one and this is my case here. And I don't want to get into discussion of MAC vs Win and gaming please.

I made my point with steps to reproduce, workaround, and suggested solution. If you can't add value to that, please just skip it.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Obviously they are supported or I wouldn't be here at all, they are not recommended for the reasons they listed which I find very unlikely nowadays and none of which is the problem here.

Again, no they aren't. If it works great, but steam isn't designed around that, hence why they tell you if it doesn't work then you NEED to install steam to an internal drive. They aren't going to do anything to facilitate you using an internal drive.

Steam does NOT want you using an external drive, its known to cause problems and won't be supported.

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Of course Steam supports external drives, and it's a big help moving your games around without being tied to given hardware and having to download them again or deleting because of lack of space. You can choose any drive you have for Steam library and it detects instantly when I connect a drive with a library on it and I can see my games light up in the list.

Having Steam installed on two different places won't solve anything as it will still have common library - the external SSD and the same problem will happen again. Actually it's exactly what I have at the moment, different MAC and Win installations.

I just found out that MK11 (120GB) and SF6 Demo (20GB) are both gone by just opening Steam on MAC. The folder is there but most of the files are missing. Another game is not detected as installed anymore and I can't run it even manually despite the files being there.

It can't be that hard, and I say that as a software developer myself. Just stop the stupid auto correction/deletion of games. ASK me at least. I won't buy separate disks for Windows and MAC just because the Steam client is stupid.

I imagine the people gaming on dual operating system aren't that much, but the fix doesn't seem to be complex either. On a second thought, with the Apple M-series chips the problem will only deepen, even though further in time.

Here's the thing, Steam isn't going to change the system for an extremely rare edge case such as this. It's just not cost effective to develop, maintain, and troubleshoot such an unlikely circumstance. Heck, it would be cheaper for Vavle to just send you a 2nd drive so you could split the installs by game OS, not that they will though.

Although you said you don't want dual disks, have you considered dual partitions on the one drive? Then the Mac Steam can install on one and the Win Steam could use the other.

[Khaine]

Whether Valve will make a move or not is not for us to decide, especially random people explaining how expensive this little patch to the auto update would be.

This isn't 2001 anymore where your only choice is a PC with WD Blue HDD on 7200rpm. Leave the static thinking aside. This case will only become more wide spread with time.

Dual partition is an option, but a bad one, it would limit the space for both. Disabling auto update is still the most convenient workaround I have.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Whether Valve will make a move or not is not for us to decide, especially random people explaining how expensive this little patch to the auto update would be.

This isn't 2001 anymore where your only choice is a PC with WD Blue HDD on 7200rpm. Leave the static thinking aside. This case will only become more wide spread with time.

Dual partition is an option, but a bad one, it would limit the space for both. Disabling auto update is still the most convenient workaround I have.

These are user forums and users will post their thoughts on your idea. The odds of Valve doing what you want is very very very very low as they do not want people using external drives so its a very safe bet to say they won't do it.

This isn't 2001 anymore, just put another internal hard drive in your PC... Using an external drive vs internal drive is not common, and hard drives are dirt cheap nowadays.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Whether Valve will make a move or not is not for us to decide, especially random people explaining how expensive this little patch to the auto update would be.

Again this literally makes no sense to do.

1) steam already doesn't support external libraries
2) There is NO WAY to share files between Mac and Windows version. They have fundamentally different file structures.

You already have the solution to this. make a separate library for each OS you want to 'share' on an external drive. That's literally all you have to do. There is no need for steam to make a feature that is literally unnecessary and can be done via existing methodologies

The fact you do not want to use existign solutions is not a steam problem to implement a feature literally no one needs

Steam is under no obligation to implement every terribly thought out idea from users

And users who have terrible ideas are not immune to criticism of said ideas, when already existing solutions exist for said 'problem'

1) Format your external drive in exfat which is supported by both windows and Mac systems
2) make separate file structures for PC and Macs libraries

You're done

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by Khaine:

Disabling auto update is still the most convenient workaround I have.

Which is never going to happen, seeing as how people have asked for this for as long as Steam has had forums. The only way to make this work is to have each OS version of Steam use a different folder to install files to, so that the other version doesn't see the other games.