Followed this a week ago when I got my new 1TB SSD and everything has been working great! Thanks much. In case anyone else runs into this, the only issue I ran into was, during the Steam BTRFS conversion process, I was presented with an extra step that wasn't in the tutorial (right before the choice to convert the home folder). I had no idea what I was really doing really hah just was following the tutorial and so the first time, I took a guess and I picked the wrong option. Not only did it not work converting the home folder but also I had to reimage my steam again to fix it. SO, don't be a dummy like me, just hit the next or okay button because the correct option should already be preselected.
This was the best and most helpful dual boot video I have seen. Thanks for this. I haven’t seen the BRFTS mentioned in any others I watched which was the whole reason I wasn’t wanting to do it. The boot loader at the end was icing on the cake. I love how you not only explained what to do but you also gave detail of what everything means or does as well. Thank you so much for your time and effort with this
Thank you a ton for this in depth guide. This has worked for me to get my Steam Deck set up with with a shared storage dual boot. This video was a blessing and i am very grateful to learn your knowledge. You know exactly what you are talking about and are trying to explain to us in this video. It is not often you find someone that goes so in depth and that is great that you do that. I was beyond frustrated with the issues i had trying to follow countless other guides. Windows also runs problem free on the internal SSD. It is a night and day difference compared to the slowness on an SD Card (and i had a fast 1 TB SanDisk Extreme) The only problem i had during the process on my Deck was that i wasn't able to resize the home partiton and assign the new partition i made for windows as ntfs in KDE Partition Manager (i kept getting an error) The Solution to that was using Gparted to resize the home partiton and format the new partition to NTFS from a usb stick through the boot manager on the steam deck (you can use rufus to burn/write Gparted to a usb stick) I also decided to use Clover for a dual boot manager instead of rEFInd (i had issues before where rEFInd messed up a previous dual boot setup) I would like to know if you can make that follow up video with the rest of the tools and set up for windows? I am interested in a tool that could add vibrance to the Deck screen in windows similar to Vibrant Deck in Steam OS. I am also interested in the refresh rate tool you have. This has to be the best Dual Boot video on the internet😎 Again thank you soo much for this thorough walkthrough man! 😁
This was a great tutorial, keep it coming! I love when i find someone that explains well. Make videos of all the tweaks you got, refresh and controller.
perhaps an interesting problem here. I run my Deck on the Main brach which did update my deck to the latest bios (10). Im not sure if this is related, but as of now refind is installed and there as a selectable boot option, but nothing i seem to try will prioritise it as 1st in the boot order, even changing the boot order in Konsole doesnt work. No matter what i do, it always boots windows (win 11 22h2). If i boot into the boot loader, and manually select refind it works as it should, i just cant get refind to start up by default. Any ideas?
great tutorial & great video.. out of all the dual boot videos for the steam deck, your's was the most informative & convinced me to switch to dual boot. great job at explaining things & from another tech savvy person, i can tell you know what your talking about. wishing you a speedy recovery through the aches & pains. thank you!
At around 18:30 you mention about new SD cards being formatted will be formatted to BTRFS. However, I'm curious if you know if my current SD card with games, emulators, configs could be converted to BTRFS like the home directory is at this part. I have data on both my 1tb internal nvme and my 1tb sd card and I'm just trying to see if I can maintain all data through the dual boot process. If you happen to know if theres a good chance the SD card would need to be wiped, that will determine if I hold off on dual booting with shared storage. Appreciate the video!
This is a fantastic guide, you deserve a lot more views. It ticks all the boxes I wanted, which was to preserve the Deck as I had it setup but then partition the main drive so I could get Windows on there without wiping anything else I had setup already. It all worked perfectly. I'll be sure to link your video whenever I see anyone asking for a dual-boot solution for the Deck.
Hello! Amazing, useful and interesting tutorial! I watched it several times, so as not to make mistakes in the steps of the process. 🤓 But an important tip, if you intend to use Xbox Game Pass games, it is not possible in the /home partition. The Xbox app requires an NTFS formatted drive to install games. Thanks a lot for the video! Hugs!
I've used this tutorial and my decks been runing amazing until I ran into an unrelated bug that wont allow me to sleep the system in gamemode. Before I do a fac reset I would like to know if this action will get rid of my reFIND and windows dual boot setup? Also does reimaging the deck change the file system back to stock?
After doing Steam btrfs, I was just getting the steam logo instead of the command line you showed for 30 minutes. Decided to turn my steam deck off then turn it on again then I got the command line and it loaded up. YMMV but that's what worked for me if you run into that issue.
Love your video, it helps me to dualboot from the beginning to the end. I wasn't lost. I have just 1 problem.. Windows doesn't recognize my SD CARD. I follow your video step by step. But i don't know.. Do i have to format the SD card? Thanks for the tips !
Really nice content, very clear. I hope you'll find ways to accommodate your herniated disks - for me a combination of standing desk and inversion table really helps.
Hi How do I locate the Folder "Windows_Installs" inside the Desktop mode? I want to access the files I saved there. Been looking for any possible way to access the folder but no luck :( Thanks!
I did this a while ago. Great tutorial! But now I'd like to give the C:/ Drive on Windows a bit more space. How do I go about that? Same process, format to NTFS, then merge/extend C:/ over on the Windows boot?
I plan to do this but won't be adding Windows as a second partition on the steam main drive. It's a 2 TB. I plan to image the 1TB micro SD card for Windows and save the 1TB steam drive for backup.
i got a problem SD card not detecting on windows setup drive select..i have 2 partition 1 btrfs(400gb) and 1 more ntfs (100gb)..the windows setup cant detect neither..can anoyone help?
A few things you're missing, 1) You NEED to use "MSMG Toolkit" to debloat the f*ck out of windows, it made the installation folder from 5gb to 2gb, ram usage was as low as 1GB when no apps are in use, This is a MUST on a steam deck where we prioritize games! 2) How do I get controller support in windows, or rather the BEST WAY? 3) Windows 10 vs 11? 4) You forgot to change UMA frame buffer from 1G (default) to 4G. Windows DO NOT know how to utilize this, steam OS does natively.
1.) For another video perhaps, too much to put into one. Personally I just run a script to debloat Windows, but in my profesional experience it's risky at times as you never known when something you removed is a dependency for something else. 2.) That is something I do want to make a different video for. Out of the box it just works great for Steam games, but there are a few ways for Non Steam Games. 3.) Your choice, I like 11 as I feel it was designed more around small touch screen devices and integrates the OSK better. 4.) I am still experimenting with this one, I think this setting is the Minimum not the Max, it should dynamically grow as needed. Until I can test it and find benefit I cant tell everybody to do it.
@@ViciousXUSMC 1) MSMG Toolkit creates an ISO. Not "after the fact" debloater. Its open source too! 2) Which software do you use? 3) I heard 10 has better drivers? is that true? 4) Do check your GPU's ram using GPU-Z, it has 1GB in windows if you didn't change it in bios.
@@oliviavalentine5294 1.) I love open source, still has the same effect before/after if something is removed that is needed. When I used to be on the endpoint device team I had seen crazy things happen like Edge having a dependency on the XBOX game bar lol. 2.) The two main ones are Glocci and SWICD. I am leaning more for SWICD but have not tested enough to make a recommendation. I do already have an improvement I wrote for Glocci if that ends up being my recommendation 3.) To my knowledge they are pretty much the same. The Drivers from Steam get everything working out of the box currently. Including the one thing that was broken the Audio. 4.) If I find this to be the case and can test to verify performance differences I'll for sure put out an add-on video for after imaging tweaks and give you credit for it.
The only problem i have with btrfs is that when i insert my sdcard (formatted to btrfs of course) in my PC to transfer some game files, my PC does not want to eject the sdcard (on an sd reader).
Doesn't work for me. The SteamOS BTRFS conversion doesn't work. If I run the script or alternatively the easy installer it seems to start and do something, but after the automatic reboot, the screen just stays black for a moment (no console script running as shown at 18:04). After some seconds it reboots again to the normal SteamOS and shows the initial setup screen with language etc and wants me to login again. After I do this nothing changed. The set console password still exists, all partitions including home are still ext4 but all customizations like the installed firefox or keyboard layout are removed / reset to factory default. Edit: Ok, after reviewing Partitions with Gparted, I see rootfs-A and rootfs-B were converted to btrfs. But home still is ext4 even after a few retries.
12:48 Yes, it did take forever... 29:11 oh the meme of edge being ew. Edge is actually Well sir i followed your guide. This was hella nice. Best part i found was windows 11 asking me which of the 50 windows activations i have my account did i want to use for the steam deck. Lmfaoo.. Not much i can say negative about your video you did your best and even went the extra mile by redubbing over it. Thank you very much as i've been doing research on dual booting for the past two months for this and your video was the only one that gave me the confidence to take on the project.
Nice tutorial, I bought a 256GB SSD and I will do the dual boot tomorrow. What is your recommendation for the Windows partition? You had 1TB, so you set to 97GB, but I will make a partition for less space. Thanks.
I did this dual boot method 2 months ago and worked flawlessly, but just yesterday after the update my drive is now Wiped. This method is hands down the best way to dual boot your steam deck. But I would advise you, for now, to do a different method. Until the Kinks are out of this one. P.S. I'm not the only one this happened to.
Yeah, I actually had something similar happen to me too. The update didn't wipe anything but It did cause so many issues (Including battery draining stupidly fast) so I decided to reimage the whole device and start again. Currently in the process of doing this all again.
This is EXACTLY why I don't follow methods like this - people think they're being clever but at the end of the day just ends up creating far more work for you.
Oh convert home folder to BTRFS? I'd be too chicken for that. I just put in my 1TB yesterday and partitioned it into 300 Steam OS, 200 Windows, 500BTRFS. I was pleasantly surprised that KDE can do btrfs right out of the box. Otherwise I would have just done half half.
Ok, I did this last night and got it working Yay, however I had 3 issues that I had to figure out, this may help someone if it comes up. 1. I was not able to set up the windows partition in the main SteamOS desktop so I did it in the recovery drive. 2. I lost my steamOS option in the boot menu so I had to retrieve it by following a reddit post, but also I see OP made a video for this too, so watch that instead. 3. I ended up making the GUI of Refind and put the icon to my desktop. You have to set the parameters of what you want to show up. (the preset is fine) then click Install fEFind and then click Install Config. This works!
My games aren't working at all on Windows. They work fine when downloaded and run from SteamOS, but not when I have them in the Windows-Installation folder in /home.
Hello I don't know if you are still following this post but I have the 64k and a 1T ssd in the dock -hub- currently in ext4 I still have to resize to format in NTFS and I would like to install Windows on it and leave the rest in partition shared in BTRFS I don't know much about linux. How to be sure that it changes the correct partition/ssd to BTRFS 😱
I follow all my videos and try to help when/where I can. But when things are really technical and I am not there to see things in person it can be kind of hard to help. So my advise is to learn the concepts and try to apply them to your situation. If you mess up, you can always format and start again!
i haven't done anything like this since the ps1 days. super thank you! rediscovering my love for games through the Steam Deck. your step by step and explaining the functionalities helped me out greatly! hope your back is feeling better. 12/20/23 is when I did this and it works amazing!
Great video! However I get to the Imaging Windows 11 section 23:01 and it is just stuck on the steam logo and does not proceed to the windows install screen. Any advise?
I've done this with 0 issues. Only problem I have is now my Steam Deck won't format my SD and when I format my SD on Windows, my Steam Deck doesn't recognize the SD Card. How do I fix this?
I did rufus on my External Hard drive its seagate 1tb but after i did rufus it doesn't show up on my computer but my device manager still detected it, i got so confuse right now
Not exactly, some major updates have broken it, but it was always a matter of just booting into the OS manually and then re-installing the boot loader to be working again.
Hey again, I'm having a issue of not being able to store anything on my SD card or the spare space on the SSD as it doesn't give me even a option to store on them. Any idea on a fix? Windows 10 by the way
Hi! Great tutorial. I just ordered my steam deck. If i follow your tutorial with a fresh steamdeck i can just get a thumbdrive with windows and the drivers and can start at the 'convert file system to BTRFS' timestamp right?
@@ViciousXUSMC I have followed your video and I am having 2 problems. 1) My wired mouse via the docking station does not work anymore but the touchscreen does. 2) The Steam Deck only boots to Windows and is not like shown in the video. Could you please help? Thanks.
I can't partition the main SSD. Any suggestions? Don't know how to do it without turning on SteamOS and I understand, once it's on, you are unable to adjust partition. Thanks
Do you install Steam / Uplay / Epic Store in the Windows_Install folder? Or can they reside in the Program Files folder but put all installed games in the Windows_Install folder?
I personally install them in the normal program files directory and just point the game download and installs to the shared folder. This way all my programs are in one place and all my media is in another.
There is one problem. After turning on windows from the rEFInd launcher, the next time I start Steam Deck, windows starts immediately with no choice. after rebooting steam os everything works fine. what to do?
From what I gathered from the video he said "if you already have a lot of data on your deck it'll take longer to convert partitions" so I'm assuming, no you don't have to. I'll be doing this from my deck that already has stuff on it. Will report back later
The Microsoft Game Pass App won't install any games on the btrfs drive. It can only install games on the C: , D: and E: drives. Is there a workaround for this issue?
So far this is the only exception, it's not due to the setup but simply a restriction from Microsoft. XBox does not install as an application, but an internal Windows App, it goes to a hidden folder on the C: where Paint, Snipping Tool, etc all the Windows Store apps live. You can resize the partitions to give yourself more space on Windows if needed without redoing anything. I'll get a video together on this probably tomorrow.
Yes you can do it anytime, but be mindful that anything on the drive needs a place to go during conversion, so you will have less free space to do that. I am not sure if its 1:1 but I would want some extra to be safe.
Question: If i need to reinstall windows on its partition, will the rEFInd installation be affected by it? Do I need to reinstall rEFInd for boot screen after reinstalling windows?
I have not personally tried, but it should be unaffected. Just as long as you install Windows to the same partition as before, Refind is on a different partition and just pointing back to Windows and Steam OS. So it lives on its own space, and does its own job, the only thing that could mess it up is if Windows decided to install/overwrite any of the other partitions. With a custom install pointing to a single partition it should not do this, it will do a standard single partition install.
When I did this tutorial it was a manual process, that involved editing the configuration file. Now with the new version of ReFind it has a GUI so you can do it directly from the GUI without any difficulty. So the tutorial I was going to make on that process is pointless now. However it might make sense to do an updated video on the new version and its features.
The upcoming update (currently in preview) will break the SteamOS boot partition, leaving Windows still available. You can restore the boot record using the recovery image and still keep all of your game in SteamOS, but it will break the windows boot record.
Once that happens, I'll see about finding the easiest way to fix it. ReFind is pretty flexible, as long as you can keep everything pointed to that, should be easy to fix everything.
@@ViciousXUSMC ah looks like we need this fix because this was the comment I was looking for. Seems I'm having the issue but I actually have neither windows nor steam available
hi there is it possible to used ( Windows 11 x-lite se (22621.963) 'reflection' ) as windows 11 on steamdeck and with your tutorial? or the windows 11 iso at windows download tool only?
I cant say I know 100%, the problem with lite is sometimes drivers/software and things are missing and it can cause issues. But at the end of the day it probably works and just needs testing.
@@ViciousXUSMC having problems on setup on partition using kde partition manager having error after so many trying and figure out i see the gparted partion manager and it works then after i install the windows lite last problem i encounter is the refind add on i used the pacman at terminal and it works. thanks on the guide i will update on the windows lite if it's good for the Steamdeck or not.
15:50 There is bow a "easy to use" intaller to convert to btrfs, but it asks to select the devices to convert and shows rootfs, rootfs-A, Var-A and Var-B. Please forgive my ignorance, but what should I select to continue?
WARNING! After following this tutorial and using my Steam Deck flawlessly for about 2 weeks, updating SteamOS bricked my Steam Deck and most probably it's related to rEFInd (i have no proof tho), just a headsup. I was greeted with the typical black screen, i left it unplugged to the battery can drain (as advised per reddit) but before it got drained (after about an hour) i was greeted with the Boot Manager and it displayed no bootable partition. I plugged in a USB flashdrive that had steamos recovery in, booted the recovery os, reimaged the Steam Deck so everything's wiped and it's just as if it's new, i still can't boot into anywhere, just the black screen. Not possible to reach Boot Manager, not possible to reach BIOS. (i think even my BIOS got wiped/corrupt because of the SteamOS update) This time I wasn't even able to get to the boot manager by just waiting. I'm now issuing an RMA with Steam so they can replace my device. P.S: I'm not blaming this tutorial, just wanted to give you a heads up. It's a major f-up on Steam's side to ship an OS update that can literally brick the device. It's possible that it may not even be related to tinkering with the internal drive and boot partition, I saw lots of "vanilla" users without any modifications suffering from the same thing after a SteamOS update, and most of them RMAd their device and are waiting for replacements.
I appreciate the feedback, no matter how messed up your boot sector gets, your partitions, your OS, none of those can brick your system. At worst your looking at re-imaging. The only thing as far as updates that can brick a system are things like BIOS updates, and that is why they are always done in a safe way, usually in a controlled environment outside the OS, or from an OS updater that is self contained and verifies before reboot (will never touch the boot loader) Was this a beta update or one live now? I can update mine today to test.
@@ViciousXUSMC this was the latest build on the preview branch as of last night. i actually talked to steam support about this, after a couple of trouble shooting back and forth, (including stuff ~i already tried even though i clearly stated that i did~ like first getting into "battery storage" mode, then reverting it back and powering the device on with the battery again -unplugged-, once again waiting for ~30+ mins staring at the black screen to somehow be able to reach the boot manager and doing a complete reimage afterwards) and eventually i was back where i was (blackscreen, haptics responsive, fan turning, nothing else). their conclusion also was BIOS getting corrupted. (or maybe they just wanted to close the case) anyways, i was asking if there's any other way to reach the boot manager without waiting for 30 minutes and instead of answering this, they issued me an RMA and i'll be sending my device back for a replacement. so i may advise against giving it a go yourself :) P.S: the initial suggestion given was to just reinstall steamos instead of reimaging, but unfortunately you can't reinstall steamos if the home partition is btrfs. (i highly doubt it would work anyways since even reimaging failed to bring it back to life)
For some reason it makes me choose between 2 different windows 10 when I go to windows side, one says it needs repair where as the other works 🤔 any idea how to get rid of the one that needs repair? Edit: Decided to restart from scratch and re image steam, wish me luck for take 2 😂
Have to get tech y, sounds like you somehow have two boot entries, so you have to use a method to edit and delete a boot entry. In the case of this guide, that means editing the RFFIND, so I would look at the documentation for RFFIND and see if there are some easy manual editing instructions.
Hi Your tutorial looks awesome ! As for now, I could not find any satisfactory solution to have both windows and steamOS on my steam deck that no I will for sure give a try at it! I am eager seeing your next video on the topic.
@@anhdzung.truong If you share the Steam Library by setting it to the same location on Both OS you will 99% get an issue as one is Linux and one is Windows so it downloads different game files, configuration files, etc. If you share a game between them by manually adding it so that steam is not handling it, it will work absolutely. But I recommend you keep a separate FOLDER for each library, your still sharing the space. This helps not waist space with per-defined partitions.
@@ViciousXUSMC for examples, i install Payday 2 on windows, and come to steamos to add non-steam and i can play that, but i want to use the same saved game from windows too, is that possible?
Other videos, working on refresh next. Video was about the dual boot, not the extra features for Windows. So that is how to set a custom refresh rate, and the other is to use Steam Deck controls in Windows on non Steam games. So stay tuned for those videos soon.
instead of using a thumb drive can you use an sd card 64GB to do this process and use the internal slot ? Thinking about using my 512GB internal for dual boot to run MW2 on WIN11 thus using 100GB for windows and rest for steam OS as your instructions ?
I do not know if you can boot from the internal slot, but you can always use a USB adapter for a SD card and do it that way. It just all comes down to if you can see the internal SD card as a boot option, if so it will work.
@@ViciousXUSMC many thanks. In such case can I use only 1 SSD than ? I have a Samsung T5 512GB. Can I use it to restore steamos and than install windows from it ?
Good day i follow all the instructions but when power my SD it boot on windows even i already install refind. I need to volume power to boot into refind bootloader
Great tutorial. I am able to dual boot. However, when I try installing games on the Xbox app in windows. I am not able to install to the home drive. It gives me the partition set for the windows install
I have not tried that yet, if it does not have any way to browse to a new location, you can look into what is called Junctions to fool the program into thinking its installing on the C: for windows but its actually being redirected to the home drive.
hi i have a question, if I don't want to share storage. Am I am to just have a micro sd external card I use for when I want to extend my windows storage and a seperate micro sd for windows games? Is this possible? What issues would I run into if i tried this route? You seem extremely knowledgeable about this process, and would love your insight
Also with that being said, on another end of the question, could I actually just use one TB micro sd for both operating systems? Meaning have games I run on windows, and games I run on Steam OS coming from the same micro sd? Or does each OS need a specific formatted micro sd? I guess it would be better to explain my end goal. Which is to play the CODs including warzones, and older COD titles on windows. While playing resident evils, red dead redemption, and metal gear solids on Steam. I imagine these titles will take tons of storage. I dont mind spending the money on extra SDs if I need to but wanted to know more about the process before I try a dual boot.
@@ChristopherNicholson-lo1qs Your first question, just setup dual boot, do not do the BTRFS conversion, and format your SD card to a windows format like exFAT or Fat32 or NTFS. Second question, follow the tutorial exactly, that is the goal here is that one SD card is available to both OS's and you share the space. Create yourself a new folder to use to keep your files seperate, but use the same card.
Thanks for reply, so in KDE partition , I see type:btrfs mount point:home size 46.99gb used 3.29gb. I right clicked to resize the partition, what size do you recommend in my scenario. Again I have 64gb model and 1tb external micro sd card that formatted to btrfs via steam deck
@@sensasianone_battlestation2433 I dont know for sure, would need to look up the minimum space for each. Cutting it close as Windows recomends 64GB or so. But that is not the minimum, and I do not know what Steam OS needs.
Great video, many thanks for all the information. I have a question, Is it possible to install Windows 11 in a MicroSD card and use ReFind to create the dual boot between SteamOS installed in the internal drive and Windows 11 installed in the MicroSD card? Do you know where is located the configuration files of ReFind to try to set or change something to indicate ReFind where Windows 11 is installed? Many thanks
Fixed the problem, I did these steps. Shut down steam deck Press power button and down to get to boot mode Boot up from the steam pen drive Then you can partition the ssd
Your choice, I see no reason to not use Windows 11 so you get all the newest features from Microsoft, and it has some optimizations for touch screen devices.
Amazing tutorial. A couple of questions 1) where did you get your live wallpaper. 2) I have a shared folder in my windows partition. Steam see the SD, but I can’t add to the storage section. You said if I format it… it will format to BRFTS. Also it will delete everything on the SD correct. 3)When I downloaded edge on the steam desktop it downloaded, but without a icon. I also updated the software. I know this is a lot. Thanks in advance.
1.) My desktop uses Wallpaper Engine, found some random things I like from the Steam Database. 2.) If you format you will lose everything, so you can move it to a different location first and then move it back after the format. 3.) Might have to browse to the binary and manually add a shortcut for it.
Thanks for your response. When I finished your tutorial. Everything looked good. But steam did not see my sad card. I formatted it and it see the card now. The windows and steam are partitioned on the steam I was speaking of the sd card
@@ViciousXUSMC for point 2, am I right in thinking that if I copy all contents of the SD card to a different location, format the SD card to the new file type, when I copy back all the files, they’ll be fine?
In I.T. impossible to troubleshoot without being able to see the problem, or recreate it. If you created the folder I'd assume you saw the space to create it. So what exactly do you mean you can't see it?
@@hiphopha It's hidden, but the entire purpose of that folder is for Windows only, just do everything like normal from the Steam OS side, no reason to create folders or change anything.
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Followed this a week ago when I got my new 1TB SSD and everything has been working great! Thanks much.
In case anyone else runs into this, the only issue I ran into was, during the Steam BTRFS conversion process, I was presented with an extra step that wasn't in the tutorial (right before the choice to convert the home folder). I had no idea what I was really doing really hah just was following the tutorial and so the first time, I took a guess and I picked the wrong option. Not only did it not work converting the home folder but also I had to reimage my steam again to fix it. SO, don't be a dummy like me, just hit the next or okay button because the correct option should already be preselected.
That confused me, too.
Thanks, mate.
This was the best and most helpful dual boot video I have seen. Thanks for this. I haven’t seen the BRFTS mentioned in any others I watched which was the whole reason I wasn’t wanting to do it. The boot loader at the end was icing on the cake. I love how you not only explained what to do but you also gave detail of what everything means or does as well. Thank you so much for your time and effort with this
Thank you!
Thank you a ton for this in depth guide. This has worked for me to get my Steam Deck set up with with a shared storage dual boot. This video was a blessing and i am very grateful to learn your knowledge. You know exactly what you are talking about and are trying to explain to us in this video. It is not often you find someone that goes so in depth and that is great that you do that. I was beyond frustrated with the issues i had trying to follow countless other guides. Windows also runs problem free on the internal SSD. It is a night and day difference compared to the slowness on an SD Card (and i had a fast 1 TB SanDisk Extreme)
The only problem i had during the process on my Deck was that i wasn't able to resize the home partiton and assign the new partition i made for windows as ntfs in KDE Partition Manager (i kept getting an error)
The Solution to that was using Gparted to resize the home partiton and format the new partition to NTFS from a usb stick through the boot manager on the steam deck (you can use rufus to burn/write Gparted to a usb stick)
I also decided to use Clover for a dual boot manager instead of rEFInd (i had issues before where rEFInd messed up a previous dual boot setup)
I would like to know if you can make that follow up video with the rest of the tools and set up for windows? I am interested in a tool that could add vibrance to the Deck screen in windows similar to Vibrant Deck in Steam OS. I am also interested in the refresh rate tool you have.
This has to be the best Dual Boot video on the internet😎
Again thank you soo much for this thorough walkthrough man! 😁
This was perfect. Best video out there for dual boot SD
This was a very well explained tutorial. Well done sir.
This was a great tutorial, keep it coming! I love when i find someone that explains well. Make videos of all the tweaks you got, refresh and controller.
Over time I would like to put up more videos for sure, especially any one offs that I can find that are not already well known.
Nice!
Will be following your very well put together guide in the near future!
Very informative and easy to follow tutorial much love
perhaps an interesting problem here. I run my Deck on the Main brach which did update my deck to the latest bios (10). Im not sure if this is related, but as of now refind is installed and there as a selectable boot option, but nothing i seem to try will prioritise it as 1st in the boot order, even changing the boot order in Konsole doesnt work. No matter what i do, it always boots windows (win 11 22h2). If i boot into the boot loader, and manually select refind it works as it should, i just cant get refind to start up by default. Any ideas?
SAME HERE.. ANYONE COULD HELP?
great tutorial & great video.. out of all the dual boot videos for the steam deck, your's was the most informative & convinced me to switch to dual boot. great job at explaining things & from another tech savvy person, i can tell you know what your talking about. wishing you a speedy recovery through the aches & pains. thank you!
Thank you for the feedback and support!
thank you very much for your slow detailed instructions.....great job and happy healing on the back.....ty sir! hats off
At around 18:30 you mention about new SD cards being formatted will be formatted to BTRFS. However, I'm curious if you know if my current SD card with games, emulators, configs could be converted to BTRFS like the home directory is at this part. I have data on both my 1tb internal nvme and my 1tb sd card and I'm just trying to see if I can maintain all data through the dual boot process. If you happen to know if theres a good chance the SD card would need to be wiped, that will determine if I hold off on dual booting with shared storage. Appreciate the video!
This is a fantastic guide, you deserve a lot more views. It ticks all the boxes I wanted, which was to preserve the Deck as I had it setup but then partition the main drive so I could get Windows on there without wiping anything else I had setup already. It all worked perfectly. I'll be sure to link your video whenever I see anyone asking for a dual-boot solution for the Deck.
Thank You, I appreciate the feedback and support!
Hello! Amazing, useful and interesting tutorial! I watched it several times, so as not to make mistakes in the steps of the process. 🤓 But an important tip, if you intend to use Xbox Game Pass games, it is not possible in the /home partition. The Xbox app requires an NTFS formatted drive to install games. Thanks a lot for the video! Hugs!
Man I wish I knew about this before I proceeded....I wanted to use Window exclusively for Xbox app games :(
@@matteoj8652 Unfortunately! 😔
You don't happen to have any suggestions on the best way to recover? Right now I just have 800GB of space I can only use with SteamOS@
I've used this tutorial and my decks been runing amazing until I ran into an unrelated bug that wont allow me to sleep the system in gamemode. Before I do a fac reset I would like to know if this action will get rid of my reFIND and windows dual boot setup? Also does reimaging the deck change the file system back to stock?
After doing Steam btrfs, I was just getting the steam logo instead of the command line you showed for 30 minutes. Decided to turn my steam deck off then turn it on again then I got the command line and it loaded up.
YMMV but that's what worked for me if you run into that issue.
Love your video, it helps me to dualboot from the beginning to the end. I wasn't lost.
I have just 1 problem.. Windows doesn't recognize my SD CARD. I follow your video step by step. But i don't know.. Do i have to format the SD card?
Thanks for the tips !
Really nice content, very clear. I hope you'll find ways to accommodate your herniated disks - for me a combination of standing desk and inversion table really helps.
Hi How do I locate the Folder "Windows_Installs" inside the Desktop mode? I want to access the files I saved there. Been looking for any possible way to access the folder but no luck :( Thanks!
I did this a while ago. Great tutorial! But now I'd like to give the C:/ Drive on Windows a bit more space. How do I go about that? Same process, format to NTFS, then merge/extend C:/ over on the Windows boot?
I plan to do this but won't be adding Windows as a second partition on the steam main drive. It's a 2 TB. I plan to image the 1TB micro SD card for Windows and save the 1TB steam drive for backup.
i got a problem SD card not detecting on windows setup drive select..i have 2 partition 1 btrfs(400gb) and 1 more ntfs (100gb)..the windows setup cant detect neither..can anoyone help?
A few things you're missing,
1) You NEED to use "MSMG Toolkit" to debloat the f*ck out of windows, it made the installation folder from 5gb to 2gb, ram usage was as low as 1GB when no apps are in use,
This is a MUST on a steam deck where we prioritize games!
2) How do I get controller support in windows, or rather the BEST WAY?
3) Windows 10 vs 11?
4) You forgot to change UMA frame buffer from 1G (default) to 4G. Windows DO NOT know how to utilize this, steam OS does natively.
1.) For another video perhaps, too much to put into one. Personally I just run a script to debloat Windows, but in my profesional experience it's risky at times as you never known when something you removed is a dependency for something else.
2.) That is something I do want to make a different video for. Out of the box it just works great for Steam games, but there are a few ways for Non Steam Games.
3.) Your choice, I like 11 as I feel it was designed more around small touch screen devices and integrates the OSK better.
4.) I am still experimenting with this one, I think this setting is the Minimum not the Max, it should dynamically grow as needed. Until I can test it and find benefit I cant tell everybody to do it.
@@ViciousXUSMC
1) MSMG Toolkit creates an ISO. Not "after the fact" debloater. Its open source too!
2) Which software do you use?
3) I heard 10 has better drivers? is that true?
4) Do check your GPU's ram using GPU-Z, it has 1GB in windows if you didn't change it in bios.
@@oliviavalentine5294
1.) I love open source, still has the same effect before/after if something is removed that is needed.
When I used to be on the endpoint device team I had seen crazy things happen like Edge having a dependency on the XBOX game bar lol.
2.) The two main ones are Glocci and SWICD. I am leaning more for SWICD but have not tested enough to make a recommendation. I do already have an improvement I wrote for Glocci if that ends up being my recommendation
3.) To my knowledge they are pretty much the same. The Drivers from Steam get everything working out of the box currently. Including the one thing that was broken the Audio.
4.) If I find this to be the case and can test to verify performance differences I'll for sure put out an add-on video for after imaging tweaks and give you credit for it.
Hey Olivia, I can recommend using one of GHOST-SPECTRE 's builds. They work very good for the usecase!
Will this tutorial still work as shown in the video after the latest Steam update? Getting my Deck in a few weeks so I haven't done this yet
Nothing in this guide actually touches or has anything to do with the SteamOS install so it cant be broken as far as the setup.
Do you have any issues updating or downloading games on windows boots with this drive? I setup a btrfs micro sd that I share with steam and windows os
rootfs-A and rootfs-B were converted to btrfs but /home is still ext4
So just to be clear, if I wanted a game on windows and steamos, I still need to install the game twice? Thanks!
The only problem i have with btrfs is that when i insert my sdcard (formatted to btrfs of course) in my PC to transfer some game files, my PC does not want to eject the sdcard (on an sd reader).
This is great. I am gonna do this.
Doesn't work for me. The SteamOS BTRFS conversion doesn't work. If I run the script or alternatively the easy installer it seems to start and do something, but after the automatic reboot, the screen just stays black for a moment (no console script running as shown at 18:04). After some seconds it reboots again to the normal SteamOS and shows the initial setup screen with language etc and wants me to login again. After I do this nothing changed. The set console password still exists, all partitions including home are still ext4 but all customizations like the installed firefox or keyboard layout are removed / reset to factory default.
Edit: Ok, after reviewing Partitions with Gparted, I see rootfs-A and rootfs-B were converted to btrfs. But home still is ext4 even after a few retries.
i have the issue were able to find a solution
@@rubencastillo6828 We're you able to find a solution?
Same issue here. rootfs-A and rootfs-B were converted to btrfs but not /home.
Question... Every time I try to install programs (on my shared storage drive) on Windows, I get a BSOD
after i install windows, it stuck at boot loader when i open steam os
the audio from your intro threatened to destroy my speakers
12:48 Yes, it did take forever...
29:11 oh the meme of edge being ew. Edge is actually
Well sir i followed your guide.
This was hella nice. Best part i found was windows 11 asking me which of the 50 windows activations i have my account did i want to use for the steam deck. Lmfaoo..
Not much i can say negative about your video you did your best and even went the extra mile by redubbing over it. Thank you very much as i've been doing research on dual booting for the past two months for this and your video was the only one that gave me the confidence to take on the project.
Nice tutorial, I bought a 256GB SSD and I will do the dual boot tomorrow. What is your recommendation for the Windows partition? You had 1TB, so you set to 97GB, but I will make a partition for less space. Thanks.
X2
This is amazing, thanks for explaining
Shout out to this video photo. Just beautiful.
Can i use wireless mouse n keyboard ?
I did this dual boot method 2 months ago and worked flawlessly, but just yesterday after the update my drive is now Wiped. This method is hands down the best way to dual boot your steam deck. But I would advise you, for now, to do a different method. Until the Kinks are out of this one.
P.S. I'm not the only one this happened to.
Yeah, I actually had something similar happen to me too. The update didn't wipe anything but It did cause so many issues (Including battery draining stupidly fast) so I decided to reimage the whole device and start again. Currently in the process of doing this all again.
Same here, but after some digging it looks like reinstalling refind was the fix
This is EXACTLY why I don't follow methods like this - people think they're being clever but at the end of the day just ends up creating far more work for you.
So I followed your video it's really good and it awesome but I've ran into a problem. My sd card of the Windows donesnt show up anymore
Sounds like Windows is missing the BTRFS driver so it cant see it.
Oh convert home folder to BTRFS? I'd be too chicken for that. I just put in my 1TB yesterday and partitioned it into 300 Steam OS, 200 Windows, 500BTRFS. I was pleasantly surprised that KDE can do btrfs right out of the box. Otherwise I would have just done half half.
where to get the controller driver
Are you downloading these things directly to steam deck or a laptop to store in a usb drive? was expecting you to do the process while I follow.
Ok, I did this last night and got it working Yay, however I had 3 issues that I had to figure out, this may help someone if it comes up. 1. I was not able to set up the windows partition in the main SteamOS desktop so I did it in the recovery drive. 2. I lost my steamOS option in the boot menu so I had to retrieve it by following a reddit post, but also I see OP made a video for this too, so watch that instead. 3. I ended up making the GUI of Refind and put the icon to my desktop. You have to set the parameters of what you want to show up. (the preset is fine) then click Install fEFind and then click Install Config. This works!
My games aren't working at all on Windows. They work fine when downloaded and run from SteamOS, but not when I have them in the Windows-Installation folder in /home.
So out of curiosity, not saying i need to. if i need to reinstall steam os how do i do that now? do i have to destroy the windows partition to do it?
Hello I don't know if you are still following this post but I have the 64k and a 1T ssd in the dock -hub- currently in ext4 I still have to resize to format in NTFS and I would like to install Windows on it and leave the rest in partition shared in BTRFS I don't know much about linux. How to be sure that it changes the correct partition/ssd to BTRFS 😱
I follow all my videos and try to help when/where I can. But when things are really technical and I am not there to see things in person it can be kind of hard to help.
So my advise is to learn the concepts and try to apply them to your situation. If you mess up, you can always format and start again!
@@ViciousXUSMC Thanks for responding, I m gonna try because you gave me some good ideas with your very clear videos :)
i haven't done anything like this since the ps1 days. super thank you! rediscovering my love for games through the Steam Deck. your step by step and explaining the functionalities helped me out greatly! hope your back is feeling better.
12/20/23 is when I did this and it works amazing!
can i get a dumb explanation of the window directory @ 31:00
Edit: if thats the process at 33:08 nvm i understand now
Great video! However I get to the Imaging Windows 11 section 23:01 and it is just stuck on the steam logo and does not proceed to the windows install screen. Any advise?
I've done this with 0 issues. Only problem I have is now my Steam Deck won't format my SD and when I format my SD on Windows, my Steam Deck doesn't recognize the SD Card. How do I fix this?
hy mate can i set this up on steam deck dekstop mode using docking station?
I did rufus on my External Hard drive its seagate 1tb but after i did rufus it doesn't show up on my computer but my device manager still detected it, i got so confuse right now
Hi does this survive os updates without problems?
Not exactly, some major updates have broken it, but it was always a matter of just booting into the OS manually and then re-installing the boot loader to be working again.
Hey again, I'm having a issue of not being able to store anything on my SD card or the spare space on the SSD as it doesn't give me even a option to store on them. Any idea on a fix? Windows 10 by the way
✌
Hi! Great tutorial. I just ordered my steam deck. If i follow your tutorial with a fresh steamdeck i can just get a thumbdrive with windows and the drivers and can start at the 'convert file system to BTRFS' timestamp right?
Hi there, is there a way not to factory reset the steam deck and keeps the apps, and games while downloading Windows?
This guide does not require a reset, but it does require enough free space for Windows.
@@ViciousXUSMC Thanks, I will follow the partition SSD video that you made and then install Windows. I think it should work.
@@ViciousXUSMC I have followed your video and I am having 2 problems.
1) My wired mouse via the docking station does not work anymore but the touchscreen does.
2) The Steam Deck only boots to Windows and is not like shown in the video.
Could you please help? Thanks.
Will it be too late to change the portion storage after downloading windows already?
I can't partition the main SSD. Any suggestions? Don't know how to do it without turning on SteamOS and I understand, once it's on, you are unable to adjust partition. Thanks
got it.
@@iBuff_ What was the solution dude?
Thnks broo, this so helpfull me for set dualboot
Do you install Steam / Uplay / Epic Store in the Windows_Install folder? Or can they reside in the Program Files folder but put all installed games in the Windows_Install folder?
I personally install them in the normal program files directory and just point the game download and installs to the shared folder.
This way all my programs are in one place and all my media is in another.
There is one problem. After turning on windows from the rEFInd launcher, the next time I start Steam Deck, windows starts immediately with no choice. after rebooting steam os everything works fine. what to do?
SAME HERE
Only problem I have is my sd card isn't popping up no more on the Windows side
GREAT video. Went without an issue! Many thanks.
I updated steam os and now I cant boot into windows anymore lmao
great tutorial. got the dual booth working on my deck the 2nd day it arrived. thanks
Can you do all this using macbook?
Does it have to be a clean install of steam os or can I just do it with my steam deck how it is?
Yes I am curious about this as well
From what I gathered from the video he said "if you already have a lot of data on your deck it'll take longer to convert partitions" so I'm assuming, no you don't have to. I'll be doing this from my deck that already has stuff on it. Will report back later
@@danielstelzer8370 please do this is helpful to know
@@Gihgbnjgv Working on it now as we speak. Will update in awhile. The btrfs is gonna take a min since I have so much on my deck XD only at 5%
@@Gihgbnjgv You're good to go! Everything worked out amazing, and I didn't wipe, or reinstall Steam OS. Happy Dual Booting!
Thanks so much for this! Worked like a charm!
What size is the minimum you recommended to install windows 11 21H2 from rufus and have soace for updates etc… only have 512gb on my steam deck
64GB is the published minimum from Microsoft.
The Microsoft Game Pass App won't install any games on the btrfs drive. It can only install games on the C: , D: and E: drives. Is there a workaround for this issue?
So far this is the only exception, it's not due to the setup but simply a restriction from Microsoft.
XBox does not install as an application, but an internal Windows App, it goes to a hidden folder on the C: where Paint, Snipping Tool, etc all the Windows Store apps live.
You can resize the partitions to give yourself more space on Windows if needed without redoing anything. I'll get a video together on this probably tomorrow.
Can I run the BRFTS steps after I have partitioned and installed Windows 11?
Yes you can do it anytime, but be mindful that anything on the drive needs a place to go during conversion, so you will have less free space to do that. I am not sure if its 1:1 but I would want some extra to be safe.
It’s failing to resize partiatiion any help?
You deserve a medal😂 Great tutorial!
Question: If i need to reinstall windows on its partition, will the rEFInd installation be affected by it? Do I need to reinstall rEFInd for boot screen after reinstalling windows?
I have not personally tried, but it should be unaffected. Just as long as you install Windows to the same partition as before, Refind is on a different partition and just pointing back to Windows and Steam OS. So it lives on its own space, and does its own job, the only thing that could mess it up is if Windows decided to install/overwrite any of the other partitions. With a custom install pointing to a single partition it should not do this, it will do a standard single partition install.
thank you very much for your tutorial video.
do you know how to customize the boot icon and background thanks
When I did this tutorial it was a manual process, that involved editing the configuration file.
Now with the new version of ReFind it has a GUI so you can do it directly from the GUI without any difficulty. So the tutorial I was going to make on that process is pointless now. However it might make sense to do an updated video on the new version and its features.
The upcoming update (currently in preview) will break the SteamOS boot partition, leaving Windows still available. You can restore the boot record using the recovery image and still keep all of your game in SteamOS, but it will break the windows boot record.
Once that happens, I'll see about finding the easiest way to fix it. ReFind is pretty flexible, as long as you can keep everything pointed to that, should be easy to fix everything.
@@ViciousXUSMC ah looks like we need this fix because this was the comment I was looking for. Seems I'm having the issue but I actually have neither windows nor steam available
Nevermind, it looks like reinstalling refind is the fix :)
hi there
is it possible to used ( Windows 11 x-lite se (22621.963) 'reflection' ) as windows 11 on steamdeck and with your tutorial?
or the windows 11 iso at windows download tool only?
I cant say I know 100%, the problem with lite is sometimes drivers/software and things are missing and it can cause issues. But at the end of the day it probably works and just needs testing.
@@ViciousXUSMC having problems on setup on partition using kde partition manager having error after so many trying and figure out i see the gparted partion manager and it works then after i install the windows lite last problem i encounter is the refind add on i used the pacman at terminal and it works. thanks on the guide i will update on the windows lite if it's good for the Steamdeck or not.
15:50 There is bow a "easy to use" intaller to convert to btrfs, but it asks to select the devices to convert and shows rootfs, rootfs-A, Var-A and Var-B. Please forgive my ignorance, but what should I select to continue?
WARNING! After following this tutorial and using my Steam Deck flawlessly for about 2 weeks, updating SteamOS bricked my Steam Deck and most probably it's related to rEFInd (i have no proof tho), just a headsup. I was greeted with the typical black screen, i left it unplugged to the battery can drain (as advised per reddit) but before it got drained (after about an hour) i was greeted with the Boot Manager and it displayed no bootable partition. I plugged in a USB flashdrive that had steamos recovery in, booted the recovery os, reimaged the Steam Deck so everything's wiped and it's just as if it's new, i still can't boot into anywhere, just the black screen. Not possible to reach Boot Manager, not possible to reach BIOS. (i think even my BIOS got wiped/corrupt because of the SteamOS update) This time I wasn't even able to get to the boot manager by just waiting. I'm now issuing an RMA with Steam so they can replace my device.
P.S: I'm not blaming this tutorial, just wanted to give you a heads up. It's a major f-up on Steam's side to ship an OS update that can literally brick the device. It's possible that it may not even be related to tinkering with the internal drive and boot partition, I saw lots of "vanilla" users without any modifications suffering from the same thing after a SteamOS update, and most of them RMAd their device and are waiting for replacements.
I appreciate the feedback, no matter how messed up your boot sector gets, your partitions, your OS, none of those can brick your system.
At worst your looking at re-imaging.
The only thing as far as updates that can brick a system are things like BIOS updates, and that is why they are always done in a safe way, usually in a controlled environment outside the OS, or from an OS updater that is self contained and verifies before reboot (will never touch the boot loader)
Was this a beta update or one live now? I can update mine today to test.
@@ViciousXUSMC this was the latest build on the preview branch as of last night. i actually talked to steam support about this, after a couple of trouble shooting back and forth, (including stuff ~i already tried even though i clearly stated that i did~ like first getting into "battery storage" mode, then reverting it back and powering the device on with the battery again -unplugged-, once again waiting for ~30+ mins staring at the black screen to somehow be able to reach the boot manager and doing a complete reimage afterwards) and eventually i was back where i was (blackscreen, haptics responsive, fan turning, nothing else). their conclusion also was BIOS getting corrupted. (or maybe they just wanted to close the case)
anyways, i was asking if there's any other way to reach the boot manager without waiting for 30 minutes and instead of answering this, they issued me an RMA and i'll be sending my device back for a replacement. so i may advise against giving it a go yourself :)
P.S: the initial suggestion given was to just reinstall steamos instead of reimaging, but unfortunately you can't reinstall steamos if the home partition is btrfs. (i highly doubt it would work anyways since even reimaging failed to bring it back to life)
For some reason it makes me choose between 2 different windows 10 when I go to windows side, one says it needs repair where as the other works 🤔 any idea how to get rid of the one that needs repair?
Edit: Decided to restart from scratch and re image steam, wish me luck for take 2 😂
Have to get tech y, sounds like you somehow have two boot entries, so you have to use a method to edit and delete a boot entry.
In the case of this guide, that means editing the RFFIND, so I would look at the documentation for RFFIND and see if there are some easy manual editing instructions.
Hi
Your tutorial looks awesome !
As for now, I could not find any satisfactory solution to have both windows and steamOS on my steam deck that no I will for sure give a try at it!
I am eager seeing your next video on the topic.
Created a Steam Deck playlist so you can find them all easily.
I'm doing this now. Wish me luck.
Oh wow everythjing went well.
I dont have SD card, can this method use for same storage on internam SSD?
Yes, sharing both.
@@ViciousXUSMC i only need to install the game once time only right? Then when i change OS, i can play the game that already installed?
@@anhdzung.truong If you share the Steam Library by setting it to the same location on Both OS you will 99% get an issue as one is Linux and one is Windows so it downloads different game files, configuration files, etc.
If you share a game between them by manually adding it so that steam is not handling it, it will work absolutely.
But I recommend you keep a separate FOLDER for each library, your still sharing the space. This helps not waist space with per-defined partitions.
@@ViciousXUSMC for examples, i install Payday 2 on windows, and come to steamos to add non-steam and i can play that, but i want to use the same saved game from windows too, is that possible?
@@anhdzung.truong Yes it should be possible.
whats the controller driver and refresh thing? i did everything exactly what you did but winder those two things not mentioned on the video
Other videos, working on refresh next. Video was about the dual boot, not the extra features for Windows. So that is how to set a custom refresh rate, and the other is to use Steam Deck controls in Windows on non Steam games. So stay tuned for those videos soon.
instead of using a thumb drive can you use an sd card 64GB to do this process and use the internal slot ? Thinking about using my 512GB internal for dual boot to run MW2 on WIN11 thus using 100GB for windows and rest for steam OS as your instructions ?
I do not know if you can boot from the internal slot, but you can always use a USB adapter for a SD card and do it that way.
It just all comes down to if you can see the internal SD card as a boot option, if so it will work.
@@ViciousXUSMC many thanks. In such case can I use only 1 SSD than ? I have a Samsung T5 512GB. Can I use it to restore steamos and than install windows from it ?
@@godfreymassa1814 Sorry but only one answer per user 😂
Good day i follow all the instructions but when power my SD it boot on windows even i already install refind. I need to volume power to boot into refind bootloader
Great tutorial. I am able to dual boot. However, when I try installing games on the Xbox app in windows. I am not able to install to the home drive. It gives me the partition set for the windows install
I have not tried that yet, if it does not have any way to browse to a new location, you can look into what is called Junctions to fool the program into thinking its installing on the C: for windows but its actually being redirected to the home drive.
Is there a way to shrink or re-allocate an ssd that already have data on it. I will like to make a partition on the internal ssd without reformating.
hi i have a question, if I don't want to share storage. Am I am to just have a micro sd external card I use for when I want to extend my windows storage and a seperate micro sd for windows games? Is this possible? What issues would I run into if i tried this route? You seem extremely knowledgeable about this process, and would love your insight
Also with that being said, on another end of the question, could I actually just use one TB micro sd for both operating systems? Meaning have games I run on windows, and games I run on Steam OS coming from the same micro sd? Or does each OS need a specific formatted micro sd? I guess it would be better to explain my end goal. Which is to play the CODs including warzones, and older COD titles on windows. While playing resident evils, red dead redemption, and metal gear solids on Steam. I imagine these titles will take tons of storage. I dont mind spending the money on extra SDs if I need to but wanted to know more about the process before I try a dual boot.
@@ChristopherNicholson-lo1qs Your first question, just setup dual boot, do not do the BTRFS conversion, and format your SD card to a windows format like exFAT or Fat32 or NTFS.
Second question, follow the tutorial exactly, that is the goal here is that one SD card is available to both OS's and you share the space. Create yourself a new folder to use to keep your files seperate, but use the same card.
Error when partitioning, after resize. I have 64gb model with 1tb SDcard, getting an error after hitting apply to shrink partition (46.99gb to 3.27gb)
3.27gb? Sounds like your trying to shrink it past the actual used space. You can only shrink free space.
Thanks for reply, so in KDE partition , I see type:btrfs mount point:home size 46.99gb used 3.29gb. I right clicked to resize the partition, what size do you recommend in my scenario. Again I have 64gb model and 1tb external micro sd card that formatted to btrfs via steam deck
@@sensasianone_battlestation2433 I dont know for sure, would need to look up the minimum space for each. Cutting it close as Windows recomends 64GB or so. But that is not the minimum, and I do not know what Steam OS needs.
@@ViciousXUSMC thanks, just installed a windows to go on a external SSD and called it a day lol
Great video, many thanks for all the information. I have a question, Is it possible to install Windows 11 in a MicroSD card and use ReFind to create the dual boot between SteamOS installed in the internal drive and Windows 11 installed in the MicroSD card? Do you know where is located the configuration files of ReFind to try to set or change something to indicate ReFind where Windows 11 is installed? Many thanks
Install windows on your micro ss card would kill it as he says at the first part of the video
@@ChapinPro many thanks, I hadn't listen to that information. I'm reinstalling all the system (Steam os and Windows 11) in the internal disc.
Didn't work unfortunately, I'm stuck at the partition part, it says error: shrink partition. So annoying that I can't get past this part 😢
Fixed the problem, I did these steps.
Shut down steam deck
Press power button and down to get to boot mode
Boot up from the steam pen drive
Then you can partition the ssd
My sdcard does not mount I already had it with games then used btrfs all together
I don't know if i did something wrong, but I can't seem to partition /home. It just returns with an error. Any idea why?
I solved it by launching steam os from the USB stick and now it works great!
@@martintornqvist9624 how? Having the same issue. Only have the 64gb, so partitioning 45gb but error out too for me
Should I install win 11 or win 10? Thanks
Your choice, I see no reason to not use Windows 11 so you get all the newest features from Microsoft, and it has some optimizations for touch screen devices.
The SD card did not get formatted to btrfs but my nvme did
Format the card again and it should, as long as you enabled all the defaults with the script.
Amazing tutorial.
A couple of questions
1) where did you get your live wallpaper.
2) I have a shared folder in my windows partition. Steam see the SD, but I can’t add to the storage section. You said if I format it… it will format to BRFTS. Also it will delete everything on the SD correct.
3)When I downloaded edge on the steam desktop it downloaded, but without a icon. I also updated the software. I know this is a lot.
Thanks in advance.
1.) My desktop uses Wallpaper Engine, found some random things I like from the Steam Database.
2.) If you format you will lose everything, so you can move it to a different location first and then move it back after the format.
3.) Might have to browse to the binary and manually add a shortcut for it.
Thanks for your response. When I finished your tutorial. Everything looked good. But steam did not see my sad card. I formatted it and it see the card now. The windows and steam are partitioned on the steam I was speaking of the sd card
@@ViciousXUSMC for point 2, am I right in thinking that if I copy all contents of the SD card to a different location, format the SD card to the new file type, when I copy back all the files, they’ll be fine?
I can't see folder I have created from Windows side at /home/ on SteamOS. What I'm doing wrong?
In I.T. impossible to troubleshoot without being able to see the problem, or recreate it.
If you created the folder I'd assume you saw the space to create it. So what exactly do you mean you can't see it?
@@ViciousXUSMC I have create that folder while I’m running Windows. but when I’m back in SteamOS , that folder doesn’t shown.
@@hiphopha It's hidden, but the entire purpose of that folder is for Windows only, just do everything like normal from the Steam OS side, no reason to create folders or change anything.