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Getting Started

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Alesh Slovak edited this page Jul 28, 2024 · 42 revisions

Download & Installation

See our download page for system requirements, installation instructions, and to download installation media.

First boot

Once installation is complete and the computer is restarted, you will be presented with some basic setup screens after which you will need to log in to Steam.

Once logged in to Steam, you should be presented with Gamepad/Deck UI. Some hardware will fail to initialize gamescope or Steam. If multiple failures are detected the system will drop into the Gnome desktop environment. If that happens additional troubleshooting will be required. You can submit an issue on GitHub or contact us in the #help channel on Discord.

OS updates

When an operating system update is available, Steam will display an orange notification icon. You can also manually check for updates at any time by navigating to the System screen in the Settings.

After an update is completed, you must restart the system to apply the changes.

Note that Steam does not distinguish between Steam client updates and OS updates unless you enable Developer mode. Steam will also show SteamOS release notes which have no bearing on ChimeraOS.

Steam games

You can install any Steam game, but not all games will work. You can check out our compatibility page for a limited set of games tested specifically on ChimeraOS. For more general Linux game compatibility information, see ProtonDB.

Non-Steam software

Out of the box, ChimeraOS supports installing software from Epic Games Store, GOG, Flathub, and even allows you to install ROMs for many retro console platforms. Also, uploading AppImages is supported, though we can't guarantee compatibility of any single AppImage with the ChimeraOS environment.

This is all done through a web app that allows you to remotely connect and install software onto your ChimeraOS computer.

You can connect to the Chimera web app via any browser on a phone or another computer.

Navigate to the Library screen and select the platform for which you want to install software.

All games installed through the Chimera web app will be automatically added to Steam. However, Steam needs to be restarted before the new software will appear. The easiest way to do that is to restart the computer.

Epic Games Store & GOG

Epic Games Store and GOG require you to first log in to their respective stores. Follow the instructions presented on-screen to do so.

After logging in, you can install any game in your Epic Games Store or GOG library. Not all games will work. Consult our compatibility page for details on how well specific games are expected to work.

Please note that security-focused browsers like Brave and Vivaldi may block the necessary functionality for the Epic and GOG stores to work. If you're having issues please try to use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

App store (Flathub)

Flathub is the app store used by ChimeraOS and many other Linux-based operating systems. There are nearly 2000 free applications and games available for installation.

Consult our compatibility page for details on how well specific software is expected to work.

Emulation

Emulation is handled by RetroArch.

The Chimera web app makes it easy to add your retro games collection. Simply upload your ROM files and restart your computer. The games will appear in Steam automatically. You can also share your ROM files between multiple ChimeraOS devices, making it even easier to get started with Emulation on a new device. See the Content Sharing feature section for details.

Emulators for the following retro consoles are included and supported out of the box:

  • 32X
  • 3DO
  • Arcade (MAME-Current)
  • Atari 2600
  • Atari 7800
  • Dreamcast
  • Game Boy
  • Game Boy Advance
  • Game Boy Color
  • GameCube
  • Game Gear
  • Genesis/Mega Drive
  • Jaguar
  • Master System
  • Neo Geo
  • Nintendo
  • Nintendo 64
  • Nintendo DS
  • PlayStation
  • PlayStation 2
  • PlayStation Portable
  • Saturn
  • Sega/Mega CD
  • Super Game Boy
  • Super Nintendo
  • Super Nintendo MSU1
  • TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine

ROMs can be uploaded from the platform-specific section of the Chimera web app's Library page. Click the large blue '+' button to add a new game. Fill out the game name, upload your ROM file, and select your preferred artwork.

ROM files should be in the correct format as expected by the respective emulator. Zip files are supported transparently as long as the ROM file is the only file inside the zip file.

For Dreamcast, PlayStation, Saturn, and Sega/Mega CD ROMs, the CHD format is highly recommended. It is a single-file format which allows easy uploading of ROMs through the Chimera web interface. Cue/Bin formatted ROMs are not supported.

Super Nintendo MSU1 ROMs are a special case as they involve a number of PCM files. In order to upload to Chimera, all of the pcm files, the msu file, and the ROM file need to be zipped together in a single-level zip file (no subfolders) named <romname>.zip, and the romname must include the extension.

Example:

gamerom.sfc.zip
|- gamerom.sfc
|- gamerom.msu
|- gamerom-1.pcm
|- gamerom-2.pcm
...
|- gamerom-999.pcm

Emulation BIOS files

The following retro console platforms require BIOS files to function. Follow the links for details on the required BIOS files:

BIOS files must be uploaded under their respective platforms just as if they were games. However, when entering the name, you must omit the file extension.

The final filename of the BIOS file is a combination of the name entered when uploading the file, plus the extension of the uploaded file itself. This combined file name must match what the emulator is expecting.

Some BIOSes are region-specific, in which case you must upload the BIOS for each region you will be using ROMs for.

Switch Emulation

Pre-requisites

  1. You have an AppImage of Yuzu (or another Yuzu compatible emulator)
  2. You have prod and title key files
  3. You have a zipped archive of firmware files (optional, but many popular games do not function without it)

Note: Do not ask for these files. We cannot provide them for legal reasons. You are on your own in obtaining them.

Side note: F*** Nintendo for going out of their way to make it so difficult for their customers to enjoy their games in the highest available quality and comfort of a unified game library.

Enable

To enable Switch emulation, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Chimera web app of the device you wish to enable emulation on.
  2. Click on the Switch icon.
  3. Upload the following files by clicking on the blue '+' button:
  • Upload the Yuzu .AppImage file with the name yuzu
  • Upload the title.keys file with the name title
  • Upload the prod.keys file with the name prod
  • Upload the Firmware X.Y.Z.zip file with the name firmware (optional)
  • Upload any games in .nsp or .xci format.
  1. Restart the computer, otherwise the .AppImage fails to launch.

Note: It is recommended to set the AppImage, key, and firmware files as hidden so that they do not appear in your library.

Default settings are automatically applied which configure 4 connected Pro controllers. Any Steam supported gamepad can be used. Make sure that Steam Input is enabled for controllers to function correctly.

You can further adjust emulation settings by connecting a keyboard and pressing esc while a game is running to access the emulator menus.

Emulation Content Sharing

Content sharing allows a single ChimeraOS device to act as a host for ROM files and related artwork. Other ChimeraOS devices can then install games directly from the host device without having to re-upload ROM files and select artwork.

Enable content sharing

  1. Open the Chimera web app on the intended host device.
  2. Open the main menu and select "System".
  3. Scroll down and check the "Enable Content Sharing" check box.
  4. Click the Save button.
  5. Restart the device.

You will also need to have uploaded ROMs to the host device as explained in the Emulation section above.

Please make sure to only enable this feature on a single device in your network, otherwise you may experience issues with connecting to the wrong host.

Installing shared content

  1. Open the Chimera web app on a second device.
  2. Open the main menu and select "Library".
  3. Click on the Emulation platform for which you want to install a game.
  4. Click the blue '+' button with a radio/transmitter logo in the top right corner (NOTE: this button will only appear if a content sharing enabled ChimeraOS host is found on the same network).
  5. A list of available games to install will appear, click the game to be installed.
  6. Click the install button and allow the game to be installed.
  7. Open the main menu again and select "Actions".
  8. Click on "Restart Steam" to allow Steam to load the newly installed game.

Remote Launch

The remote launch feature allows you to launch any game, including Steam, GOG, Epic, and Emulated games via a URL. This enables some fun use cases, such as writing the URL to an NFC tag/card or a QR code.

The feature is disabled by default since to launch a game, no authentication is required.

Enable remote launch

  1. Open the Chimera web app on the device you wish to launch games from.
  2. Open the main menu and select "System".
  3. Scroll down and check the "Enable Remote Launch" check box.
  4. Click the Save button.

Launching games remotely

  1. Open the Chimera web app on the device you wish to launch games from.
  2. Open the main menu and select "Library".
  3. Click on the platform for which you want to launch a game.
  4. Click on the game you wish to launch.
  5. Click on the "Launch" button

Once you click the "Launch" button, the browser will open a URL which triggers launching the game. You can copy-paste that URL for reference or bookmark it.

Launching Steam games remotely

Steam games are not listed in the Chimera web app, but you can still launch them remotely through the following URL: http://chimeraos.local:8844/launch/<steam app id>

Replace <steam app id> with the app id of the game you wish to launch. You can easily obtain the app id, by searching for the game on this site.

If your device has a different host name, replace chimeraos.local with myhostname.local. You can also use the IP address of the device instead of chimeraos.local.

Terminal Access

There are multiple ways to access a terminal in ChimeraOS. You can use a TTY, SSH, or the Chimera app. Use of the CLI will require you to log in. The default username is gamer and the password is gamer.

TTY

Plug in a keyboard and press ctrl+alt+f3. To switch back to the UI, press ctrl+alt+f7 or reboot.

SSH

Windows/Mac/Linux

  1. Open up the terminal (Use Powershell on Windows) application on the host you want to use to connect.
  2. If you have not generated a public SSH key before this, you can do so with the below command. Using a password is optional. 
    ssh-keygen
  3. Now, display the key by using the path from the above command, typically: 
    cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
  4. Next, go to http://chimeraos.local:8844 and after logging in, go to system and paste this output in, click save.
  5. On the terminal application you used, connect with 
    ssh gamer@chimeraos.local

Android with JuiceSSH

  1. Create an identity with the following:
    1. Nickname: gamer
    2. Username: gamer
    3. Password: "gamer" (no quotes, this is the default password)
    4. Private key: Click set, then OK.
    5. Click "Generate snippet" and click the checkmark to save the entire identity.
    6. Press and hold on the name of the identity back on the list of them and choose "Export public key".
  2. Next, go to http://chimeraos.local:8844 and after logging in, go to system and paste this output in, click save.
  3. Back in JuiceSSH, create a connection with the following:
    1. Nickname: anything (e.g. ChimeraOS)
    2. Type: SSH
    3. Address: chimeraos.local
    4. Identity: choose the gamer identity

You should now be able to connect via JuiceSSH on Android.

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