Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
745 lines (574 loc) · 42.7 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

745 lines (574 loc) · 42.7 KB
Raw

winesapOS

Game with Linux anywhere, no installation required!

winesapOS_3_Desktop_Screenshot 720p

winesapOS makes it easy to setup Linux and play games off an internal or portable external drive.

This project provides an opinionated installation of Linux. It can be used on a flash drive, SD card, HDD, SSD, NVMe, or any other storage device. Both internal and external devices are fully supported. The release images are based on SteamOS 3 and the KDE Plasma desktop environment to align with what Valve's Steam Deck uses. Software for various games launchers are pre-installed. Additional drivers are installed to support Macs with Intel processors.

Want to help support our work? Consider donating via our Patreon page or helping out with open feature and bug GitHub issues. Our CONTRIBUTING.md guide provides all of the information you need to get started as a winesapOS contributor.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

macOS Limitations

These are reasons why macOS is inferior compared to Linux when it comes to gaming.

  • No 32-bit support. The latest version is now 64-bit only. As of November 2021, there are 1,263 full PC games (i.e., not apps) on macOS that are available as 64-bit. That number is only 2% of the 59,368 games available on Steam.
  • As of November 2021, 83% of reported Steam games run on Linux.
  • Macs in 2020 have started the move from Intel to Arm-based processors, further lowering the amount of full games it supports natively to almost zero.
  • The Apple M1 Arm-based processor has limited graphics capabilities and that are comparable to integrated graphics offered by AMD and Intel. These Macs are not designed to be gaming computers.
  • Minecraft: Java Edition versions 1.18 and older do not work on Apple Silicon Macs without hacks.
    • There are no hacks for getting Minecraft 1.13 and older working.
  • Steam Play's Proton is only supported on Linux (not macOS).
  • Old and incomplete implementation of OpenGL.
  • No native Vulkan support.
  • Linux has better gaming support because it supports 32-bit applications, DirectX (via Wine with WineD3D, DXVK, and/or Vkd3d), OpenGL, and Vulkan.
  • CrossOver Mac, a commercial Wine product, is one of the few ways to run games on macOS but has some limitations.
    • It costs money and requires a new license yearly (or a very expensive lifetime license).
    • 32-bit Windows application support on 64-bit only macOS versions is still buggy.
    • It is based on an old version of Wine.
    • Vulkan support via MoltenVK is incomplete due to missing functionality in Apple's Metal API.
    • DXVK (DirectX 9-11), via a modified version of MoltenVK, has limited support.
      • MoltenVK does not expose all of the features in Vulkan required by DXVK.
      • MoltenVK only exposes 64-bit Vulkan support. This means that DirectX 11 games that use 32-bit libraries will not work via DXVK.
    • Vkd3d (DirectX 12) will not be supported until at least 2023.
    • Linux has kernel-level optimizations for Wine.

Features

General

  • Any computer with an AMD or Intel processor can run winesapOS.
  • Portability.
    • A drive is bootable on both BIOS and UEFI systems.
    • Applications are installed using Flatpaks, a universal package manager for Linux, where possible.
  • Persistent storage. Unlike traditional Linux live media, all storage is persistent and kept upon reboots.
    • Upon the first boot, the root partition is expanded to utilize all available space.
  • Supportability. Linux is easy to troubleshoot remotely.
    • Access:
    • Tools:
      • ClamAV, and the GUI front-end Clamtk, is an open source anti-virus scanner.
      • QDirStat provides a graphical user interface to view storage space usage.
  • Usability. Software for typical day-to-day use is provided.
  • Gaming support out-of-the-box.
    • Game launchers:
    • Wine:
      • Wine GE and Wine Staging for running Windows applications and games without a game launcher.
      • Proton GE is installed along with the ProtonUp-Qt package manager for it. This provides better Windows games compatibility in Steam.
    • GameMode is available to be used to speed up games.
    • Gamescope for helping play older games with frame rate or resolution issues.
    • MangoHUD for benchmarking OpenGL and Vulkan games.
    • GOverlay is a GUI for managing Vulkan overlays including MangoHUD, ReplaySorcery, and vkBasalt.
    • Ludusavi is a game save files manager.
    • ProtonUp-Qt for managing Steam Play compatibility tools.
    • ZeroTier VPN can be used to play LAN-only games online with friends.
    • Open source OpenGL and Vulkan drivers are installed for AMD, Intel, VirtualBox,and VMware graphics.
  • Controller support for most controllers.
    • All official PlayStation and Xbox controllers are supported.
    • All generic DirectInput and XInput controllers are supported.
    • AntiMicroX is provided for configuring controller input for non-Steam games.
    • game-devices-udev is provided for more controller support
  • Steam Deck look and feel.
    • Desktop Steam client runs with the windowed Steam Deck UI.
    • KDE Plasma desktop environment uses Valve's Vapor theme.
  • Minimize writes to the drive to improve its longevity.
    • Root file system is mounted with the options noatime and nodiratime to not write the access times for files and directories.
    • Temporary directories with heavy writes (/tmp/, /var/log/, and /var/tmp/) are mounted as RAM-only file systems.
    • systemd-journald is configured to use volatile (RAM-only) storage for all system logs.
    • Swappiness level is set to 10% (down from the default of 60%).
  • Full backups via Btrfs.
    • Snapper takes 12 monthly and 1 annual snapshots.
    • Snapper takes a backup whenever the pacman package manager is used.
    • grub-btrfs automatically generates a GRUB menu entry for all of the Btrfs backups.
  • No automatic operating system updates. Updates should always be intentional and planned.
  • Most file systems supported. Access any storage device, anywhere.
    • APFS
    • Btrfs
    • ext2, ext3, and ext4
    • exFAT
    • FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32
    • HFS and HFS+
    • NTFS
    • XFS
    • ZFS
  • Battery optimizations.
    • The auto-cpufreq service provides automatic power management.
  • Fully automated installation.

Mac Support

All Intel Macs are supported. Linux works on most Macs out-of-the-box these days. Drivers are pre-installed for newer hardware where native Linux support is missing.

Hardware Supported Third-Party Driver(s)
Keyboard Yes mbp2018-bridge-drv
Mouse Yes mbp2018-bridge-drv
NVMe Yes mbp2018-bridge-drv
Sound Yes mbp2018-bridge-drv and snd-hda-codec-cs8409
Touch Bar Yes mbp2018-bridge-drv and macbook12-spi-driver
Fans Yes mbpfan
Bluetooth Yes None
Wi-Fi Partial broadcom-wl

The mbp2018-bridge-drv driver provides support for the Apple T2 security chip found on newer Macs. Without this, no hardware would work on Linux.

If your internal Wi-Fi device does not work, consider purchasing a USB Wi-Fi device that Linux natively supports by using this guide by Nick (morrownr).

For more information about Linux support on Macs, refer to the Linux on MacBook Pro compatibility guide.

PlayStation 4 Support

winesapOS has been ported to the PS4 thanks to the hard work from Noob404 as part of the PS4Linux project.

Community Collaboration

We are actively working alongside these projects to help provide wider SteamOS 3 and/or Steam Deck support to the masses:

winesapOS Repository

As of winesapOS 3.1.0, we now provide our own repository with some AUR packages pre-built. This repository works on Arch Linux, Manjaro, and SteamOS 3. It is enabled on winesapOS by default. Depending on what distribution you are on, here is how it can be enabled:

  • Arch Linux or Manjaro: 
    sudo sed -i s'/\[core]/[winesapos]\nServer = https:\/\/winesapos.lukeshort.cloud\/repo\/$repo\/$arch\nSigLevel = Never\n\n[core]/'g /etc/pacman.conf
sudo pacman -S -y -y
  • SteamOS 3: 
    sudo sed -i s'/\[jupiter]/[winesapos]\nServer = https:\/\/winesapos.lukeshort.cloud\/repo\/$repo\/$arch\nSigLevel = Never\n\n[jupiter]/'g /etc/pacman.conf
sudo pacman -S -y -y

Comparison with SteamOS

Features SteamOS 3 winesapOS 3
SteamOS packages Yes Yes
Arch Linux packages Old New
Boot compatibility UEFI UEFI and legacy BIOS
Graphics drivers AMD AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, VirtualBox, and VMware
Audio server PipeWire PipeWire
Read-only file system Yes No
Encrypted file system No Yes (secure image)
File system backup type A/B partitions Btrfs snapshots
Number of possible file system backups 1 Unlimited
Package managers (CLI) pacman, yay, flatpak pacman, yay, flatpak, snap
Preferred package manager (CLI) flatpak flatpak
Package manager (GUI) Discover (flatpak) Discover (flatpak) and bauh (pacman, yay/AUR, flatpak, and snap)
Update type Image-based Package manager
Number of installed packages Small Large
Game launchers Steam Steam, Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, and Prism Launcher
Linux kernels Neptune (5.13) Neptune (5.13) and Linux LTS (5.15)
Additional Mac drivers No Yes
Desktop environment Plasma Plasma
Desktop theme Vapor Vapor
AMD FSR Global Per-game
Gamescope Global Per-game
Wine Proton Proton, GE-Proton, Wine Staging, and Wine-GE
Game controller support Large Large
exFAT flash drive storage No Yes (16 GB)

Usage

Requirements

Minimum:

  • Processor = Single-core AMD or Intel processor.
  • RAM = 2 GiB.
  • Graphics = AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA, VirtualBox, or VMware Fusion/Workstation virtual graphics device.
  • Storage
    • Minimal image = 8 GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) flash drive.
    • Performance and secure image = 64 GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) flash drive.

Recommended:

  • Processor = Quad-core AMD or Intel processor.
  • RAM = 16 GiB.
  • Graphics = AMD discrete graphics card.
  • Storage
    • Internal = 512 GB NVMe SSD.
    • External = 512 GB USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB 3.1) SSD.

Setup

Release Builds

  1. Download the latest release image archive files. These zip files and the extracted image will be large. In a future release, we will provide a minimal image that is significantly smaller.
    • Performance (recommended) = Requires 40 GiB of free space to download and extract.
      • winesapos-performance-<VERSION>.img.zip
      • winesapos-performance-<VERSION>.img.z01
      • winesapos-performance-<VERSION>.img.z02
      • winesapos-performance-<VERSION>.img.z03
      • winesapos-performance-<VERSION>.img.z04
    • Minimal (for users low on storage space) = Requires 12 GiB of free space to download and extract.
      • winesapos-minimal-<VERSION>.img.zip
      • winesapos-minimal-<VERSION>.img.z01
      • winesapos-minimal-<VERSION>.img.z02
    • Secure (for advanced users only) = Requires 50 GiB of free space to download and extract.
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.zip
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z01
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z02
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z03
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z04
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z05
      • winesapos-secure-<VERSION>.img.z06
    • PlayStation 4 = Requires a special build that is hosted by the PS4Linux project. For more details, read here.
    • If you want to setup winesapOS using winesapOS, use the minimal image and follow through the next steps (2 and 3) to extract and flash the image. Then boot into the storage device and download the image you want to setup. Follow steps 2 and 3 again to flash the image onto a different storage device.
      • Copying partitions using GParted from a storage device with winesapOS already installed is not recommended as it requires rebuilding the GRUB configuration. We will not provide support for that and instead recommend using balenaEtcher or dd to flash the entire image instead.
        • For balenaEtcher, when you "Select target" there is an option to "Show hidden" storage devices. It will let you flash an image to any drive except the one it is physically running on.
    • If you want more control over the how the image is built, consider doing a custom build instead.
  2. Extract the winesapos-<VERSION>.img.zip archive. This will automatically extract all of the other zip file parts.
    • Linux:
      • GUI: Use PeaZip.
      • CLI: 7z x winesapos-<VERSION>.img.zip
    • macOS: Use PeaZip or Keka.
    • Windows: Use PeaZip.
  3. Use the image...
    1. on a PC or Mac.
      • Flash the image to an internal or external storage device. WARNING: This will delete any existing data on that storage device.
        • On Linux, macOS, and Windows, the balenaEtcher GUI utility can be used to flash the image.
        • On Linux and macOS, the dd CLI utility can be used to flash the image.
        • Ventoy is not supported because winesapOS is not a traditional live media. Support for this will be added in the future.
    2. with VMware Fusion on macOS.
      • Convert the raw image to the VMDK format.
        • Using the VirtualBox CLI: 
          VBoxManage convertfromraw --format VMDK winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.img winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.vmdk
        • Using the qemu-img CLI: 
          qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.img winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.vmdk
      • VMware Fusion > Virtual Machine Library > + > New... > Create a custom virtual machine > Continue > Linux > Other Linux 5.x kernel 64-bit > Continue > Specify the boot firmware: UEFI > Continue > Use an existing virtual disk > Continue > Custom Settings > Hard Disk (SCSI) > Disk size: (increase to at least 64 GB) > Apply > Show All > Processors & Memory > Processors: 2 processor cores > Memory: 4096 MB > Show All > Display > Accelerate 3D Graphis: Yes > Shared graphics memory: (set this to the highest possible value)
    3. with VMware Workstation on Linux or Windows.
      • Convert the raw image to the VMDK format.
      • VMware Workstation > Create a New Virtual Machine > Custom (advanced) > Next > Hardware compatibility: (select the latest version) > Next > I will install the operating system later. > Next > Guest Operating System: 2. Linux > Version: Other Linux 5.x kernel 64-bit > Next > Name: winesapOS > Next > Number of processors: 2 > Next > Memory for this virtual machine: 4096 MB > Next > Use network address translation (NAT) > Next > SCSI controller: LSI Logic (Recommended) > Next > Virtual Disk Type: SCSI (Recommended) > Next > Use an existing virtual disk > Next > File name: (select the winesapOS VMDK file) > Keep Existing Format > Customize Hardware... > Hard Disk (SCSI) > Expand Disk... > Maximum disk size (GB): (increase to at least 64 GB) > Expand > OK > Display > Accelerate 3D graphics: Yes > Graphics Memory: (set this to the highest possible value) > Close > Finish > Close
    4. with VirtualBox.
      • Convert the raw image to the VDI format.
        • Using the VirtualBox CLI: 
          VBoxManage convertfromraw --format VDI winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.img winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.vdi
        • Using the qemu-img CLI: 
          qemu-img convert -f raw -O vdi winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.img winesapos-<TYPE>-<VERSION>.vdi
      • Virtual Box > New > Name: winesapOS, Type: Linux, Version: Arch Linux (64-bit) > Next > Base Memory: 4096 MB, Processors: 2, Enable EFI: Yes > Next > Use an Existing Virtual Hard Disk File > Add > Choose > Next > Finish > File > Tools > Virtual Media Manager > Size: (increase to at least 32 GB) > Apply > OK > winesapOS > Settings > General > Advanced > Shared Clipboard: Bidirectional, Drag'n'Drop: Bidirectional > OK > winesapOS > Settings > Display > Screen > Video Memory: 128 MB, Graphics Controller: VMSVGA, Extended Features: Enable 3D Acceleration
      • NOTICE: VirtualBox 3D acceleration for Linux guests does not fully work. This issue is not specific to winesapOS. Consider using VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation instead.

Default accounts have a password set that mirror the username:

  • winesapOS (major version >= 3)
Username Password
winesap winesap
root root
  • Mac Linux Gaming Stick (major version <= 2)
Username Password
stick stick
root root

Upon first login, the "winesapOS First-Time Setup" wizard will launch. It will help setup graphics drivers, the locale, and time zone. The desktop shortcut is located at /home/winesap/.winesapos/winesapos-setup.desktop and can be manually ran again.

Custom Builds

Instead of using a release build which is already made, advanced users may want to create a custom build. This only requires 1 GiB of free space to download the live Arch Linux environment. It also allows using environment variables to configure the build differently than the default release builds.

  1. Download and setup the latest Arch Linux ISO onto a flash drive that has at least 1 GB of storage.

    1a. We also support building winesapOS with Manjaro even though we do not provide release images for it. Download either the Plasma or Cinnamon desktop edition of Manjaro.

  2. Boot into the flash drive.

  3. Update the known packages cache and install git.

    pacman -S -y
pacman -S git

  4. Clone the stable branch and go to the "scripts" directory.

    git clone --branch stable https://github.com/lukeshortcloud/winesapos.git
cd ./winesapos/scripts/

  5. Configure environment variables to customize the build. At the very least, allow the build to work on bare-metal and define what /dev/<DEVICE> block device to install to. BE CAREFUL AS THIS WILL DELETE ALL EXISTING DATA ON THAT DEVICE!

    export WINESAPOS_BUILD_IN_VM_ONLY=false
lsblk
export WINESAPOS_DEVICE=<DEVICE>

  6. Run the build.

    sudo -E ./winesapos-install.sh

  7. Check for any test failures (there should be no output from this command).

    grep -P 'FAIL$' /winesapos/etc/winesapos/winesapos-install.log

For more detailed information on the build process, we recommend reading the entire CONTRIBUTING.md guide.

Secure Image

If using the secure image, the default LUKS encryption key is password which should be changed after the first boot. Do not do this before the first boot as the default password is used to unlock the partition for it be resized to fill up the entire storage device. Change the LUKS encryption key for the fifth partition.

$ sudo cryptsetup luksChangeKey /dev/<DEVICE>5

The user account password for winesap (or stick on older versions) and root are the same as the username. They are set to expire immediately. Upon first login, you will be prompted to enter a new password. Here is how to change it:

  1. Enter the default password of winesap.
  2. The prompt will say "Changing password for winesap." Enter the default password of winesap again.
  3. The prompt will now say "New password". Enter a new password.
  4. The prompt will finally say "Retype new password". Enter the new password again. The password has been updated and the KDE Plasma desktop will now load.
Differences

These are the main differences between the performance, secure, and minimal images. The performance is focused on speed and ease-of-use. The secure image is recommended for advanced Linux users. The minimal image is focused on using a small amount of storage space with only the core operating system packages needed to run a basic GUI desktop.

Feature Performance Secure Minimal
CPU Mitigations No Yes No
Encryption No Yes (LUKS) No
Firewall No Yes (Firewalld) No
Linux Kernel Updates No Yes No
Passwords Require Reset No Yes No
16 GB exFAT portable storage Yes Yes No

Mac Boot

Boot the Mac into an external drive by pressing and releasing the power button. Then hold down the OPTION key (or the ALT key on a Windows keyboard) to access the Mac bootloader. Select the "EFI Boot" device.

IMPORTANT Any Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, which are all Macs made in and after 2018, needs to allow booting from external storage:

  1. Turn on the Mac and immediately hold both the COMMAND and r keys to enter recovery mode.
  2. Utilities > Startup Security Utility
    • Secure Boot = No Security (Does not enforce any requirements on the bootable OS.)
    • External Boot = Allow booting from external media (Does not restrict the ability to boot from any devices.)

Upgrades

Upgrades are supported and recommended between all minor releases of winesapOS. For example, it is supported to go from 2.0.0 to 2.1.0 but not from 2.2.0 to 3.0.0. Major upgrades will be supported in a future release.

Where it makes sense, features are backported from newer versions of winesapOS. Bug and security fixes are also included to fix problems either with winesapOS itself or with upstream changes in SteamOS. Even if a user never upgrades winesapOS, users will continue to get regular system upgrades from SteamOS.

Before upgrading, please read the full UPGRADE.md notes. This showcases what updates will happen automatically and what updates may need to be manually applied.

Development builds do not support upgrades. Here are the releases that we do support upgrades on:

Release Upgrades Supported
Stable Yes
Release Candidate (RC) Yes
Beta No
Alpha No

Here is how to upgrade winesapOS:

  • GUI = Launch the "winesapOS Upgrade" desktop shortcut.

  • CLI = Launch the winesapOS upgrade script from the stable branch.

    curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LukeShortCloud/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-upgrade.sh | sudo zsh

Tips

Getting Started

  • Test booting up the drive first before buying speakers, a Bluetooth adapter, a Wi-Fi adapter, and/or other hardware. Depending on the Mac, the built-in hardware may work out-of-the-box.

  • Plug additional hardware into a USB hub. Connect the USB hub to the computer before booting.

  • Do NOT move the USB hub after plugging it in and booting up Linux. It can easily disconnect leading to a corrupt file system.

  • Consider buying an SSD instead of a flash drive for a longer life-span, more storage, and faster speeds.

  • Avoid using Flatpak and Snap packages. These use a lot of additional space compared to native system packages. Programs packaged this way are also slower.

  • Delete old Btrfs backups when the drive is running low on storage space.

    $ sudo snapper list
$ sudo snapper delete <SNAPSHOT_NUMBER>

  • Enable Proton for all Windows games. This will allow them to run in Linux. For more information about Proton, read this starter guide. Check the compatibility rating for games on Steam by using ProtonDB.

    Settings > Steam Play > Enable Steam Play for Support Titles > Use this tool instead of game-specific selections from Steam > Compatibility tool: > (select the latest "Proton" version available) > OK

No Sound (Muted Audio)

When Mac hardware is detected, all sound is muted on boot because on newer Macs the experimental sound driver is extremely loud. This means that any sound volume changes will be reset on the next boot. Here is how the mute configuration can be disabled to allow the sound volume to be saved:

  • winesapOS (major version >= 3)

    • Disable and stop the user (not system) mute service.

      $ systemctl --user disable --now mute.service

  • Mac Linux Gaming Stick (major version <= 2)

    • Move or delete the PulseAudio configuration.

      $ mv /home/stick/.config/pulse/default.pa ~/

Btrfs Backups

Both the root / and /home directory have automatic backups/snapshots configured by Snapper. A new backup will be taken every month for 12 months. Separately, a new backup will be taken once every year. The root directory will also have a backup taken whenever pacman is used to install or remove a package.

During boot, GRUB will have a "Arch Linux snapshots" section that will allow booting from a root directory snapshot. This will not appear on first boot because no backups have been taken yet. After a backup has been taken, the GRUB configuration file needs to be regenerated to scan for the new backups.

Manually rebuild the GRUB configuration file to load the latest snapshots:

$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

View the available backups:

$ sudo snapper -c root list
$ sudo snapper -c home list

Manually create a new backup:

$ sudo snapper -c <CONFIG> create

Manually delete a backup:

$ sudo snapper -c <CONFIG> delete <BACKUP_NUMBER>

Steam

Launch and prefer steam-runtime over steam-native. It bundles all of the libraries required for Steam to work. In case that has issues, steam-native is provided as an alternative for testing purposes. It will use the system libraries instead.

VPN (ZeroTier)

A VPN is required for LAN gaming online. Hamachi is reported to no longer work on newer versions of Arch Linux and Ubuntu. Instead, use the free and open source ZeroTier VPN service.

Host

  1. Only one person needs to create a ZeroTier account.
  2. They must then create a ZeroTier network.
    1. Log into ZeroTier Central.
    2. Select "Networks".
    3. Select "Create A Network".
    4. Select the "Network ID" or "Name" of the new network to modify the settings.
      • Either (1) set the "Access Control" to "Public" or (2) use this settings page to manually authorize connected clients to be able to communicate on the network.
      • Take note of the "Network ID". Send this string to your friends who will connect to the VPN.

Clients

  1. Start the ZeroTier VPN service.

    $ sudo systemctl enable --now zerotier-one

  2. Connect to the ZeroTier network.

    $ sudo zerotier-cli join <NETWORK_ID>

Troubleshooting

Release Image Zip Files

Challenge: the release image fails to be extracted from the zip files.

Solutions:

  1. Verify the integrity of the downloaded zip files.

    • Linux:

      sha512sum --check winesapos-<IMAGE_TYPE>-<VERSION>_sha512sum.txt

    • Windows (open Command Prompt as Administrator):

      C:\Windows\system32>CertUtil.exe -hashfile C:\Users\<USER>\Downloads\<FILE> SHA512

  2. Not all zip files were downloaded. This includes the files ending in .zip and .z<NUMBER>.

  3. Not enough free space. Ensure you have 12 GiB (minimal image), 40 GiB (performance image), or 50 GiB (secure image) of free space before downloading the zip files.

  4. PeaZip sometimes fails to extract to the current directory. Try extracting to a different directory.

  5. Use a different archive utility.

    • PeaZip uses the command 7z for extracting multiple zip archives. Use it manually from the CLI to see more information to help with troubleshooting.

      7z x winesapos-<VERSION>.img.zip

Root File System Resizing

Challenge: the root file system does not resize itself to use all available space on the storage device.

Solution:

  1. Re-enable the resize service, reboot, and then view the service log. Open up a GitHub Issue with the full log output.

    sudo systemctl enable winesapos-resize-root-file-system
sudo reboot

    sudo journalctl --unit winesapos-resize-root-file-system

Some Package Updates are Ignored

Challenge: Pacman has packages listed in its IgnorePkg configuration.

Solutions:

  1. The performance image prevents updates to Linux kernels updates to prevent breaking third-party kernel modules.

    sudo pacman -S -y
sudo pacman -S core/linux-lts core/linux-lts-headers kernel-lts/linux-lts510 kernel-lts/linux-lts510-headers jupiter/linux-neptune jupiter/linux-neptune-headers core/grub

  2. The secure image only prevents updates to packages that SteamOS provides conflicting packages to. GRUB and the upstream Linux kernels from SteamOS that can cause an unbootable system. These can be manually upgraded by specifying the Arch Linux repository along with the package name.

    sudo pacman -S -y
sudo pacman -S core/grub core/linux-lts core/linux-lts-headers

Available Storage Space is Incorrect

Challenge: the amount of reported free space seems too small or large.

Solutions:

  1. Btrfs is used as the root file system on winesapOS. The most reliable way to view the amount of storage in-use on Btrfs is with this command.

    sudo btrfs filesystem df /

  2. Snapper is used to take Btrfs snapshots/backups (1) every time Pacman installs, upgrades, or removes a package and (2) every month. Refer to the Btrfs Backups section for more information on how to manage those snapshots.

Two or More Set Ups of winesapOS Cause an Unbootable System

Challenge: winesapOS uses labels for file system mounts which confuses the system if more than one label is found.

Solution:

  1. Change the file system label of at least the root file system on one of the winesapOS drives. It is recommended to change all of the labels on that same drive. This can cause an unbootable system. Manually review the contents of /etc/fstab to ensure it is correct.

    lsblk -o name,label
export DEVICE=vda
sudo -E exfatlabel /dev/${DEVICE}2 wos-drive0
sudo -E fatlabel /dev/${DEVICE}3 WOS-EFI0
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=WOS-EFI/LABEL=WOS-EFI0/'g /etc/fstab
sudo -E e2label /dev/${DEVICE}4 winesapos-boot0
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=winesapos-boot/LABEL=winesapos-boot0/'g /etc/fstab
sudo btrfs filesystem label / winesapos-root0
sudo btrfs filesystem show /
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=winesapos-root/LABEL=winesapos-root0/'g /etc/fstab
lsblk -o name,label

Reinstalling winesapOS

Reinstalling winesapOS on-top of an existing winesapOS installation can cause issues. This is because the partitions are perfectly aligned which leads to overlapping data. Even wiping the partition table is not enough. For the best results, it is recommended to completely wipe at least the first 29 GiB of the storage device. WARNING: This will delete any existing data on that storage device.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/<DEVICE> bs=1M count=29000

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • Is this the Mac Linux Gaming Stick project?
    • Yes. Version 1 and 2 of the project were called Mac Linux Gaming Stick. In version 3, we rebranded to winesapOS.
  • How do you pronounce winesapOS?
    • wine-sap-o-s.
  • What is the relevance of the word "winesap" in winesapOS?
    • It is a type of apple which signifies how we develop on Macs and ship drivers for them. It also has the word "wine" in it which is the name of the project used to enable Windows gaming on Linux.
  • What makes this different than adding persistent storage to a live CD with Universal USB Installer or YUMI?
    • Having persistent storage work via these hacky methods can be hit-or-miss depending on the distribution. winesapOS was built from the ground-up to have persistent storage. It also features automatic backups, various gaming tools, has support for Macs, and more.
  • Are Arm Macs supported?
    • No. In general, Linux support for them are still a work-in-progress.
  • Is winesapOS a Linux distribution?
    • Yes. We provide customized packages, a package repository, various optimizations, and our own upgrade process. winesapOS is a fork of SteamOS 3 (which is a fork of Arch Linux).
  • Do I have to install winesapOS?
    • No. No installation is required. Flash a release image to a drive and then boot from it. Everything is already installed and configured.
  • What if winesapOS was abandoned?
    • We have no intentions on ever abandoning winesapOS. Even if that happened, since this is an opinionated installation of an Arch Linux distribution, it will continue to get normal operating system updates.
  • Can anyone build winesapOS?
  • Can winesapOS be built with a different Linux distribution?
    • Yes. We support Arch Linux, Manjaro, and SteamOS as build targets. As of winesapOS 3, SteamOS 3 is the default target that is used for our releases.
  • Is winesapOS affiliated with Valve?
    • No. We are an independent project that is using SteamOS 3 packages and source code.

Contributors

Here are community contributors who have helped the winesapOS project.

Founder:

Code:

Documentation:

Patreon:

History

Release Version/Tag Project Name Operating System Desktop Environment Release Images
3.2.0-alpha.0 winesapOS SteamOS 3 KDE Plasma Performance, Secure, and Minimal
3.0.0-beta.0 winesapOS SteamOS 3 KDE Plasma Performance and Secure
3.0.0-alpha.0 winesapOS Arch Linux KDE Plasma Performance and Secure
2.2.0 Mac Linux Gaming Stick Manjaro Cinnamon Performance and Secure
2.0.0 Mac Linux Gaming Stick Manjaro Cinnamon Performance
1.0.0 Mac Linux Gaming Stick Ubuntu 20.04 Cinnamon None

License

GPLv3