Running Steam games from a separate NTFS drive on Bazzite is possible but comes with some limitations. This guide will show you a workaround that allows you to access your games from NTFS drives. However! Before going ahead with this, it is important to understand that this is a workaround and not officially supported. The safest approach is to use a Linux-native filesystem such as EXT4 or BTRFS. However, if you are dual-booting and need access to your games from both Windows and Linux, this method may be helpful.
Takeaways:
- The best way to run Steam Games on NTFS on Bazzite
- Learn how to run Steam Games on NTFS Drives in Bazzite (Unsupported Workaround)
Table of Contents
Games Won't Launch from NTFS on Bazzite OS
A lot of people that use Bazzite use it as a dual boot system so end up in a situation where they mount an NTFS drive, which appears in Steam, but any game launched closes after a few seconds without an error message.
This issue occurs because NTFS does not support colons in file and folder names, while Proton uses colons for its folder names. As a result, games fail to launch properly when stored on NTFS drives. But there is a small workaround that can help solve this issue. For this guide, Bazzite KDE is used, though it might also work on Bazzite GNOME.
How to Run Steam Games on NTFS Drives in Bazzite Linux Using Proton
The proper solution is to format the NTFS drive with a Linux-native filesystem like EXT4 or BTRFS. This gives you full compatibility with Steam and Proton. But this approach may not work for people who primarily use Windows or want to access the same game files from both operating systems. In these instances, the NTFS workaround may be necessary.
Important Warning: Risks of Using NTFS for Gaming on Linux
Before using NTFS drives for gaming you need to make sure you understand the following:
Data Corruption Risk: NTFS support on Linux relies on reverse-engineered drivers that may corrupt game files, especially if the system shuts down unexpectedly.
Performance Issues: NTFS drives generally perform slower than native Linux filesystems. While this may not be critical for a secondary drive, it is an important factor to consider.
No Official Support: If you encounter problems with this setup, the Bazzite team will not provide support since NTFS gaming is an unsupported configuration.
The Solution: Use the Symbolic Link Method
If you accept the risks and want to proceed, the following steps will allow Steam games to run from an NTFS drive using symbolic links.
- Open your file manager and navigate to your Home directory. Press CTRL+H to display hidden folders.
- Open the .steam folder, then the steam folder, and finally steamapps.
- Open a second file manager window and navigate to your NTFS partition. Open SteamLibrary and then the steamapps folder.
- Delete the compatdata folder from the NTFS drive.
- Drag the compatdata folder from your Linux partition to the NTFS drive.
- When prompted, select the "Link Here" option. This creates a symbolic link that allows Proton to operate correctly from the NTFS drive.
Note: Repeat this process for each Steam library located on NTFS drives.
After creating the symbolic links, launch your game to confirm it runs properly. If done correctly, your game should now start without issues.
