Ubuntu (12.10) help.

[icedwarrior]

Hey guys,

So, I've installed Ubuntu (version 12.10), and I'm rather lost in how to what should be an easy task: uninstalling a program. I attempted to install Steam, and while it did indeed install properly, I wanted to throw it on my external hard drive, not my SSD. Most importantly, I want to download Team Fortress 2 so I can get the promotional item, and since the install is 12+ gigs large, I can't fit it on my SSD.

Perhaps uninstalling isn't the right thing. To be clear, I just want to install / play Team Fortress 2 via Steam, on the Ubuntu OS. I don't care how it's done, I just want my damn Tux. Damn you, TF2, for making hats / miscs an obsession!

And yes, I attempted to google / youtube this, all I got was how to uninstall the OS itself. Sigh.

Please assume I'm an idiot (and I am when it comes to Ubuntu), so please, easy to follow instructions.

Thanks in advance!

[Deleted]

Not sure if its an option on the Linux client but on the Windows client you can select where to install games when you install them; e.g. right click the game in the library, hit install game and on that page you get the "Choose location for install:" option where you can select to install it on your mechanical drive.

If that option doesn't exist on the Linux version, my apologies.

[vesseblah]

Easiest solution would be temporarily moving some stuff out from SSD, is that an option?

No clue about steam, but generally speaking whatever package manager Ubuntu now uses should be able to also uninstall things, not only install.

[Deleted]

Your easiest option for removal would be to open a terminal and use aptitude to remove steam. 'sudo aptitude purge steam' should do it. (Purge will forcibly delete all related settings and data, not just remove the app).
If not then synaptic package manager is what Ubuntu uses these days so fire that up, it's fairly obvious how to use that.

As for installing on another drive, as vesseblah says you're probably best off clearing some space temporarily on the SSD or just running ubuntu off another drive (32 gig usb stick would cover it if you're not going to actually play TF2). I know other game management apps give you the option of where to install your games but I haven't used steam in a very long time so I have no idea if they give you that option these days.

[Scrubity]

You can have steam change its gamefolder destination in the settings. So you can have steam on your ssd and install games on the external hd

[Cyanotical]

make sure that your external is mounted:


open steam, and click 'Steam' then click 'Settings':


under the 'Downloads + Cloud' tab, click the 'Steam Library Folders' button:


click 'Add Library Folder':


collapse the 'home' folder, then scroll down and select the 'media' folder:


expand the 'media' folder, you should see your username, expand that, and you should see any mounted drives:


select the drive you want to use, and if you want, you can remove the default one

[icedwarrior]

Not sure if its an option on the Linux client but on the Windows client you can select where to install games when you install them; e.g. right click the game in the library, hit install game and on that page you get the "Choose location for install:" option where you can select to install it on your mechanical drive.

If that option doesn't exist on the Linux version, my apologies.

Well, when I hit "install", I can hit "next", and before I can select my external, it says that I don't have enough room and won't let me advance. So while that sounds like it's the easiest way to do so, it won't let me get to that step.

Easiest solution would be temporarily moving some stuff out from SSD, is that an option?

No clue about steam, but generally speaking whatever package manager Ubuntu now uses should be able to also uninstall things, not only install.

That would definitely be the "easiest" solution, although I'd have to re-partition the OS, since I only gave Ubuntu a total of 15 gigs (I have ~4 gigs remaining).

Your easiest option for removal would be to open a terminal and use aptitude to remove steam. 'sudo aptitude purge steam' should do it. (Purge will forcibly delete all related settings and data, not just remove the app).
If not then synaptic package manager is what Ubuntu uses these days so fire that up, it's fairly obvious how to use that.

As for installing on another drive, as vesseblah says you're probably best off clearing some space temporarily on the SSD or just running ubuntu off another drive (32 gig usb stick would cover it if you're not going to actually play TF2). I know other game management apps give you the option of where to install your games but I haven't used steam in a very long time so I have no idea if they give you that option these days.

Sudo aptitude purge steam. Interesting. I'll try this next if Cyanotical's thing doesn't help.

-snip-

Wow, thanks for the images and simple steps, Cyanotical. I appreciate it. I'm currently in the process of doing this. My compy appears to be thinking pretty hard about this. I'll edit this soon with the results.

Edit: Hmm. If I don't create a new folder (and just select FreeAgent GoFlex Drive (my external, no further folders)), it gives me the error "New Steam library folder must be empty". If I create a new folder, with the default name of "SteamLibrary", it gives me the error of "New Steam library folder must be a on filesystem mounted with execute permissions". I am the only user on this computer, and the external is mounted.

[Cyanotical]

I'll look at it in a minute, but don't purge steam, it will delete it from your computer

[icedwarrior]

I'll look at it in a minute, but don't purge steam, it will delete it from your computer

Haha, I'd rage if I had to re-download all 280+ gigs of data my Steam folder has. Before I did these steps, I simply renamed my Windows Steam folder another name so it'd remain untouched.

Take your time, and again, thanks Cyanotical (and everyone).

[Iamanerd]

Hmm I haven't worked much with Linux but could it be because your external is formatted for windows? I could be completely wrong but I'm not sure also if it is try creating a new partition on your external.

[Cyanotical]

Hmm I haven't worked much with Linux but could it be because your external is formatted for windows? I could be completely wrong but I'm not sure also if it is try creating a new partition on your external.

this is exactly the problem, im trying to find a way to mount a folder as a linux partition, but it may end up with the drive needing to be partitioned to linux

this is one of those fun reasons linux is not as good as windows

[icedwarrior]

this is exactly the problem, im trying to find a way to mount a folder as a linux partition, but it may end up with the drive needing to be partitioned to linux

this is one of those fun reasons linux is not as good as windows

Hmm, well the external contains *all* my documents and such; I cannot reformat it. I do, however, have 200 gigs left, so a partition of 20 gigs, installing TF2, running it, and then returning it back to it's original partition would be totally fine.

[Cyanotical]

well, i managed to end up formatting my external, so this may take more time

[icedwarrior]

well, i managed to end up formatting my external, so this may take more time

Oh crap, sorry! I hope you didn't lose any stuff because of me.

[Cyanotical]

Nah, I just had wow on it,

I tried running gparted, it created the partition, but only gave root access, and steam won't load in root mode

[icedwarrior]

Still having issues, and from what I can tell, the promotion ends in two days.

Any other ideas?

[Cyanotical]

Still having issues, and from what I can tell, the promotion ends in two days.

Any other ideas?

so far nothing, but i've also been a bit busy so i haven't had that much time to look into it,

right now the fastest and safest way is to uninstall ubuntu, and either give it more room on your SSD, or install it to a different hard drive

[icedwarrior]

:sighs: I'm still lost; I don't even know how to uninstall it, and I've read online that if I uninstall Ubuntu, I can't load Windows without doing stuff because of some program. Or something.

Cyanotical, I added you on Steam, if you're able to talk whenever.

[Cyanotical]

:sighs: I'm still lost; I don't even know how to uninstall it, and I've read online that if I uninstall Ubuntu, I can't load Windows without doing stuff because of some program. Or something.

Cyanotical, I added you on Steam, if you're able to talk whenever.

they are talking about grub bootloader, it takes about two minutes with a windows disc to fix that


also, i saw that, but i ignore any invites i don't know before hand, so you got ignored, /sorry