Switching to Linux Question

[Rix_77]

Hi All,

 

im finally in a position to make the full switch to Linux, I've decided on either Ubuntu 18.04 or Elementary OS 5.1.

My plan is to keep all my important files, docs, music, photo's etc along with my windows game files on a external SSD, and have only my OS & programs on the Boot drive - so if I dont wind up liking the experience after 6 months, I wont have to move all my files or re-download things.

My questions are 2 fold - my SSD with everything on it is formatted NTFS - will that be a problem for playing games & generally accessing everything from the boot drive?

Also, am I able to play Windows games from the external SSD? The games I usually play are Mechwarrior Online (steam), Apex Legends (Origin) & World of Warcraft (Bliz)

 

I've tried googling the answer but I get a mixed response. My plan is to use Steam (Proton) & Lutris.

 

Rix

[vanished]

Linux has full support for NTFS and has for many years now, I can't imagine you'd have any trouble with that.  Of course, using a "native" file system is generally preferable but if your intention is to be able to go back to Windows if you decide to later, then I understand the reason for keeping it this way.

 

As for running games from the drive, again there should be absolutely no issues there.  If configured correctly (and honestly this should only amount to plugging it in), it should act indistinguishably from an internal drive.

Edit: I should add though, you will likely have to install the game using the current system, whether that's a native Linux version, or a Windows one using proton.  I doubt that trying to just run the files left over from an install done on another system would work, but I could be wrong and this will vary by game anyway.

[Eigenvektor]

21 minutes ago, Rix_77 said:

My questions are 2 fold - my SSD with everything on it is formatted NTFS - will that be a problem for playing games & generally accessing everything from the boot drive?

Also, am I able to play Windows games from the external SSD? The games I usually play are Mechwarrior Online (steam), Apex Legends (Origin) & World of Warcraft (Bliz)

If your drive is large enough, it may be easier to dual-boot, that's what I do here. I keep Windows around for games, everything else I do is on Linux (including games that run fine on Linux).

 

Modern Linux has read/write support for NTFS, but I'm not 100% sure if there's still some compatibility issues (haven't experienced any, but I don't do more than copy the occasional file to the Windows partition). Running games from an external drive can have mixed results, since the game may e.g. require registry entries that aren't there if the game wasn't installed but simply copied.

 

You can do gaming with Steam/Proton and/or Wine but not all games work. You can e.g. have a look at https://appdb.winehq.org/ to see which games run fine. I've had games that didn't work on Proton but ran just fine on Wine. I've also heard of people getting banned from online games for playing on Linux, because it was (incorrectly) detected as cheating, but not sure how reliable those reports are.

[Chunchunmaru_]

The only suggestion I can tell is to use Ubuntu instead of EOS, EOS has disabled ppa's by default, no snap support out the box as the Ubuntu app store, and generally if you are a newbie and don't want to dig with the CLI, just use Ubuntu LTS 

[Rix_77]

Thanks for your answers,

 

My intention is to have the games installed on the boot drive but have as much of each game as possible still on external drive connected via USB3 (ie the steamapps folder).

For the ones that I have to have on the boot drive, I will copy them over. I dont intend to dual boot, I want to make a clean break from Windows. The boot drive will be an old 120GB Corsair SSD ive had for years, and the external is a 480GB Kingston SSD (this is my current Windows boot drive & only drive in the PC). I was thinking id just delete all the Windows files on it & keep the game & my personal files.

 

Rix

[Donut417]

On 12/9/2019 at 8:03 AM, Rix_77 said:

game

Just remember that the games were installed in Windows. Linux doesnt run that software nativly. You either have to install the Linux versions of the game or maybe something like WINE or something will run the software. 

[wasab]

i think you can tell lutris to install windows game to an external drive. I usually use play on linux for game installation and it has no such option and i ended up have to do symbolic link. 

 

For steam and steam proton, it is the same step as on windows, just select which drive you want to install to. 

[Sir0Tek]

Ubuntu, like bare Ubuntu or do you plan on a somewhat flavoured one like Mint or Pop?

NTFS with Linux isn't a problem, and using a 2nd drive is completely fine. Setting up Lutris to start games from the 2nd drive is possible and not that difficult, and a lot of games will work just with a proper Lutris setup including the necessary dlls for the very game.

For steam I'd suggest a separate install of games on your linux-drive, no matter if it's a native- or the Proton-version you will use.

[Man]

On 12/8/2019 at 1:48 PM, Rix_77 said:

Also, am I able to play Windows games

Probably not as Linux doesn't support Windows games. Sure you can use Steam Play but the experience won't be seamless. All you've to do is look at r/Linux_Gaming and various other subreddits. Everyone has some sort of problem and not many people have the answers, to sum it all up!

 

In my personal, humble opinion, gaming on Linux is messy, buggy and ... slow. VERY slow in this particular case:

 

 

Not to mention, there won't be any MSI Afterburner, a must for any gamer, once you migrate to the 'North Pole'. You know, the kingdom of penguins?

 

Long story short, you may want to stay away from Linux because it's for users who are familiar with Linux coding etc., love to tinker and don't get agitated easily. As for me, I tried Ubuntu not too long ago and... Well, I'd to uninstall it in less than 24 hours! Darn thing wouldn't even recognize my GPU with a custom BIOS! I mean, it's something I, for one, take for absolute granted (Been solely using Windows since 3.1 days)! Neither would it detect my PCIe Wifi and dedicated sound card, for some reason.

 

But I reckon if you want to show the tech giants and their billionaire entrepreneurs your middle finger then sure go ahead. More power to ya!

 

Me? I'm weak, as you can probably tell. In any case;

 

Best of luck!

[IdlePX]

@Man #UserExperienceMaryVary

 

The flip side of your experience, I don't remember the last time I needed terminal commands and all my hardware has worked out of the box with no tweaking required. Steamplay has also been seamless for me and I have a library of 500'ish Steam games now. Witcher series, Skyrim, Fallout, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the Dark Souls series all work fine from the triple A category's.

 

Also, how active a tech based sub-reddit is with problems is a terrible indicator of how many problems there actually are. If you don't have a problem, you have no reason to post. *Shrugs*

 

Sorry to hear you had a crummy experience with Linux.

[xAcid9]

8 hours ago, NZgamer said:

Games on your hard drive that were installed to run on Windows won't run on Linux, you'll have to reinstall them. 

Not really, you can reuse them if there is no native Linux version.

[xAcid9]

7 minutes ago, NZgamer said:

Only if it'll run in wine or lutris

Yes, Proton compatibility list growing larger each day btw. Of course competitive games that use anti-cheat software mostly not playable on Linux. 

[xAcid9]

3 minutes ago, NZgamer said:

I know, I would use linux but there's some games that still don't work

So basically you waiting for all games to work on Linux? 

[xAcid9]

Just now, NZgamer said:

Yeah, basically. Until then I'll be stuck on windows

lmao. ok, happy waiting.