diff --git a/Using-a-NTFS-disk-with-Linux-and-Windows.md b/Using-a-NTFS-disk-with-Linux-and-Windows.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df79cfa --- /dev/null +++ b/Using-a-NTFS-disk-with-Linux-and-Windows.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +# Introduction + +These instructions cover configuring a NTFS disk containing Steam games, that was previously used in a Windows environment, to work with Proton on Linux. This allows a user to use the same files to play games on both Windows and Linux without needing to reinstall games for each operating system. + +Tested on Ubuntu 18.10 + +# Configuring and Automounting the NTFS Partition + +## Create a Mount Point + +Create a mount point for your game disk: +``` +$ sudo mkdir /media/gamedisk +``` + +Find your User ID and Group ID using the following commands: + +**User ID** +``` +$ id -u +``` +**Group ID** +``` +$ id -g +``` + +By default, both should be `1000` + +## Editing fstab +Edit your *fstab* file to mount the partition: +``` +$ sudo nano /etc/fstab +``` +At the bottom of the file, add the following line (changing sda1, uid, and gid to match yours): +``` +/dev/sda2 /media/gamedisk ntfs uid=1000,gid=1000,rw,user,exec,umask=000 0 0 +``` + +We need to reboot the computer for the changes to take affect: +``` +$ sudo reboot +``` + +## Preventing NTFS Read Errors + +Due to the nature of NTFS, creating files/folders with characters Windows cannot read will cause disk errors (leading to games that don't launch), the most common issue is a `;` character in filenames that Proton creates on the NTFS disk. + +Fixing this is pretty simple. We are going to create a symlink from the `/compatdata` folder on Linux to your mounted NTFS disk. + +Creating the symlink: + +``` +$ ln -s ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata /media/gamedisk/Steam/steamapps/ +``` + +*If the `/compatdata` folder already exists on the mounted disk BEFORE the syslink, DELETE IT!*