Since SteamOS officially debuted with the Steam Deck, everyone in the PS4 dev world has been on the look out for a port of SteamOS 3.0 for PS4. Thanks to the famous dev, Nazky, we have a functioning port of the new OS for PS4.
Features
- Heroic game launcher (for Epic games)
- Lutris
- DXVK
- VK3D
- Wine
- ProtonUP QT
- GameScope
Download
Installation: How to install SteamOS 3.0 on PS4?
Follow the steps given below to install and run SteamOS 3.0 on your PS4. You may also refer to our detailed guide on installation.
Requirements
- USB drive – A storage device with 12GB capacity is enough. But, if you plan on gaming, a storage capacity of more than 100GB is recommended.
- Files
- Steam4PS.tar.xz
- bzImage (Download an appropriate kernel according to your PS4 model)
- initramfs.cpio.gz
- FAT32 Format
- USB Hub, USB Keyboard and Mouse
- Exploitable PS4 (Find if yours is exploitable)
Now, let us begin the installation.
Installation
The installation instructions are the same as for any other distro. Anyways, here they are. But, you may also find a slightly more detailed guide here.
Step 1. Preparing USB Drive
- Format the USB drive using FAT32 Format. To do that, start the program, select your drive letter properly and click Start.
Note: This will wipe the USB drive completely. - Assuming you are using, PSXITA’s initramfs, rename Steam4PS.tar.xz to psxitarch.tar.xz.
- Copy bzImage, intramfs.cpio.gz and psxitarch.tar.xz to the root of the USB drive that you just formatted.
Step 2. Installing SteamOS 3.0 on PS4 with Rescueshell
- Connect USB drive in a port and in the other connect the hub with keyboard and mouse.
- You will then have to jailbreak your PS4 and run the Linux Payload. Find the steps for loading Linux payload here. During the first run or during installation, load 1GB VRAM payload.
- If the payload loads successfully, the PS4 will drop into a rescueshell. With your keyboard, type
exec install-psxitarch.shand press Enter. The program will install the distro on your USB device. This will take time. - After the process has completed, SteamOS will load. If it doesn’t load automatically, type
exec start-psxitarch.shand press Enter. - Login with the password:
toorand you can start using SteamOS on your PS4 right away!
Step 3. Set up swap space (Optional, but recommended)
Setting up a proper swap space is recommended as it reduces the instances of crashes during gaming and other heavy tasks. To do so, just follow the instructions below.
- Open a terminal and type
su. It will ask for a password. Enter ps4. You should now have root access. - Next, type
cd /and press Enter. - Then, type
touch /swapfile. - Next, you have to decide how much swap space you require. 4GB to 8GB of swap is recommended for gaming. Assuming, you want to have 8GB of swap, type
fallocate -l 8GB /swapfileand press Enter. - Then, type
chmod 600 /swapfileand press Enter. - Following that, type
mkswap /swapfileand press Enter. - Finally, type
swapon /swapfileand press Enter. - To make this permanent, type
nano /etc/fstab. This will open the file, fstab in a text editor. - Use the arrow keys to scroll to the last empty line and type
/swapfile none swap sw 0 0. Press Ctrl+X followed by Enter. - Press Y when prompted with “Save modified buffer” and Enter.
- Confirm that the file name to write is /etc/fstab and press Enter.
If this method doesn’t work, try this alternate swap creation method (second one in the section).
Fix issues with SteamOS 3.0 on PS4
Nazky has also taken the time to use the distro and fix some common issues that were noticed. Here, you have these issues along with their fixes.
DualShock 4 detected as mouse on SteamOS for PS4
To fix this, you will have to change the setting to trackpad.
SteamDeck UI doesn’t open on SteamOS for PS4
To fix this, follow these instructions.
- Start Steam Connect.
- Close Steam.
- Restart SteamDeck UI.
Black screen on SteamOS for PS4
This is usually seen while the OS boots up. This bug seems to affect some models using certain versions of the kernel. So, if you have this issue, here are a few things you can try:-
- Press a key on the keyboard and see if anything loads.
- If that doesn’t work, press Ctrl+Alt+F4 and then Ctrl+Alt+F7.
Conclusion
Nazky says that most games work well on SteamOS for PS4 and has shared many gameplays on his Twitter account. We will be updating more on this distro soon. Stay tuned!
I get to the rescueshell but my keyboard stops working at this point. I tried like 3 different keyboards…help please. Btw. very good tutorial easy to understand!
Are you connecting to a USB port or to a hub?
The keyboard is directly in one of the Front USB-Ports.
Have you tried any other distro? And, I suppose you have already tried reconnecting the keyboard to other ports.
I guess I have to try another distro then… Yeah I tried reconnecting the keybard, but thanks for the help.
I give up now…I tried all bzImage files and 3 different distros, but when the checks run before the rescueshell my keyboard light is on. But then in the moment I should type in the rescueshell the lights on the keyboard turn off. It doesn’t seem to be hanging because the white cursor thingy is blinking.
Sorry, man. I am not gonna let you give up that easy. Please make sure that you are using the right kernel – https://ps4linux.com/ps4-linux-documentation-aio/#PS4_Linux_Kernel_FAQ
Also, which exploit host are you using?
I am also having the no keyboard input issue when using the Baikal 5.3.18 kernel by ITmania on my PS4 Pro. I’ve eventually found a working kernel from Modded Warfare’s Linux installation video, but it’s on an older 4.14.93 kernel. Would I have to make do without Vulkan support?
Try the kernels in our PS4 Linux Kernel Downloads secton.
Try check if u are using the payload from the same dev that host try to run, I had that same problem when loading payload from Karo218.to , then I saw that o was trying to nazky payload with PXITA file, so, make sure that u are loading the payload with the same dev file
Hi, I am having a strange problem which I cant seem to sort out. I have previously used many distros and all worked well. I have also installed and used this Steam OS on a hard disk and it worked fine. This time i decided to install same on a ssd. After booting into rescue shell. When i put the install command, It throws error of trying to find the right usb and later says please check your usb if the files are currupted or format is different. I have used the same bzimage and initramfs.cpio.gz which I previously used. I remember getting the same error long back but I dont remember how I managed to fix it. Any suggestion?
Never mind, it worked. I recalled, it was bcoz the new disk was a GPT not MBR.
can we update without killing the drivers?
Try these instructions. These are for Winesap OS, but, you could slightly modify it for SteamOS.
I have a small problem when I open Steam for the first time everything works fine but the second time it fails and asks me to restart, any solution?
Try running `steam` from the terminal and see if there are any obvious errors.