38 replies to this topic

[Javik]

I do recall hearing that they were initially targeting it primarily at Ubuntu users.

[ShMaunder]

If you get a window about installing X SWAT PPA, then it deactivates the exclusive model on the "Unauthorised" window.

I'm now free roaming around the Steam Client however, they don't provide any games unless you have been granted access. Chat works well though.

[guitmz]

yeah but i didnt though that wont work with x64 multiarch 2.13...

maybe someone with a x86 debian version can install it (as it seems to be multiarch issue - maybe those dependencies can be installed on x86) but i cant test here hehe

[Tyler R.]

I'll try it on my Kubuntu 12.10 x64 after I'm done downloading Crysis 3 Alpha.

[Praetor]

oh glorious day!

[xorangekiller]

guitmz, on 06 November 2012 - 21:12, said:

yeah but i didnt though that wont work with x64 multiarch 2.13...

maybe someone with a x86 debian version can install it (as it seems to be multiarch issue - maybe those dependencies can be installed on x86) but i cant test here hehe

According to the gdebi output you posted previously, multiarch is the only issue preventing installation. I though that it was a Debian project, so it doesn't make any sense that Ubuntu ships a later version than is available in unstable or experimental. I may have a solution for you though. I'm trying to work out the kinks at the moment so I can post a coherent procedure.

[guitmz]

ok, sounds good..

but well, i have no idea if the ubuntu package is a custom one (it doesnt seems to be, im probably talking sh*t)

[xorangekiller]

Sorry that I was gone so long, but it took a while to test everything and create a good, reliable guide for installing the current Steam for Linux beta on Debian 7.

Backporting multiarch

The reason that Ubuntu 12.04 has a later version of multiarch than Debian 7 is because multiarch is directly tied to the version of libc installed on the system. Debian 7 will ship with libc 2.13 while Ubuntu 12.04 shipped with libc 2.15. While it is extremely unlikely that Steam relies on anything in libc 2.15 that is not also in 2.13, since Steam is closed-source no one outside of Valve can recompile it from source against libc 2.13. Therefore our only alternative to get Steam running on Debian 7 is to upgrade Debian's libc to 2.15. Follow the instructions below to compile Ubuntu 12.04's libc for Debian 7.

# Install build dependencies for multiarch-support.
sudo apt-get install build-essential devscripts
sudo apt-get build-dep multiarch-support

# Create a build directory for the package.
mkdir ~/multiarch-backport
pushd ~/multiarch-backport

# Download the multiarch-support source package from the Ubuntu 12.04 repository.
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.dsc
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15.orig.tar.gz
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.diff.gz

# Extract and build the Debianized source. (This may take a while... be patient.)
dpkg-source -x eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.dsc
cd eglibc-2.15
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc
cd ..
rm -rf eglibc-2.15

# Install the packages you compiled.
sudo dpkg --force-overwrite -i libc6_2.15-*.deb libc6-dev_2.15-*.deb libc6-i386_2.15-*.deb libc6-dev-i386_2.15-*.deb libc-bin_2.15-*.deb libc-dev-bin_2.15-*.deb multiarch-support_2.15-*.deb nscd_2.15-*.deb

# Move out of the build directory and (optionally) delete it if you don't want to keep the packages.
popd
rm -rf ~/multiarch-backport

Installing Steam

Once you have your version of multiarch upgraded to 2.15, installing Steam is relatively easy. All other dependencies can be satisfied directly from the official Debian repository. However, you cannot install the Steam package directly using dpkg unless you already have all dependencies installed from the repository, which is unlikely. Instead, use the following procedure (assuming that the Steam package is located in the current directory and named steam.deb).

sudo apt-get install gdebi
sudo gdebi -n steam.deb

[guitmz]

Yes, that was great! Worked

[Mindovermaster]

I installed Steam on my Ubuntu 12.10 x64 fine. I used the DEB file. Only, it doesn't let me log in as it is a closed beta, and I don't have access to it.

[Colin McGregor]

Javik, on 06 November 2012 - 21:10, said:

I do recall hearing that they were initially targeting it primarily at Ubuntu users.

its smart to target the noobs and let others like Gentoo users that already know how to use Linux to install on their own.

[Syanide]

The closed beta's apparently been bypassed, so anyone can play: http://www.omgubuntu...eta-invitations

[Javik]

Colin McGregor, on 07 November 2012 - 15:47, said:

its smart to target the noobs and let others like Gentoo users that already know how to use Linux to install on their own.

No, I think they were doing it because Ubuntu is the most popular distribution.

[codygman]

xorangekiller, on 07 November 2012 - 01:10, said:

Sorry that I was gone so long, but it took a while to test everything and create a good, reliable guide for installing the current Steam for Linux beta on Debian 7.

Backporting multiarch

The reason that Ubuntu 12.04 has a later version of multiarch than Debian 7 is because multiarch is directly tied to the version of libc installed on the system. Debian 7 will ship with libc 2.13 while Ubuntu 12.04 shipped with libc 2.15. While it is extremely unlikely that Steam relies on anything in libc 2.15 that is not also in 2.13, since Steam is closed-source no one outside of Valve can recompile it from source against libc 2.13. Therefore our only alternative to get Steam running on Debian 7 is to upgrade Debian's libc to 2.15. Follow the instructions below to compile Ubuntu 12.04's libc for Debian 7.

# Install build dependencies for multiarch-support.
sudo apt-get install build-essential devscripts
sudo apt-get build-dep multiarch-support

# Create a build directory for the package.
mkdir ~/multiarch-backport
pushd ~/multiarch-backport

# Download the multiarch-support source package from the Ubuntu 12.04 repository.
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.dsc
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15.orig.tar.gz
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/eglibc/eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.diff.gz

# Extract and build the Debianized source. (This may take a while... be patient.)
dpkg-source -x eglibc_2.15-0ubuntu10.2.dsc
cd eglibc-2.15
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc
cd ..
rm -rf eglibc-2.15

# Install the packages you compiled.
sudo dpkg --force-overwrite -i libc6_2.15-*.deb libc6-dev_2.15-*.deb libc6-i386_2.15-*.deb libc6-dev-i386_2.15-*.deb libc-bin_2.15-*.deb libc-dev-bin_2.15-*.deb multiarch-support_2.15-*.deb nscd_2.15-*.deb

# Move out of the build directory and (optionally) delete it if you don't want to keep the packages.
popd
rm -rf ~/multiarch-backport

Installing Steam

Once you have your version of multiarch upgraded to 2.15, installing Steam is relatively easy. All other dependencies can be satisfied directly from the official Debian repository. However, you cannot install the Steam package directly using dpkg unless you already have all dependencies installed from the repository, which is unlikely. Instead, use the following procedure (assuming that the Steam package is located in the current directory and named steam.deb).

sudo apt-get install gdebi
sudo gdebi -n steam.deb

After copy/pasting all instructions my system hangs at:

make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/cody/multiarch-backport/eglibc-2.15/build-tree/amd64-libc

My system shouldn't take more than a few hours at most, I left it on all night.

cody@debian-wheezy:~$ uname -a
Linux debian-wheezy 3.2.0-3-amd64 #1 SMP Mon Jul 23 02:45:17 UTC 2012 x86_64 GNU/Linux
cody@debian-wheezy:~$ grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo
8
cody@debian-wheezy:~$ free -h
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          7.7G       7.1G       670M         0B       362M       4.5G
-/+ buffers/cache:       2.2G       5.5G
Swap:         3.3G         0B       3.3G

Thanks!

[xorangekiller]

codygman, libc is a very important and widely used package in Debian. Your build could freeze for any number of reasons. If possible, I recommend that you try compiling it in a clean chroot, which is the offical method for compiling packages anyway. Since I did not compile mine in a clean environment and it is such an important package, I'm not going to post my binary. However, let me know if you run into further problems and I'll try to backport it the right way so I can post my binaries.