Sharing a bazzite game library to windows OS
Hi,
So I have dual boot Windows and Bazzite and think I might need to allocate more space to windows as there are some games I have on bazzite I want to put back into windows but was wondering instead of increased storage space can I share my library to windows?
135 Replies
GitHub
GitHub - maharmstone/btrfs: WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver ...
WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver for Windows - maharmstone/btrfs
if it is only steam games or emulators then btrfs.
gamepass, epic, etc does not like btrfs apparently
It's PC steam games but added via Non Steam games option if that makes sense? So lutris install -> add non steam game
Should be fine I think
Not much you'd lose aside from time
I'll try it then but as a last resort incase it don't work is there a way I can re allocate storage to give windows more and decrease bazzite? Without having to remove bazzite and re allocate through window?
live usb and use a partition manager to resize both and potentially wait a good while as data is moved (also there is the risk of data loss and the partitions being broken)
once you start the process there is no going back without data loss until it is done
yeah but he is shrinking the partition for bazzite so he needs to use a live usb
(sorry for all the questions)
so on the Winabtrf do I need to re partition my SSD to btrfs? I think it's NTFS atm
no
it lets you read btrfs filesystems in windows
and it is very important that you configure the winbtrfs permissions correctly as specified in the readme
So it's not as simple as clicking install on the btrfs.inf included in the zip file?
I'm just reading through the site and there's a lot on there and is a bit daunting to me cos it's like information overlaod if things I don't understand and don't want to break anything
it is that easy to install it but you want it to work with bazzite and not mangle things, meaning you need to tell it what permissions it has to use when writing/editing files on the system
its as simple as running 1 command and adding 2 entries to your registry as mentioned in the readme
GitHub
GitHub - maharmstone/btrfs: WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver ...
WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver for Windows - maharmstone/btrfs
Yeah I read this but it confused me because of all the commands and I didn't know which bit I need to follow
you need the SID that belongs to your windows user
and map that to UID 1000 and GID 1000 for winbtrfs
it will make it place and edit files as your bazzite user (permissions wise)
Where does it say that in the readme 😅
GitHub
GitHub - maharmstone/btrfs: WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver ...
WinBtrfs - an open-source btrfs driver for Windows - maharmstone/btrfs
for bazzite (and the vast majority of linux systems) if you want to use user permissions it will be uid 1000 and gid 1000
by default winbtrfs does everything as root (uid and gid 0)
meaning if you launch a game and it edits its files
grats you broke it on linux now and that 1 file can only be edited with sudo
Sorry you might need to dumb it down for me a bit further. I terms of what I need to is first go to
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\btrfs\Mappings in windows?
But no idea what the Dword is? ....
Do I just look for SID like the example e.g. S-1-5-21-1379886684-2432464051-424789967-1001
And change the end 1001 to 1000?
a dword is a file in regedit
At this point I'm honestly thinking is better just doing a KDE partition and shrinking the Linux size (but someone before mentioned it could break Linux as I might be removing something Linux needs)
also literally on the line below the image if you read the instructions
not familiar with windows SIDs so not sure if they are identical on each system for the first user
Go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\btrfs\Mappings
Right click
It will allow you to create a new DWORD
In Bazzite right?
I know it's a stupid question... Because it says "Create a DWORD with the name of your Windows SID" and sounds weird to create a new DWORD in windows using a winsows SID ...
in windows... this is a windows driver
Ah 😅 so basically
Windows -> Go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\btrfs\Mappings
Right click
A create a new DWORD with my SID which will be found by running the CMD "wmic useraccount get name,sid"
But how does that map to GID and UID 1000?
Also I have no idea what GID and UID is to do that
Yes
Than click it again and type 1000 in the value
that path is inside regedit
Wait
it tells the btrfs driver that the user with the SID you provided is to be treated as if it is UID 1000 and GID 1000 in linux (meaning its the first user)
Don't type 1000 if its 0x something
Type 3E8 in that case
(By the way, just rebooted and installed it on windows to check)
why just not share windows ntfs partition for games? steam supports it and it easier than messing with btrfs drivers on windows
steam does actually not support it and it is actually not recommended as it requires hacky workarounds to work
Probably because they want to use bazzite storage for windows and not the opposite
and this
What do you mean if my SID shows Ox at the end instead of 1000?
GitHub
Using a NTFS disk with Linux and Windows
Compatibility tool for Steam Play based on Wine and additional components - ValveSoftware/Proton
No, after you create the value and you click it
You need to Click on Decimal and type 1000
yes but its still not recommended to do it that way
Oh I see so the Ox is the hex value?
neither do winbtrfs, but I understand, and it is definitely not more "hacky" than winbtrfs, you basically set one thing.
But yeah if he wants this on Bazzite side, winbtrfs is the way.
Actually before I ask more questions let me get that far. I'm about to finish work in 30mins so will hop on and try when I get home
Also Thank you @HikariKnight and @Kasher_CS for your patience with me 😅
Yes, so our value is 1000 in Decimal, not in Hex, that's what I'm saying
Yeah all my games are on bazzite but I want to move some over to windows so I can test out the difference between AFMF and Losless scaling on my games and see which is better
Uhh guys I don't see btrfs?
Is that supposed to appear after or before I install inf file?
After ofc
Oh that's why 😅
For me the subfolder under btrfs didn't show
Ok yeah so now I don't see mappings
There's 4 Dword files here too
those are defaults i believe, ignore them
make a folder/key called Mappings when you right click on the btrfs folder
Got it so is it Dword 32 or 64bit?
DWORD is 32bit
QWORD is 64bit
you want DWORD
Oops I see now sorry bad eye sight
Look right?
if thats your windows users SID then yes
now do the same but make a folder named GroupMappings instead
then that should be it
also rename your folder from Mapping to Mappings
It is. It was blank and had a value if 0 at first
0 would be root which we do not want, steam (in linux) will hate it 😄
That's why I changed it to 1000
so in the end you should have
both containing your SID and the value 1000
Ok so that's done. Now I just go back to launch it in bazzite and the game will also show in windows?
once you add the steamlibrary to windows yes
This is what I suggest-
Reboot Windows to verify your drive shows up
Make a random file, perferebly in your user directory
Reboot to bazzite and do
ls -l and check ownership on that fileWhen you say verify the drive shows up where am I looking to check that?
This PC
You will automatically have a drive letter
I only see my C drive
Secure boot?
To work around this, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CI\Policy in Regedit, create a new DWORD value called UpgradedSystem and set to 1, and reboot.
Try thisSecure boot is on
Than do this
(Reboot into Windows mind you, ofc)
Just to double check I'm not creating a folder under policy just adding a new one to the default?
Yes, just new DWORD
No key
And decimal value to 1?
Yes
Done rebooting now
Yep it's there now!
Alrighty, so create a file (In the home directory is best) and check it has correct permissions on Linux
So the txt file I created in home on the windows side didn't show up
In Bazzite home
sudo ls?Nope it's not there
Perhaps it needs to go a folder down one more?
just out of curiosity
Very weird, did you create them maybe in different folders by accident
ls -la /sysroot/homels -la /sysroot/home/username
You meanCreate what sorry?
The file
I put it in the fedora drive and then in home like you said
ls -la /home?
and the last one?
So with my username says no such file it directory
this one
/home -> var/home it says
ls -la /var/homeim bitten by the symlink again 😂
There it is at the bottom...
yeah you took it literally 😛 we meant add the file to your home folder, either way as you can see the permissions are wrong
nfsnobody and users
users might work but not nfsnobody
So what do I need to do?
can you
ls -lan /var/homeSeems like the registry change didn't stick
(The first one obv, the second one is fine)
it will show the UID and GID instead of ownership names
yeah one of the registry values is wrong and i believe the DWORD was left as hex instead of decimal
Nah
drwxr-xr-x. 1 4096 users 92 Jul 31 17:50 '$RECYCLE.BIN'/
This is when its left as hexhm ok
well the Mappings registry is wrong either way
the groupmappings one should ideally be 1000 but its 100 which is fine if we talking only about game files
Let me go back and check it I could of missed a 0 or something
Nah, you didn't, 100 is the default
oh it is now? back when i used it 0 was default for group
If anything you may have copied a wrong SID
So what does it mean it can't be done?
maybe copied the one from the readme?
No, it can be done, it's just that you provided the wrong SID
Not the one from the readme
ok
been ages since i actually used this driver
No I did my own but there were many SIDs
I copied the one with my name I think
Well the mapping didn't apply, so verify it
So the SID I copy is it Admin, my name, default account? I'm guessing not guest
My name worked
So when I went back into the policy folder where Mappings and GroupMappings were it duplicated it for some reason
One had the Dword I created and another different one
What's the different one?
As in, value
Different SID value was 100
Also duplicate mappings has no Dword file
i wonder if there is a space in the folders you made? 🤔 since there is now 2 of each
cant think of anything else
Lemme check one sec
No spaces in Mappings folder but GroupMappings did oops
If the Groupmappings was 100 and mappings was 65534, change them both to 1000
Did you recreate the file?
After rebooting?
Oh no lemme do that
Good news is no duplicate folders after removing the space
Testing to see if I can see the new file now
Yep it says 1000 now
Now what?
All good than
Use it the same as you use a normal secondary drive in Windows
@Rhan121 and for the future you want any interactions you do from windows to be inside
D:\home\rhan 🙂So just find my games in D:\ home\rhan\ games and add to steam
Yes
It works! 😯 Thank you guys for all your help!
Closing this down now appreciate the help!