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Using a NTFS disk with Linux and Windows

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Alex811 edited this page Sep 28, 2021 · 22 revisions

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.

Alternatively, see this guide for a more secure method to use NTFS and Steam: Steam & NTFS: The Secure Way

Tested On

  • Ubuntu 18.10
  • Ubuntu 19.04
  • Ubuntu 20.04
  • Pop!_OS 18.10
  • Pop!_OS 19.04
  • Pop!_OS 20.04

Configuring and Automounting the NTFS Partition

Create a Mount Point

Create a mount point for the NTFS game disk:

$ sudo mkdir /media/gamedisk

Find the User ID, Group ID, attached disk partition, and the UUID using the following commands:

User ID

$ id -u

Group ID

$ id -g

By default, both should be 1000

Attached Disk Partition

$ sudo fdisk -l

It should be labeled similar to /dev/sda2

The trailing letter and number (a2) will depend on how many disks are attached.

UUID

$ sudo blkid

Find the line where the first column matches the label of the fdisk command.

For example, /dev/sda2 would match this line:

...
/dev/sda2: UUID="38CE9483CE943AD8" TYPE="ntfs" 
...

Copy the UUID.

Editing fstab

Edit the fstab file to mount the partition:

$ sudo nano /etc/fstab

At the bottom of the file, add the following line (changing UUID, uid, and gid where needed):

UUID=38CE9483CE943AD8 /media/gamedisk ntfs uid=1000,gid=1000,rw,user,exec,umask=000 0 0

On Ubuntu, as long as ntfs-3g is installed using ntfs as the filesystem type will work

Reboot the computer for the changes to take effect:

$ sudo reboot

Preventing NTFS Read Errors

THERE HAS BEEN A REPORT THAT THIS MAY CAUSE DATA LOSS

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. Create a symlink from the /compatdata folder on Linux to the mounted NTFS disk.

Creating the symlink:

$ mkdir -p ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata
$ 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!

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