winesapOS

Game with Linux anywhere, no installation required!

winesapOS makes it easy to setup Linux and play games off an internal or portable external drive.

Why use winesapOS?

Portable. Useful for gaming or recovery purposes while traveling.
Enhanced hardware support for Apple Macs with Intel processors, ASUS laptops, ASUS ROG Ally handhelds, AYANEO handhelds, Framework computers, Lenovo Legion Go, Microsoft Surface laptops, OneXPlayer handhelds, and Valve Steam Deck handhelds.
Upgrades are fully automated and supported for minor and major versions.
All of the features of winesapOS are listed here.

Release images can be downloaded here.

Project goals:

Readability. Anyone can learn how to install and maintain Arch Linux.
Upstream. Stay as vanilla and upstream as possible.
Portability. Be the most portable x86 operating system.

Want to help support our work? Consider helping out with open feature and bug GitHub issues. Our CONTRIBUTING.md guide provides all of the information you need to get started as a winesapOS contributor.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

winesapOS

macOS Limitations

These are reasons why macOS is inferior compared to Linux when it comes to gaming.

No 32-bit support. The latest version of macOS is now 64-bit only meaning legacy native games will not run.
Steam Play's Proton is only supported on Linux (not macOS).
Old and incomplete implementations of OpenGL 4.1 and OpenCL 1.2.
- On Apple Silicon, OpenGL is only provided by the slow Metal for WebGL translation layer.
No native Vulkan support.
- MoltenVK is incomplete due to missing functionality in Apple's Metal API.
Linux has kernel-level optimizations for Wine.
CrossOver Mac, a commercial Wine product, is one of the few ways to run games on macOS. It costs money and requires a new license yearly (or a very expensive lifetime license).
- The community fork of Wine from CrossOver lacks support for some game launchers, codecs, and translation layers.

Features

General

Any computer with an AMD or Intel processor can run winesapOS.
Portability.
- A drive is bootable on both BIOS and UEFI systems.
- Lots of boot optimizations are made to make winesapOS more portable than most live Linux distributions.
- Applications are installed using Flatpaks, a universal package manager for Linux, where possible.
Persistent storage. Unlike traditional Linux live media, all storage is persistent and kept upon reboots.
- Upon the first boot, the root partition is expanded to utilize all available space.
Supportability. Linux is easy to troubleshoot remotely.
- Access:
  - SSH can be accessed via clients on the same ZeroTier VPN network.
  - tmate makes sharing SSH sessions without VPN connections easy.
- Tools:
  - ClamAV, and the GUI front-end Clamtk, is an open source anti-virus scanner.
  - QDirStat provides a graphical user interface to view storage space usage.
Usability. Software for typical day-to-day use is provided.
- AppImagePool for a GUI AppImage package manager.
- balenaEtcher for an image flashing utility.
- bauh for a GUI AUR and Snap package manager.
- Blueman for a Bluetooth pairing client.
- Bottles for installing any Windows program.
- Calibre for managing ebooks.
- Cheese for a webcam software.
- CoolerControl for managing computer fans.
- Discord for a gaming chat client.
- Discover for a GUI Flatpak package manager.
- Distrobox for managing containers.
- Dolphin (KDE Plasma), Nemo (Cinnamon), cosmic-files (COSMIC), or Nautilus (GNOME) for a file manager.
- FileZilla for a FTP client.
- Firefox ESR for a stable web browser.
- Firewall (secure image) provides a GUI for managing firewalld.
- Flatseal for managing Flatpaks.
- Google Chrome for a newer web browser.
- GParted for managing storage partitions.
- Gwenview (KDE Plasma), Pix (Cinnamon), cosmic-files (COSMIC), or Eye of GNOME (GNOME) for an image gallery application.
- KeePassXC for a cross-platform password manager.
- LibreOffice provides an office suite.
- Modem Manager GUI for using cellular modems.
- Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio for a recording and streaming utility.
- PeaZip for an archive/compression utility.
- qBittorrent for a torrent client.
- Spectacle for a screenshot utility.
- usbmuxd with backported patches to properly support iPhone file transfers and Internet tethering on T2 Macs.
- Waydroid for Android app and gaming support.
- VeraCrypt for a cross-platform encryption utility.
- VLC for a media player.
- ZeroTier GUI for a VPN utility for online LAN gaming.
Distro-agnostic package managers for installing a large variety of software.
- Flatpak
- Homebrew
- Nix
- Snap
Gaming support out-of-the-box.
- Game launchers:
  - Steam.
  - Heroic Games Launcher for Epic Games Store games.
  - Lutris for all other games.
  - Open Gamepad UI for an open source video game console experience.
  - Prism Launcher for vanilla and modded Minecraft: Java Edition.
  - Bottles for all Windows programs.
  - EmuDeck for video game console emulators.
  - NVIDIA GeForce Now for streaming games from NVIDIA servers.
  - Xbox Cloud Gaming for streaming Xbox games.
- Wine:
  - Proton is installed along with Steam for playing Windows games on Linux.
  - GE-Proton is installed along with the ProtonUp-Qt package manager for it. This provides better Windows games compatibility.
  - Proton-Sarek = A GE-Proton fork optimized for legacy graphics cards.
  - umu-launcher for running non-Steam games with Proton.
- Chiaki for PS4 and PS5 game streaming.
- DOSBox for running 16-bit DOS and Windows (via Wine) applications.
- GameMode is available to be used to speed up games.
- Gamescope for helping play older games with frame rate or resolution issues.
- MangoHud for benchmarking OpenGL and Vulkan games.
- Moonlight and Sunshine for game streaming.
- Nexus Mods app for managing mods.
- NonSteamLaunchers to manage other game launchers.
- GOverlay is a GUI for managing Vulkan overlays including MangoHud and vkBasalt.
- Ludusavi is a game save files manager.
- ProtonUp-Qt for managing Steam Play compatibility tools.
- ZeroTier VPN can be used to play LAN-only games online with friends.
- Open source OpenGL and Vulkan drivers are installed for AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, VirtualBox, and VMware graphics.
Controller support for most controllers.
- All official PlayStation and Xbox controllers are supported.
- All generic DirectInput and XInput controllers are supported.
- AntiMicroX is provided for configuring controller input for non-Steam games.
- game-devices-udev is provided for more controller support.
- OpenRazer and Polychromatic are provided for Razer accessories.
- Oversteer is provided for managing racing wheels and related accessories.
Steam Deck look and feel.
- Gamescope Session is provided to replicate the "Game Mode" from the Steam Deck.
- KDE Plasma desktop environment is used.
Minimize writes to the drive to improve its longevity.
- Root file system is mounted with the options noatime and nodiratime to not write the access times for files and directories.
- Temporary directories with heavy writes (/tmp/, /var/log/, and /var/tmp/) are mounted as RAM-only file systems.
- systemd-journald is configured to use volatile (RAM-only) storage for all system logs.
- zram with lz4 compression is used for swap to maximize performance and avoid writing data to a swap file on the storage device.
  - Alternatively, a swap file can be used instead for hibernation support.
  - For a swap file, the swappiness level is set to 0.5% (down from the default of 30%) as recommended by CryoByte33's CryoUtilities.
- Writes are heavily cached in RAM for faster performance.
- libeatmydata is used for Firefox ESR and Google Chrome to improve performance and minimize writes.
  - Despite the name, all data (including bookmarks, history, signed-in profiles, etc.) are kept after exiting the application.
Full backups via Btrfs.
- Snapper takes 6 monthly snapshots of the /home/ directory.
- snap-pac takes a snapshot whenever the pacman package manager is used.
- grub-btrfs automatically generates a GRUB menu entry for all of the Btrfs backups.
No automatic operating system updates. Updates should always be intentional and planned.
Most file systems supported. Access any storage device, anywhere.
- APFS
- Bcachefs
- Boot File System (BFS)
- Btrfs
- CephFS
- CIFS/SMB
- eCryptFS
- EROFS
- ext2, ext3, and ext4
- exFAT
- F2FS
- FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32
- FATX16 and FATX32
- GFS2
- GlusterFS
- HFS and HFS+
- JFS
- MinIO
- MINIX file system
- NFS
- NILFS2
- NTFS
- OverlayFS
- ReiserFS
- SquashFS
- SSDFS
- SSHFS
- UDF
- Virtiofs
- XFS
- ZFS
Battery optimizations.
- The auto-cpufreq service provides automatic power management.
Fully automated installation.

Additional Hardware Support

Apple Intel Macs

All Intel Macs are supported. Linux works on most Macs out-of-the-box these days. Drivers are pre-installed for newer hardware where native Linux support is missing.

For installation onto an internal drive, winesapOS must be installed as a dual-boot alongside macOS. It will not work as the only installed operating system on an Intel Mac.

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Keyboard	Yes	linux-t2 patches
Touchpad	Yes	linux-t2 patches
NVMe	Yes	linux-t2 patches
Sound	Yes	linux-t2 patches and apple-t2-audio-config
Fans	Yes	mbpfan
Bluetooth	Yes	linux-t2 patches and apple-bcm-firmware
Wi-Fi	Yes	broadcom-wl and apple-bcm-firmware
Fingerprint scanner	No
Touch Bar	Yes	linux-t2 patches

Notes about Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support if it is not working out-of-the-box:

Macs with the Apple T2 Security Chip (>= 2017)
- Follow the t2linux wiki for instructions on how to copy firmware files from macOS to Linux.
Macs without the Apple T2 Security Chip (< 2017)
- During the winesapOS First-Time Setup, select "Yes" when asked "Do you want to install the Broadcom proprietary Wi-Fi driver?"

ASUS Laptops

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Keyboard	Yes	asusctl
Touchpad	Yes
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes	linux-firmware-asus
Fans	Yes	asusctl
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
Fingerprint scanner	No

ASUS ROG Ally Handhelds

We provide support for both the original ASUS ROG Ally and the newer ASUS ROG Ally X.

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Controller	Yes	linux-nobara patches
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes	linux-nobara patches
Fans	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
Fingerprint scanner	No

AYANEO Handhelds

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Controller	Yes	ayaneo-platform-dkms-git and ayaled-updated
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes	aw87559-firmware
Fans	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
Fingerprint scanner	No

Framework Computers

All Framework computers are fully supported.

Hardware	Supported	Notes
Keyboard	Yes
Touchpad	Yes	Quirk added to disable when the keyboard is in-use
NVMe	Yes	Power saving mode enabled for deep sleep support
Sound	Yes	framework-dsp used for improved audio quality
Fans	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes	Region is automatically set to enable Wi-Fi >= 5
Fingerprint scanner	Yes
LED matrix	Yes	inputmodule-control used for managing LED matrixes

For the Framework Laptop 16, audio support for Linux needs to be enabled in the BIOS.

(Boot into the BIOS by pressing "F2" when turning the device on) > Setup Utility > Advanced > Linux Audio Compatibility: Linux > (Save and exit by pressing "F10")

Lenovo Legion Go

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Controller	Yes	udev rules
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes
Fans	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	linux-nobara patches
Wi-Fi	Yes
Fingerprint scanner	No

Microsoft Surface Laptops

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Keyboard	Yes	linux-surface pathces
Touchpad	Yes
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes	linux-surface patches
Fans	Yes	linux-surface patches
Bluetooth	Yes	linux-surface patches
Wi-Fi	Yes	linux-surface patches
Fingerprint scanner	No
Touchscreen	Yes	IPTSD, libwacom-surface, and linux-surface patches

OneXPlayer Handhelds

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Controller	Yes
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes
Fans	Yes	oxp-sensors-dkms-git
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
Fingerprint scanner	No

Valve Steam Decks

Both the Steam Deck LCD and OLED models are fully supported.

Hardware	Supported	Third-Party Driver(s)
Controller	Yes
Touchpad	Yes
NVMe	Yes
Sound	Yes	linux-nobara patches and linux-firmware-valve
Fans	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	linux-nobara patches and linux-firmware-valve
Wi-Fi	Yes	linux-nobara patches and linux-firmware-valve
Touchscreen	Yes

Community Collaboration

We are actively working alongside these operating system projects to help provide wider Linux gaming support to the masses:

winesapOS Repository

As of winesapOS 3.1.0, we now provide our own repository with some AUR packages pre-built. This repository works on Arch Linux and Manjaro. It is enabled on winesapOS by default. Depending on what distribution you are on, here is how it can be enabled:

Arch Linux and Manjaro:

sudo sed -i s'/\[core]/[winesapos]\nServer = https:\/\/winesapos.lukeshort.cloud\/repo\/$repo\/$arch\n\n[core]/'g /etc/pacman.conf
sudo pacman -S -y -y

Enable the GPG key to be used by importing it and then locally signing the key to trust it.

sudo pacman-key --recv-keys 1805E886BECCCEA99EDF55F081CA29E4A4B01239
sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --lsign-key 1805E886BECCCEA99EDF55F081CA29E4A4B01239

Comparison with SteamOS

Features	SteamOS 3	winesapOS 4
SteamOS repositories	Yes	No
Arch Linux packages	Old	New
Boot compatibility	UEFI	UEFI and legacy BIOS
Graphics drivers	AMD	AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Parallels, VirtualBox, and VMware
Audio server	PipeWire	PipeWire
Read-only file system	Yes	No
Encrypted file system	No	Yes (secure image)
File system backup type	A/B partitions	Btrfs snapshots
Number of possible file system backups	1	Unlimited
Package managers (CLI)	flatpak and nix	pacman, paru/yay/AUR, flatpak, homebrew, nix, and snap
Preferred package manager (CLI)	flatpak	flatpak
Package managers (GUI)	Discover (flatpak)	Discover (flatpak), bauh (pacman, paru/yay/AUR, flatpak, and snap), and AppImagePool (AppImage)
Update type	Image-based	Package manager
Number of installed packages	Small	Small (minimal image) or Large (performance and secure images)
Game launchers	Steam	Steam, Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, NVIDIA GeForce Now, Open Gamepad UI, Prism Launcher, and Xbox Cloud Gaming
Linux kernels	Neptune (6.5)	Linux LTS (6.6) and Linux Nobara (Latest)
Additional Apple Intel Mac drivers	No	Yes
Additional ASUS laptop drivers	No	Yes
Additional ASUS ROG Ally handheld drivers	No	Yes
Additional AYANEO handheld drivers	No	Yes
Additional Framework Computer drivers	No	Yes
Additional Lenovo Legion Go handheld drivers	No	Yes
Additional Microsoft Surface laptop drivers	No	Yes
Additional OneXPlayer handheld drivers	No	Yes
Desktop environment	KDE Plasma 5	KDE Plasma 6
Desktop theme	Vapor	Breeze
AMD FSR	Global	Global
Gamescope	Global	Global
Wine	Proton	Proton and GE-Proton
Game controller support	Large	Large
exFAT cross-platform storage	No	Yes (16 GiB on the performance and secure images)

winesapOS 3 was the first Linux distribution to be based on SteamOS 3. Historically, here are the first forks of SteamOS 3:

Distro	First Preview	First Public Release
winesapOS	2022-03-06	2022-03-10
SteamOS for PS4	2022-03-09	2022-03-25
HoloISO	2022-04-21	2022-05-01

Usage

Getting Started

Hardware Requirements

Minimum:

Processor = Single-core AMD or Intel processor.
RAM = 2 GiB.
Graphics = AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA, Parallels Desktop, VirtualBox, or VMware Fusion/Workstation virtual graphics device.
Storage
- Minimal image = 16 GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) flash drive.
- Performance image = 64 GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) flash drive.

Recommended:

Processor = Quad-core AMD or Intel processor.
RAM = 16 GiB.
Graphics = AMD discrete graphics card.
Storage
- Internal = 512 GB NVMe SSD.
- External = 512 GB USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB 3.1) SSD.

Important note about external storage!

One of the founding goals of winesapOS was for it to be portable. However, most flash drives and SD/TF cards are too slow to run an operating system on and provide a good experience. For the best experience, use one of these recommended flash drives, an external USB-C >= 3.1 SSD, or a USB-C >= 3.2 docking station or hub that includes a M.2 NVMe drive slot.

Image Types

winesapOS provides 3 different image types to meet the diverse needs of our users:

Minimal = A small variant of the performance image.
Performance = Everything but the kitchen sink, speed, and ease-of-use.
Secure = Locked down and recommended for advanced Linux users only.
- There are no release builds for the secure image. Use a custom build to generate a unique LUKS container encryption key.

Feature	Minimal	Performance	Secure
CPU Mitigations	No	No	Yes
Encryption	No	No	Yes (LUKS)
Firewall	No	No	Yes (Firewalld)
`root` Password Requires Reset	No	No	Yes
16 GiB exFAT Cross-Platform Storage	No	Yes	Yes
Pre-built release image	Yes	Yes	No

The minimal root file system archive (winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar.zst) is the extracted files from the minimal image. It can be used for containers or installing winesapOS in a Docker or Podman container, dual-boot, or WSL 2 scenario.

Secure Image

If using the secure image, the default LUKS encryption key is password which should be changed after the first boot. Do not do this before the first boot as the default password is used to unlock the partition for it be resized to fill up the entire storage device. Change the LUKS encryption key for the fifth partition.

$ sudo cryptsetup luksChangeKey /dev/<DEVICE>5

The user account password for winesap and root are the same as the username. The root user are set to expire immediately. Upon first login, you will be prompted to enter a new password. Here is how to change it:

Enter the default password of winesap.
The prompt will say "Changing password for winesap." Enter the default password of winesap again.
The prompt will now say "New password". Enter a new password.
The prompt will finally say "Retype new password". Enter the new password again. The password has been updated and the KDE Plasma desktop will now load.

The root user account is locked until the password is changed. It is recommended to change this immediately to allow for recovery to work.

$ sudo passwd root

Release Builds

Refer to the Mac Boot and Windows Boot guides to avoid common issues.
Download the latest release from here.
- External drive
  - Download one the of the release images and then continue on with this guide.
    - Performance (recommended) = Requires 31 GiB of free space to download and extract.
    - Minimal (for users low on storage space or who want control over what is installed) = Requires 13 GiB of free space to download and extract.
- Internal drive
  - Entire drive (PCs only, does not work on Macs)
    - Use winesapOS to install winesapOS. Start with the minimal image and follow through the next steps (2 and 3) to extract and flash the image to an external drive. Then boot into the storage device and download the image you want to setup. Follow steps 2 and 3 again to flash the image onto an internal storage device.
      - For balenaEtcher, when you "Select target" there is an option to "Show hidden" storage devices. It will let you flash an image to any drive except the one it is physically running on.
  - Dual-boot (PCs and Intel Macs)
    - Refer to the Dual-Boot guide.
- If you want even more control over the how the image is built, consider doing a custom build instead.
Extract the winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img.zip archive.
Use the image...
1. on a PC or Mac.
  - Flash the image to an internal or external storage device. WARNING: This will delete any existing data on that storage device.
    - On Linux, macOS, and Windows, use either balenaEtcher or USBImager to flash the image.
    - On Linux and macOS, the dd CLI utility can be used to flash the image.
2. with GNOME Boxes on Linux.
  - Resize the winesapOS image to at least 32 GiB.
```
$ qemu-img resize winesapos*.img +24G
```
  - GNOME Boxes > + > Install from File > (select the winesapOS image file) > Open > Operating System: Arch Linux, Memory: 4.0 GiB > Create
3. with Parallels Desktop on macOS (Intel only).
  - Convert the raw image to the VDI format. Then convert the VDI image to HDD.
    - Using the qemu-img and prl_convert CLI:
      qemu-img convert -f raw -O vdi winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vdi prl_convert winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vdi --allow-no-os --stand-alone-disk --dst=winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.hdd
  - Parallels Desktop > Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file > Image File > select a file... > (select the winesapOS HDD file) > Continue > Please select your operating system: > More Linux > Other Linux > OK > Name: winesapOS > Create
4. with Virtual Machine Manager on Linux.
  - Resize the winesapOS image to at least 32 GiB.
```
$ qemu-img resize winesapos*.img +24G
```
  - Move the winesapOS image to /var/lib/libvirt/images/.
  - Virtual Machine Manager > File > New Virtual Machine > Import existing disk image > Forward > Browse local > (select the winesapOS image) > Open > Choose the operating system you are installing: Arch Linux (archlinux) > Forward > (if asked to fix permissions, select "Yes"), Memory: 4096, CPUs: 2 > Forward > Name: winesapOS, Customize configuration before install: yes > Finish > Overview > Firmware: "UEFI x86_64: /usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF_CODE.fd" > Apply > Begin Installation
5. with VirtualBox.
  - Convert the raw image to the VDI format.
    - Using the VirtualBox CLI:
      VBoxManage convertfromraw --format VDI winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vdi
    - Using the qemu-img CLI:
      qemu-img convert -f raw -O vdi winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vdi
    - Using StarWind V2V Converter on Windows.
  - Virtual Box > New > Name: winesapOS, Type: Linux, Version: Arch Linux (64-bit) > Next > Base Memory: 4096 MB, Processors: 2, Enable EFI: Yes > Next > Use an Existing Virtual Hard Disk File > Add > Choose > Next > Finish > File > Tools > Virtual Media Manager > Size: (increase to at least 32 GB) > Apply > OK > winesapOS > Settings > General > Advanced > Shared Clipboard: Bidirectional, Drag'n'Drop: Bidirectional > OK > winesapOS > Settings > Display > Screen > Video Memory: 128 MB, Graphics Controller: VMSVGA, Extended Features: Enable 3D Acceleration
  - NOTICE: VirtualBox 3D acceleration for Linux guests does not fully work. This issue is not specific to winesapOS. Consider using VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation instead.
6. with VMware Fusion on macOS (Intel only).
  - Convert the raw image to the VMDK format.
    - Using the VirtualBox CLI:
      VBoxManage convertfromraw --format VMDK winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vmdk
    - Using the qemu-img CLI:
      qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.img winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.vmdk
    - Using StarWind V2V Converter on Windows.
  - VMware Fusion > Virtual Machine Library > + > New... > Create a custom virtual machine > Continue > Linux > Other Linux 5.x kernel 64-bit > Continue > Specify the boot firmware: UEFI > Continue > Use an existing virtual disk > Continue > Custom Settings > Hard Disk (SCSI) > Disk size: (increase to at least 64 GB) > Apply > Show All > Processors & Memory > Processors: 2 processor cores > Memory: 4096 MB > Show All > Display > Accelerate 3D Graphis: Yes > Shared graphics memory: (set this to the highest possible value)
7. with VMware Workstation on Linux or Windows.
  - Convert the raw image to the VMDK format.
  - VMware Workstation > Create a New Virtual Machine > Custom (advanced) > Next > Hardware compatibility: (select the latest version) > Next > I will install the operating system later. > Next > Guest Operating System: 2. Linux > Version: Other Linux 5.x kernel 64-bit > Next > Name: winesapOS > Next > Number of processors: 2 > Next > Memory for this virtual machine: 4096 MB > Next > Use network address translation (NAT) > Next > SCSI controller: LSI Logic (Recommended) > Next > Virtual Disk Type: SCSI (Recommended) > Next > Use an existing virtual disk > Next > File name: (select the winesapOS VMDK file) > Keep Existing Format > Customize Hardware... > Hard Disk (SCSI) > Expand Disk... > Maximum disk size (GB): (increase to at least 64 GB) > Expand > OK > Display > Accelerate 3D graphics: Yes > Graphics Memory: (set this to the highest possible value) > Close > Finish > Close

Default accounts have a password set that mirror the username:

Username	Password
winesap	winesap
root	root

Upon first login, the "winesapOS First-Time Setup" wizard will launch. It will help set up graphics drivers, the locale, time zone, and more. It is highly recommended to complete this on the first boot. Then reboot before using winesapOS to provide the best experience.

Custom Builds

Instead of using a release build which is already made, advanced users may want to create a custom build. This only requires 1 GiB of free space to download the live Arch Linux environment. It also allows using environment variables to configure the build differently than the default release builds.

Download and setup the latest Arch Linux ISO onto a flash drive that has at least 1 GB of storage.

1a. We also support building winesapOS with Manjaro even though we do not provide release images for it. Download either the Plasma, Cinnamon, or GNOME desktop edition of Manjaro.
Boot into the flash drive.
Update the known packages cache and install git.
```
pacman -S -y
pacman -S git
```

Clone the stable branch and go to the "scripts" directory.

git clone --branch stable https://github.com/winesapos/winesapos.git
cd ./winesapos/scripts/

Configure environment variables to customize the build. At the very least, allow the build to work on bare-metal and define what /dev/<DEVICE> block device to install to. BE CAREFUL AS THIS WILL DELETE ALL EXISTING DATA ON THAT DEVICE!
```
export WINESAPOS_BUILD_IN_VM_ONLY=false
lsblk
export WINESAPOS_DEVICE=<DEVICE>
```
By default, the performance image will be built. Alternatively, source the environment variables to configure the build to make the minimal or secure image instead.
```
. ./env/winesapos-env-minimal.sh
```
```
. ./env/winesapos-env-secure.sh
```
Run the build.
```
sudo -E bash ./winesapos-install.sh
```
Check for any test failures (there should be no output from this command).
```
grep -P 'FAIL$' /winesapos/etc/winesapos/winesapos-install.log
```

For more detailed information on the build process, we recommend reading the entire CONTRIBUTING.md guide.

Docker or Podman Container

Configure the winesapOS version to download and the container engine to use.

export WINESAPOS_VERSION="4.1.0"
#export WINESAPOS_CONTAINER_ENGINE="docker"
export WINESAPOS_CONTAINER_ENGINE="podman"

Download, decompress, and then import the root file system. Most container engines only support Gzip compression (not Zstandard).

wget https://winesapos.lukeshort.cloud/repo/iso/winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}/winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar.zst
zstd --decompress winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar.zst
${WINESAPOS_CONTAINER_ENGINE} import winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar winesapos:${WINESAPOS_VERSION}

Verify that the container image was imported.

${WINESAPOS_CONTAINER_ENGINE} images | grep winesapos
# Example output: winesapos                        4.1.0     23b9bb5f1c26   26 seconds ago   8.79GB

Windows Subsystem for Linux

As of winesapOS 4.1.0, it is supported to be ran as a virtual machine on Windows >= 10 using WSL 2.

Install WSL 2.
Download the winesapos-wsl.ps1 script.
Open PowerShell and navigate to the downloaded location.

Allow and run the PowerShell script.

PS C:\Users\user\Downloads> powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\winesapos-wsl.ps1

Verify that a new "winesapOS" virtual machine appears.
```
PS C:\Users\user\Downloads> wsl --list
```

Enter the virtual machine.

PS C:\Users\user\Downloads> wsl --distribution winesapOS

Verify that it is winesapOS.
```
cat /usr/lib/os-release-winesapos
```

Passwords

Username	Password
root	root
winesap	winesap

On the secure image, the LUKS encryption key is password. The password for LUKS and the root account should be changed immediately.

$ sudo cryptsetup luksChangeKey /dev/<DEVICE>5
$ sudo passwd root

Mac Boot

Boot the Mac into an external drive by pressing and releasing the power button. Then hold down the OPTION key (or the ALT key on a Windows keyboard) to access the Mac bootloader. Select the "EFI Boot" device.

IMPORTANT Any Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, which are all Macs made in and after 2018, needs to allow booting from external storage:

Turn on the Mac and immediately hold both the COMMAND and r keys to enter recovery mode.
Utilities > Startup Security Utility
- Secure Boot = No Security (Does not enforce any requirements on the bootable OS.)
- External Boot = Allow booting from external media (Does not restrict the ability to boot from any devices.)

Windows Boot

Secure Boot is not supported.
- If using Windows and BitLocker is enabled then disable it first.
- Then disable Secure Boot in the BIOS.
Disable fast startup as this causes issues with booting Linux.
- Long-term solution:
  - Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Change what the power buttons do > Change settings that are currently unavailable > (uncheck "Turn on fast startup (recommended)") > Save changes
- Short-term solution:
  - Fully shutdown Windows by holding the "SHIFT" key while selecting "Shut down", selecting to "Reboot", or by running the command shutdown /s /f /t 0.
- Do not Hibernate in Windows.
Configure Windows to use UTC for the hardware clock.

Ventoy

As of winesapOS 4.2.0, Ventoy is fully supported.

Install Ventoy v1.0.98 or newer onto an external drive.
Increase the image size.
```
$ qemu-img resize winesapos*.img +24G
```
Rename the image to winesapos.vtoy.
Copy the image to the Ventoy drive.

Dual-Boot

It is recommended to follow the getting started guide to install winesapOS onto its own internal drive if also using Linux or Windows. Then use the motherboard BIOS to change the boot device. For macOS, the only way to install it to the internal drive is via dual-boot.

However, it is possible to install winesapOS onto the same drive as Linux or Windows. That is what this guide will cover in more detail.

Only UEFI is supported for dual-boot installations of winesapOS. For legacy BIOS boot, create and flash a normal portable release image such as the minimal or performance. Those all support both legacy BIOS boot and UEFI.

Install (if necessary) macOS or Windows first. Then proceed with installing winesapOS onto the same drive.

macOS Dual-Boot Preparation Guide

Only Intel Macs are supported.

As of Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan, System Integrity Protection (SIP) was added for additional boot security. It needs to be disabled for rEFInd support.
- Enter macOS Recovery mode.
  - Shutdown the Mac.
  - Press the power button. Then hold the command and r keys until the Apple logo appears. Then let go of those two keys.
- Utilities > Terminal
- Run the command csrutil disable to disable SIP.
Follow the Mac Boot guide.
- Reboot when done.
  - (Select the Apple logo in the top-left) > Restart
Install rEFInd. This is an alternative UEFI boot manager that has better compatibility with Linux.
- Download and extract refind-bin-<VERSION>.zip.
- Open the Terminal app, navigate to the extracted folder, and then run ./refind-install.
SIP can optionally be re-enabled now that rEFInd is installed.
Create free storage space for winesapOS.
- Disk Utility > (select the primary drive) > Partition > + > Add Partition > Name: winesapOS, Format: ExFAT, Size: (enter the amount of space to use for winesapOS) > Apply > Partition > Continue > Done

Windows Dual-Boot Preparation Guide

Follow the Windows Boot guide.
Create free storage space for winesapOS.
- Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) > (right-click on the "(C:)" partition) > Shrink Volume... > Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB: (enter the amount of space to use for winesapOS) > Shrink

winesapOS Dual-Boot Install Guide

Semi-automated steps:

Follow the winesapOS getting started guide to get the minimal image onto an external drive.
Boot into winesapOS that is on the external drive.
Use GParted to partition the free storage space. The labels are suffixed with the number zero "0" (not the letter "O").
- For macOS:
  - (Right-click on the "exfat" partition) > Delete
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > New size (MiB): 1000, File system: fat32, Label: WOS-EFI0 > Add
- Then for macOS and Windows:
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > New size (MiB): 1000, File system: ext4, Label: winesapos-boot0 > Add
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > File system: btrfs, Label: winesapos-root0 > Add
- (Select the green check mark to "Apply All Operations") > Apply > Close
Run the "winesapOS Dual-Boot Installer (Beta)" desktop shortcut.
Turn off the computer, unplug the winesapOS external drive, and then turn on the computer.
Allow booting the original operating system again.
- macOS
  - Hold command while booting up. Once booted into macOS, run ./refind-mkdefault (requires Xcode to be installed).
- Windows
  - Add Windows to the GRUB boot menu.
```
# Enable os-prober. It is disabled by default.
sudo crudini --ini-options=nospace --set /etc/default/grub "" GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER false
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
```

Manual steps:

Follow the winesapOS getting started guide to get the minimal image onto an external drive.
- This includes installer tools needed to install winesapOS onto an internal drive.
- It also includes an exFAT partition that is accessible from any operating system.
Download the latest winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar.zst release.
- Copy it to the wos-drive.
Boot into winesapOS that is on the external drive.
Use GParted to partition the free storage space. The labels are suffixed with the number zero "0" (not the letter "O").
- For macOS:
  - (Right-click on the "exfat" partition) > Delete
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > New size (MiB): 1000, File system: fat32, Label: WOS-EFI0 > Add
- Then for macOS and Windows:
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > New size (MiB): 1000, File system: ext4, Label: winesapos-boot0 > Add
  - (Right-click on the "unallocated" space) > New > File system: btrfs, Label: winesapos-root0 > Add
- (Select the green check mark to "Apply All Operations") > Apply > Close

Mount the new partitions with winesapOS optimizaitons and features.

# View hints about each partition.
$ lsblk
$ sudo mount -t btrfs -o subvol=/,compress-force=zstd:1,discard,noatime,nodiratime -L winesapos-root0 /mnt
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/.snapshots
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/home
$ sudo mount -t btrfs -o subvol=/home,compress-force=zstd:1,discard,noatime,nodiratime -L winesapos-root0 /mnt/home
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/home/.snapshots
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/swap
$ sudo mount -t btrfs -o subvol=/swap,compress-force=zstd:1,discard,noatime,nodiratime -L winesapos-root0 /mnt/swap
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/boot
$ sudo mount --label winesapos-boot0 /mnt/boot
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/boot/efi
# Mount the FAT32 EFI partition.
# On macOS, use the newly created EFI partition.
# On Windows, use the existing EFI partition. This is usually the first partition and 100 MiB in size.
$ sudo mount /dev/<DEVICE>1 /mnt/boot/efi

Extract the winesapOS root file system archive.

Select the "wos-drive" drive in the Dolphin file manager to automatically mount it.

Extract the archive.

$ sudo tar --extract --keep-old-files --verbose --file /run/media/winesap/wos-drive/winesapos-${WINESAPOS_VERSION}-minimal-rootfs.tar.zst --directory /mnt/

Configure the bootloader.

$ grep -v -P "winesapos|WOS" /mnt/etc/fstab | sudo tee /mnt/etc/fstab
$ genfstab -L /mnt | sudo tee -a /mnt/etc/fstab
$ sudo mount --rbind /dev /mnt/dev
$ sudo mount --rbind /sys /mnt/sys
$ sudo mount -t proc /proc /mnt/proc
$ sudo chroot /mnt grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=winesapOS
$ sudo chroot /mnt grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
$ sudo chroot /mnt mkinitcpio -P
$ sudo sync

Turn off the computer, unplug the winesapOS external drive, and then turn on the computer.
Allow booting the original operating system again.
- macOS
  - Hold command while booting up. Once booted into macOS, run ./refind-mkdefault (requires Xcode to be installed).
- Windows
  - Add Windows to the GRUB boot menu.
```
# Enable os-prober. It is disabled by default.
$ sudo crudini --ini-options=nospace --set /etc/default/grub "" GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER false
$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
```

First-Time Setup

After logging in for the first time as the winesap user, the first-time setup for winesapOS will appear. Users have the option to manually select their choices or go with the recommended defaults below.

Setup	Recomended Default
Broadcom proprietary Wi-Fi driver	Automatic
Rotate screen	No
Older version of winesapOS	Stop and prompt user
Select your desired mirror region	Automatic (GeoIP)
Graphics driver	Mesa
Swap method	zram
Time zone	Automatic (GeoIP)
Recommended producitvity apps	Yes
Recommended gaming apps	Yes
Enable autologin	Yes (minimal and performance) and No (secure)
Hide GRUB boot menu	Yes
Upgrade firmware	Yes
Change user password	Yes
Change root password	Yes
Locale	Ask

Upgrades

Minor Upgrades

Upgrades are supported and recommended between all minor releases of winesapOS. For example, it is supported to go from 3.0.0 to 3.2.1.

Where it makes sense, features are backported from newer versions of winesapOS. Bug and security fixes are also included to fix problems either with winesapOS itself or with upstream changes in Arch Linux. Even if a user never upgrades winesapOS, users will continue to get regular system upgrades from Arch Linux.

Before upgrading, please read the full UPGRADE.md notes. This showcases what updates will happen automatically and what updates may need to be manually applied.

Development builds do not support upgrades. Here are the releases that we do support upgrades on:

Release	Upgrades Supported
Stable	Yes
Release Candidate (RC)	Yes
Beta	No
Alpha	No

Here is how to upgrade winesapOS. Do NOT use "Applications (bauh)" for upgrades, only for package installations.

GUI = Launch the "winesapOS Upgrade" desktop shortcut.

CLI = Launch the winesapOS upgrade script from the stable branch.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winesapOS/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-upgrade.sh | sudo -E bash

Major Upgrades

Open Terminator.

Run a major upgrade of winesapOS.

Mac Linux Gaming Stick 2 to winesapOS 4:

echo stick > /tmp/winesapos_user_name.txt
export WINESAPOS_UPGRADE_FILES=false
export WINESAPOS_UPGRADE_VERSION_CHECK=false
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winesapOS/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-upgrade.sh | sudo -E bash

winesapOS 3 to winesapOS 4:

GUI = Launch the "winesapOS Upgrade" desktop shortcut.

CLI:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winesapOS/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-upgrade.sh | sudo -E bash

Uninstall

If desired, it is possible to remove winesapOS specific files and configuration and switch back to upstream Arch Linux using an uninstall script. It will not remove anything that is related to improved hardware compatibility.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winesapOS/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-uninstall.sh | sudo -E bash

Convert to winesapOS

It is possible to get an experience similar to winesapOS but on a different Linux distribution by installing applications that winesapOS provides.

What this conversion script does:

For Arch Linux and Manjaro only:
- Add winesapOS and Chaotic AUR repositories.
- Install all AUR packages from winesapOS.
For all Linux distributions:
- Install all Flatpak packages from winesapOS.

What it does NOT do:

Install all system packages from winesapOS (coming soon).
Install support for specific computer hardware.
Install desktop environments or tiling window managers.
Modify the bootloader.

Run this script to convert to winesapOS:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winesapOS/winesapOS/stable/scripts/winesapos-convert.sh | bash

Tips

Getting Started

Plug additional hardware into a USB hub. Connect the USB hub to the computer before booting.
Do NOT move the USB hub after plugging it in and booting up Linux. It can easily disconnect leading to a corrupt file system.
Consider buying an SSD instead of a flash drive for a longer life-span, more storage, and faster speeds.
Delete old Btrfs backups when the drive is running low on storage space.
```
$ sudo snapper list
$ sudo snapper delete <SNAPSHOT_NUMBER>
```

Enable Proton for all Windows games. This will allow them to run in Linux. For more information about Proton, read this starter guide. Check the compatibility rating for games on Steam by using ProtonDB.

Settings > Steam Play > Enable Steam Play for Support Titles > Use this tool instead of game-specific selections from Steam > Compatibility tool: > (select the latest "Proton" version available) > OK

Steam Deck Game Mode

On the SDDM login screen for the "winesap" user, the "Session" drop-down menu in the top-left can be used to change the session from "Plasma (Wayland)" to "Steam Big Picture (Wayland)". This provides the same experience as having a Steam Deck in "Game Mode" by launching Steam with Gamescope Session. Using this on devices that are not the Steam Deck will have varied results. For example, configuring TDP for other devices will not work as the Steam client is hardcoded to only work on the Steam Deck.

Known issues:

A user must first login to the KDE Plasma desktop environment session and go through the winesapOS first-time setup. This will automatically download the Steam client bootstrap files required for the new Big Picutre mode. Otherwise, run the "Steam (Runtime)" desktop shortcut to download the required files.
NVIDIA support is still a work-in-progress. Mesa does not work yet. The NVIDIA open kernel module works but it is extremely slow.

Alternatively, Steam can be launched from KDE Plasma using the "Steam (Runtime)" desktop shortcut. Then it can be changed to be in the new Big Picture Mode.

There is also a session for Open Gamepad UI as an open source alternative front-end. Select the "OpenGamepadUI (Wayland)" session on the SDDM login screen. It has plugins for Steam, Lutris, and more.

No Sound (Muted Audio)

When Mac hardware is detected, all sound is muted on boot because, on newer Macs, the experimental sound driver is extremely loud. This means that any volume changes will be reset on the next boot. Disable and stop the user (not system) mute service to allow the sound volume to be saved:

systemctl --user disable --now winesapos-mute.service

Btrfs Backups

Snapper creates 6 monthly snapshots of the /home directory. snap-pac creates a snapshot of the root / directory before and after using pacman. Both the root and home configurations are set to only use a maximum of 50 GiB each.

During boot, GRUB will have a "winesapOS snapshots" section that will allow booting from a root directory snapshot. This will not appear on first boot because no backups have been taken yet. After a backup has been taken, the GRUB configuration file needs to be regenerated to scan for the new backups.

Manually rebuild the GRUB configuration file to load the latest snapshots:

$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

View the available backups:

$ sudo snapper -c root list
$ sudo snapper -c home list

Manually create a new backup:

$ sudo snapper -c <CONFIG> create

Manually delete a backup:

$ sudo snapper -c <CONFIG> delete <BACKUP_NUMBER>

VPN (ZeroTier)

A VPN is required for LAN gaming online. Use the free and open source ZeroTier VPN service for this.

Host

Only one person needs to create a ZeroTier account.
They must then create a ZeroTier network.
1. Login to ZeroTier Central.
2. Select "Networks".
3. Select "Create A Network".
4. Select the "Network ID" or "Name" of the new network to modify the settings.
  - Either (1) set the "Access Control" to "Public" or (2) use this settings page to manually authorize connected clients to be able to communicate on the network.
  - Take note of the "Network ID". Send this string to your friends who will connect to the VPN.

Clients

Start the ZeroTier VPN service.

$ sudo systemctl enable --now zerotier-one

Connect to the ZeroTier network.
```
$ sudo zerotier-cli join <NETWORK_ID>
```

Troubleshooting

Release Image Zip Files

Challenge: the release image fails to be extracted from the zip file.

Solutions:

Verify the integrity of the downloaded zip files.

Linux:

sha512sum --check winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.sha512sum.txt

Windows (open Command Prompt as Administrator):

C:\Windows\system32>CertUtil.exe -hashfile C:\Users\<USER>\Downloads\winesapos-<VERSION>-<TYPE>.sha512sum.txt SHA512

Not enough free space. Ensure you have 13 GiB (minimal image) or 31 GiB (performance image) of free space before downloading the zip files.
If using PeaZip, it sometimes fails to extract to the current directory. Try extracting to a different directory.

winesapOS Not Booting

There are many different reasons why winesapOS may not be booting.

Refer to the Mac Boot and Windows Boot guides to avoid common issues.
USB mode.
- If using a USB Type-C cable, try flipping it upside down (180 degrees).
  - If using a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter, only one of the USB Type-C sides is full speed so orientation does matter.
- If using an external drive, set the USB mode to xHCI instead of DRD in the BIOS.
- The USB cable or port may be loose. Try a different cable and port.
SATA mode.
- If using an internal drive, set the SATA mode to AHCI instead of RAID in the BIOS.
  - Some NVMe drives use a SATA (not PCIe) connector and also need this setting change.
Legacy BIOS boot.
- Older motherboards that do not support GPT partition layouts will not be able to boot winesapOS.
- Manually converting winesapOS from GPT to MBR and re-installing the GRUB boot loader does not fix this issue.

Root File System Resizing

Challenge: the root file system does not resize itself to use all available space on the storage device.

Solution:

Re-enable the resize service, reboot, and then view the service log. Open up a GitHub Issue with the full log output.

sudo systemctl enable winesapos-resize-root-file-system
sudo reboot

sudo journalctl --unit winesapos-resize-root-file-system

Read-Only File System

If using an external USB drive, it is possible to get errors about a Read-only file system. This is a hardware issue and indicates that the USB drive has been disconnected even if only for a fraction of a second. Short-term, reboot winesapOS to fix these errors. Long-term, try using a different USB port and/or drive and make sure that the drive does not move while in use. For the best experience, we recommend using an internal drive.

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Not Working

Challenge: If Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is not working and Windows is installed, it could be from fast startup being enabled and/or Windows Hibernating.

Solutions:

Macs
- Refer to the Apple Intel Macs guide to install the correct driver and/or firmware.
Windows
- Refer to the Windows Boot guide to disable fast startup.

Available Storage Space is Incorrect

Challenge: the amount of reported free space seems too small or large.

Solutions:

Btrfs is used as the root file system on winesapOS. The most reliable way to view the amount of storage in-use on Btrfs is with this command.
```
sudo btrfs filesystem df /
```
Snapper is used to take Btrfs snapshots (1) every time Pacman installs, upgrades, or removes a package and (2) every month. Refer to the Btrfs Backups section for more information on how to manage those snapshots.

First-Time Setup Log Files

If the first-time setup fails or needs debugging, the last log file can be found and copied to the desktop by running these two commands:

$ sudo cp "/etc/winesapos/$(sudo ls -1 /etc/winesapos/ | grep setup | tail -n 1)" /home/winesap/Desktop/
$ sudo chown winesap:winesap "/home/winesap/Desktop/$(ls -1 ~/Desktop/ | grep setup_)"

Two or More Set Ups of winesapOS Cause an Unbootable System

Challenge: winesapOS uses labels for file system mounts which confuses the system if more than one label is found.

Solution:

Change the file system label of at least the root file system on one of the winesapOS drives. It is recommended to change all of the labels on that same drive. This can cause an unbootable system. Manually review the contents of /etc/fstab to ensure it is correct.

# Labels can be changed on mounted file systems.
lsblk -o name,label
export DEVICE=vda
sudo -E exfatlabel /dev/${DEVICE}2 wos-drive0
sudo -E fatlabel /dev/${DEVICE}3 WOS-EFI0
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=WOS-EFI/LABEL=WOS-EFI0/'g /etc/fstab
sudo -E e2label /dev/${DEVICE}4 winesapos-boot0
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=winesapos-boot/LABEL=winesapos-boot0/'g /etc/fstab
sudo btrfs filesystem label / winesapos-root0
sudo btrfs filesystem show /
sudo sed -i s'/LABEL=winesapos-root/LABEL=winesapos-root0/'g /etc/fstab
lsblk -o name,label

# GRUB needs to be updated with the new /etc/fstab information.
sudo chroot <MOUNTED_ROOT_AND_BOOT_DIRECTORY> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Snapshot Recovery

Challenges:

winesapOS upgrade fails.
Old files need to be recovered.

Solution:

At the GRUB boot menu select "winesapOS snapshots" and then the desired backup to load. The filesystem will be read-only by default. It can be set to enable writes with this command:
```
$ sudo btrfs property set -ts /.snapshots/<BTRFS_SNAPSHOT_ID> ro false
```

For more advanced recovery using overlayfs on-top of a read-only filesystem, refer to this grub-btrfs GitHub issue.

Reinstalling winesapOS

Reinstalling winesapOS on-top of an existing winesapOS installation of the same exact version and image type can cause issues. This is because the partitions are perfectly aligned which leads to overlapping data. Even wiping the partition table is not enough. For the best results, it is recommended to completely wipe at least the first 25 GiB of the storage device. WARNING: This will delete any existing data on that storage device.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/<DEVICE> bs=1M count=25000

Bad Performance on Battery

When using a portable device such as a laptop or gaming handheld, the operating system goes into a battery saver mode by default. This can be disabled to get maximum performance.

sudo systemctl disable --now auto-cpufreq

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is this the Mac Linux Gaming Stick project?
- Yes. Version 1 and 2 of the project were called Mac Linux Gaming Stick. In version 3, we rebranded to winesapOS.
How do you pronounce winesapOS?
- wine-sap-o-s.
What is the relevance of the word "winesap" in winesapOS?
- It is a type of apple which signifies how we develop on Macs and ship drivers for them. It also has the word "wine" in it which is the name of the project used to enable Windows gaming on Linux.
What makes this different than adding persistent storage to a live CD with Universal USB Installer or YUMI?
- Having persistent storage work via these hacky methods can be hit-or-miss depending on the distribution. winesapOS was built from the ground-up to have persistent storage. It also features automatic backups, various gaming tools, has support for Macs, and more.
Are Arm Macs supported?
- No. We recommend using Asahi Linux or Fedora Asahi Remix instead.
Is winesapOS a Linux distribution?
- Yes. We provide customized packages, a package repository, various optimizations, and our own upgrade process. winesapOS is based on Arch Linux with optional support for Manjaro.
Do I have to install winesapOS?
- No. No installation is required. Flash a release image to a drive and then boot from it. Everything is already installed and configured.
What if winesapOS was abandoned?
- We have no intentions on ever abandoning winesapOS. Even if that happened, since this is an opinionated installation of an Arch Linux distribution, it will continue to get normal operating system updates. The uninstall script can also be used to switch back to upstream Arch Linux.
Can anyone build winesapOS?
- Yes. Refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md documentation.
Can winesapOS be built with a different Linux distribution?
- Yes. We support Arch Linux and Manjaro as build targets. As of winesapOS 4, Arch Linux is the default target that is used for our releases.
Is winesapOS affiliated with Valve?
- No. We are an independent project.

Contributors

Here are community contributors who have helped the winesapOS project.

Founder:

LukeShortCloud

Code:

Financial:

Mark Dougherty
Mike Artz
Playtron

User Surveys

These are anonymous surveys done with Linux gaming community members. Most, but not all, are winesapOS users.

Favorite (non-Valve) handheld PC brand:

AYANEO = 50%
GPD = 33.3%
ONEXPlayer = 0%
Other = 16.7%

6 votes.

There were no comments about what the "Other" brand is so that is unknown.

https://twitter.com/LukeShortCloud/status/1649078025634598912

Favorite desktop environments:

GNOME = 40%
Plasma by KDE = 40%
Xfce = 4%
Other = 16%

25 votes.

"Other" included specific mentions from the community about Cinnamon (for its similarity to Windows) and Sway (for its tiling features).

https://twitter.com/LukeShortCloud/status/1659279345926516737

History

Release Version/Tag	Project Name	Operating System	Desktop Environment	Release Images
4.2.0	winesapOS	Arch Linux	KDE Plasma	Performance, Minimal, and Minimal Root File System
4.1.0	winesapOS	Arch Linux	KDE Plasma	Performance, Secure, Minimal, and Minimal Root File System
4.0.0	winesapOS	Arch Linux	KDE Plasma	Performance, Secure, and Minimal
3.2.0	winesapOS	SteamOS 3	KDE Plasma	Performance, Secure, and Minimal
3.0.0	winesapOS	SteamOS 3	KDE Plasma	Performance and Secure
2.2.0	Mac Linux Gaming Stick	Manjaro	Cinnamon	Performance and Secure
2.0.0	Mac Linux Gaming Stick	Manjaro	Cinnamon	Performance
1.0.0	Mac Linux Gaming Stick	Ubuntu 20.04	Cinnamon	None

License

GPLv3

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 1,780 Commits
.github		.github
build		build
git/hooks		git/hooks
rootfs		rootfs
scripts		scripts
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
UPGRADES.md		UPGRADES.md
test-build.sh		test-build.sh
winesapos-desktop.jpg		winesapos-desktop.jpg

License

winesapOS/winesapOS

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

winesapOS

macOS Limitations

Features

General

Additional Hardware Support

Apple Intel Macs

ASUS Laptops

ASUS ROG Ally Handhelds

AYANEO Handhelds

Framework Computers

Lenovo Legion Go

Microsoft Surface Laptops

OneXPlayer Handhelds

Valve Steam Decks

Community Collaboration

winesapOS Repository

Comparison with SteamOS

Usage

Getting Started

Hardware Requirements

Image Types

Secure Image

Release Builds

Custom Builds

Docker or Podman Container

Windows Subsystem for Linux

Passwords

Mac Boot

Windows Boot

Ventoy

Dual-Boot

macOS Dual-Boot Preparation Guide

Windows Dual-Boot Preparation Guide

winesapOS Dual-Boot Install Guide

First-Time Setup

Upgrades

Minor Upgrades

Major Upgrades

Uninstall

Convert to winesapOS

Tips

Getting Started

Steam Deck Game Mode

No Sound (Muted Audio)

Btrfs Backups

VPN (ZeroTier)

Troubleshooting

Release Image Zip Files

winesapOS Not Booting

Root File System Resizing

Read-Only File System

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Not Working

Available Storage Space is Incorrect

First-Time Setup Log Files

Two or More Set Ups of winesapOS Cause an Unbootable System

Snapshot Recovery

Reinstalling winesapOS

Bad Performance on Battery

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Contributors

User Surveys

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