Hey there! I would like a bit of assistance. So, I installed Zorin OS yesterday. I originally set it up to where I would have a partition setup for Zorin so I may use windows and Zorin on my same device when I need one or the other.
In doing this, what I did was setup a partition for my drive. One half would be Linux focused, while the other one would be an "All arounder" that I could kinda use back and forth.
So, I set everything up, OS has been working great, however I can't seem to get the actual other half of the drive to work. I decided to just make it a Linux drive and just use it for storage for my games, but I can't really do anything with it. I'm specifically using steam built in from the Software app, I'm able to do everything in my standard drive no problem, but once I go to Add the other partition to steam, it doesn't register really anything.
I have tried a few things but am ultimately stumped.
I ensured the partition was setup, owned by me, originally setup for Fat32, but then repartitioned as Ext4, and I'm able to add the drive to steam but it acts like the drive is not valid and every time I try to install anything to the drive, it gives me a disk write error.
I'm not too sure what to provide to help people identify outside of showing how my partition is set, so any information you need that would help please let me know as I am very new to linux in general
This is where things are unraveling as FAT32 is limited in what filesize it can accommodate. Most steam games will be well over the four gig limit in FAT32.
You can format it to either ext4 or exFAT. I do not recommend formatting it to NTFS...
Using Gparted, you can select the partition while it is unmounted, then from the gear icon, select to format it. Once the process is done, try mounting it and see if Steam stops complaining.
I guess I'll slightly change my question since I've given up using it for both windows & Linux, is there a way for me to fix the partition so it all reads as one drive again instead of being split down the middle? Obviously the Filesystem partition will be left alone, but Partition 2 and 3 being changed back into just 1 drive. Anything helps!
Yes. Using Gparted, you can delete the partition converting it into free space. Then select your Zorin OS partition, gear icon, Move/Resize and slide the slider to expand it into that free space to reclaim it and grow the Zorin OS partition.
But I would still try the exFAT format first... Giving up is a fine thing in its own time...
Okay yeah I did see it in there, and did mount it, good with auto mount, but I'm still getting the same disk write error on steam. I think what I'll try next is installing steam directly through their website over the software app, and if that still doesn't work then I'll just make the drive one big drive again and then try the partition stuff again another time. If any issues occur I'll reach back out!
Got it, I just installed Zorin yesterday and just installed it through the Software app, so I'll try it through that instead when I'm not playing a game later!
Alright, so I downloaded steam through this method, and the drive did show up and does seem to work. It still shows as "external" for some reason but at least the games are downloading to it and ones that work on linux (some didn't oh well) seem to be working through that drive.
I did have a weird issue once I got everything set, that once I started downloading on the other drive my audio completely cut out to the point I had to restart my computer to get the audio back. Not too sure if that's been heard of before, I have a wireless headset so I unplugged the adapter, re-plugged and restarted my computer again and seemingly it's not happening now. So maybe a fix? I at least wanted to bring it up see if it's been heard of and if there's a way I can ensure it doesn't happen again or if this is a weird issue that happens
This could be a configuration disparity between audio piped through your GPU and through the snd processor.
If your fix worked, I would not stress out over it.
Got it, thank you. So, I seem to be running into a weird new issue here since doing this.
So, things were fine the first couple days, but now since doing the partition item, I have it set to where Screen blank is turned on and my screen(s) turn themselves off after 15 minutes. When I come back to my computer after the screen has been off a bit, I move my mouse, the screens turn on, and I'm asked to put in my password again. I put in my password, & when accessing the OS, I get a "Oh no! A system error has occurred and we could not recover, please log in again" or something to that effect, and it'll flash that on screen a couple of times before I can fully click the logout button which does log me out, then when I log back in, it does give me full access back to my computer, however the appearance changes from the one I have set, to one of the iMac themes, so I have to change it back to what I have set every time. I COULD make it where screen turn off doesn't happen and that in theory should be fine, but I would like to avoid that to avoid any potential screen burn in that could happen from having screens turned on a majority of the time. Any tips would be greatly appreciated
That is the infamous Gnome version of BSOD.
It is a Gnome Shell crash which... sadly, has become a common issue as of late.
I would recommend starting a new thread on that issue, since Gnome Shell crashes can take a lot of troubleshooting.
alright, fair enough, well everything is working outside of that seemingly, so for now I'll just consider this closed, and just make it where the screens don't turn off. Spent a lot of time working on this issue alone so I'll take a break from it and come back to it another day. I appreciate all the help!
You could try it with disabling the gnome extension "Zorin appindicators".
Install the extension manager
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager
open it and go to tab installed. Then disable this extension and test.
If it solves your problem but you need this function you could try it with this gnome extension instead of the Zorin Appindicators:
If you are on Wayland it's also worth a try to switch to Xorg. You can switch between both at loginscreen when you click on your username. Then a cogwheel appears at the bottom right corner, there you can select it.
