Originally posted by Chugworth
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Linux 6.7 Adding New Feature To Btrfs For The Steam Deck
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Originally posted by archkde View PostIt is generally recommended to mount filesystems by UUID. What happens then when you have two filesystems with the same UUID, will it just mount a random one? And even worse, in the multi-device case, will it mix-and-match between the two duplicates that may since have gone out of sync? (Just to be clear, these questions are already relevant today, but the answer is just "you don't".)
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Originally posted by skeevy420 View Post
Back in the day I was one of those weirdos that would put /home, /var, /usr, /etc, / all on different partitions so I know from experience on multi-partition setups how when the power is lost, horrible crashes occur, etc you can lose /var while the rest stays in tact and safe. While nothing will save a Deck user when the drive dies, splitting it in half can help reduce data corruption by always have a pristine copy in case shit happens. When you don't have two root drives, 2 partitions 1 drive is the next best thing.
Ironically, everything you said could be done with ZFS and, IMHO, it'd be a better choice to use for a gaming device since ZFS can create datasets that are more inline with a Windows environment. ZFS's case insensitivity is a godsend of a feature when using Windows game mods on Linux. That's literally why Valve uses Ext4 for their external storage.
Once ZFS gets reflink support it'll definitely be great choice for the Deck because reflinking while Zstd-ing Proton prefixes is basically the only reason Valve uses BTRFS for their root volume. There's a lot of space saved when every game can use the same files for their prefixes thanks to reflinks. When ZFS can fulfill all the roles Valve is using for both BTRFS and Ext4, they need to consider changing their root FS. Then Valve can start funding ZFS on Windows so Deck users can manage root images (zfs send|recv) and backups from any consumer OS in the world.
I love ZFS for servers and NAS devices, but I would be hesitant to recommend it for desktop computers and especially gaming devices. The reason is, it's quite a large filesystem and it relies heavily on memory for its performance. If a game is using up most of the system's memory, that may cause poor performance with ZFS. Of course, I haven't really spent much time using ZFS in a desktop scenario so I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be on modern SSD drives.
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It is generally recommended to mount filesystems by UUID. What happens then when you have two filesystems with the same UUID, will it just mount a random one? And even worse, in the multi-device case, will it mix-and-match between the two duplicates that may since have gone out of sync? (Just to be clear, these questions are already relevant today, but the answer is just "you don't".)
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Originally posted by vancha View Postandrea76 Maybe not with displayport, but i don't think there are any docks for the steam deck without hdmi, usb and ethernet ports. Take a look at the official dock, that should have exactly what you are looking for. You can check it out over at https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeckdock
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andrea76 Maybe not with displayport, but i don't think there are any docks for the steam deck without hdmi, usb and ethernet ports. Take a look at the official dock, that should have exactly what you are looking for. You can check it out over at https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeckdock
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Originally posted by Chugworth View PostAnd two partitions would sit on a single SSD drive, which can fail. They could keep the system data on a read-only subvolume, and when an update happens, create a new read-only subvolume but not delete the first. They could have two separate copies of the system data, or as many as they desire.
Though personally I think having two completely separate copies of the data is a waste of space for a gaming device where games take up a huge amount of storage. They should store the system data on a read-only subvolume, and use the Btrfs send/receive feature to receive an updated snapshot of the changed data. That would reduce download size as well as the amount of storage used. And applying the update would be almost instant once it's downloaded.
Ironically, everything you said could be done with ZFS and, IMHO, it'd be a better choice to use for a gaming device since ZFS can create datasets that are more inline with a Windows environment. ZFS's case insensitivity is a godsend of a feature when using Windows game mods on Linux. That's literally why Valve uses Ext4 for their external storage.
Once ZFS gets reflink support it'll definitely be great choice for the Deck because reflinking while Zstd-ing Proton prefixes is basically the only reason Valve uses BTRFS for their root volume. There's a lot of space saved when every game can use the same files for their prefixes thanks to reflinks. When ZFS can fulfill all the roles Valve is using for both BTRFS and Ext4, they need to consider changing their root FS. Then Valve can start funding ZFS on Windows so Deck users can manage root images (zfs send|recv) and backups from any consumer OS in the world.
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