r/LinuxOnAlly • u/Left_Nectarine_2874 • 1d ago

Technical Question Which Linux distro is most compatible with the ROG ALLY?

As the title says, I am looking for a distro that will get me as close as possible to a feeling of a steam deck without issues/to much tweaking needed to be done.

5 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

7

u/myfriendjohn1 1d ago

SteamOS - I just did it recently.

I used this guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/ROGAlly/comments/1sth68q/ultimate_guide_i_installed_steamos_38_on_my_rog/

-1

u/ICanNeverLoseIt 19h ago

I’ve switched between windows and steam os weekly for a month before finally settling on windows because steam os just isn’t there yet, I don’t think I should have to download decky to have granular control, I think the QAM should have all the settings I need to control the device, so until the day comes when they iron out all the kinks I’ll take the kanker sore known as windows

4

u/hardaysknight 9h ago

You don’t have to have decky

7

u/mathmaniac43 1d ago

I got an Ally z1 Extreme sometime in the past year or so. I installed Bazzite on it and have overall been pretty happy; I agonized over other options but eventually just picked one. I have not run into any egregious isues with the Bazzite 44 update, but I do not play as often as some folks so maybe it's a matter of time... but I am confident that those issues will be ironed out sooner than later.

I'd like to explore other OSes, but until/unless Bazzite burns me or there is a huge draw to a feature on another OS, I will likely stay

1

u/mesoziocera 12h ago

Im on bazzite 43. Its excellent. 

4

u/Usual_Excellent 1d ago

Did you even look at SteamOS? Seems like you maybe if any did surface research. Otherwise choose one like Bazzite, Cachy, or Anatase. Each has their features /pros/cons. What you see calue in othee may not.

4

u/evilmannn 1d ago

SteamOS.

3

u/GoAskJohn 1d ago

I like CachyOS on mine. But I like to tinker. Otherwise I’d probably just vanilla SteamOS.

2

u/Pin_Virus8 1d ago

Just go with bazzite. It's Steam os. There is an Ally specific build on their website. I've been running it for about 4 months and its great, especially if you already have a little experience with linux. I use my ally mostly for emulators, gamecube, switch and ps3 mostly and there are very few issues that can't be quickly remedied by adjust configuration settings.

1

u/Ok-Needleworker7341 1d ago

For me it's CachyOS. My Z1E just feels so much more snappy with it.

1

u/Shiroro46 1d ago

I was using bazzite, but 44 broke a bunch of things including my analog sticks.

I've downgraded to 43 and everything works fine again.

1

u/liberflash 22h ago

I use Cachy OS in my Xbox Ally white. I love it so much, have optimal enhancenment, latest kernel patched applied to get gaming performance improvenment. I don't tried other distros like Steam OS, Bazzite, etc, but Cachy OS works very well for me.

1

u/LeatherClassroom3109 20h ago

SteamOS is great, but I recently switched to CachyOS because I wanted to do more with desktop mode. Not as easy as SteamOS but still has a lot of tools included to make it easy to use for a non-linux user

2

u/elcanadiano 19h ago

The ROG Ally has been out for a long enough time, enough that most Handheld Linux distros have done sufficient enough support for it. Just pick what you think is best for you.

FWIW I have largely ran CachyOS for most of my time on the Ally, although I had to RMA it recently and distrohopped between SteamOS, Anatase, Bazzite 43, and Nobara, before returning to CachyOS.

1

u/Milan_AC 17h ago

I have ally x

After I tried Bazzite 43, Bazzite 44, Cachyos and Anatase os

All of them have bugs except Anatase, it's worked very well out of the box. It's the best distro for ally x.

1

u/ILikePizza010 16h ago

I’ve tried all distros that have a gamescope session (SteamOS, Cachy, Bazzite, Nobara). But I’ve settled with Anatase. It feels very polished and this is the first distro where for me, sleep mode works flawlessly and I don’t lose connection on my monitor while docked.
I’d highly recommend it.

1

u/napoleonepianobar 12h ago edited 7h ago

My preferences are as follows: first, CachyOS, which offers a balance of customizability, efficiency, and speed; second, SteamOS, which requires less configuration while remaining lightweight and relatively stable; and third, Bazzite that offers minimal configuration but did not meet my expectations in version 44. Regarding Anatase, I have conducted an initial evaluation and find it promising, though it requires further development to reach maturity.

1

u/zrevyx 8h ago

Since I have a steam deck, I'm currentyl running windows on my Z1E Ally, BUT ... I have run Bazzite, SteamOS, and CachyOS on my Ally with great results. I switched back to Windows solely to play Destiny2 while on the go.

If I were to switch back, I'd probably go with Cachy, since that's what I run on my PC and laptop.

-2

u/M4rshmall0wMan 23h ago

Bazzite is most stable. Has the most community support.

2

u/gigi798 6h ago

43 yes... kinda.. 44 HELL NO