Begin Linux boot process: pause for 10 seconds, then launch Steam application.
Begin Linux boot process: pause for 10 seconds, then launch Steam application.
Well, Stack Overflow often has pretty rigid and highbrow users. I'm sharing this here in case observing how the LMG community communicates can lead to a different outcome. The problem is that my system drive boots up too quickly, which means Steam tries to launch before the other drives are fully recognized. This makes the app assume the drives weren't present at all. As a beginner on Linux, I've mostly just looked up ways to mimic Windows batch scripts. If I were using Windows, I'd create a short script that waits ten seconds before starting Steam, giving other drives time to mount properly.
You can accomplish this on Linux with a straightforward setup. A simple guide is available here: https://www.baeldung.com/linux/run-script-on-startup The recommended method is using the rc.local file to skip Steam during startup. You’d remove Steam from the list of applications that launch automatically, then create a script like this: #!/bin/sh sleep 10 steam This tells the system to pause for ten seconds before executing the Steam command, ensuring it runs once.
Have you included the drives in the /etc/fstab file? You can match the style of existing entries found there, and follow the UUID format shown in the file. I don’t have NVMe drives; they’re typically not listed as sda but something like nvme0. To view all devices, run lsblk. You might also use the KDE partition manager, click on devices in the menu, or check disks via gnome. Right-clicking a file manager entry will display a UUID, but this refers to the partition rather than the whole device, so avoid relying on it. In the /etc/fstab file, the final two zeros matter. For your boot device, set the last zero to 1. The first zero is outdated and rarely used, possibly related to backup. Leave it at 0. The second digit controls the file system check—1 for every boot, 2 for every other boot. I’d appreciate better documentation for this file since it’s essential to the system. Red Hat provides clear guidance: https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/etc-fstab
I'm using Pop! OS and it's really new to me, but I'm enjoying how minimal this setup is. I've also enabled the Steam app to start automatically via the settings.
Obviously @YoungBlade's script does what is says, wait 10 seconds, then starts steam. I do have "some processes" that require "other things" to be in place before continuing, and tend to use a until or while loop. This is a quick hackey edit of one for my "wait for" scripts to suit your needs: #!/bin/bash wait_for(){ limit=1 until grep -q "$1" /proc/mounts;do if [[ $limit -gt 40 ]] ;then echo "Timeout waiting for $1!" exit 1 else limit=$(( limit + 1 )) fi sleep 0.25 done echo "$1 mounted OK" } wait_for "/dev/sdb1" wait_for "/dev/sdc1" steam The idea here being; the script will check if the listed drive is mounted, every 1/4 of a second until it is mounted, then move on to the next drive to check. How we reach the `10 second timeout value` is " if [[ $limit -gt 40 ]] ;then", 40 x 1/4 of a second = 10 seconds.
I haven't tried this before. When I was using Holoiso, I had to do it because they weren't already set up. Pop! OS would locate and mount the drives for me, but I had to open Disk Management and turn on the "automation" feature (the play button). Is that correct? I'm not sure.
It might happen, but the system will be placed entirely in "userspace," typically at /run/user[id]. The setup could vary, depending on naming conventions and mount points. It seems to run after you log in, requiring valid credentials. Adding the relevant entries to /etc/fstab would likely resolve the problem, as local filesystems are mounted early during boot, ensuring consistent mount locations.
I’ll keep tracking what we tried based on the ideas shared—thank you for your support! The level of quality is impressive. Using a couple of the tips helped me achieve the desired outcome. @Ralphred & @E-waste explored Pop!_OS drive management, and it seems the system already handles /etc/fstab. I enabled the startup mount feature to launch drives automatically. @Ralphred, my script didn’t work as expected, so I followed @YoungBlade’s advice and made some adjustments. After those changes, everything ran smoothly. @Kilrah this highlighted a useful Linux feature I hadn’t noticed before—I’m glad I discovered it. I set up a startup command for the .sh file they recommended, making it executable. Now every time I boot Pop!_OS, the mounting process finishes quickly, so Steam can launch without delays. @Ralphred I still find your suggestion intriguing, especially the idea of adding backup layers. I’d love to understand why that approach didn’t succeed. Thanks again to everyone—this was a great example of community support and real-world help.