The SteamOS version of the Lenovo Legion Go S is right around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited. And when Lenovo asked if I wanted to take a look at the Windows variant, I straight up told them “only if I can install Bazzite on it.” They were cool with whatever I wanted to do, so that’s what this video is all about. Read my full Legion Go S review here: https://blog.gardinerbryant.com/hands-on-with-the-lenovo-legion-go-s/
Here’s how to install Bazzite on the Legion Go S.
What you’ll need:
A USB C hub *affiliate link
A USB flash drive 10+ GB *affiliate link
If your drive is like mine and has a type A and a type C connector, you’re good to go, otherwise you’ll want to use the hub
A USB keyboard *affiliate link
First up: you’re going to need to create installation media. If you’re on Windows, you’ll want a tool like Balena Etcher which you can find down in the description.
Then, go to Bazzite’s website and click the download button, then using this select box, choose the “Lenovo Legion Go & Go S”
A new select box will appear and ask you which Desktop Environment you want to use. You can choose KDE if you want a more SteamOS-like experience or GNOME. If you don’t know the difference, just go with KDE. I’m going with GNOME since that’s my preference.
Now, click the “Download bazzite-deck” button and wait for it to finish downloading.
Now that it’s done, open up balenaEtcher and click the “Flash from File” option. Choose the bazzite ISO you just downloaded.
Next you’ll see that the Choose Target button has been enabled. Insert your USB drive and click the Choose Target button. Note that it should be larger than 10 GB. You should see your drive listed. Choose your drive and hit “Select 1”
Back on the main screen you’ll see the “Flash!” button is now enabled. Clicking this button will erase everything that’s currently on the drive, so only do this if you’re okay with losing whatever’s on that USB stick.
The flashing process shouldn’t take very long depending on your drive. Once that’s finished, you can unplug the USB stick from your PC.
Now, connect that USB drive to your Legion Go S and shut it down completely.
Once it’s off, you can hold the volume up and power button until you see the boot menu. Use the trackpad to select the USB drive we just flashed.
You should see a menu that looks like this. If you have a keyboard connected, you can hit Enter to select “Test this media & install Bazzite.” If you don’t, you can wait for this timer to count down which will then automatically select this item.
Welcome to the Bazzite setup! On this first screen, you can select your language and keyboard layout. Go ahead and hit the “Continue” button when ready.
The next screen is the “Installation Summary” page. The only thing we really need to worry about here is the “Installation Destination.” Let’s click that. On this page, we’ll see the storage devices. Choose the first option (it should be nvme0n1) and make sure the “Automatic” box is checked. Also ensure that “Free up space by removing or shrinking existing partitions” is checked. Then click the “Done” button in the top left corner.
You should now see the “Reclaim Disk Space” window. If you want to replace Windows on your Legion Go S, simply click the “Delete All” button.
If you want to install Bazzite alongside Windows, select the Windows partition and click “shrink” and follow the prompts.
When you’re done click the “Reclaim Space” button. You can also configure your WiFi and user accounts but those are optional and if you don’t have a mouse and keyboard connected, you won’t be able to set them up anyway!
So just click the “Begin Installation” button and wait for installation to finish. When it’s done, you’ll click the “Reboot system” button.
Then you’ll see this screen. Don’t worry. Just select “Enroll MOK” using your keyboard. It will then ask for a password. The password is universalblue. You won’t see characters appear on screen as you type. This is normal. Just type in universalblue and hit enter.
Now you’ve got Bazzite installed! Congrats! It will walk you through the setup process for a regular Steam Deck and then you can play games. If you’ve already got a Deck and an SD card with games on it, you can just plug that SD card here and it will work.
And now, the sky’s the limit. You can drop to desktop and configure EmuDECK, you can set up Decky plugins, you can do anything you’d like!
I’ve got a full review of the Legion Go S as well as my experience with playing games on it (and comparison with the Steam Deck) over on my blog. I’d encourage you to check that out with the link below!
You’ll see them listed here. I’m excited to compare how games play on this device versus the SteamOS version when it launches on May 25th! Get subscribed to the blog so you don’t miss it!
I want to thank the folks who support the work that I do. If you believe in what I’m doing, you can become a member of the blog or become a Patron. It’s all greatly appreciated!
With that said, I appreciate you being here and I’ll see you later
Links & Resources
balenaEtcher: https://etcher.balena.io/
Bazzite: https://bazzite.gg/
00:00 Introduction
00:42 Create Installation Media
02:25 Start the Bazzite installer
03:13 Bazzite installer guide
03:29 Bazzite partition configuration
04:15 Additional Bazzite configuration
05:12 Bazzite Secureboot config
05:43 Get started with Bazzite
