I am unable to mount a Read-Only device in ExFAT on SteamOS (3.7.19) in Desktop Mode or Gaming Mode #2271
Description
Your system information
- Steam client version: 1766529085
- SteamOS version: 3.7.19
- Opted into Steam client beta?: No
- Opted into SteamOS beta?: No
- Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes
Attempt to mount the device via GUI or mount command.
3. Mount fails with filesystem errors.
Expected behavior:
The device should mount as a read-only filesystem to allow reading its files.
Actual behavior:
Mount fails with errors:
FUSE exfat 1.4.0 (libfuse3)
ERROR: bad date 1980-00-00.
ERROR: bad date 1980-00-00.
ERROR: bad date 1980-00-00.
ERROR: '1.2.3' is empty but start cluster is 0x100a.
ERROR: '1.2.3' is empty but marked as contiguous (0x20).
Attempts to mount with options like -o ro or -o ro,ignore_errors fail, and SteamOS rejects noload (unsupported in its kernel). The device is read-only, so fsck cannot repair it. On Bazzite (Fedora-based) the same device mounts correctly, ignoring metadata errors.
Impact:
It is currently impossible to access the device directly from SteamOS, even in read-only mode, due to strict FUSE exFAT validation. Users must use another OS to access the files, which limits usability for Steam Deck users.
Request:
Please consider improving SteamOS exFAT handling for read-only devices with minor filesystem inconsistencies (like invalid timestamps), or provide a method to bypass validation for read-only mounting.