Trying to install Bazzite Gnome but saying there is no installation destination.

I’m trying to install Bazzite Gnome on my ROG Ally X but it says there is no installation destination. I’m assuming because I have the Windows installation on there and I don’t want to partition the SSD. I have 2 questions.

Would I need to format the SSD to make it work?

And 2. I installed the Hall Effect Joysticks on the ROG Ally X and I was told that once I install Bazzite Gnome it’ll remember the calibration of the joysticks. But I don’t think that is correct if I have to format the SSD.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Mr Chandy•5/8/25, 11:13 PM

If you need to install Bazzite on the same drive as your Windows install, partitioning is the only option to keep your data and Windows install. Without a partition for Bazzite it will overwrite all the data on the drive.

https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/Installation_Guide/dual_boot_setup_guide/

Please give the dual boot setup guide a read. It says that installing Bazzite on a separate drive is the recommended option. So that is what would be recommended, if you can. If you can't, then manually partitioning your drive is the only way to keep your Windows install and data. There is a setup guide for both of these options on the dual boot setup guide.

I know yesterday you were saying you were getting bluescreens in windows because of the hall effect sticks you put in your Ally X. So it may be the case, depending on how borked your Windows install is, that the data would have to be taken off the Ally X drive by your PC. If you need that data backed up.

If your Windows install can boot and set up a partition, then getting Bazzite installed should be not too big a deal, so long as you follow the guide.

You were not told yesterday that it would. You were told it might, and that they believed it could but were unsure.

I don't know whether it would or not. I can only guess that if those settings are saved to firmware, it would. If it is saved in software it wouldn't. But I don't know any of the details of how that is saved.

Maybe someone with more knowledge will find this and give their insight.

https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/Installation_Guide/Installing_Bazzite_for_Handheld_PCs/
https://docs.bazzite.gg/Handheld_and_HTPC_edition/Handheld_Wiki/ASUS_ROG_Ally/

Above is more documentation for installing to Handheld PCs, and post install information for ROG Ally/Ally X.

MMr Chandy 1. If you need to install Bazzite on the same drive as your Windows install, par...

cwgzz81OP•5/8/25, 11:53 PM

I don’t wanna keep the windows install though, I never said I wanted to keep it. I just want to fully install bazzite on it but still have the Hall effect joysticks work.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:06 AM

Gotcha, sorry I misread your statement. I read way too much into your statement on not wanting to partition the drive.

In that case I'll re-answer the question. Yes, the Bazzite installer will format the drive during the installation.

Question, your BIOS sees the drive, correct? You can go into BIOS and set that drive in the boot order, yes? It's just the Bazzite installer that can't see the drive?

Because the installer definitely should be able to see the drive.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:08 AM

I realized that somehow my drive got bricked or something because I tried to format it on my PS5 but my PS5 kept crashing when trying to format it. I formatted it before and it worked but this time it didn’t, so I’m guessing the ssd is bricked and may be causing the blue screen

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:09 AM

So I bought another ssd on Amazon that should come later today and gonna try to install bazzite on there.

But there still lies my original question if I need to recalibrate the Hall effect joysticks on windows first then install bazzite?

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:10 AM

Ultimately what I wanna do is get bazzite on it 100%, no partition but still have the Hall effect joysticks to still work on it…

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:18 AM

Hm, that definitely sounds like it would be the culprit. I'm not familiar with the PS5, but what format did it try to format it to? My recommendation would be to use your PC to reformat the drive if you can, and ensure that it can operate normally.

Having a reformat crash definitely would cause some stability and usability issues. Also, just my opinion but I would not use the quick format setting in windows, if the crashed reformat messed up some stuff you would want to ensure all the data gets fully wiped, not just written over (will take some time for a 2tb for instance).

What Hall effect sticks did you get, and what software on windows was used to calibrate them? I can maybe look into it, and see if I can come up with anything.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:22 AM

I appreciate your help. And I don’t have a way to format an m.2 ssd on my PC which is why I use my PS5, since it has a m.2 slot to store more games on the ps5, and other people on Reddit also suggested doing it that way. It worked the first time when I did it several months ago, over the few months I had to literally force shut down the rog ally x about 50+ times because it kept freezing and I guess that may have broken the ssd.

And the Hall effects I have are the HandheldDIY TMR Hall effect off of Amazon.

I also bought a new SSD for the rog ally that should come later today and gonna try that.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:32 AM

I see. Yeah the PS5 definitely can do the job in a pinch, google says it can format to NTFS so that should be no problem. So long as it completes the format without error.

https://www.amazon.com/HandheldDIY-Rotational-Resistance-Accessories-Installation-PC/dp/B0DLWK5K91/ref=sr_1_3?crid=29QNWO319YPHQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kiT6g0T0SRFZXFxtE0TZJ-nTimXs9LAeMWmnEtHx6VPGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.J98fkD739FPdy0GU2yDae-9OoqVNidGxRap_iZwy10A&dib_tag=se&keywords=handhelddiy+TMR+hall+effect+rog+ally+x&qid=1746750603&sprefix=handhelddiy+tmr+hall+effect+rog+ally+%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-3

Just to confirm its these ones yes?

HandheldDIY TMR Hall Joystick for ROG Ally X, Tighter Rotational Re...

ROG Ally X Hall Joystick

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:34 AM

Yes those are the exact ones I bought

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:41 AM

When you calibrated them on Windows, how was it done? Did you use the physical calibration buttons that are on the individual PCBs?

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:42 AM

I used the armory crate application that is the stock app when you restore the rog ally x…

And yeah I had to use the K1 and K2 buttons to save or store the calibrations. K1 controls what the center point of the calibration is, and K2 controls the outer part of the radius if that makes sense

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:44 AM

Ok, from what I've gathered then, your calibration should be stored in firmware. I would put 90-10 odds that you will not need to do any calibration in Bazzite.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:45 AM

Even if I swapped out the SSD?

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:46 AM

Yeah from what I can gather online, those calibration settings should be stored on the PCBs for the sticks.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:47 AM

I see, well I really hope it works. Thank you for all of your help.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 12:47 AM

If you run into any issues with the new SSD or have questions shoot away. I'd be happy to help as best I can.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 12:47 AM

Sounds good, tysm!!

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:36 AM

I usually run in to the drive not found issue because AHCI is not enabled in the bios. Not sure if the Ally has that option or not..

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:38 AM

It's usually under configuration settings.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:46 AM

@Mr Chandy Hey so I managed to reinstall windows on the new ssd just to make sure if I need to recalibrate it, and it sure enough saved the calibration. I didn’t need to do anything. It just worked.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:47 AM

And is that on the same drive as before? Or the new drive?

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:48 AM

New drive. Old drive is bricked at this point.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:48 AM

Even BIOS won't find the old drive?

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:49 AM

It does but it will load into windows but then not even 10 seconds later I’ll get the blue screen saying windows encounter an error and needs to restart.

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:51 AM

Before you write off that drive you should check the AHCI thing. That's probably the reason the bazzite install didn't see it.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:51 AM

I checked that but all it has is AHCI…

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:51 AM

Ahh okay.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:52 AM

Doesn’t have RAID or Intel, RST… just AHCI

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:52 AM

Is there anything that mentions raid?

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:53 AM

lol

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:53 AM

Hm. If BIOS sees it then I would say it likely is not completely bricked, and I am curious if a fresh reformat would help or not.

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:53 AM

Well damn.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:54 AM

I do have a m.2 usb adapter thing but it’s buried so far deep in my storage, finding it could take a few hours haha

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:55 AM

I have time tomorrow, maybe I can do that

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:57 AM

Should I do the long format?

Scotty•5/9/25, 3:57 AM

Meh a quick would probably be fine.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:59 AM

You can try a quick, I just wonder if the earlier crash messed up some of the formatting and want to be sure.

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:59 AM

I'd say a long would give a more conclusive answer. But it's up to you.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 3:59 AM

Now you guys are making me wanna find that little shit and try formatting it lol

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:59 AM

I wouldn'

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 3:59 AM

tonight

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 4:00 AM

Eh you’re right. I still gotta set up the rog ally

Mr Chandy•5/9/25, 4:00 AM

if you do a long itll take a while, a short could be fast though.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 4:01 AM

In the mean time I’ll drink some banana milk juice haha

Scotty•5/9/25, 4:01 AM

There ya go.

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 5:26 AM

The new SSD is working flawlessly. Haven’t had a blue screen yet and it’s been about an hour and a half

cwgzz81OP•5/9/25, 5:26 AM

Banana milk juice was what I needed all along

Trying to install Bazzite Gnome but saying there is no installation destination.

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