Getting overGrive Google Drive Sync tool (partially) working on a Steam Deck

overGrive is a great program to sync Google Drive files under Linux, however it’s a bit complicated to get it working on a Steam Deck because of the read-only filesystem.

I’ve based this on the guide that Martin Wimpress wrote up here for ZeroTier:

https://wimpysworld.com/posts/install-zerotier-on-steamdeck/

Step 1 – Install rwfus tool to allow installation of extra packages

Follow the instructions here: https://github.com/ValShaped/rwfus

Note that I had to install from the v0.5.0 branch, as I’m running SteamOS 3.5.x

Step 2 – Install the extra required Arch packages to allow the app indicators to work

From the guide here https://www.overgrive.com/support/installation in the Arch Linux section, you need to install some extra packages. I installed like this:

sudo pacman -S libnotify libappindicator-gtk3 python-oauth2client python-pyinotify python-pip python-gobject gobject-introspection

Step 3 – Download the AppImage and run from the cli

I ran version 3.5.2, the latest at the time:
./overGrive-3.5.2-x86_64.AppImage

Step 4 – Getting authentication working

When you click “Connect Account” it will launch Discover to try and get you to install Firefox, which is already installed. Go to the cli and look for the URL it’s trying to send you to, eg:

Please visit this URL: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?response_type=code&client_id=5601...va6.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A55615%2F&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fuserinfo.profile+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive.appdata+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fuserinfo.email+openid+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive&state=yzue...B9I&access_type=offline

You should be able to copy this URL directly into Firefox and successfully authenticate.

Note – the “Choose a Folder” button doesn’t work

When trying to select an alternate folder to sync to the overGrive app just crashes. I’m not sure what’s failing, but it seems maybe some GTK libraries are missing as the error says something about GTK. If you just use the automatic folder it works correctly.