They're saved on my SD card but how do I know that they will be available after upgrading my SSD? And will a new Emudeck install not overwrite my SD card?

Disneyland appears to be using the Steam Deck to control animatronics

Quick summary is the preview update channel now runs on 3.5.1 and gets bios firmware update 118.

Bios 118 includes undervolting settings in the bios by default (previously you had to run a command in desktop mode to enable them).

More importantly, doing a CMOS reset now resets the undervoltage values. So if you undervolt too far and your system won't boot, it's now possible to reset it without additional hardware. To do a CMOS reset you need to hold the volume down, QAM button, and power button with the device off.

Using the touchpad to access the small menu and toggling fast forward does not work for me

Hello community!

We in the team thought we could give you a quick status update on how development is going. GitHub link if you do not know what the project is: https://github.com/XargonWan/RetroDECK

Status update 2023-10:

We hope that everyone is ready for a tiny spooky October status update.

We begin with thanking all kind emulator developers.

We had some issues with certain emulators caused by the recent QT6 migration and the addition of new emulators (more on that next month).

We tried to contact those developers to request for help or a hint about their project and thankfully they were very collaborative towards us, in some cases making some code changes to accustom some specific RetroDECK needing and thanking us for our work. It seems like that RetroDECK got a good reputation out there and we're really thankful for this, as one of our main efforts is trying to contribute more good will into the emulation community.

This is what makes the emulation community great when we all can work together. If you need something from us, feel free to ask. Thank you all!

What are you working on?

Adding individual ROMS to Steam and launch them with RetroDECK

More development has been going on into this and how it will work in its first iteration is that the games you flag as your favorites can be added to Steam with a tool in the Configurator.

External Controllers – Button Combo Hotkeys

We will ship various Steam Input templates that allows you to use the button bound hotkey combos to do various emulator functions like (Save State, Load State, Quit etc..) for a variety of controllers from 0.8b. All you will need to is plug in / connect your controller, go into Steam Controller setting and choose the RetroDECK template for your controller. This will also work for the RetroDECK Linux Desktop users as long as you have added RetroDECK to Steam and launch it from there.
It will be the same button combos as the Steam Deck with Select as the trigger but with no radial menu system.

We will have templates for all the following:

• PS3
• PS4
• PS5
• Xbox 360
• Xbox One / S / X
• Switch Pro
• Steam Controller
• Generic (Stadia, 8bit, Xiaomi, USB-Clones, others etc..)

Special notes on Generic:

To access all the hotkeys, you must have a controller that has all the normal inputs (two joysticks with clickable L3 and R3, four button dpad, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, start, and select). But if you have start and select you can always quit the game (even with a tiny NES USB clone controller).

Special notes on PS4, PS5:

The full touchpad acts as a mouse for Wii input / computer systems. Left touchpad click = left click Right touchpad click = right click

Special notes on the Steam Controller:

The right touchpad acts as a mouse for Wii input / computer systems. Right touchpad click = left click

Turning the Configurator into a Godot application

We are working on turning the configurator into a Godot application. This will allow you to use all the functions with a controller in a Retro Inspired interface that is already working. The interface should be scalable for both TV’s, Monitors and Steam Deck Screen. We are also looking into changing toggle the font to OpenDyslexic so it can be easier to read for those who need it. This might not be done for 0.8b as it’s quite a big project (it will ready when it’s ready). If you are working with UI/UX design and/or have experience with Godot and want to help on this, please contact us on discord.

Rekku, the RetroDECK mascot.

Some parts of the team also really wanted a mascot so that will also be a part of the new Configurator. It’s a animated cyborg-cat-like-humanoid that guides you to the various functions in the. Right now, we only have AI generated concepts of the mascot for reference but if you are an artist and want to help us design the mascot, please contact us on discord.

Mascot Q/A:

Q: I get the Godot Configurator, but why a mascot?!

A: Why not?!

Q: Will we see Rekku in other things except the Configurator?

A: Maybe!

Q: I hate mascots with a burning passion, can I turn it off in the configurator?

A: You’re a meanie, but yes!

Concepts of the Configurator with Rekku:

Everything here is just concepts and might not reflect the final design.

That is all for this month!

A minor patch 0.7.3b will be out later with Emulator updates. But the main feature will be ES-DE 2.2, so we will release it when the ES-DE team are ready, and we can implement it asap.

Check out our:

Discord

Github

Wiki

Donations

I downloaded Emudeck and it's great but I'd like to play my childhood classics with hd textures. How do I do that? (I use Emudeck and a SD card for the games)

Note: This update is for the Steam Deck Preview channel, and includes new features that are still being tested. You can opt into this in Settings > System > System Update Channel.

General

• Fixed a case where an SD card with filesystem errors would be mounted as read-only.
• Fixed the custom performance overlay presets file inheriting the default settings from the steam presets.
• Fixed internal display rotation being erroneously reported to the game.

Firmware 118

• Actually added undervolting controls.

External display

• Fixed a 3.5 regression with HDMI output.
• Fixed a long-standing issue where the internal display backlight would always stay on.
• Fixed bug with HDR applications showing in wrong colorspace if they moved their window during swapchain creation.
• Fixed HDR not working in 32-bit applications.
• Added HDR Analysis to developer settings.
• Disabled HDR exposure in "My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure" as it enables it without rendering in HDR.

Desktop Mode

• Fixed a case where the desktop could be empty and apps would fail to launch.
• Fixed a bug where switching to the Plasma Desktop transition could result in broken colors.

we hope to see Steam Deck on SEA region soon

I've just installed ProtonVPN on my Deck but it won't connect and tbh I don't want to touch anything in the console/tinker with that...how can I still use ProtonVPN?

Has anyone played Ship Breakers? I just started playing it on the deck and it's been great.

My Steam Deck arrived and I even got a setup for it. My problem rn is that my keyboard has an american layout but I need to type german umlaute sometimes...how do I do that?

Hello folks,

I just had a 'wake in the night' sort of idea (which is something I'm sure the Fins have a word for) so now I'm wondering if enough Lemmings could put their heads together to find some other, hopefully much better, solutions for loss prevention.

My idea, which I think is only good enough to get the conversation going, is to disassemble an Airtag, rig the Deck to support its power needs (I don't know how this would be achieved), and then embed the finished product somewhere (I don't know that, either) inside the case.

A hardware-side solution, like this, would allow the Deck to be tracked regardless of software changes.

If the solution is internal it couldn't be detected, and it could function regardless of power state —— but at the expense of the Deck's battery capacity. If the solution is external it could have independent power —— but would be detectable, snagable, and removable.

A software-side solution might be achievable, especially with Linux, and it would likely use much-less power —— but it would require the device to be not-off and not-factory-reset (which can be achieved with a few keystrokes in the settings menu).

What ideas do y'all have?

my Steam Deck's arriving soon and I'm kinda afraid about the SSD upgrade and the steps I have to do. Especially after hearing that some sticks/touchpads (I can't remember what) don't work immediately after booting into Steam OS with the new SSD.

If you are like me you want to be able to adjust your logitec/steelseries/asus (among other) mouse settings within the deck itself while in desktop mode.

There’s a great utility for doing this called libratbag. It can not be packaged as a flatpack so you will have to install it manually with Pacman. Due to the nature of how the deck’s os is configured, you will have to redo this every time your deck updates, but it’s super simple! You will need to have set a sudo password to do this, so if you have not done that go ahead and get that out of the way.

Instructions:

Launch Konsole

sudo steamos-readonly disable sudo pacman -S libratbag sudo pacman-key --init sudo pacman -Syy sudo pacman -S archlinux-keyring sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux sudo steamos-readonly enable

Congratulations! Libratbag is now installed! The next step is to install a GUI to control libratbag, this program is called piper. Luckily this is a flatpack, and available in the discover app located on the toolbar while in desktop mode. Just search for piper there and install it. This process will not need to be repeated after each update. After it installs launch it and you are free to adjust your mouse’s settings!

A heads up- I am a script kiddie at best. This works for me, so it should work for you. If it doesn’t, I’m probably not going to be able to troubleshoot this further, but I can try.

1. Yes, I know this is extremely stupid and impractical. I did this for fun.
2. This was achieved using QEMU/KVM and virt-manager. I first created the VM using virt-Manager, then made a bash script to start the VM, added the script to my sudoers list (Probably a security risk, but fuck it we ball), then made a steam shortcut to virt-viewer which also started the VM. Yes, this is on the advanced side for 99% of people and I 10000% recommend you never try this. I did it for fun, and nothing else.
3. Unfortunately I cannot hide the header bar at the top, I think this is a property of gamescope. On desktop mode I can go fullscreen perfectly fine.
4. Sorry for bad quality, I recorded it using steam link.
5. This was not running on Deck hardware, however it can be done on Deck hardware, and I plan to do so on mine whenever I can get one.

Thoughts on the process here: https://cohost.org/nycki/post/3094309-joycons-for-steam

Are any windows users running their deck using the Big Screen mode of Steam and, if so, how is the experience?

SteamOS 3.4.11 has been released to the Stable channel for Deck with the following changes:

Firmware 116

• Improved robustness of the Firmware Settings Reset chord (Volume Down + Quick-Access + Power) against some boot hang scenarios.
• Fixed a rare issue that would set the processor TDP limit too low causing CPU and GPU frequencies to be stuck at 400 MHz and 200 MHz respectively.
• Fixed an issue when the charging light would turn back on when plugged in for a while after fully charged.

SteamOS

• Fixed an issue where power button presses could switch games to keyboard/mouse mode.

pardon the aftermath

EDIT: ExtremeRate is the company that made the shell. Pretty impressed

I've been thinking about this for a while. With the repairability of the steam deck and the power available to it, it seems like a no brainer to use it for a bit of school work or casual browsing, Discord etc. Like you would a normal desktop.

There's a new product type popping up called LapDock that's basically a hollowed out laptop but often with a giant battery, UPerfect has one and as well as the NexDock and they seem promising.

My personal biggest gripe is screen resolution and colour accuracy, as well as battery life. As I also do photography colour accuracy would be a great plus for me and as for resolution, I've been using 2k and higher screens for years and going back to 1080p seems like a bit of a turn off. However, UPerfect has monitor only types but having to set that up ontop of a mouse and keyboard while out and about seems less than ideal in comparison to a laptop.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone who's tried it? Anyone who've tried desktop mode on high Res screens and seen any downsides, stutters, playback trouble, etc?

Edit:

I went out and bought myself a USB-C Hub with a PD port, HDMI and 2 USB to get a feel for the desktop experience on my TV at home. Since I do most of my work related things in Windows I installed it on a separate partition using GParted to shrink the home folder and then went through the Windows installer. After installing Valves drivers from their help page without errors everything seemed to work absolutely amazingly!

Everything from 4K playback to Windows animations all goes smoothly. It's a trouble free Windows installation which from my previous experiences is a nice change of pace. The only hiccups I can notice is the occasional stutter and some Windows feeling laggy when resizing and moving, mainly the settings window and other WinUI software with lots of detailing and graphics to them.

I tried installing Deathloop through Xbox Game Pass and that worked wonderfully too. It installed quickly and I tried setting the resolution to 4K and got a solid 15 FPS! I tried 1440p as well and got around 30 and then went to 1080p where I got around 45. Not quite enough for me as I get slight headaches when below 60 but good enough I feel like. In the end for gaming it doesn't really matter since I have handheld for that. Alternatively up-scaling.

As I've tried the Windows experience on the Steam Deck now I'm gonna continue my experimenting with SteamOS and see how that goes. My biggest issue so far has been that the USB-C Hub in Windows works perfectly at 4K 60Hz but SteamOS doesn't seem to be detecting the 60Hz mode at all when the screen is at 4K. I'm gonna troubleshoot and see what I can find. If anyone has had any similar issues and know how to resolve them any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

All in all the desktop experience on the Steam Deck is amazingly smooth. Truly feels like a proper Desktop when things are setup the way I need them to be and I couldn't be happier. The question for a laptop replacement is still in the air for me however. Now that I know that the desktop experience will be as smooth as it is I'm wondering which right way to go about it would be. As a lot of people in the comments on this thread and others mention that the build quality of the NexDock is absolutely terrible, a portable monitor seems to be the better way. I suppose in the end it would boil down to either living with bad build quality to get the more seamless experience. or chucking along a bluetooth mouse and keyboard with a portable monitor which could potentially not be too big of a hassle depending on how lazy I'm feeling during the days.

More thoughts would be welcome! Especially if there's any other users who have any experience with external displays and how they're using them!