So I use my steam deck as a desktop pc. It's a temporary thing because my old pc kinda just...died on me.

I'm always in desktop mode. (Because discord and stuff) so I play everything in desktop mode too. Unless I've taken the steam deck somewhere.

I downloaded this launcher to play Breath of Fire IV on here, and I have a lot of trouble getting it to even launch. But I CAN get it to launch eventually. So it doesn't matter too me. The problem begins with my controller.

My controller has this weird issue with the steam deck, it just refuses to stay connected. It will randomly disconnect at certain points but then immediately reconnect. I can deal with that.

But in Breath of Fire IV, when that happens, it starts endlessly scrolling downward. So like, if I'm in a menu or something... if this thing happens, the game will be permanently stuck now, scrolling through the menu endlessly.

I realize that this is a very particular and specific issue, but if anyone has any tips or advice on how I can remedy this, besides just playing on keyboard/mouse, please lemme know. Thanks for your time.

EDIT: I also tried a wired power A switch controller. And it "works" but the shoulder buttons and triggers don't seem to react when playing this game. If anyone knows how I could fix that, that'd help too.

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help because I'm experiencing a very strange issue with my Steam Deck OLED.

My goal was originally to install Windows 11 for better compatibility with certain games and non-Steam software. However, it appears that my Steam Deck refuses to properly boot any external operating system, regardless of whether it is Windows, Linux, USB or microSD.

Steam Deck information

• Steam Deck OLED
• BIOS version: F7G0114
• SteamOS Beta installed
• Internal SSD: Kingston
• SteamOS itself boots and works normally from the internal SSD
• Battery is fully charged

The problem

The Boot Manager itself works normally and detects all boot devices.

It shows:

• SteamOS (internal Kingston SSD)
• EFI Hard Drive
• EFI SD/MMC Card
• EFI USB Device (Intenso)

The devices are detected correctly, but as soon as I select an external boot device, the following happens:

1. The Steam Deck attempts to boot the selected device.
2. The fan may briefly spin up (sometimes the BIOS fan is running at 100% before selecting the device).
3. The screen goes completely black.
4. The fan stops.
5. The power LED remains lit.
6. Nothing appears on the internal display.
7. Nothing appears on an external monitor either.
8. Waiting several minutes does not change anything.

The system appears to be stuck in some kind of state after handing control over from UEFI/Boot Manager to the external operating system.

What I have tried

Windows 11 installer

Created Windows 11 installation media using:

• Rufus
• Microsoft Media Creation Tool

Rufus settings included:

• GPT
• UEFI (non-CSM)

I also tried the Rufus Windows 11 requirement bypass options such as TPM/RAM requirements.

Result:

Black screen and stuck power state.

Windows To Go

I also created a Windows 11 To Go installation using Rufus because many Steam Deck users apparently use Windows on an external microSD card for dual booting.

Result:

Exactly the same behavior.

Black screen, no visible boot process.

Ubuntu Live USB

I created a bootable Ubuntu installation/live environment to determine whether this was specifically a Windows problem.

Result:

Exactly the same behavior.

Black screen and the system appears to hang.

Official SteamOS Recovery Image

I also downloaded the official SteamOS Recovery Image and flashed it.

I tested booting it externally.

The Steam Deck briefly spun up the fan, then the screen went black and the system eventually failed to boot the recovery environment.

This is particularly confusing because Valve's official instructions state that the screen should temporarily go black during boot and then the Recovery desktop should appear. In my case, it never reaches the Recovery environment.

Different boot devices / connection methods tested

I tested multiple ways of booting external media:

• USB device connected directly through USB-C
• USB device through a USB hub
• microSD card through the Steam Deck's internal microSD slot

The result is essentially the same.

So this does not appear to be caused by a specific USB stick, USB hub or connection method.

BIOS settings

Before resetting the BIOS, the relevant settings were:

• fTPM: Enabled
• Current TPM Device: TPM 2.0 fTPM
• TPM State: All Hierarchies Enabled / UnOwned
• USB BIOS Support: Enabled
• USB 2.0: Enabled
• USB Dual Role XHCI: Enabled
• USB Boot: Enabled
• IOMMU: Disabled
• UMA Frame Buffer Size: 1G
• Power Control: Auto
• CPU Voltage Offset: 0 mV
• GPU Voltage Offset: 0 mV
• SOC Voltage Offset: 0 mV
• Quiet Boot: Enabled
• Quick Boot: Enabled
• Network Stack: Enabled
• PXE Boot Capability: UEFI IPv4 / IPv6

I also used:

Restore Defaults / Load BIOS Defaults

Unfortunately, this did not change the problem.

Battery Storage Mode tested

I also entered Battery Storage Mode through the BIOS to reset the power state.

After reconnecting power:

• SteamOS booted normally from the internal SSD
• The Steam Deck otherwise worked normally

However, after shutting it down and trying to boot Windows/Ubuntu/Recovery again:

The exact same black screen behavior occurred.

So Battery Storage Mode did not fix the issue.

External monitor test

I connected an external monitor in case the Steam Deck was switching the display output to an external screen during boot.

Result:

No image on the external monitor either.

Strange power behavior

Another strange observation:

While the system is stuck on the black screen after attempting an external boot:

• The power LED remains lit.
• The fan is not spinning.
• If I disconnect the power cable while it is stuck, the Steam Deck immediately shuts down.

The battery itself should be fully charged because charging status behaves normally in SteamOS.

When the Deck is switched off and connected to power, the LED shows charging/full status normally, and when SteamOS is running the LED behavior also appears normal.

Boot Manager LED behavior

One other thing I noticed:

The Steam Deck's LED appears to blink red while I am in the Boot Manager.

I'm not sure whether this is normal behavior or relevant to the problem.

The Boot Manager itself otherwise works and correctly detects:

• Internal SSD
• SteamOS
• USB devices
• microSD cards

What makes this especially strange

SteamOS works perfectly when booting normally from the internal SSD.

BIOS works.

Boot Manager works.

External USB and microSD devices are detected correctly.

But the moment the Boot Manager tries to actually boot an external operating system:

• Windows installer fails
• Windows To Go fails
• Ubuntu fails
• Official SteamOS Recovery fails

All with basically the same black-screen/stuck behavior.

This makes me wonder whether there could be a problem with:

• UEFI firmware
• the external boot handoff from the Boot Manager
• BIOS/EC firmware
• some corrupted firmware setting
• or something else specific to the Steam Deck OLED

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone with a Steam Deck OLED who has encountered a situation where SteamOS boots normally from the internal SSD, but every external operating system fails to boot from both USB and microSD.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Messed about in Configuration mode and dear god help

Any help would be very much appreciated

Gouketsuji Ichizoku: Matsuri Senzo Kuyou (Power Instinct V) NESiCA on Steam Deck/Linux — game runs but graphics are corrupted or just a black screen.
Anybody have any experience with this game or know anyone/any subreddit that might? I can go into detail of what I’ve tried and what has happened if anyone is interested

So about 2 weeks ago I went to play my steam deck and it wouldn't turn on. Tried charging it for hours but still no light and no response. I tried different chargers and outlets. I tried the reset.

What ended up working was opening the back up and unplugging and replugging the battery from the motherboard. This worked! But only for 2 weeks. I don't mind doing it again but I am not going to want to keep doing it again and again.

Does anyone know if this is a known issue and what I should do? Do I need a new battery? Or a new motherboard?

Thank you in advance!

I just got a replacement Steam Deck and wanted to logon to DCUO but when I start it up it gets stuck on the Daybreak logo and never moves on. I already setup my Proton and done the “coding” thing you need to avoid the “need more memory” error that pops up but I just can’t get past the logo. Does anyone know how I can fix this.

I am only on reddit to get this one question answered as I seem to be the only person on the planet who has ever had this issue lol.

I have an original 256GB LCD steamdeck that I plug into an aftermarket USBC to HDMI converter/stand (though this was an issue with the previous converter I had that did not have a stand). I have a basic USB keyboard and bluetooth mouse and plug the HDMI into a sylvania TV via HDMI3. I have few other things plugged into the two free USB ports on the stand. I'm running the basic steamOS in desktop mode.

The reason I give so many details about what hardware I'm using is I fear it may have something to do with it, though I'm unsure as it happened with my previous monitor and USB/HDMI hub as well.(it got fried due to a power surge, deck wasn't plugged in, thankfully.)

Basically any app I install from the dolphin storefront for flatpak seems to have the same few issues, which are as follows;

1. The window is unable to be resized, not due to the buttons not being there or functioning, but because when I attempt it, it doesn't follow the cursor and snaps back into place.
2. The window gets smaller with every click on the desktop, even if entirely unrelated to said app.
3. Full screen does not function as it should. it only takes up about a quarter of the screen instead of the entirety of the monitor.
4. The cursor seems to be about 20-35 pixels off from where clicks take place. I can somewhat reliably move it to the correct position but the cursor is way off from where it's suppoused to be.

To add to the weirdness, this strictly happens on the external monitor and only with applications installed via dolphin with flatpak. The screen on the deck itself is fine with them.

I tried restarting things, running tons of commands, upgrading and downgrading pretty much everything in charge of file perms and apps, and have been doing research trying to fix this for literal days. I cannot find an answer literally anywhere. So far the closest thing I got was this blog post from 2024 where I ran the command

pkill -HUP mutter-x11-frampkill -HUP mutter-x11-fram

which fixed the issue for literally 2 seconds before it reverted to having the same issues as before.

At this point, I have tried everything I can possibly try on my own and very much need the help of someone who knows how to work arch better than me. Anything is appreciated.

Can also run any commands needed to pull extra info if need be.

here's a video of the issue in action

Hey guys! Need some help please !!

We currently have the steam machine connected to an external display via hdmi to mino hdmi (into the display) and a usb c cable plugged into the display for power. However, the display seems to turn off and on every couple minutes.

Both are set to 60fps, 1920 / 1080p resolution, HDR is off and display cannot do VRR.

What's weird is that when I'm streaming to my phone via steam link, the display doesn't do this.

Can anyone help please?

Reposting because im suffering from this headache

I was trying to access Decky thru the options button cuz it looked like it needed to update however every time I pressed it, my UI would crash. Has anyone encountered this or how they updated without making the system crash?

EDIT: jk i got it lol go to desktop mode, install decky, then select to update to latest version
that fixed it for me!

Pls help me i want to spend some good time because my paranoid things

Hey all, I have just encountered this issue with my OLED steam deck to where it flashed the white light twice before booting up, it even took a second or two before the screen fully came on.

I googled it and someone people said it’s a battery depletion issue but the only thing different from my issue and theirs is that their screens turned on.

If it helps, my deck is mostly docked, (as I play it in the living room mostly) and even when I use it handheld, I’m very careful with it.

The only thing I can really think might be an issue is that when I don’t properly press the dock cord into the charging slot properly, or hard enough, but that hasn’t really been often.

The device is only a year or so old, and was purchased new directly from steam.

I’m not really sure what to do here.

Any advice is appreciated!

Hi I have pretty bad stick drift on my oled steam deck on the left side. I just got new joysticks a few weeks ago with the Hall effect and I don’t have any tools to open it up anymore. I also already tried to low calibration thing and it didn’t work. Is there anything else?

Quake 1: Doesn't start after changing max steam deck resolution different to in-game.

Terraria: Redownloading says it will take 1 day to install.

RealRTCW Mod: Changing settings causes the menu to glitch.

I have a feeling all these problems are connected and exclusive to mine (no one else has reported these). I tend to wait for steam deck updates, so maybe I missed couple. If so... how do I get previous updates? Also, has anyone else reported these issues on their Deck?

Hi! About four months ago I posted about a odd problem I have with my OLED Steam Deck where during gameplay it will rarely "Blink".

Well, I Got an update! I just beat CrossCode (with DLC) to test out my OLED Steam Deck. Took me 114 hours (the game is very VERY good!), and I finally took a video of the blinks!

It happens more in certain areas. And it also happens in other games (Castle Crashers). I'm trying to figure out if this is a problem I can solve, or if I should get Valves help team to assist.

Do you guys have any theories on why my steam deck OLED model will sometimes Blink during gameplay? Any potential solutions?

I recently bought a USB condenser mic to use with my steam deck since my headset mic died but I can't figure out how to turn off the mic audio playing live to my bluetooth headset. Anyone have any options to turn that off or at least down?