RetroMultiplayer Tech Tips

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SteamOS ​

SteamOS is a highly opinionated ArchLinux-based OS developed by Valve, aiming for great Handheld/Livingroom Gaming Console-like experience.

Installing on non-Valve hardware ​

You need a GPU that supports Wayland with no extra steps. If you have NVIDIA GPU - try Bazzite instead.

When installing on non-NVME storage, a customized installation script is required.

I used this particular build of 3.8, because "stable" 3.7 recovery image kept failing at second stage of the install after selecting time zone and network connection.

If you're reading this after 3.8 public release, or intend to install on hardware that is officially supported - follow the official Installation and Repair instructions.

Recovery Live Image does not boot via Ventoy. You need a dedicated USB drive to run it.

Updating from CLI ​

Check current update branch:

sh
steamos-select-branch -c

List available update branches:

sh
steamos-select-branch -l

Select a branch containing a newer build:

sh
steamos-select-branch main

Check newer build availability:

sh
steamos-update check

Install update (may get stuck at 0.0% for a while, let it cook):

sh
steamos-update

Button mapping in Game Mode ​

Short answer:

  • STEAM: Ctrl+1
  • OOO: Ctrl+2

Long answer: you really want to use a game controller, because the rest of the keybinds are more of a workaround than intended control scheme, as suggested by the lack of input glyphs when no controllers are connected.

sudo in Desktop Mode ​

By default, "deck" user has no password set. To escalate privileges with sudo, you need to use passwd command first, to set a known password.

Gaming performance inconsistency ​

It's a good problem to have, but the amount of games that run well on Linux in recent years outpaced the effort put into GPU drivers and other components of GUI pipeline. For some reason, things like VSync toggle are still work in progress for some desktop environments.

The unfortunate reality is, more money does not mean more FPS.

Security Issues ​

SteamOS uses a single UNIX user for all Steam accounts.

As far as i see, saved passwords, sessions, cookies etc. are not encrypted by default, with no convenient way to enable storage encryption. If you log into e.g. Discord, your session can be stolen by any other Steam account logging into Gaming Mode and switching to Desktop Mode.