Steam Deck

Grumpypants · 30-11-2022 2:36pm

In the process of doing it now. It just takes time to write windows to the SD card but other than that it's going okay (famous last words). Will update once installed.

Grumpypants · 30-11-2022 4:48pm

That was fairly painless, just took time. Windows now boots off its own swappable SD card (even uses the SD as the C: drive).

You need to have a PC that has a card reader, but everything else is just software and time.

Grab the windows boot tool and create a ISO boot file. (10 mins)
Grab a program called Rufus that will write it to the SD card. (20 mins)
Grab the 6 drivers from the Steam site. Copy them to the SD card to a folder called "drivers" and extract them while you are on the PC. (5 mins).
Then pop in the SD card out of the PC and into the Steam Deck.
Hold Vol Down and Press the Power on button to get the boot menu.
Select to boot from the SD card (3rd option).
Windows then installs. This takes about 10 mins and installs sideways :)
During installation remember your wifi and Bluetooth won't work so just select "I can't connect online" and "limited install" during setup.
Once it installs flip the display in settings to landscape.
Then run the drivers from the SD card to add wifi, Bluetooth and audio etc.
That's it. Ready to use as a windows machine!!

eggy81 · 30-11-2022 5:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119940291#Comment_119940291

That’s a nice little guide. I’ll be using that. Am I right in assuming the software you download while in windows will automatically download to you windows sd card then without you needing to specify it. Let me know how games run when you get a chance. Cheers for that.

Skerries · 30-11-2022 5:50pm

what are the 6 Steam drivers?

Grumpypants · 30-11-2022 5:50pm

That seems to be the case. The C Drive is the SD Card. I have a 500 GB card and that is what shows as the size on the C:.

Installing EA app, Epic launcher, Steam, Playstation plus, Xbox games pass for PC now. All just simple exe installs.

Will see about the performance, Vampire survivors works fine :)

I did have to grab a driver for the steam deck controls for non steam games but that was handy too.

Grumpypants · 30-11-2022 6:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119940565#Comment_119940565

Ones listed here https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8

Grumpypants · 30-11-2022 7:58pm

Performance is wonky. It's certainly not optimized for windows. If you are doing something like installing a game just don't do anything else. It's not cut out for that, likely due to read/write bottleneck on the SD.

Installed EA App and Need for speed Unbound. That's just out today I think and a reasonably high spec'd title.

First boot took ages. I'm assuming it's due to reading from the SD Card (it's an A1).

To the point I thought it was stuck. I'd say it was on a black screen for 5 mins (part of that was a windows permission pop up that I didn't see as it was behinfld the game) and then an install screen for a good 10mins.

But once it did get to the menu in game the rest was good. I stuck it on borderless window mode, auto graphics settings and 60fps and it ran like a charm in game.

Looks really nice and I can't really fault it. Loads into maps and races quickly enough.

So not as optimized as steam OS for playing out of the box. But certainly worth doing as it opens up many more options without the messing with loaders and compatibility layers.

KilOit · 05-12-2022 1:07am

Probably gamed more on Steam Deck than on my PC all year in the last 2 weeks. Brotato is taking up all my time now

Mr.Fantastic · 06-12-2022 1:15am

Anyone not use the back paddle buttons or is it just me? Dunno what update they did for the battery life but I am getting four hours out of divinity 2 now and before I was only getting 2, I am on the beta stable channel.

phily2002 · 06-12-2022 10:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119962095#Comment_119962095

Don't use the back buttons much, only in binding of isaac where I mapped r to one. That way I can hold it for quick restart. Think they're a great option though, there'll definetly be games where they come in very handy

Grumpypants · 06-12-2022 11:34am

I use them for games where you can spin the camera. Frostpunk or Xcom. They are a bit off the beaten track so I tend to only use them for inputs that don't need fast action. Opening inventory or similar.

06-12-2022 12:01pm

I have remapped the "pushing the sticks in" button to the back buttons once because I find that hard to do whilst using the sticks. Kinda awkward to use the back buttons while gripping the deck though. I couldn't imagine using them constantly as a jump or shoot button.

eggy81 · 08-12-2022 10:28am

Can anyone advise me of a 512gb sd card that definitely works without formatting issues. Sandisk extreme pro refuses to format. Working in all other devices. Hadn’t heard about this issue with decks before now despite thinking I’d read about everything.

08-12-2022 10:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970048#Comment_119970048

I had the same SD card and had the same issue, putting it into a Nintendo switch formatting it and then putting it back into the steam deck worked for me, a few online had suggested this. Formatting the card using windows or android did not work for me.

eggy81 · 08-12-2022 11:40am

I’ve tried the switch trick and most of the other options that are available to me. Might be bricked I’d say

KilOit · 08-12-2022 4:49pm

Related but unrelated to Steam Deck but looking for a powerbank for this and finding it hard to find a powerbank with decent output to charge and play the Steam Deck simultaneously.

Plenty online but they don't deliver and I tried brick and mortar but the highest wattage output was 22watts

ReZonator · 10-12-2022 3:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119971587#Comment_119971587

https://www.gomibo.de/zubehoer-detail/aukey-usb-c-powerbank-power-delivery-3-26800mah-schwarz

fitzer1982 · 12-12-2022 11:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119971587#Comment_119971587

I went for https://www.powercity.ie/product/T23892, pricey but had some vouchers, does the trick

eggy81 · 14-12-2022 11:05pm

Has anyone tried to run the next gen update for Witcher yet. What is the red launched and how do jig install it if so?

MayoForSam · 14-12-2022 11:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119997952#Comment_119997952

Here's a guide I found on Reddit:

Run the game. On the launcher swap to dx11 and run. Exit out the game. And in the games properties- general- launch options put in — launcher-skip. This will skip the launcher from now on.

You need to switch to dx11 to prevent it crashing. I also use Pixel Decks settings (look them up on Facebook).

FSR2 not working yet as it needs dx12, the new Witcher 3 update needs a lot of optimization apparently. There may be a patch in a few days.

skerry · 16-12-2022 10:58am

Any of you ever have trouble getting Elden Ring to launch? Picked it up yesterday and can't for the life of me get it to launch. I get the anti cheat splash screen and then it goes to a white screen and crashes out every time. Verified game so shouldn't need a layer but I've tried them too and no success.

Andrew76 · 16-12-2022 11:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002537#Comment_120002537

I don't have ER installed on the deck anymore but that issue sounds familiar. Did you try launching the game from desktop mode first? Then go back and try it in gaming mode. I think I might have had to do that, I was also using GE-Proton7-37 at the time too.

skerry · 16-12-2022 12:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002719#Comment_120002719

I've seen it reported quite a bit online. I tried launch in desktop mode amd I get the same crash. I've re verified files, deleted and reinstalled game and various compatibility layers and nothing seems to solve it, very frustrating for a verified game. It's the first game I've really had any issue with. No clue what to do now.

Grumpypants · 16-12-2022 2:16pm

I picked up Days Gone, which ended up being around 8 euros on CD keys after using some coins from previous purchases. Runs really well with a few small tweaks to the High default. Runs around the 40fps in the open world and 55-60 indoors. Looks amazing too.

This will be my third play through :)

eggy81 · 16-12-2022 4:00pm

I know I was giving out about xcloud on the Xbox forum but it’s running unbelievably well for me on deck. Runs like crap on my phone and laptop. Weird. Playing fallen order through xcloud on deck and also on Xbox downloaded and I reckon it’s playing better through the cloud on the deck.

Grumpypants · 16-12-2022 11:32pm

It's run really well for me on everything. Do you just use edge or the app.

eggy81 · 16-12-2022 11:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005740#Comment_120005740

Using edge. Haven’t tried the app.

Grumpypants · 17-12-2022 12:35am

There's two options on android. The app that works great, and there is also an option to turn the browser into an app.

Open this https://www.xbox.com/en-US/play the n chrome tap the three dots in the top right and select install app.

I Found these great. On deck I just use Edge alright and it works very good.

Started playing high on life on Xbox on deck. It's mental. If you like rick and Morty it's the same guys and the same humour.

skerry · 17-12-2022 3:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002719#Comment_120002719

Got it sorted, had to reset deck back to factory settings for a finish. Bit of a pain but at least its running now. No clue what was causing the issue

Andrew76 · 17-12-2022 6:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120007339#Comment_120007339

Glad to hear you got sorted! 👍

@Grumpypants - think I’ll have to pick up Days Gone for that price on cdkeys, keep hearing good things about it.

Re-subbed to WoW against my better judgement, want to see if I can stick it out to 60 and then get the new expansion, supposed to be one of the better ones they’ve come out with. Anyway, spotted some videos showing it running well on the Deck so went ahead and installed it there too. Once you use that console port addon it actually plays pretty good, at least for casual play.

eggy81 · 18-12-2022 11:21am

I’m trying to set up remote play for Xbox and I’m stuck at the very first step which is to install app image launcher. Found the page on git hub but I can’t really see how to install it. Is it a run file like it would be on windows or is it a command.

Grumpypants · 18-12-2022 12:09pm

Do you have it downloaded from git hub or like me got caught actually seeing the files 🤣

If you look over on the right hand side of the GitHub page you should see "release" and you can click "latest version". Then you should see the list of files to download. You need specific ones to work on steam deck.

Follow this youtube guide and you should be okay. It's pretty handy. Only difference is Greenlight is now called xCloud. So at the step where is says to look in the start menu under G for greenlight, you need to look at under X for xCloud.

https://youtu.be/eTTfHGeq7L0

Grumpypants · 18-12-2022 12:15pm

Streaming NFS from the console downstairs. Flawless.

eggy81 · 18-12-2022 2:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120009452#Comment_120009452

I got stuck trying to download something that wasn’t the files anyway. Think it was an image of the file. II’ll give it another go later. Cheers.

savage piece of kit

Mucashinto · 24-12-2022 1:01am

I've been ummhing and ahhing about what dock to get for ages. Probably should just get the official and be done but I really like being able to use the deck as the controller so wanted a stand alone one. But I've been worried I'm not fully understanding the requirements and would buy an incompatible thing.

I looked at this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docking-Station-Monitors-DisplayPort-Ethernet/dp/B0B4CB4V2C/ref%3Dsr_1_19?keywords=selore&qid=1671835747&sprefix=selore%2Caps%2C60&sr=8-19

and I really liked the look of this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docking-Station-Monitor-Thunderbolt-DisplayPort/dp/B0B1HPNFX6/ref%3Dsr_1_8_sspa?crid=US5Q6VM06RQB&keywords=usb+c+docking+station&qid=1671838120&sprefix=usb+c+docking+station%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-8-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

Then this came on offer

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docking-Station-Multiple-Ethernet-Compatible-12-1/dp/B0BKKKW3KQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=U0EZ341AOGNP&keywords=krisuho+docking&qid=1671838797&sprefix=krisuho+docking%2Caps%2C48&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Came with a 3.2 usb and everything and I thought feck it I'll take a chance. Worked out at 65 euro delivered.

Bought this as a stand

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B74NRZNC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Man I'm delighted so far. Everything seems to be working A ok. Getting full download speed. Recognises my monitor is 1440p and can do 144hz over HDMI. Charges the deck at 21.5 watts while I'm playing. Couple of keyboard/mouse dongle in the USB 2.0 ports working perfecly (haven't tried any SD cards yet). Just really wanted the freedom of a stand alone dock If they get VRR working (over HDMI please!) and it works just as well on this as it does on the official dock...man I love this little device.

(ignore the awful blutac, was being hidden by a Series S before that got jettisoned for this,)

Not shilling for this hub in particular but I think any stand alone hub is a great option. For 419 euro the Steam Deck is some value imo.

Grumpypants · 27-12-2022 2:32pm

I picked up a few playstation ports to PC. Horizon Zero Dawn (the first one), Days gone were both under a tenner, and then Death stranding was free on Epic.

I had to use heroic to install Death Stranding, but once it's added as a non steam game it boots from steam without issue. All games are deck approved and play really well.

3 Decent games for under €20.

27-12-2022 4:12pm

Have been very tempted by God of War on sale. I've never played any of them. Addicted to dwarf fortress at the moment though. Works quite well on the deck

Shred · 28-12-2022 1:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120037992#Comment_120037992

I too was mulling it over when I saw it on sale on Steam, but then I saw it was even cheaper on cdkeys and said what the hell for ~€23: God of War | PC | CDKeys

Mr.Fantastic · 28-12-2022 2:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120030495#Comment_120030495

Does nex machina work on Steam deck, I see it in one of your images there. It does not load for me at all?

wes · 28-12-2022 12:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120039665#Comment_120039665

Just an FYI on God of War on steamdeck, it will take ages for it to reserve space on the steamdeck, like 30 minutes. It will look like it has frozen, but it hasn't. That had me stumped when installed it on my brothers.

eggy81 · 28-12-2022 8:46pm

Just finished off Jedi fallen order there this evening. Very enjoyable game. Looking forward to the sequel. I’d say I played about 70% game pass on the deck and the rest on Xbox.

Was trying to get emulation started on the deck earlier. Downloaded emudeck and was trying to get blitz the league ps3 version going through rpcs3. Eventually got it as far as the boot screen but just kept freezing on midway screen booting.

If I get that far can I be fairly certain I’ve gone down the correct path? Very new to this stuff. A bit of research suggests that game isn’t well optimised for emulation.

will give metal gear solid a go next.

The Freeman · 29-12-2022 12:10pm

Have you been able to get gyro aiming working with windows gamepass on deck?

Only thing stopping me trying out the dual boot to see if it is worth it.

Grumpypants · 29-12-2022 3:10pm

I've not tried the giro aiming but my windows install is on a stand alone SD card so I can swap back and forth very quickly, rather than dual booting.

29-12-2022 6:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120041737#Comment_120041737

Does God of War use the same engine Jedi Fallen Order? I'm seeing a lot of similarities in gameplay

johnny_ultimate · 29-12-2022 8:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120044328#Comment_120044328

Nah Fallen Order is Unreal and God of War is proprietary AFAIK. I think generally there just tends to be a lot of shared game mechanics and ‘game feel’ across a lot of the AAA third-person action games these days.

Mucashinto · 30-12-2022 1:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120039695#Comment_120039695

Sorry just seeing this now - I had to add the lines from here to its properties

https://www.protondb.com/app/404540

It spins the fans up something terrible tbf and probably doesn't really run as smooth as you'd need to play seriously imo (or else I'm just finding it much harder on the smaller screen). I love that game though so great having it there anyway.

Shred · 02-01-2023 6:26pm

I've been having a blast with Turok: Dinosaur Hunter over the past week; I bought it a couple of years ago but playing on the Deck is so nice. Despite not being fully verified it plays really well and brings me right back to those halcyon N64 days 😥