SteamDeck FAQ

Valve's steamdeck is a powerful, portable PC running Linux. It is designed for portable comfort and a console-like user experience for gaming and working. (via Valve)

Why is it interesting?

This Linux-powered handheld console-like PC is great for gamers and is a gateway to Linux. It aims to solve a problem many users face when they want to switch over from expensive and invasive proprietary OS like Windows: Gaming - until now - was not always possible as many games would not run under Linux. Proton changed that. With it Valve finally made good on a vision laid out years ago (Valve CEO: Why Linux is the future of gaming).

Troubleshooting

SteamDeck will not turn on (via Steam Support)

Before beginning troubleshooting, please ensure that you've ejected the microSD card if present and disconnected all external devices aside from the provided power supply.

Start by plugging it in using the provided PSU. A solid white LED indicates the Deck is drawing power. Leave it charging for a while and try again.

If the LED remains off or is blinking, then the Deck isn't receiving power. Please try the following:

Unplug and re-plug your PSU from the Steam Deck; wiggle the plug a little to ensure it's plugged in all the way

Try plugging the PSU into a different power outlet in your wall

Try an alternate USB-C PSU if you have one available

If that does not work, we would then recommend you try the following steps to reset your unit's firmware and BIOS, this may help with some issues that can cause powering on or boot issues:

Ensure the device is fully powered down by holding the power button for 10 seconds or if possible select shutdown from the Power menu.

Once the device is shutdown, hold down both the volume - button and the "..." button, then press the power button once. Then you can release all the buttons.

You will hear a chime and then the white LED light will begin to blink (it may take 5 or more seconds before the blinking begins), which confirms this process is working.

   Note: This process may take 1-2 minutes to start the unit up again during which the display will remain black.

If you are still having a problem after resetting the firmware/BIOS, what is the Status of the white LED light after trying the above?

It would also be useful to us if you can confirm whether you've made any modifications to your device recently, such as opening the unit, changing BIOS and/or system settings, or installing any third party software or tools.

If the problem persists, we'd like you to try some additional steps as well.

Please try entering the BIOS menu on your Steam Deck:

Fully power the unit down by holding the power button for 10 seconds, while the unit is plugged into the power supply.

Hold the "Volume +" button down and press the Power button once. Continue holding the Volume + button until you hear the system chime, then release and wait. The Steam Deck should boot into the BIOS menu within a couple minutes.

In the BIOS menu select the "Continue" option to try and boot the Deck's OS.

If you are still seeing an issue after trying the above, let us know the following:

Can you enter the BIOS menu?

If you can, what happens after selecting to Continue?

If you cannot enter BIOS, is the display black or black with the backlight on?

Hope this may help. It didn't for me, but for some people it has.

How to Flash your Steam Deck BIOS from Crisis Mode (via r/steamdeck)

Anyone that's familiar with insydeh2o BIOSs will know that it has a crisis mode, that allows you to re-flash the BIOS if it bricks itself, and we thought that the Steam Deck maybe had this mode, or maybe it didn't, mainly because we didn't know what the name of the file had to be on the USB storage to get it to work.

If you've powered on your Steam Deck, or you've set bad BIOS settings, then you'll want to try this out before paying out to Valve or returning to Valve for an RMA.

Here are the steps:

Format any USB storage to FAT32 on a windows PC (or if you have Linux and know how, you can do so there too)

Download the BIOS file that's relevant for your Steam Deck.

For the Steam Deck LCD this starts with F7A and for the Steam Deck OLED this starts with F7G.

The BIOS files are available from Valve in a file named something like jupiter-hw-suport-xxxxxxxx.x-x-any.pkg.tar.xz where the 'x's are numbers relating to the date of the release, you typically want the most recent/highest number. These filenames can also end in .zst, there will be additional files which are .sig and these are typically used for verification of the other file.

The bios file is in the path \usr\share\jupiter_bios in the archive, the archive can be opened with tools such as 7-Zip or Peazip, if it isn't clear, you only need the .fd file.

If you have trouble opening that file with an archive you can also find the files at the evlaV gitlab repo.

On the USB pen drive, you need to rename your BIOS file to this for the LCD Steam Deck:

- F7ARecovery.fd

For the Steam Deck OLED name it:

- F7GRecovery.fd

Make sure your steam deck is fully charged, or plugged into a dock with external power while flashing the BIOS

With the USB drive plugged into the Steam Deck, ideally do not have any other USB storage connected to the Steam Deck, having your SSD installed is fine into the nvme m.2 bay, you will need to enter the button combination to enter crisis mode:

Make sure the Steam Deck is shut down by holding the power button for 10 seconds

Check that the unit is off, track pads should have no haptic feedback.

While holding the Volume - and ". . ." buttons, press the power button once.

You can keep the Volume - and ". . ." buttons pressed a few seconds after letting go of the power button to be sure, then let go.

Your Steam Deck will remain black for a bit, and the power LED should constantly flash on and off. You will see some text at the bottom of the screen, then an option should appear saying:

"Do you want to recovery ROM part? (Caution: Not every OS is bootable in Recovery Mode.)

YES. this choice will flash Rom part.

NO. abort Recovery mode and restart system."

Navigate it with the track pad, or the d-pad, and select 'YES'.

Your screen should now show and change to the h2offt flash firmware tool, and be in portrait mode.

Thanks to SmokeyCPU's online tip offs, ghidra and HxD for being able to confirm what the blasted recovery filename should be, and other good online references.

Still, make sure you make a BIOS backup in future. If you like the guide give some reddit karma.

Further Links and Endnotes

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If you like the guide give some reddit karma.

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