Steam Deck no longer boots up unless connected to power...battery at more than 50%

[tvsporto]

I've had my Deck for about a month. It had this issue on the very first day I got it but it was fine again until tonight. Basically, the Deck won't boot up unless it's connected via the charger. When powered on via the charger, the battery shows 55%. When not on the charger and trying to boot, the Steam logo pops up for a second and then the screen just goes to black. I tried booting into Bios Mode with the Volume+ and Power button and nothing happens. Almost seems like the Deck thinks the battery is dead, even though it's got plenty of juice.

However (and this is where it gets interesting), when I unplug the Deck from power after booting up, it works fine...the Deck doesn't shut off or anything. The battery percentage decreases like normal. The Deck just can't boot up anymore on its own...has to be plugged in, and even then it takes a few attempts at the power button before it boots.

I am also noticing that when I shutdown the Deck now, the screen no longer "dims off" right at the end of shutdown. The last thing I see when shutting down is the Steam logo. When things were going well with the boot process, the Deck would dim its screen at shutdown and that's the last thing I would see before it powered off.

Started a Support Ticket with Steam. I'd RMA or exchange for a new one, except I hear the RMA process is a nightmare and I don't want to play the Fed Ex lottery again. If anyone has any solution or suggestion, would greatly appreciate it!

[zenstrata]

This is a new problem I have not seen before, if support has a solution for you, please follow up and post the solution here, I am really curious how this works out!

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by zenstrata:

This is a new problem I have not seen before, if support has a solution for you, please follow up and post the solution here, I am really curious how this works out!

Thanks very much. I am noticing that when I shutdown the Deck now, the screen no longer "dims off". The last thing I see when shutting down is the Steam logo. When things were going well, the Deck would dim its screen and that's the last thing I would see when shutting down. Almost seems like there's an issue turning off the screen with shutdown and maybe that's the issue? Not sure.

[@R+5]

if your problem is from a weird bug or issue after a recent update, maybe reinstalling steam os could fix the issue. im just guessing. what has support commented?

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by @R+5:

if your problem is from a weird bug or issue after a recent update, maybe reinstalling steam os could fix the issue. im just guessing. what has support commented?

Have not heard back from Support yet, but will post here what their response is.

[tvsporto]

Update: now the Deck won’t even shut down. The logo wheel just endlessly spins while saying “shutting down Steam”.

[zenstrata]

wowzers. There is an option in the Steam button under 'settings' to return your Steam Deck to it's factory state, maybe that would help? It's all I can think of right now.

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by zenstrata:

wowzers. There is an option in the Steam button under 'settings' to return your Steam Deck to it's factory state, maybe that would help? It's all I can think of right now.

Thanks…I finally got it to shutdown by holding down power and (for now) it is able to reboot without connecting to power outlet. But it’s obviously very buggy. I’ll wait to see what Support says. Putting it back to factory settings is certainly an option.

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by zenstrata:

This is a new problem I have not seen before, if support has a solution for you, please follow up and post the solution here, I am really curious how this works out!

The “response” from Steam Support has been dreadful. They’re not even addressing the core issue. They’re just asking me if the LED light comes on when I connect the Deck to the charger. The charger is the only thing that DOES boot up the Deck. It’s not the issue.

If they continue these nonsense responses, I’m going to file a Better Business Bureau complaint against Valve. Then again, Valve has an “F” rating with the BBB, so that’ll probably get me nowhere either.

[zenstrata]

likely they are working through a checklist, i wish they had a phone number to call to talk to someone. That would be much faster response wise....

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by zenstrata:

likely they are working through a checklist, i wish they had a phone number to call to talk to someone. That would be much faster response wise....

Absolutely, agreed. We’ll see what happens. Things have stabilized somewhat but this is a recurring issue and I doubt I’ve seen the last of it. Happened to me also the very first time I tried to power on my Steam Deck.

[ClassicGOD]

Originally posted by tvsporto:

The “response” from Steam Support has been dreadful. They’re not even addressing the core issue. They’re just asking me if the LED light comes on when I connect the Deck to the charger. The charger is the only thing that DOES boot up the Deck. It’s not the issue.

If they continue these nonsense responses, I’m going to file a Better Business Bureau complaint against Valve. Then again, Valve has an “F” rating with the BBB, so that’ll probably get me nowhere either.

Steam Deck LED and it's status can be used to diagnose issues with the power circuitry. They are trying to diagnose your issue to determine if it can be fixed by software or the hardware needs to be sent back. Like @zenstrata wrote they have a checklist, that checklist was composed by a person that knows more about this hardware than any one of us.

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by ClassicGOD:

Originally posted by tvsporto:

The “response” from Steam Support has been dreadful. They’re not even addressing the core issue. They’re just asking me if the LED light comes on when I connect the Deck to the charger. The charger is the only thing that DOES boot up the Deck. It’s not the issue.

If they continue these nonsense responses, I’m going to file a Better Business Bureau complaint against Valve. Then again, Valve has an “F” rating with the BBB, so that’ll probably get me nowhere either.

Steam Deck LED and it's status can be used to diagnose issues with the power circuitry. They are trying to diagnose your issue to determine if it can be fixed by software or the hardware needs to be sent back. Like @zenstrata wrote they have a checklist, that checklist was composed by a person that knows more about this hardware than any one of us.

Well, we’ll see what happens next. They just wrote back asking me to plug the Deck in and go to Bios mode (and do nothing else). They asked if the Deck will then boot up. But I can already get the Deck to boot up while on the charger. It just has issues booting up when OFF the charger, even with plenty of battery juice displayed when it does finally boot.

[zenstrata]

It might help expedite things, if you recorded a video of your issue and stuck it on youtube, then send the link to that video and a short explanation of what it is to steam support. Try to show any lights on top of the unit (such as the one they asked about near the power button) during the various operations you attempt.

[tvsporto]

Originally posted by zenstrata:

It might help expedite things, if you recorded a video of your issue and stuck it on youtube, then send the link to that video and a short explanation of what it is to steam support. Try to show any lights on top of the unit (such as the one they asked about near the power button) during the various operations you attempt.

Thanks for the suggestion. It seems whatever I send them is just met with form responses so I am not sure that would get me any further with them but it’s worth trying as a last resort.

[BxRyce2014]

I’m having this EXACT same issue.

You end up having to RMA?