Steamdeck won't boot after reimaging

[texasdude11]

I have a 256 GB version of steamdeck that I've been enjoying from past couple of weeks. I was playing Witcher 3 yesterday and out of no where everything slowed down. And then the game crashed. And nothing on the screen would move.

I held the power button for 5 seconds and force shutdown deck. And then when I tried booting it up, it was stuck on boot logo. And it stayed there for an hour.

After researching the issue the simplistic fix was to reimage the deck. So I followed the steam's official guide, reimaged it using the official image and now it is stuck at this console screen (tty5)
steamdeck login:

It isn't moving forward.


Does anyone know what can be done to revive it? Or is it warranty time?

[texasdude11]

My deck is unmodded in any way. No hardware or software mods, in case that's relevant.

[gyaku_zuki]

It sounds like something might have died internally. I had a similar experience with a tablet previously that blew a CPU fuse / 0-ohm resistor. I'd advise an RMA with Valve.

[darrenphillips666]

Try removing the SD card if one is installed.
my card stopped me booting once after a OS reinstall.

[Marlock]

can you boot into the BIOS/UEFI configs? if yes, then you could try to boot linux from an usb stick and wipe the internal drive then recover it again

i would redo the recovery image stick from scratch, since it might have been corrupted while downloading or burning to usb before installing

i would also try booting with the official charger plugged in... the Deck has a mechanism to avoid booting in its box during shipment, so maybe the recovery process just re-enabled this first-boot protection

[texasdude11]

Originally posted by gyaku_zuki:

It sounds like something might have died internally. I had a similar experience with a tablet previously that blew a CPU fuse / 0-ohm resistor. I'd advise an RMA with Valve.

I raised a ticket with Steam and they said that they'll replace it. Does RMA kick me back to the queue process? I'm worried about that :/

[texasdude11]

Originally posted by darrenphillips666:

Try removing the SD card if one is installed.
my card stopped me booting once after a OS reinstall.

No I did not have any SD card installed. Thanks for the input though!

[texasdude11]

Originally posted by Marlock:

can you boot into the BIOS/UEFI configs? if yes, then you could try to boot linux from an usb stick and wipe the internal drive then recover it again

i would redo the recovery image stick from scratch, since it might have been corrupted while downloading or burning to usb before installing

i would also try booting with the official charger plugged in... the Deck has a mechanism to avoid booting in its box during shipment, so maybe the recovery process just re-enabled this first-boot protection

I can boot from a USB drive yes, and I tried downloading the image again and reimaged again. Same result. I have a feeling that the m.2 SSD has gone bad.

[Marlock]

yeah, given those results it might be the case... try installing a "normal" linux distro to the nvme and see if that works... if it does the issue is related to SteamOS 3, and if it doesn't you'll be sure it's the NVMe

[Marlock]

Originally posted by texasdude11:

I raised a ticket with Steam and they said that they'll replace it. Does RMA kick me back to the queue process? I'm worried about that :/

RMAs don't go back in the queue, and are usually pretty fast (but your local logistics may vary)

[Lonegamer]

I have the exact same issue, I hope valve has figured out another fix than sending it back

[Healer]

Same problem. It's weird but it was solved by putting battery in power storage mode:
Enter bios on power on (power + Vol+) with power supplier disconnected.
Within the BIOS, use the D-Pad to navigate and the A button to select.
Navigate to Setup Utility.
Navigate to the Power menu.
Select Battery storage mode.
Select Yes to confirm.
Your Steam Deck should now power down into storage mode.

After this, connect power supplier and power on the deck.

In my case it booted up correctly.

I know it's weird, bur actually worked.

Good luck!

[Nathanaael]

Wow, username checks out actually @Healer ! It did work ! I was going to RMA it ! Thank you !

[Mr. Moe]

Healers tip also worked for me. Multiple attempts to reimaging the deck didn't work but the battery storage mode worked instantly. For me, the problem occurred when i was playing elden ring on the deck without power supply. After i ran low (ca 20%) i plugged in the charger and everything became extremely slow. I rebooted and ran into the described problem, so there might be a connection to the power management/battery software of the deck

[ninjaholic]

Reinstalled SteamOS from SD card imaged with dd, failed to boot. Did a full restore with the same SD card, failed, but got tty session. Rebooted Deck into BIOS, enabled Battery Storage Mode.

After shutdown and waiting a minute or 4, I plugged in the Deck and...

It's working.

[Timelord1997]

OMG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! that battery storage thing actually fixed it!!! THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU