New to Steam Deck, what should I know?

[ccostlow3987]

Getting a used steam deck tonight and wondering what I should know, etc. I all ready looked through my games for compatibility but I am more looking for like, how can I add emulators? Is there anything cool you found out it could do later that as a newbie I want to know? Things like that. TIA.

[retro_Ed]

Many games run even those are marked as Unsupported.
Look here for more...
protondb.com

Very first app I installed was ProtonUP-QT.
It can be found from desktop side, Discover app store.
Same place basically for everything else. Emulators etc...

ProtonUP-QT handles easily more Proton versions than Valves official.
(Proton is that TOOL which make Windows games running on Linux)

[Mahjik]

Also check out Decky Loader:

https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-loader

[JSTR]

EmuDeck pretty much installs all the emulators for you automatically, only thing is its linux so if you're not familiar get ready to learn some things, and then get ready to learn how to get the steamdeck to act like a regular linux machine so you can use the commands everyones talking about in youtube videos. (you'll see what I mean later)

I have yet to find a game that doesn't run on the deck. even the new Jedi Survivor game that nobody can run can smoothly run on the deck. its outperforming my desktop in a lot of cases. If it says incompatible theres always a work around somehow or a setting you can change, a compatibility program, someones solution online, you name it. Theres always a plan b and c.

[retrogunner]

Being used, the very first thing you *MUST* do is re-image it using Valve's USB restoration. Do not trust it with your Steam Login.
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-restore-steamos-on-steam-deck/

Being used, the previous owner may have fiddle with the VRAM or other BIOS settings. It may be worth while to boot into the BIOS, then reset it to the factory defaults. See cryo's utils further down.

I recommend using the Steam App on your phone for Steam Guard two-factor. You only need to scan the QR code for the first login - and you're in as you confirm logins with your phone.

There's quite a few YT & blogs out there. I personally use:
* https://gamingonlinux.com -- it's been around for years and covers many howto's for pretty much everything Steam Deck (including the aforementioned Decky Loader.)

* https://www.youtube.com/@gardiner_bryant - go through his videos. He has some howto's but covers other things like making sense of SD Card markings; leveraging the built-in KDE Connect to transfer files between your PC, phones, & tablets; and many other howtos.

* visit subreddit r/steamdeck and a couple more technical ones. Lots of great howtos that do not make it into the Steam Deck forum. They also tend to be easier to search, favorite, and reference IMHO.

* Check out https://github.com/CryoByte33/steam-deck-utilities . You don't need to adjust your VRAM in the BIOS. But it will give you some sensible improvements.

* If you start using Flatpaks in desktop mode for Emus, source-ports, etc. you will need to install Flatseal. That flatpak allows you to alter other flatpak properties so they can access your SD Card (as it's outside your home directory.)

* There's a flatpak on-screen keyboard (IIRC its called Orca? maybe) in desktop mode when I don't have a physical keyboard. I use it instead of Valve's on-screen 'meh' keyboard.

* Be aware, using flatpaks will easily eat a couple of gigs of space due to redundant dependency versions. Flatpaks are not easily relocatable. I've a 256GB, I keep mostly all my games on my A2 SD Card. My Deck has my Proton(s) & 18 or so Flatpaks (excluding their dependencies). Plus I have 'nerd' stuff like distrobox/podman for containers, a couple of "Boxes" virtualized guests, etc.) I still have over half the space left.

* In desktop mode, you might open the /home/deck/.local/ directory to search for proton_dist.tar files and delete them (not recycle to 'trash'). They are 1GB each and do not self-clean up.

* Be sure to get some sort of USB-C dock/port replicator. It really does come in handy if you play it at a desk occasionally. Then accessorize as desired.

* You'll likely want/need a bluetooth keyboard/mouse or at least a wired/dongle keyboard as there's times where you will need a keyboard given the on-screen keyboard is 'meh'.

* Be sure to change the Steam settings on both your PC and Steam Deck set to download games on your LAN from friends PCs. This really saves on bandwidth.

* If on the go, you'll likely want a different powerplug than Valve's. I personally went with a JSAUX HC4503 Multifunction Charger. There are others out there. Do your research.

Mine is a 45W plug where the USB-C goes to the Steam Deck, then it has a full-sized HDMI & USB-A (I forgot the speed) ports on it too. It's matte-white, but the same size as the OG plug but the cable(s) are removable.

I didn't like how short the cord is so I bought a quality USB-C extension cable that does power & data (double check as I accidentally bought a power-only the first time.).

Plus I can use it to power my Deck & charge my phone at the same time - or any two devices. Being a genuine USB-C hub, I can use it with my PinePhone and other devices just the same way too. I really like it.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the club.

[PopinFRESH]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από retrogunner:

Being used, the very first thing you *MUST* do is re-image it using Valve's USB restoration. Do not trust it with your Steam Login.
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-restore-steamos-on-steam-deck/

Being used, the previous owner may have fiddle with the VRAM or other BIOS settings. It may be worth while to boot into the BIOS, then reset it to the factory defaults. See cryo's utils further down.

I recommend using the Steam App on your phone for Steam Guard two-factor. You only need to scan the QR code for the first login - and you're in as you confirm logins with your phone.
...

^ Solid advice.

Which model are you getting? If you're getting a 64GB model I'd definitely recommend looking into buying an upgraded M.2 2230 NVMe SSD. It is pretty easy to replace the drive and definitely worth the effort and cost. You can get a good 1TB drive for about $100 or a 2TB one for about $150.

If you're getting a 256GB or 512GB model then I'd recommend toying around with it and getting a feel for how your game library works with the storage you have on it. Then upgrade if needed. But the 64GB model you'll likely find yourself having to manage removing shader cache files and juggling things around on the internal storage.

Since you're interesting in using it for emulators you'll want to watch some of the tutorials for EmuDeck and SteamGridDB.

https://www.emudeck.com

EmuDeck has been substantially improved since its debut and it is extremely easy to use to get all of your emulators setup and getting a microSD card setup for your roms. I have all of my rom dumps from my childhood consoles from NES up through my WiiU, other than being selective on my PS2 games for space.

There are a plethora of ways to integrate your emulation library and the tools that EmuDeck and SteamGridDB provide makes it very easy to manage. Some people don't like having their rom library "cluttering up" their Steam library so they will use EmulationStation to be the "launcher" for all of their emulators and then only have that added to their Steam library. I personally like just having the games all just show up in their organized-by-console categories so I have SteamGridDB add all of the games entries to my Steam library.

[tfk]

And there is a nice desktop mode too so you can use it as a regular pc. The apps are installed via the flatpak packaging system and apps are running in their own sandbox. So if you encounter issues of not being able to access something from an app, Flatseal lets you manage those permissions.