Setup issue (RESOLVED): "Too Many Retries" isn't going away, no matter how long I wait.

[NoNamePlayer16]

So, I recently got a Steam Deck, but I've been having trouble with the setup, I can't sign into my steam account from it.

When I entered my password, no matter how careful I was to enter the password, It still told me the password was wrong, I even reset my password and checked multiple times to make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the password was correct, and it still said it was wrong, I eventually managed to fix the problem by changing the password entirely. But now it says I have tried too many times and need to wait until trying again.

Fair enough, I know why that happens, and it normally doesn't take too long to fix, but after waiting an hour, it happened again. I still got the error. So I tried again, waiting almost 7 hours after my previous attempt. I even did a factory reset to start the setup over again. I still got the same error. I don't know how long it normally takes for this message to disappear, but I've experienced similar issues on other sites before, and it has never taken THIS long to fix. I'm starting to wonder if there is another problem here.

Maybe it does take a while to reset, and I'm just impatient. I plan to try again in 24 hours. Hopefully an entire day will be enough to fix it. But just in case, I want to know if there is any other way to fix this before I wait out an entire day, possibly just to be stuck again, and nowhere closer to solving the problem. Has anyone else had this issue before? And does anyone know if there is a faster way to fix this? As waiting hasn't gotten me anywhere, and I'm not fully confident waiting longer will change anything.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Too many retries when attempting to login has a 24 hour cooldown on it.

[NoNamePlayer16]

Unfortunately that didn't work. My last attempt was around 7:00 PM yesterday. I tried again after 10:00 PM today. 27 hours after my last attempt. And I STILL got the error, even though I put in the correct username and password on my first try. I don't know if I messed something up during the setup, but it really feels like waiting isn't solving the problem, and I have no idea what will.

[WarnerCK]

If you've got the Steam app on a phone you could use the QR code login method for the Deck.

[NoNamePlayer16]

I don't have the app, but I might download it to see if it works. I wonder if there might also be a connection issue with my Steam Deck, as even though it was connected to the internet and I regularly had 3 bars, I got quite a few error messages saying it couldn't connect to the Steam servers when I was trying to find a workaround. I'll try a few things, then I'll return next morning to confirm if it worked or not.

[WarnerCK]

It might also be worth trying using a phone hotspot for the initial setup rather than your normal WiFi. I've seen reports of people having WiFi issues until the unit's done its first update; it's not an issue I experienced with either of mine, but other people say they had it.

[NoNamePlayer16]

Just tried a few different things, from trying to sign in from my phone, to connecting to a mobile hotspot. Nothing worked. The same error is still there, and I couldn't sign into Steam on my phone because I kept getting a message saying it couldn't connect, even though I had a full 4 bars. Oddly enough, when I tried to sign in to a new account with almost no games, it did work without any problems. So I know the issue isn't with the Steam Deck itself. But waiting over 24 hours did nothing. I don't know how long I may actually have to wait. That error screen is starting to feel personal.

I'll probably be doing some digging across the internet and maybe contacting support to see if there is a solution out there. If I can't find anything, I'll try signing in again in a week. If a week without signing in isn't enough to make that error go away, nothing is.

[NoNamePlayer16]

Good news, I figured out the problem. It actually wasn't with the password, I accidentally put in the wrong account name. I was putting in the user profile name, not the actual account name. Bit of a stupid mistake looking back, but in my defence, I probably would've figured it out a lot sooner if the "password incorrect" message clarified that it was the account name that was incorrect, not the password.

Anyway I believe this discussion can be closed now. the issue is resolved, and the Steam Deck is finally working. Hopefully there won't be any future issues with it, at least for a few years.

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by NoNamePlayer16:

I probably would've figured it out a lot sooner if the "password incorrect" message clarified that it was the account name that was incorrect, not the password.

That's a global security standard. If someone is trying to hack credentials, you don't want to give them a clue if they got one of the two right but not the other.