Freezing in every game, occasionally causing total system lockup

[DivideTheZero]

Hello, I've been having this problem ever since I got the Deck. Every game at some point, will lockup and I'll be forced to either quit the game, or occasionally force shut down the system. Possibly hardware issue?

The freezing occurs at seemingly random times, but *usually* within the first 15 minutes of launching a game. The game will freeze, the screen will go black for a sec, then when it comes back the game will be completely unresponsive. Audio still plays, and I can usually use the overlay and exit the game. Sometimes the overlay will also be unresponsive, and I have to force shut down the system. (Note: In these scenarios, I can still hear the overlay, I just can't see it)

This freeze occurs in *every single game I have tested*. H:ZD, Control, Hitman 3, No Man's Sky, Half Life 2, ME: Legendary, etc.

It appears like the GPU is crashing or resetting. Graphics settings and intensity appear to have zero impact on the issue. Happens just as often on low presets as on high presets.

So far I have tried re-imaging the deck, and opted into the beta branch. No change.

[raz3r]

Originally posted by TheRoguePianist:

Originally posted by raz3r:

By the way, Valve has shipped my replacement unit.

When did they ship it? Mines been at Valve for over ten days now and I haven’t heard anything

(They did tell me that if I don’t hear anything by end of day today, then I should let them know)

Last friday.

[hascher.pur]

Any news on this? Got similar issues on my unit.

[Niketas]

mines been replaced now and ive had it about a week now, been testing verious things and only had one crash but i put that down more to proton compatability rather than the issue previous which seems totally fine on the new unit, definately seems to be hardware related, though for mine whereas theroguepianist's was at valve for a while as soon as mine arrived one got shipped

[hascher.pur]

So the new one you got basically got rid of the gpu resetting issue? Well, I hope I can get a replacement then...

[DivideTheZero]

I also got my replacement in finally. (Arrived Wednesday) No issues so far, been having a blast in Elden Ring

[Sybian]

same problem here in stardew valley. almost unplayable.

[Niketas]

yup, it seemed to be something specifically hardware, god of war the example when it crashed it would came up saying gpu has reset which this one hasnt done at all. been playing everything from visual novels to god of war, might take a bit of back and forth but go to support and get them to do an rma

[raz3r]

Got my replacement and no issue whatsoever so far, it was indeed an hardware problem.

[Quad_Plex]

An update on my situation, I was not able to fix the crashing permanently in the end and contacted support, they initiated an RMA rather quickly and I've sent away my Deck today. What a wild ride this has been. Hope all of our devices will be flawless in the future

[Stilton Disco]

I'm having the exact same issue.

It ran fine for about 3 days with no problems, then suddenly Elden Ring just glitched out and crashed every time I tried to play it, even starting over with a fresh playthrough, then Spyro Reignited and Disco Elysium would do the same if I tried running at anything higher than the lowest settings and frame rates. Tried reinstalling everything, then factory reset, but made no difference.

Ive opened a ticket, so hopefully they'll replace it sharpish, because the 3 days I had it working were sublime. Absolutely love the thing, and it breaks my heart to have it break almost immediately like this.

[Moisture]

I have the same issue. I have re-imaged as a well. I got the Deck on Saturday April 16th. Submitted a support request, have tried everything they asked for to include videos of the issue but I have yet to get a new response. I have yet to play a single game on the deck, each game will flicker into a black screen and lock up at start up or on the menu screen.

[Stilton Disco]

Originally posted by Moisture:

I have the same issue. I have re-imaged as a well. I got the Deck on Saturday April 16th. Submitted a support request, have tried everything they asked for to include videos of the issue but I have yet to get a new response. I have yet to play a single game on the deck, each game will flicker into a black screen and lock up at start up or on the menu screen.

It's just been the Easter weekend, so they're likely a bit backlogged. Just make sure you stay calm and reply everytime they offer a solution to say if it's not worked. I've now got my return documents sorted out and will be posting tomorrow, so fingers crossed yours will get processed quickly.

Bear in mind however, they seem to use DHL, at least in the UK, so I have to take it to one of their centres, not just the post office, which is a pain.

Use this if they give you a DHL returns label: https://mydhl.express.dhl/gb/en/mobile.html#/locator

[Moisture]

Originally posted by Stilton Disco:

Originally posted by Moisture:

I have the same issue. I have re-imaged as a well. I got the Deck on Saturday April 16th. Submitted a support request, have tried everything they asked for to include videos of the issue but I have yet to get a new response. I have yet to play a single game on the deck, each game will flicker into a black screen and lock up at start up or on the menu screen.

It's just been the Easter weekend, so they're likely a bit backlogged. Just make sure you stay calm and reply everytime they offer a solution to say if it's not worked. I've now got my return documents sorted out and will be posting tomorrow, so fingers crossed yours will get processed quickly.

Bear in mind however, they seem to use DHL, at least in the UK, so I have to take it to one of their centres, not just the post office, which is a pain.

Use this if they give you a DHL returns label: https://mydhl.express.dhl/gb/en/mobile.html#/locator

Good luck and thanks! It's been 2 days and still no response.

[Stilton Disco]

Originally posted by Moisture:

Originally posted by Stilton Disco:

It's just been the Easter weekend, so they're likely a bit backlogged. Just make sure you stay calm and reply everytime they offer a solution to say if it's not worked. I've now got my return documents sorted out and will be posting tomorrow, so fingers crossed yours will get processed quickly.

Bear in mind however, they seem to use DHL, at least in the UK, so I have to take it to one of their centres, not just the post office, which is a pain.

Use this if they give you a DHL returns label: https://mydhl.express.dhl/gb/en/mobile.html#/locator

Good luck and thanks! It's been 2 days and still no response.

Rather unprofessional! I'd message them again, and if you don't get a response by this time tomorrow, open a new ticket and start over.

[Alscenic]

I had an identical experience to OP (and others in this thread.) my best advice for anyone with this issue: contact Steam support, go through their checklist(s) in their first few replies, and get it RMA'd. (and be patient. it might take up to a couple weeks before you get the new one.) They ended up cross-shipping me a brand new Deck at the same time I shipped back the broken one - works great, no issues, and I'm loving every minute of my time with it.

tl;dr contact Steam support, get it RMA'd