Steam Deck

Steam Deck

Desktop Mode Windows 11 Shared Resources Problems
Hello !! :)
It's a while that I am having an issue when using my Steam Deck in desktop mode and when I try to access shared resources from my Windows 11 desktop PC. All drives are shared using the advanced sharing option integrated in Windows; I am not using FTP or any other 3rd party software, just integrated Windows 11 functionalities.

On that machine, I have a few drives shared. I have all sorts of content: from application to media files including videos and audio. I also have my own source code repositories (I am a software engineer) that I share so I can go and work from the balcony or from the garden. Basically, I share this content in order to be able to transfer them easily between my devices.
All seems to work properly: I can see my shares when I use my laptop or my Android devices without any problems. Obviously, I use the SAMBA protocol to connect to the resources shared from Windows.

Alas, the Steam Deck is instead a huge pain. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I love the Steam Deck and I would like to be able to switch my laptop to it because it is much more versatile. My Steam Deck has the stock OS and when I switch to the desktop mode is running Linux.

Anyway, sometimes when I double click on a shared file to open it (could be an archive, a video or an audio) the Steam Deck produces and error saying something like "the resource does not exists". When I go back to the shared folder in Dolphin, it asks again for the username and password to access the resource. I go back to the parent folder and Dolphin produces the error "the location you are trying to access doesn't exists". After a few tries in going back and forth between the shared folders hierarchy, everything seems to work (looks like the connection is back) but the resources seem to still not be available. Or, to better say, sometimes they work, most of the time they don't.
when this happens, I try to copy the resource locally on the Deck. Sometimes it works, sometimes there is no way to let the Deck to properly locate the shared files. when this happens, I try to do the same operation with another device (mostly my Android smartphone) and everything always work, so, I came to the conclusion that this is just a Steam Deck issue and nothing related to my Windows PC or WiFi.

The most noticeable issues, happens when I try to stream video files using VLC. Let me explain: I have a video tutorial collection that I use for studying subject saved on my PC. Sometimes, I go to my balcony to watch a few of this videos. Using VLC on all my devices, with the laptop I have no issues and the same is with Android and iOS. With the Steam Deck, sometimes the file doesn't exists, sometimes the folder doesn't exists but most of the time the video starts and then stops after a random time. If I try to press play again, the file or folder doesn't exists. Rarely I was able to watch the entire content of one of these video tutorials.

This is all I have to say about this issue. I really hope I was clear enough and I really hope you can help me fixing this issue because I really love the Steam Deck and I think it could be a very valid alternative to my laptop.

Thank you very much !! :)
Date Posted: Sep 3, 2023 @ 9:55am
Posts: 0