The Steam Deck is filled with glorious options, has strong efficiency, and has respectable battery life. But as our evaluate famous, it does nonetheless want some work. Fortunately, Valve has been recurrently posting necessary software program updates to repair points and add new options that players have needed, and it’s slowly changing into a extra steady, versatile system for it.
But when you’re nonetheless operating into issues or bugs that make you need to throw your Steam Deck throughout the room, maintain on for a minute. We’ve collected the problems that individuals are operating into, and the options that we’ve discovered could make issues a lot better. Let’s perform a little troubleshooting.
Note: Before you strive any of the steps we’ve listed under, it’s at all times a good suggestion to carry your Steam Deck on-line and verify for any software program updates. Valve has launched loads of fixes by its updates, and getting the newest model of Steam Deck’s software program might repair your drawback the speedy means.
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My Steam Deck retains crashing
If you’ve utilized the newest updates however video games hold crashing, strive holding down the Steam Deck Power button for about 10 seconds to provoke a reboot.
If rebooting doesn’t assist, we advise visiting the Steam Deck Recovery webpage and following its directions to obtain the restoration picture. You’ll want an additional USB stick and the appropriate utility to run the restoration, however Steam gives good directions for these steps. When in restoration, select to Reinstall Steam OS, which makes an attempt to save lots of your downloaded video games and progress whereas resetting the Steam Deck.
If nothing is making a distinction, strive enjoying quite a lot of different video games to match efficiency. If just one or two video games are crashing, they might not be well-optimized to run on the Steam Deck.
My Steam Deck can’t attain Steam Servers
At some level throughout 2023, an error began popping up telling Steam Deck customers that their Steam Deck couldn’t attain Steam servers. As it turned out, this was a Wi-Fi problem that triggered power-saving mode on the Steam Deck.
Luckily, there may be an replace for the Steam Deck to alleviate this problem. While it ought to obtain mechanically, when you’ve disturbed it throughout obtain or have had web points you could must manually replace your Steam Deck. To achieve this:
Press the STEAM button on the Steam Deck’s left aspect.
Tap Settings within the menu that pops up on the left.
Select System.
Tap Check For Updates within the Software Updates part.
Your Steam Deck will inform you that it’s checking for updates. If it finds updates, comply with the directions on display screen, which can embrace a system restart.
I up to date, however then my Steam Deck stopped working
Restart your Steam Deck by holding the Power button down for round 10 to 12 seconds to reboot it. Rebooting could take a while after an replace, however this will usually repair any issues you had been having.
If the replace retains inflicting critical issues, you must strive rolling again to a earlier model of the software program. Head to the Steam Deck Recovery web page to obtain the restoration picture to a USB key. When operating the restoration, you must see an choice to roll again to a earlier replace within the Boot Manager part.
The Steam Deck efficiency overlay gained’t go away
This error entails the Steam Deck’s efficiency overlay being caught in your display screen, not permitting you to play your video games. In principle, it ought to have been fastened by an replace, however there are nonetheless some reviews of this error persevering with. Try these fixes to eliminate the pesky overlay:
First, strive rebooting your Steam Deck.
Try turning off the efficiency overlay altogether. To achieve this, faucet the Quick Access button (…), then flip the efficiency overlay stage to “Off”.
If the overlay was already set to “Off”, you could need to strive turning the extent to “1” as, paradoxically, some customers are reporting this works higher for them.
My Steam Deck battery life is simply too low
You can regulate battery life by choosing the Quick entry menu button on the Steam Deck and going to the Performance part. If your battery is operating down too rapidly, particularly when enjoying sure video games, you must strive reducing sure settings to see if it helps.
Try reducing the brightness stage as a lot as you may and turning off connections like Bluetooth if they don’t seem to be wanted. If you want even higher battery efficiency, use the Performance part to decrease your body charge or activate FSR, which has been identified to assist save battery life. You also can straight decrease the refresh charge cap to 30Hz.
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My Steam Deck thumbsticks have began to float
Often, drifting joysticks trigger issues that the {hardware} itself is failing and must be changed (simply take a look at the issue with Nintendo’s JoyCons). However, in case your Steam Deck sticks are drifting, we’ve some excellent news – it’s most likely a software program problem. This drawback has been noticed earlier than when an replace precipitated “deadzone regression.” An further patch was created to repair this problem. The neatest thing you are able to do right here is be certain your Steam Deck is up to date and restart it.
I can’t discover the video games I need to play
There must be a strategy to get nearly any PC recreation you need on the Steam Deck. It helps Steam, Epic Games, quite a lot of emulators, and even Xbox Game Pass video games. There could also be some titles which are PlayStation or Nintendo Switch exclusives that you simply gained’t be capable of get on Steam Deck, however in any other case, there are few limitations.
However, discovering a recreation isn’t the identical as enjoying it. Some video games made for Windows PCs gained’t run as nicely on the Linux-powered Steam Deck, and that may make sure titles unplayable. However, the Steam Deck is optimized for recreation assist, so you must no less than attempt to play a recreation for a short time earlier than giving up on it. Fortunately, Valve provides players a fast instrument to verify which video games are fully unsupported on the Steam Deck.
There’s no audio for my Steam Deck
If you might be utilizing the built-in audio system, verify that there’s no Bluetooth reference to one other audio system, like a headset or pair of earbuds you had been utilizing up to now. If there aren’t any Bluetooth connections, press the Power button for 10 seconds to reboot and begin once more.
If you’re utilizing headphones that gained’t work on the Steam Deck, you will have fewer choices. Valve says there could also be some third-party headsets that simply aren’t suitable with the Steam Deck at the moment. If you will have the choice, change between utilizing a Bluetooth connection and the 3.5mm audio jack to see if one connection works higher than the opposite.
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I can’t pair a Bluetooth system
Some gadgets have a specific button that that you must press to enter pairing mode, so be sure to are doing that. You also needs to press the Steam button to go to Settings and entry the Bluetooth part. Make certain that the Show all gadgets choice is turned on right here. If a beforehand paired system isn’t working, you’ll discover an choice within the Bluetooth part to neglect it and check out re-pairing.
I solely get a black display screen on my Steam Deck
This requires an old school reboot. Press the Power button for round 10 seconds to restart. Wait to your Steam Deck in addition up once more and see if the display screen is again to regular. If this doesn’t work, double-check that your Steam Deck has a battery cost. If nothing adjustments the issue, it’s time to contact Valve. The Steam Deck has a 12-month restricted guarantee, so you may qualify for a alternative mannequin.
I can’t flip my Steam Deck on
Check that your Steam Deck has battery cost and plug within the energy adapter so it has a supply of energy. Try the reboot trick by holding the Power button down for 10 seconds. Pay shut consideration to how the ability button is working: If the button appears caught, or it isn’t giving any suggestions that it was pressed down, this could possibly be a {hardware} problem. Some Steam Decks had been shipped with energy buttons that began malfunctioning like this. Contact Valve — you ought to be lined below the guarantee to get a alternative.
Finally, whereas it’s not precisely an issue, when you’re having bother with the Steam Deck’s controls, you do have the choice to change to a keyboard and mouse setup if that can work higher.
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