Steam Deck :: News

News & Updates

May 14, 2024

SteamOS 3.6.2 Preview: Double Double Jeopardy

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May 13, 2024

Steam Deck Client Update: May 13th

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May 13, 2024

Steam Deck Beta Client Update: May 13th

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May 9, 2024

SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled

Note: This update is for the Steam Deck Preview channel, and includes new features that are still being tested. You can opt into this in Settings > System > System Update Channel.

General

Updated to a more recent Arch Linux base
Improved pairing experience with Apple AirPods
Improved session recovery speed after GPU crashes
Fixed some connectivity failures with access points supporting WPA3 security
Updated Linux kernel to version 6.5
Improved speed of subsequent OS updates
Improved reliability of certain microSD card usage scenarios
Fixed game session cursor offset alignment
Worked around misdetection of some SanDisk microSD cards
Fixed an issue where a thin grey line could appear at the bottom of the screen during boot in some situations
Fixed an issue causing temporary files to accrue when using Flatpak
Enabled support for Bluetooth A2DP and BAP profiles
Improved connection speed of some Bluetooth devices
Improved performance and stability in memory pressure situations
Fixed an issue where the Performance Overlay would spuriously enable itself under certain conditions
Added mechanism to configure which Bluetooth device categories are allowed to wake the system from suspend
- By default, controllers are the only devices that can wake the system from sleep
- Finer-grained UI configuration options will be available as part of a future update

Display

Improved display uniformity, under some conditions (Mura Compensation)
Improved display color balance (reduced green tint) at lower brightness levels, under some conditions
Improved gamma uniformity (yellow tint), under some conditions

Graphics and Performance

Updated graphics driver to Mesa 24.1, with many performance and correctness improvements
Improved responsiveness of the Steam UI

Desktop Mode

Updated to KDE Plasma 5.27.10
Enabled thumbnail previews for videos in the file browser
Fixed an issue with desktop use that could cause subsequent microSD card auto-mount to fail

Deck Dock

Added support for some HDMI CEC features:
- TV remote input
- TV wake up
- TV input switching
Updated Dock firmware, with compatibility fixes for high-refresh-rate VRR displays

BIOS

Added overclocking controls on Steam Deck LCD
Fixed not being able to set the SDCard as default boot device
Adjusted power LED slow charging threshold
Fixed spurious power LED blinking in S5

Development and Modding

Modified files in /etc are now migrated to new OS versions based on a whitelist
- Fixes numerous issues with incidentally touched /etc files becoming 'sticky' and persisting unexpectedly
- Additional whitelist entries can be added via config fragments
  - See /etc/atomic-update.conf.d/example-additional-keep-list.conf
- Added /etc/previous/ containing modifications from the previous update to prevent unexpected data loss
  - Up to five previous snaphots of /etc modifications will additionally be retained in /var/lib/steamos-atomupd/etc_backup/
Added support for {ssh,sshd}_config fragments

Known Issues

Frequent session switches can result in the sound driver crashing, needing a system reboot

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May 7, 2024

Steam Deck Client Update: May 7th

We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Stable (default) channel.

General

Fixed Steam client menus opening in separate windows from main window after sleep/account change.
Fixed crash when playing back certain media in Steam music player
Fixed issue loading and saving the app achievement cache file which in some cases caused excessive memory usage in steamwebhelper.
Fixed notifications intermittently being queued until a game is launched.
Reduced network traffic at startup and reconnect
Fixed regression causing Steam News button to not work
Fixed secondary context menu opening when right-clicking open context menu.
Fix an error when launching some games that was introduced in the previous beta
If a game failed to update, show why on the details page as well as the downloads page.
Made taking screenshots more responsive
Modified CSS classnames to reduce package size and reduce feature leaks
Fixed some causes of steamwebhelper crashes
Fixed slow startup on busy systems
Fixed startup delays when running in flatpak environments.
Changed the default scale from 200% to 150% on a 4K monitor
Fixed a case where the store tab would fail to display any content after maximizing the steam window.
Fixed a case where the window may become unresponsive until resized.
No longer listing incompatible options under an application's Compatibility settings
Fixed a situation where Steam would attempt to execute the Windows version of a title without using Steam Play

Big Picture

Fixed an issue where after playing a game it would require extra B button presses to back out of the game's library page.
Fixed support alert messages intermittently producing an error at startup.

Steam Cloud

Fixed case where files for one Steam account could be overwritten by files from another Steam account if the first account had logged in but not played the game yet on the device.

Steam Input

New Configurator feature "Swap Left with Right": While editing a Controller Configuration, you can Swap the behavior of the Left Stick and the Right Stick, or Left Trackpad and Right Trackpad etc. Highlight the source you want to swap in the "Edit Layout" page, and the "Y" button should appear to allow the swap. This should be handy for "South Paws".
New Mouse Action: "Reset to Horizon". This helper can reset your camera to the horizon by sending 180 degrees down, and then 90 degrees up after a very short delay. This action can be bound to any activator slot.
New Mouse Action: "Turn Camera 360". By default this will generate 360 degrees of rotation.
New Mouse Action: "Turn to Face Direction". When activating this, the camera will turn to face the direction you are pushing on the Left Stick (default - Track pads, DPads and Buttons can also be used). Can be combined with "Reset to Horizon" to produce a behavior similar to Splatoon's camera reset button.
Note: The New Mouse actions all require Dots per 360 to calibrated for any of them to be accurate. To do this, use "Turn Camera 360" in combination with either "FlickStick" or "Gyro to Mouse", and make sure that one press of your "Turn Camera 360" makes one 360 turn in game. If it does not, tune the Dots per 360 setting from the Controller Quick Settings menu. You do not have to use Gyro to Mouse or FlickStick after this step.
FlickStick mode's templates will now default to binding to the correct "Stick Click", but only in Mouse only or Mixed config templates.
Added "Invert Command Binding" for FlickStick's Outer Ring Command.
Added an option to allow the FlickStick to trigger a Flick Turn if the stick is thrown when the action set/action layer/mode shift is activate.
Fixed SteamDeck Configurator Templates' FlickStick default bindings.
Gyro Button Picker: you can now choose from any combination of pre-existing gyro enabling buttons. This replaces the "Gyro Activation" Dropdown.
Config Defaults: Mouse templates, and "Mixed" Mouse and Gamepad Templates now use "Gyro to Mouse" instead of "As Mouse".
Gyro to Joystick modes now no longer generate haptic events when outside the active range.
(On those controllers with haptics support) a haptic bump will occur when gyroscope is turned on and off due to the Gyro Enable/Disable/Toggle Button, if haptics are not set to "Off". Choose to disable/enable this from the Gyro Button Picker.
Added Dualsense and Dualshock Gyro Enable/Disable/Toggle "center touch" and "center click" for completeness/to help with certain Paddle Mods.
Fixed inverted axes when using "Setup Device Inputs"
Fixed swapped A/B buttons when using Nintendo GameCube controllers
UI: Joystick Mouse Deadzone controls now use the common Deadzone Editor.

Remote Play

Fixed the streaming button staying stuck on "Stop" when the streaming client exits quickly
Improved recovery from network disconnections before starting the stream
Fixed continually being prompted for the PIN when pairing a device
Fixed the performance graph being reset to icons when changing to Enhanced 1080p or Enhanced 4K

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Get your hands on Deck!

Steam Deck is shipping now.

Product specifications are subject to change.

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