Would be cool if it had a hotkey you could hold while powering on that tells it to boot into desktop mode.
this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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Steam Deck
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A place to discuss and support all things Steam Deck.
Replacement for r/steamdeck_linux.
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Linux has never required you to sign up with an online account, you can always just make a local account.
Sounds like OP discovered the joys of linux.
SteamDeck is the best Nintendo Switch Online device ever 😉
Ironic how it's able to play more older Nintendo titles than the official console
Welcome to Linux. It works great as a media center instead of your ad-ridden smart TV as well.
Will you have access to all codecs as well though? This is the main reason we still keep our Nvidia Shield around from years ago
My Linux PC is a media server/htpc with access to all codecs. I regularly transcode H.265 via nvenc for jellyfin.
You must ensure you're using a client that can use the codec in question, regarding proprietary codecies like H.265 you will need either a desktop client that can handle it, or verify you have your browser properly configured.
Is there a specific codec you're concerned about losing access to?
The arch wiki page here lists all the common video codecs as well as packages to install them, assuming you're on an unlocked steam deck these packages will work, otherwise you'll need to source them yourself.
First of all, thank you for the reply. I always wondered if we could use our Steam Deck for pretty much everything since we have a dock plugged on our TV, but since we have been using the Nvidia Shield Pro as our media player for more than 5 years, I didn't get out of my way to inform myself.
The Shield Pro was amazing at the start, until the stock launcher started showing ads (we currently avoid them by using an app for Android TVs called Productivity Launcher).
You must ensure you’re using a client that can use the codec in question
Yeah, this is the reason we had to stop using Jellyfin client and switched to Kodi. I think the jellyfin didn't have support for pass through for the codec our movie was using and Kodi worked fine.
Is there a specific codec you’re concerned about losing access to?
Mainly Douby Atmos/Vision and such. We currently have our 4k TV connected with eARC to our Soundbar and the soundbar connected to the Shield. The only other thing we connected to the soundbar was our Nintendo Switch dock since I couldn't make surround work otherwise. PS5 surround works fine connected to the TV and I think SD does too (I will need to test it later because I am unsure and I can't remember).
Thinking about it now I think I do need to at least setup a way to play our stuff from Jellyfin on our SDs using Tailscale, this way we can access our stuff while traveling. At this moment we only access it away from home from our phones to listen to music.
Wait... Could you put bigscreen on the desktop mode, configure it with all the fixings, plug in a dock to TV and get a USB/bluetooth remote?
... Shit that's better than a mini ATX HTPC at $600 dollar for dollar since you can run away with it
From what I’ve read, yes.
We both switch years ago on our laptops when Windows 11 became the default windows. Linux Mint ftw
Love Mint, great distro!
Another bonus: Many very good open source games can be added to SteamDeck by:
- Boot to desktop.
- Search the software center.
- Click install.
- Right-click the new game icon, and click "add to Steam"
- Reboot to Steam mode and enjoy.
Some suggestions: Luanti, Empty Epsilon, Free Civ, Tux Racer, most retro emulators.
I might be slightly biased, but I can also recommend OpenMW for Deck.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
Hotkey the apocalypse game would be interesting on a steam deck. I wonder if anyone has attempted to map keys to the steam deck.
I was hugely impressed by how well Caves of Qud handles controller support. Definitely worth a look if you're interested in how these types of games can maintain access to do many different functions.
Hotkey the apocalypse game
Heh. CDDA is pretty intense, but I'm a huge fan of how it handles inventory.
The inventory system is great, I tend to find myself going too deep into organizing my stuff, it's an enjoyable system.
Yeah... There are a lot of things I really like about the game, but every time I've tried playing, I get outside the initial starting point (after filling my pockets with frozen meat and shit lol), it gets kind of meh imo... I do like how you can use a smart phone (or flip phone) and it can even act as a flashlight
I have heard good things about some of the mods/variations
Add anything with sonic in the name. Like SRB2:Persona.
Get a dock and attach it to your TV hours of fun as the family watch you play
I occasionally use it as a streaming device to watch series and movies. Currently going through King of the Hill which is available on archive.org. It's pretty comfortable with Bluetooth keyboard /mouse.
You can install another distribution on it and make the desktop the default boot option! It’s not how I would use it but it’s a major selling point for me. I’m not stuck with the walled garden, even in the default OS!
Could make it Bazzite, and it would probably work just a well as SteamOS... But yeah, no reason to really do that imo
Replacing it with Bazzite is a great option if you want to do anything that SteamOS is too restrictive for without sacrificing any of the features
Edit: to be clear, SteamOS will let you do just about anything, but the way the updates work will override a decent amount of changes you make, since the OS is immutable by default and designed not to be modified.
It is competent too. I can play DBZ Kakarot and Ace Combat 7 at 1080p.
It is still just another Linux distro which doesn't seem that locked down. I don't own a steam deck but I imagine it should be possible to set it boot to desktop with some simple tinkering. In worst case scenario, you might be able to install another distro and get all the tweaks and apps yourself. The toggle can be done with some widgets and script ig.
You can I just wish it was accessible on the GUI.
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but you can add Nested Desktop as a non-Steam game and access it from Gaming Mode. Makes it so you can switch between games and Desktop without having to exit the game too. You might have to tinker with controls and the dim/sleep power settings.
Just to make sure you noticed, when you're in "gaming mode", you can switch to desktop mode easily by going to power menu (either by pressing the power button, or gui power button) and it'll offer you to switch.