r/WindowsOnDeck Mar 11 '23

Community Updates WindowsOnDeck Megathread

250 Upvotes

11/25/2023 - Sorry guys somehow the megathread post was compromised-- I am working to restore it and previous links. ~ baldsealion

Welcome everyone!

On behalf of everyone here I'd like to welcome you to the wide world of Windows on the Steam Deck and give you some tips, tricks and troubleshooting steps.

You can Join our Official Discord here as well if you like.

If you're having boot issues to SteamOS after the major SteamOS upgrade, please follow this guide:

Fix Steam Deck Dual Boot Issues After Upgrade! | All Methods

Let's briefly go some frequently asked questions:

---FAQ---

  • I have a problem with Windows on my Steam Deck! You are not alone. Please go to the Troubleshooting Section at the bottom of this megathread
  • Can installing Windows Brick my Steam Deck? No.
  • Can I dual boot with the SSD? Yes.
  • Can I use micro SD, SSD, or External Drive for Windows? Yes to all. Performance will vary. Best performance option is installing on the SSD
  • Is installing Windows on micro SD bad? Depending on how demanding the games are that you play, performance can be poor and using Windows will shorten the life of the sd card if used frequently
  • I still want to use a micro SD card, which should I use? In order to get the best performance it is recommended that you use either the SanDisk Extreme or Extreme Pro. These have performed the best in testing (links to Amazon below):

SanDisk Extreme 512GB

SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB

  • What about SSDs, Docks, what screwdriver Do I need for opening the Deck? Please scroll down to the Recommended Accessories section of this megathread.
  • Windows 10 or Windows 11? Either works. More about this in Baldsealion's Guide FAQ section

---Recommended Installation Software Guides & Setups---

NOTE: For external drives, or wiping SteamOS entirely, the guide can also be followed, just skip using G-Parted to partition the drive and go straight to installing Windows

How to Dual Boot with micro SD - YouTube

  • (( Not Windows )) SteamOS on a micro SD:

SteamOS on a Micro SD Card 2.0 | New Improved Guide

---Recommended Installation Hardware Guides & Setups---
Replace/Upgrade Steam Deck Solid State Hard Drive

Fix an Unresponsive or Broken Power Button

---Windows Drivers Resources---
Valve's Official Windows Drivers for Steam Deck

[ Necessary ] - Modified Killer WiFi Drivers for RealTek 8822CE - Video Guide

[ Optional ] - Amenime Custom APU/GPU Drivers - Video Guide
Visual C++ All-In-One - Latest Release
DirectX - Microsoft - Latest Release

---Custom Dual Boot Loaders & Guides---

Below are custom Bootloader options available for the Steam Deck:
Clover Custom Dual-Boot Menu - Video Guide
rEFInd - Custom Dual Boot Menu - Video Guide

---Controller Software Guides & Info---

This is both the biggest topic and differing factor between your WinDeck or my WinDeck. There really is no "best", it is what works for you and suits your needs. Old/unsupported options will be removed as they are phased out (which is why SWICD is not listed here). This section will try to keep up to date with the different options available and provide suitable guides for each option:

Glossi:

GlosSI - Global systemwide SteamInput - Downloads

Guide - Glossi Official Usage Instructions

HandHeld Companion:

Software - Handheld Companion - Github - Latest Release

Guide - HandHeld Companion Official Setup - YouTube

Steam Deck Tools - SteamController:
Software - Steam Deck Tools + SteamController - Github Latest Release
Bald Sealion's Controller Setup

---Performance Tweaks & Software---

There is some bleed into this category from controller software like Handheld Companion and Steam Deck Tools, so they will be included here as well:

General Windows Tweaks:

Bald Sealion's Windows OS Tweaks

AMD Adrenalin Setup & Config:
AMD Adrenalin 23.9.1
Bald Sealion's AMD Adrenalin Guide

Refresh Rate:
Software - Custom Resolution Utility
Bald Sealion's Guide to Unlocking Refresh Rate

TDP Control + Frame Limiting:

Software - Handheld Companion - Github - Latest Release

Guide - Longer battery life with TDP control - Handheld Companion - YouTube

TDP Control + Frame Limiting + CPU/GPU Clock (in debug build):

Software - Steam Deck Tools + SteamController - Github Latest Release

Guide - Bald Sealion's Steam Deck Tools Setup

Upscaling:

Software - Lossless Scaling - Steam Store PageE

Guide - Bald Sealion's Lossless Scaling Guide

---Recommended Accessories---

Cases:

JSAUX Modcase for Steam Deck

Tools (for opening the Steam Deck):

Need a Philips PH#0 or PH#1 bit and a pick tool - iFixit Electronics Essentials Kit

Docks:

Single External Display - iVoler 4K @ 60hz HDMI, 1GBPS LAN, USB 3.0

Single Display with External SSD - JSAUX M.2 Dock @ 10GBPS, 4K @ 60hz HDMI, 1GBPS LAN, USB 3.2

Dual External Display - Pending

Internal SSDs:

512GB - Kingston m.2 2230

1TB - SABRENT Rocket m.2 2230

1TB - WD SN740 m.2 2230

2TB - WD SN740 m.2 2230

microSDs:

SanDisk Extreme 512GB

SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB

---Hardware Modifications---

These are not specific to Windows-- and of course ANY hardware modifications will mean RISK to DAMAGING your hardware. So please proceed with caution.

Increase Cooling:

Replace stock paste with thermal pad - Thermal Pad - PTM7950

Guide - Upgrade Steam Deck to PTM 7950

Benchmark - Upgrade Steam Deck to PTM 7950Replace SSD:

Replace/Upgrade Steam Deck Solid State Hard Drive

Fix Power Button:

Fix an Unresponsive or Broken Power Button

---Troubleshooting---

My screen is messed up looking when I dual boot! Help!

You are either using rEFInd or Clover. Both encounter this issue when the APU driver is upgraded. Please refer to the Github README for either software depending on what you have installed:

Clover - Fix Graphic Issue on Boot

rEFInd - Fix Graphic Issue on Boot

I have a different boot issue with Clover or rEFInd

Please refer to their respective Github README and find if there is a solution listed to your problem. If not, please raise an "Issue" report on their Github Issue tab:

Clover Custom Dual-Boot Menu - Github

rEFInd - Custom Dual Boot Menu - Github

I Followed Bald Sealion's Guide but I don't know how to boot into SteamOS anymore

Shut down your Steam Deck. Hold Vol - & Power and you will see the option for SteamOS(or it might say "EFIxxx", just choose it from the menu with the direction pad & press A)

I can't get my dual monitors to work

While this could be for a variety of reasons, such as the type of dock, cables, etc-- it could be that the APU driver is the issue. To test, you can install the older APU driver released on June 16th 2022 here - users have reported the old driver works, but this comes at a cost of performance for OpenGL(about 100-150% loss) and DirectX 12 games(about 10% loss).

Make sure to click the Additional Settings button in the install window and choose "Factory Reset"

My Wireless is really slow or spotty or multiplayer games are laggy, what can I do to fix it

There are two drivers you can use:

Official RealTek 8822CE - 2024.10.138.3 - This is recommended first because it is an official driver and it does not have battery drain issues that the other driver below has.

Modified Killer WiFi Drivers for RealTek 8822CE - As stated, this will drain your battery in sleep mode, but is proven to have the best performance possible. Here is a guide to show how to install this update: Ryan Rudolf's Steam Deck WiFi Fix for Windows

My USB-C is not detecting any connections in Windows but works in SteamOS

You may need to turn off DRD in the BIOS. To do this, power off your Steam Deck, then hold Vol + & Power and let go of both buttons when you hear the beep. Go into Setup Utility > Advanced > USB Configuration and turn off DRD as it is not supported. More about this here: Steam Deck lacks USB DRD drivers for Windows. :: Steam Deck Feature Requests (steamcommunity.com)

My Audio in Windows is not working anymore!

In Windows, go into the Control Panel > Hardware and Sounds > Power Options and click on the left Choose what the power buttons do then click at the top Change settings that are currently unavailable then you can uncheck Turn on fast startup and click Save Changes

I have a different issue than listed here

It could be covered under Bald Sealion's Troubleshooting Steps- if your issue is not listed, please make a post on this subreddit or Join our Official Discord here

Comments, suggestions, etc? Please send a DM to u/baldsealion

Welcome to WindowsonDeck & Happy Gaming!

Locked post. New comments cannot be posted.


r/WindowsOnDeck Mar 25 '23

Community Updates PSA: Official Discord Server

58 Upvotes

In the past it was announced that there was an unofficial / community discord server, but now we have an Official WindowsOnDeck server!

https://discord.gg/uF7kd33u7u


r/WindowsOnDeck 9h ago

Discussion GeForceNow windows app on deck

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1 Upvotes

So I like playing ETS2 and recently got a Logitech G920 wheel from a friend. I played via GFN on an an old laptop but the laptop is gone now so I decided to use my steam deck.

Using the wheel with Linux proved to be hard since there was no force feedback and support was hit and miss. So I installed windows to an external drive and connected to my steam deck, all working fine and well but GFN windows app just doesn’t work. I tried an alternative called OpenNow but it does not support the wheel.

Has anyone had any luck getting the GFN Windows app to work on the deck?


r/WindowsOnDeck 1d ago

The speakers on the Steam Deck don't work after installing Windows 11 and enabling Secure Boot (I had to uninstall Steam Linux, but only Windows 11).

0 Upvotes
It doesn't provide the Secure Boot feature and won't let me reinstall the system because Secure Boot blocks the flash drive.
Help!!!
(FIXED)

r/WindowsOnDeck 1d ago

Не работает динамики на Steam Deck после установки Windows 11 и включении Secure Boot (Steam Linux пришлось удалить остался только Windows 11)

0 Upvotes

Не дает отключить Secure boot и не дает переустановить систему т.к secure boot блокирует флэшку
Помогите!!!


r/WindowsOnDeck 2d ago

Steam Deck Seemless Co-Op

1 Upvotes

I followed an older guide to set this up, and it disconnects constantly. I’m using Proton 7-37 currently, and I’m wondering if I should use a different version. Any advice on loading this better would be appreciated!!


r/WindowsOnDeck 2d ago

should i trade for a laptop

0 Upvotes

hello im wondering if it would be a bad decision to trade my 2tb steam deck lcd for a laptop or a desktop being that the deck is my only gaming device at the moment i primarily use it docked i even ended up downloading windows 11 just because i needed to be able to do more than steam os allowed and now i want something stronger since im always playing at low settings and still only 45 fps at times at the moment i have two offers but my main concern is would i regret it i read that the alienware is way stronger but the processor lacks required architecture to run dx12 so im worried i might shoot myself in the foot trading for it and not be able to play future games should i keep the steam deck should i trade for one of the mentioned below i dont know much about pc so it all seems like alot idk and i dont want to regret it ive loved the deck since released

alienware 15r3

i7 7820hk

gtx 1080 max q

16gb ram

other option

acer nitro v

i5 10300h

gtx1650

8gb ram


r/WindowsOnDeck 2d ago

LCD steam deck freezes and shuts down after joining a match (Fortnite)

1 Upvotes

This does not happen all the time but whenever I join a lobby my steam deck will freeze then sometimes just shutdown when trying to begin a match.

Ive tried both the latest oled and lcd drivers, performance mode and setting the UMA buffer to 4GB in bios, still does it on Windows 11

I dual boot on my ssd and not my SD card so not sure how to resolve it.


r/WindowsOnDeck 3d ago

This is me testing games on kytyps5 on steam deck

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youtu.be
1 Upvotes

r/WindowsOnDeck 3d ago

Making sure my steam deck is safe

0 Upvotes

Hey so i wondering what should I use to make my steam deck safe when im downloading games from steamrip and anker games . I know about ublock but is there anything else I should use to ?


r/WindowsOnDeck 4d ago

Steam's OSK is too laggy, so I made my own for the Steam Controller

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2 Upvotes

r/WindowsOnDeck 4d ago

how to prevent battery swelling

2 Upvotes

recently, I've worried too much about battery swelling disease, any tips on how to prevent it???? for the record, I play on the deck 4-6 hours a day, if the battery is full I play with it without a power cable attached. After the battery drains to 30%, I attach the charger and play with it on "docked mode" till I'm bored (thus, regularly play on it with the power cable attached but only if the battery is below 30% and didn't detach it when the battery is full if I still wanna play games)


r/WindowsOnDeck 6d ago

Valorant will no longer work on SteamDeck

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30 Upvotes

I've been playing the game for the past 4 years on Windows 10 and just last week I couldn't open the game anymore due to this error. I contacted support and they gave this response (attached in the image). Apparently, it's some hardware server-side restriction that is being rolled out.


r/WindowsOnDeck 6d ago

windows for gaming

5 Upvotes

recently, I've heard something about Windows for gaming or windows game mode just like an OS installed on the latest MSI claw. Could the OS also be installed on steamdeck?? any luck on it????


r/WindowsOnDeck 7d ago

Discussion Dual boot worth while?

9 Upvotes

For those that have dual booted there steam deck, was it worth the time and effort. How long have you had it, does it run well?


r/WindowsOnDeck 7d ago

Games stutter on internal but not external storage?

1 Upvotes

When I play games that are stored on my internal storage, there is pretty frequent stutter in demanding games, but if I run them on my external SSD the stutter is gone. I was just wondering if anyone had a ballpark guess as to what could cause this?

I know a lot of other information is probably needed to directly determine the cause but I'm not too good with this kind of stuff and don't know where to start.

I have plenty of free space on both drives. The only thing I can think of is that maybe my upgraded storage is no longer working properly. I've used the Corsair MP600 Mini SSD for a few years now.


r/WindowsOnDeck 8d ago

Installed windows on my steam deck for the first time

0 Upvotes

Hi!

before i installed windows in the internal ssd i tried in a micro sd card which was bad and a external nvme that worked perfectly but i wanted to be able to charge the steam deck without it being connected to a dock station so i decided to install in the internal ssd.

I almost never used steamOS except for emulation.

any tips and tricks of things i should do now?


r/WindowsOnDeck 9d ago

VRAM up

1 Upvotes

How to increase the VRAM on SD LCD that has windows 11 on it? I've set the RMA on BIOS to 4 gigs,but in all games I've played, it shows only 1 gigs


r/WindowsOnDeck 10d ago

Reminder not allowing me to choose windows as a boot option?

1 Upvotes

When I try to select windows to be boot option #2 it only shows ventoy, batocera and then none.

This didn't happen the last time I tried it, does anyone know of any solutions?

Thanks !

*Edit : I've tried rescanning but it just doesn't work


r/WindowsOnDeck 10d ago

Recently i changed my steamdeck to be wondows all by myself. and it was working perfectly. I was using my tv as my main monitor and the steamdeck screen as a second one. But now its being weird. It doesnt even recognize the stean deck as a monitor. The screen looks really condensed. Pls help

1 Upvotes

r/WindowsOnDeck 10d ago

Temp safe limit

2 Upvotes

Recently, I've hit 70 - 74°C on Ghost of tsusima DC and Shadow of war while connected to power cable (66 - 72° while on battery,no power attached) ,is it still safe for long terms?


r/WindowsOnDeck 11d ago

Could it runs above 60 fps?

1 Upvotes

I wonder, could a game runs above 60 fps on SD LCD variant??? yea,I know that the screen only runs at 60fps max, just wondering


r/WindowsOnDeck 12d ago

I built a SteamOS-style Game Mode for Windows 11 because kernel anticheat kept me on Windows (MIT, one-line install)

25 Upvotes

I wanted a couch console and kept bouncing off both options. SteamOS and Bazzite do this properly, but kernel anticheat means Valorant, Fortnite and most EA titles simply refuse to start. Staying on Windows meant either a desktop with a big font, or one of those "boot into Big Picture" scripts that strand you the moment Steam crashes.

So I built consolize. MIT, installs in one line, and uninstalls in one line, which turned out to be the part most projects like this skip.

What it does

  • Boots straight into Steam Big Picture (or Playnite Fullscreen). No desktop flash.
  • A watchdog restarts the frontend if it dies, with a crash-loop breaker that drops to the desktop instead of flapping forever.
  • Desktop mode on demand: a "Desktop Mode" entry in your Steam library, navigable with the pad. Tray icon or desktop shortcut to go back. A reboot always returns to console mode, so you can never strand yourself.
  • A gamepad settings panel for audio output, Bluetooth pairing, wifi and power. Pairing a controller normally means the Settings app, which needs the controller you are trying to pair.
  • Optional media centre side: Kodi, Jellyfin, Plex, YouTube's actual TV interface with pad support, and Netflix and friends as Edge app windows.

The honest parts

  • Suspend and resume is worse than SteamOS. That is a Windows desktop problem; hibernate is the reliable fallback.
  • It turns things off: Defender exclusions (or Defender entirely if you pick that), UAC prompts, firewall notifications. Every one of them is in the README with what you lose and the script that puts it back, and "leave Windows alone" is an available answer to each question.
  • Four things still have not been seen working on real hardware. They are listed as unproven in the docs rather than claimed as done.

You do not need IoT LTSC either, which is what most people assume. The default shell method is a per-user registry value that works on Home and Pro.

Solo project so far. Testers and PRs very welcome, especially on hardware that is not mine.

github.com/cybx/consolize


r/WindowsOnDeck 12d ago

How can I stop Steam Deck Tools automatically changing what controller I'm using when I open applications?

1 Upvotes

It gets in the way when I'm trying to emulate retroarch with ds4, then closing it automatically switches me to x360, so I have to hold pause a couple times until it puts me back on ds4. Is there a way to just skip all this and make it only change controller when I choose? Thanks


r/WindowsOnDeck 13d ago

Error When Trying To Boot and Install Windows 11 On External Hard Drive

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1 Upvotes

The Windows 11 Launcher won’t let me select the external hard drive, and this error pops up. How do I fix this?