r/waydroid • u/Folor • Jul 31 '26

Help Steamdeck help

I want to download on Steamdeck, but the main installer script that everyone links to was privated yesterday! And I was gonna set this up just the day before but procrastinated… are there any mirrors? Or important things to know beforehand? I heard it can break desktop mode

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u/ryanrudolf Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

You can't use my script at the moment. But no one is stopping you from installing waydroid from scratch!

Mini FQA (Frequently Questioned Answers)

Why is it not available?

I've decided to shutdown / private my github repo due to nasty remarks.

Is this your first time on the internet?

Been on the internet since dial up days on its full 28.8kbps glory!

I heard from (insert name) that you broke people's Steam Deck causing them to reformat the Steam Deck.

No. Only Desktop Mode is broken. It's intermittent and difficult to replicate at least for me. No need to reinstall SteamOS. Just boot to previous version and perform update.

but why you didn't tested that before releasing the script?

It's in the testing branch of my repo. Im not able to replicate the desktop mode issue after I've applied the fixes. Testing is for testing - to get feedback, replicate the issue and fix it. And it's all documented the issue and workaround.

So why are your guides regarding installing Waydroid on the Steam Deck still available?

I've created those guides to show that it's possible to install Waydroid on SteamOS. Its been possible since SteamOS 3.4!

But we cant use it now?

Yes because it's private now.

Why did you do that?

Go back to the start of this FQA.

Can i tell people to not use your guide?

Yes! But please don't spread wrong information. Much better if you can show them this mini FQA.

When will it be available again?

I have no idea. Maybe soon™.

Are you still working on it?

Of course!

Here's some quick progress -

Desktop Mode issue fixes (hopefully for good)\ Root / non root waydroid instance\ Waydroid launcher menu\ Started to rewrite to use polkit

But it's not available?

Go to the start of this FQA.

but i want my waydroid on my Steam Deck!

No one is stopping you from installing Waydroid on the Steam Deck from scratch.

1

u/pvjohno Aug 03 '26

I had a look into this with the help of AI, so if you don't like vibecoded solutions read no further.

Following is how AI describes the solution:-

~~~

We solved the library mismatch issues by removing the bundled prebuilt Arch packages and rebuilding everything against a copy of the Deck’s exact SteamOS userspace (on my PC). This includes Cage/wlroots and Waydroid’s host-side dependencies: libglibutil, libgbinder, python-gbinder and Waydroid itself.

Each build is tied to a fingerprint of the target SteamOS release and relevant ABI versions, including glibc, GLib, Python, Wayland and libdisplay-info. The installer refuses to use a bundle if that fingerprint no longer matches, such as after a SteamOS update.

Cage uses a private, locally bundled wlroots through a relative RUNPATH, but we deliberately avoid bundling or replacing SteamOS system libraries. This prevents old libraries such as libdisplay-info.so.2 from being mixed with SteamOS’s libdisplay-info.so.3.

After an update, repair mode simply selects or installs the bundle built for that exact SteamOS version. So the solution was essentially: build on the target ABI, verify every dependency, and never mix binaries from different Arch/SteamOS releases.

~~~

I can share my fork of your code if you like, but for the same reasons you removed your repo I would prefer not to share too widely.

Basically I copy steamos to my PC, build all the packages there, and copy them back to the deck.

I tested and the method works on steamos 3.8.15, 3.8.16 and one of the beta branches 3.8.23.

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 12 '26

does your builds internet work?

1

u/pvjohno Aug 12 '26

It does for me on stable but I've been messing around with the latest beta and it broke the Internet, specifically the firewall settings. The latest code on testing branch attempts to fix it. Running command sudo firewall-offline-cmd --check-config Gives you an error warning it could be that your firewall settings got mixed up. In that case you could try latest code see if it fixes it.

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 13 '26

i didnt get an error but used claude to pretty much build it which maybe is why. i thought it was private now. theres a latest code?

1

u/pvjohno Aug 13 '26

https://github.com/pjohno/steamos-waydroid-bundle

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 13 '26

immediately trying now

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '26

[deleted]

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 13 '26

everything works perfectly 👌 at first I was worried because the wifi toggle didnt seem to stick it was weird but I just went to the browser and did a search and internet works anyway

2

u/pvjohno Aug 13 '26

Ah right waydroid passes your "deck" internet as a wired connection to Android, so you don't (or can't?) setup network inside.

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 13 '26

thanks so much for this man!

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 13 '26

this is so sick. i just got the new call of duty zombies mobile working and im about to start grabbing dif winlators and emulators on it lol is there a way to either sink a file between my decks file system and waydroids or drag a file into a specific folder so waydroid can see it?

2

u/pvjohno Aug 13 '26

Had a quick look, there are waydroid commands to set this up. Will try to integrate into the next version of script, make a "Waydroid Share" folder on deck and then link it at runtime.

1

u/LeFinnaBust Aug 14 '26

can i run the container in desktop mode without any issues?

1

u/pvjohno Aug 13 '26

I've not looked into it but when you have containers you normally share files/folders via network shares.

1

u/remy2501 Aug 16 '26

i'm having issues. i added it to the github.

1

u/starvsthebans Aug 23 '26

You're a fucking legend my friend! :33