Just wanted to let others know that you can install Nix and Home Manager on your SteamDeck which allows for persistent software across system updates without anything breaking. You might need sudo for this.

Simple step by step guide with commands:

• sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --no-daemon - single user installation, from official documentation
• source .bash_profile - load the nix env into your current session
• nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-24.11 nixpkgs - replaces your nix channel with the current stable (nix default to unstable for some reason)
• nix-channel --add https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/archive/release-24.11.tar.gz home-manager - adds the home manager channel
• mv .bash_profile .bash_profile.bckp
• mv .bashrc .bashrc.bckp - these two commands backup your bash config files
• nix-shell '<home-manager>' -A install - installs home manager standalone, as per the official documentation
• kate ~/.config/home-manager/home.nix - open your nix config file in the default text editor and put the following content there:

{ config, pkgs, ... }:
{
  home.username = "deck";
  home.homeDirectory = "/home/deck";

  programs.bash = {
    enable = true;
    initExtra = ''
      if [ -e $HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh ]; then . $HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh; fi

      export NIX_SHELL_PRESERVE_PROMPT=1
      if [[ -n "$IN_NIX_SHELL" ]]; then
        export PS1="$PS1(nix-shell) "
      fi
    '';
  };

  home.stateVersion = "24.11"; # don't change this even if you upgrade your channel in the future, this should stay the same as the version you first installed nix on

  home.packages = with pkgs; [
    
  ];

  programs.home-manager.enable = true;
}

• home-manager switch - applies the configuration from the above file
• close the terminal and open it again, everything should work

The config file tells nix to automatically load the nix environment into your terminal session. This is a fairly minimal setup where nothing is installed. If you want to install some software, simply add it to the home.packages array like so:

  home.packages = with pkgs; [
      nmap
      cowsay
  ];

After running home-manager switch, you should be able to run two new commands: nmap and cowsay.

Other very cool possibility is to install them inside a temporary shell by running: nix-shell -p nmap cowsay. This is perfect, if you only need the package(s) this once and not something you run regularly - after you exit the temporary nix-shell, the packages won't be on your system.

Anyway, nix survives even across system upgrades, because it installs all its files into /nix or your home directory, which are preserved even when upgrading, unlike system directories.

P.S. Don't forget to run nix-collect-garbage from time to time if you install a lot of temporary packages.

Also, I'm not sure why the MSI Claw is on there but other PC handhelds aren't.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/23210770

Full Document: https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/steamworks_docs/english/steam_brandGuidelines.pdf

Credit to @mr_MADAFAKA@lemmy.ml for the original post.

Seems like my wife just missed the cut-off. She was looking at purchasing earlier today, but now that they’re gone she’s pretty crestfallen 🙁

Plus many more games work with minor tweaks or through emulators.

Some LCD Steam Decks are also on sale:

• 64GB LCD Steam Deck 15% off [$349 > $296.65]
• 512GB LCD Steam Deck 25% off [$449 > $336.75]

It's not the clearest photo, but it clearly has both 2 thumb sticks and 2 track pads.

Hey all, got another question. Is Lutris only managed through the desktop mode or is there some sort of plugin you can use to manage it?

I use Lutris on my desktop and know about the option to add a Steam shortcut. Anything else SD specific that needs to be done?

Cheers

It's still "years away", similar to the Xbox handheld.

This came across my GamingOnLinux feed, and I figured y'all might share my interest.

I'm excited for this dock release because my simple JSAUX HDMI dongle has always been a more reliable SteamDeck dock, for me, than my official SteamDeck dock.

I understand recent patches to the SteamDeck official dock may have solved many of the issues I was having.

But it's still cool to see a brand I already trust adding a targeted SteamDeck product.

I don't see whether it accounts for my habit of keeping my SteamDeck in a protective case, though.

Hey all, just wondering how the battery life is after you've had it for a while? I'm getting one soon and wondered if it would have a noticeable impact on the battery if it was on a dock for most of the time.

Cheers

Dbrand vs decalgirl vs others. Is there a noticeable quality difference between the skins sold by certain companies? Im mostly looking at vinyl as the material.

https://x.com/GoldenJoysticks/status/1859648074429366511

To view more details or buy them, go to this page, select "console" and then "Steam Deck". They generally cost between $35-40 USD.

I dunno about other people but I play docked a lot, and typing with a controller is near unbearable sometimes. I specifically had this thought because I was playing webfishing from my couch and thought it would be nice if I could pull out my phone and open the steam app, or maybe they could make some kind of steam deck companion app for this and other features maybe, to quickly type a message or just make typing easier. I dunno if this would be difficult to implement or even possible but I think it would be neat.

We've known these were coming for awhile, but now they're finally out and ready for purchase.

So after I last updated my deck I got a generic error message. No biggie. But then suddenly on the next reboot: stuck at the boot logo. Tried lots of things, no way of getting back in. Not with the current kernel, not with the previous one. Really annoying as I use my deck as a general purpose computer too.

So I created a recovery USB. Reinstalling the OS (which attempts to preserve user data and games) failed silently. So I reluctantly copied my entire home folder to an external drive and went with the nuclear option of completely reimaging the internal drive. After steam os finished installation I restored my entire home folder from the backup and restarted the machine.

I was expecting to having to manually reinstall and reconfigure so many apps and settings. And was verily not looking forward to it. But lo and behold: pretty much everything worked just the way it did before the fumbled system update. My desktop layout and window arrangements remained the same, settings and preferences were preserved, it didn't even log me out of email account. No manual imports of settings required. I had to reinstall most apps via the Discover store first, that much is true. But that took just a couple of minutes.

So yeah, really happy with how that went. Last time I had to reinstall everything on a Windows system it was a major pain as settings are all over the place (on the system drive, in the registry, inside appdata, inside the my documents folder, etc). I guess it has to do with the Linux philosophy of "everything is a file".

In the future I'll actually move my /home/ folder to my SSD card so that if this ever happens again the process is even less painful.

PSA: when you backup your home folder make sure to include all the hidden folders and files (anything starting with a dot like the .config folder).

Main Assembly is great, it is a vehicle maker physics challenge game with co-op... but if you stifle a yawn and think "I have trailmakers/other equivalent and meh do I need another?" the answer is yes, you definitely do!

Main Assembly is fundametally different, what makes it stand out from the pack is that you can easily mold 3d surfaces so the game ends up playing more like a powerful intuitive 3d modelling program than yet another iteration on a vehicle lego-style block building sandbox game.

Surfaces of wings are physically modeled in their contribution to lift, they arent just cosmetic, and it is this kind of thing that makes Main Assembly simultaneously a sophisticated simulation and and immediately tactile and intuitive experience.

Controls are superb on the deck, I recommend using fmCUK's "Usable V0.2" as a basis for a control scheme, most everything felt surprisingly intuitive given how generalist and powerful the tools are in Main Assembly.

Seriously good game, take advantage of the fact that it flew under the radar, pick it up for cheap, heck buy a copy for a friend so you have someone to play with!

the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, has revealed in a Bloomberg interview that Xbox handheld prototypes are currently being worked on. The caveat is that this hardware is still a few years out. So it would appear the rumors that Microsoft is working on an Xbox handheld are indeed true, but we sadly won't see the results of this work for some time.

This isn't technically Steam Deck news, but I think a major player like Microsoft making a Steam Deck competitor is pretty significant as far as the handheld PC market goes.

Hey y'all, I'm just starting to dip my toes into learning more about the Steam Deck and was wondering how likely it is that we'll see refurbished OLED decks for sale by Valve around Black Friday?

If unlikely, what do you recommend as the best way to find a good deal on a used OLED for the holidays?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: To clarify, I'm only interested in the OLED version, despite the crazy good deals on a refurb LCD model!