Hi everyone,

I’m trying to install SteamOS and I am unable to get past the installation screen because it keeps saying “No networks found” despite being fully connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable.

When I go to the Desktop mode through my USB, it shows my Ethernet working just fine. Can someone please help me understand what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks you in advance!

Hey, long-time Windows user here. I've been considering ditching Windows and switching to SteamOS.

However, is it actually worth it? I know this is probably an odd place to ask whether SteamOS is worth switching to, considering this entire subreddit is dedicated to it, but I do a lot of things on my PC gaming-wise that are completely separate from Steam. I don't want to end up being limited to games that are designed around the Steam ecosystem, nor do I want to code to make games with no Linux launchers work (I did it once...Never again.).

I'm also, frankly, fairly stupid when it comes to this kind of stuff. Every time I see command prompts and people typing out a bunch of Linux commands, I immediately worry that I'm going to have to learn how to code just to customize or maintain my own PC which is what scared me off last time I used Linux on a laptop.

So, would SteamOS actually be a good fit for someone like me? Or would I be better off just debloating Windows the next time I reset my PC?

Last week, I very excitedly disposed of Windows 11 and went full SteamOS on my main PC. However, after some issues I went back into Windows 11.

So straight to the point: games ran very poorly on SteamOS for me. I have a 1440p 240hz Ultrawide OLED display (7800x3d cpu and 7900xtx gpu) and the games just didn’t perform as well as they did on Windows. I triple checked every possible setting, and nothing would make the games run better.

What I mean by “running poorly” is that games’ colors were not as good on SteamOS. FPS also wasn’t as good, let alone any better. The whole point was that games would perform better and that just wasn’t the case for me. On top of that, having to find a workaround for certain applications that don’t natively run on Linux was a bit annoying.

The only reason I switched to SteamOS was to have my games run muchhh better and to have the full experience of the Steam UI but honestly big picture mode fills that same purpose and CSS loader (UI customization) also works flawlessly on Windows 11.

If you want the full “console” experience on PC Windows 11 just run big picture mode on startup and customize it with CSS loader.

Maybe this won’t be, or isn’t your experience on SteamOS PC, and maybe I wasn’t smart enough to fix certain settings (even though the whole point of SteamOS is to plug and play) but just wanted to share my experience.

Pls don’t flame me lol.

I realized that this is a common question among many users, including myself, as I had the exact same question at the end of last year.

First of all, you need to know that:

• Valve's official support is only for products supported by the company itself, so this installation is entirely experimental;

• Nvidia GPUs are NOT supported;

• Secure boot must be disabled;

• Dual-boot is not officially supported on the same drive;

EDIT: As u/jaakhaamer pointed out, it is possible to workaround dual boot using this tool from Josh5: steamos_dual_boot_installer_patch

• The installation must be done on an NVMe drive;

• A keyboard and mouse are required for the initial setup and login, as well as a USB drive.

Step by step:

/ 1. Prepare the drive for installation:

• Set aside a USB drive of at least 16GB, because although the image is only 3GB, it has been highly compressed and usually ends up being more than that when flashed;

• Download the official image from the update repository:

steamdeck-repair-main-20251027.1000-3.8.0.img.zip

EDIT: As u/Dan-Merz pointed out in this post, currently the main branch has updated the bootloader, so it is recommended to install e use beta version to avoid boot loops. For now, you should download this instead:

steamdeck-repair-beta-20260413.100-3.8.2.img.zip

(The reason this image should be downloaded instead of the official image from the Steam website is because version 3.7 does not yet have the Mesa Drivers update, which are essential for reading newer video cards with RDNA 4);

• Unzip the file;

• Download Balena Etcher and flash the .img file to your USB drive. This process usually takes some time.

/ 2. Restart your device and enter the BIOS;

/ 3. Disable Secure Boot, save the settings, and choose the USB drive as the boot option;

/ 4. Once the system boots from the USB drive, you should see several lines of code. These are confirming which hardware you are running the installation on. If this happens, then it means the process worked.

/ 5. You will be taken to the KDE desktop, where you will see the option to wipe and install. Simply click and wait for the official SteamOS to be installed on your machine.

Done. And that's how you installed the official version of SteamOS on your non-Valve machine.

I built a machine the other day and installed steamos on it. It’s awesome, except for one issue: on the OS and in certain games the audio will cut out for a few seconds at a time. This issue only happens when the audio is via HDMI, if I use headphones instead the audio is consistent. I can replicate it in desktop mode to by spamming the buttons to test my speakers.

My assumption is it’s a driver issue. Anyone know what’s going on?

I’m using a Ryzen 5 3600 and Radeon 9600 XT.

Update: I’ve connected a DP -> HDMI adapter and it’s fixed this issue completely.

I have an lg c1 oled tv with 120hz and vrr.

But I really wanted HDMI-CEC so I can power the cv and wake the pc from the 2.4ghz controller.

I got the ugreen adaptor.

UGREEN 8K@60Hz DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter Active DP 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 Cable | 4K@120Hz Uni-Directional Display Port Male to Female

With this cec works great. But I dont get VRR enabled on my tv. If I move the cable back to the hdni port, vrr works

Anybody got cec and vrr working?

I just build a custom pc with a 9070 xt and installed SteamOS on it. In my graphics settings connected to my lg c4 I should have the option for 4k 144 hz but the highest is 120 hz. And I am using a certified hdmi 2.1 48 gbps cable and 144 hz mode is enabled on my tv. I only have the option for 1080p if I want to play at 144 hz. Help please

Motherboard is a MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI II ATX AM5 Motherboard

Have installed the Wi-Fi antenna but I cannot find any network, let alone my own.

Anyone able to help???

So SteamOS recognizes my GPU in desktop mode, but not in the Steam client. Do I need to fix this? How do I fix this?

Hey everyone. Recently dabbled in building my own little steam machine and just had a question because I'm new to this world.

I read online that steamos kind of automatically will download GPU drivers but am not really convinced how this works. I have updated to the newest version so how can my machine get the newest GPU driver to play the witcher 3?

Thanks!

When trying to do the installation on my PC I read about it a bit on different threads I settled with this version that seemed to be succesfull for people using similar setups:

steamdeck-repair-main-20251027.1000-3.8.0.img.zip

I can boot it from my USB drive and install it, zero problems there, when it reboots I encounter the initial setup asking me to select language, timezone, network and doing a quick update. After it reboots it no longer works with one of these problems appearing:

1. It will get freezed in the initial boot (press del to access BIOS)
2. Just a black screen
3. A screen with four options: SteamOS (it says X number of failed boot attempts below), Partition B, Steam OS with console commands and Partition B with console commands

In the last one, I can access Partition B but it's the initial setup over again, selecting language, timezone, etc

Things I've tried:

1. Using other USB devices, a total of 2 USB drives and 1 SD card but with the same results
2. Disabling Secure Boot on BIOS
3. Connecting the monitor to the GPU HDMI, motherboard HDMI, GPU displayport or motherboard displayport

Yes, I know Bazzite is a thing but I've wanted to try SteamOS first

I wonder which machine is more powerful? I would like to compare apples to apples since both of them run Steam OS. Steam Machine has 16 GB of RAM and Legion Go S Steam OS has 32 GB of RAM. As I understand for Linux system 16 GB of RAM is more than enough. Also price wise it seems that Steam Machine should cost less than Legion Go S Steam OS 32 GB of RAM.

i recently played through all of rdr2 for 90 hrs with no issues, then put 20 hours into gta 5 with no issues. now since yesterday i've been getting this error when trying to play gta 5, gta 4 and rdr2. i noticed the launcher updating during the long amount of time i usually have to wait, i'd never seen it do this before, and now none of my rockstar games work. i just keep getting this error.

ive tried deleting the launcher cache, uninstalling rockstar launcher and reinstalling it, disconnecting my internet, playing with a vpn enabled, using ge proton 10-30 and proton experimental, deleting proton files via the developer option in the cog menu on the game, deleting the compdata folder for the game.

absolutely nothing has worked and every solution i've found has been for windows and usually involves making an exception in microsoft defender or the windows firewall or something of the some sort. does anyone on steam os or other linux distros have any sort of solution for this?

this feels especially infuriating considering 1. i do not want to play these games online whatsoever, i just want to play the story modes, and 2. it feels like a slap in the face after the no physical copies for gta 6/future playstation games debacle.

anyways, any help is much appreciated, thank you!

EDIT, SOLVED: changing to ge-proton11-3 fixed the issue for me and i was able to get the launcher up and running and get back into gta 5, gta 4, and rdr2. thanks for the lighting quick help guys, the steam os community is the best 😁

I installed steamos on my Rog ally z1 extreme and didn't have problems with it for months, but now I can't find a way to run Minecraft dungeons without buying it again on steam

I was curious about steam os, i installed it in my usb drive, and then booted from it from my boot manager(im on windows amd), i thought that it would allow me to select one of my drives ti install it on, but no, i just launched into steamos, to my horror i didnt find my windows nvme in boot section, i inly found it in nvme configuration.

Is it wiped? What do i do

Im currently installing win 11 on the drive to see if i can use the repair function or something

I’ve seen posts about Linux generally, but nothing definitive around SteamOS running on non valve hardware.

I have a full AMD build, just updated to the preview version of SteamOS and the beta of SteamVR.

This allowed me to pair the dongle to the headset and start streaming. And unfortunately that’s when the problems started…

Performance was completely unusable. Compression artifacts during the playable moments, then frequent crashing and freezing. I disable multi-link to force the adapter to be the only option and it didn’t help.

I tried multiple USB ports, including the red motherboard port. No luck. It seems like the adapter is just losing signal every 30 seconds to a minute.

I know I’m in the preview build, but has anyone solved this yet?

I click the wipe option and get this pop up but it disappears after 5 seconds and doesn’t do anything. I have an AMD CPU & GPU and have turned off secure boot. I have a 1tb nvme drive on my pc and a second 1tb nvme drive as well. I’m running the install from a bootable USB.

Update: i was able to bypass the Sanitation request after putting the PC to sleep using the following command in terminal:

systemct suspend

About a week ago I posted about resident evil 9 crashing everytime I put my self built machine in sleep mode

Well since then I’ve tried more games

No rest for the wicked
007 first light
Returnal
Hogwarts

All of these games crash everytime in sleep mode

Only 2 games have worked correctly with sleep mode and those are

Nine sols
Silksong

Idk if I’ve done something wrong or if valve just has some bugs they have to fix in steam os for self built machines, because on steam deck no games I played ever crashed in sleep mode

Hello I want to install SteamOS on my PC but I am stucked while being almost finished.

I am connected on my PC with a Ethernet Kabel. But SteamOS does not find a network.

The internet worked before that when I was on the desktop. But not in the setup ans I can't continue with out it.

Since my Mainboard has no wifi and I dont have a stick do I need go buy one or is there a way to get a network with Ethernet

Hi all,

Current PC specs:

Intel Core i7-9700K
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI
32GB DDR4 3000MHz RAM
GeForce RTX 3070 8GB
750W EVGA Gold PSU
1440p 240Hz monitor

I’m starting to struggle in newer AAA games, especially at higher settings / resolutions. Games like Starfield don’t run as well as I’d like anymore.
I also really love the experience on my Steam Deck OLED and I’m getting increasingly fed up with Windows bloat/background processes/etc. Because of that, I’m considering moving my gaming PC to either:

Bazzite / SteamOS-style Linux gaming or staying on Windows 11

The two upgrade paths I’m considering are:
RX 9070 XT 16GB + Bazzite/SteamOS
RTX 5070 + Windows 11

Main priorities:
Best overall Steam gaming performance
Smooth “console-like” experience
1440p ultra / decent 4K
Long-term VRAM headroom
Less OS overhead/bloat
Stable drivers and minimal tinkering

I mostly play single-player Steam games rather than competitive shooters.

Questions:
Which setup would you personally choose today?
How good is AMD + Bazzite/SteamOS currently in real-world use?
Is Nvidia on Linux still annoying enough to avoid?
Would my i7-9700K bottleneck either card badly?
Anyone here daily-driving Bazzite on a desktop gaming PC?

Thanks!

Hello guys,
this is my first kind of tutorial for these kind of stuff so I might get things wrong or something I did might not work for you, if so I am sorry!

so MCD II came out today, and you can't really run it on steamOS or any linux device because of Microslop, but I figured out a way to make it run at least in the offline mod, I haven't really had the chance to check if online mode works (as my friend isn't home yet).

1. Download MCD II on a windows PC, it will ask you to link your Microslop, account, if you have one do so, then you can erase the game from your PC, (it could work without it but I did it anyways)

2. after doing so you can install the game on your steamOS device,

3. before launching the game you will need to tinker with a few thing. you will need to download Proton GDK 11-7 by LukasPAH
   (I would provide a link but I don't know if it will get my post removed)

4. after doing so, you will need to download xcurl.dll (again I don't know if I can provide links)

5. once downloaded, add the GDK 11-7 to steam which you drag and drop to compatability tools (this is also where proton GE is installed)

6. go to where MCD II is installed and replace the current xcurl.dll file with the one you just got
   (it is located inside the binary folder inside MCD II)

then restart steam or just return to gaming mod and it should boot you into MCD II, the loading time to boot up the game can take sometime but it should work, if you get any issues with performance tinker around with the setting.

Thank you all, and I do make mistakes sometimes so if something is wrong here in this post or a step can be skipped please correct this in the comments!

As of yesterday my Bluetooth stopped working, and won’t turn back on. I have SteamOS installed on my legion go 2. I’ve tried a hard reset and have gone into desktop and when I open up Bluetooth settings it shows it’s off and won’t toggle on. I’m new to using steam, and wanted to know if there’s a way to uninstall the drives or something else I can try?

I am going to be building my first desktop soon, just waiting on parts to arrive, and I plan on running SteamOS on the new setup.

I already daily drive my steam deck in desktop mode and I really want to transfer over everything how it is currently set up. I dont want to have to worry about losing settings, preferences, game mods, non-steam files or games and everything else. The list goes on.

I dont want to worry that I am forgetting something that I installed on the deck a couple years ago to make my life easier?

Is there a way for me to easily transfer everything over?

Anyone had issues enabling HDR in game, every time I do the game crashes and gamescope appears.

Running a 9070xt and steam OS 3.8.22

I’ve tried both GE proton and experimental

Edit: locking resolution to 1080p still results in the same crash