I recently bought a Steam Deck and I have a lapdock on the way, intending to use the Deck as a dual-purpose gaming handheld and laptop replacement. So on that front, I was wondering what more experienced users could tell me about using it.

I did read through the official FAQ, and a few questions pop up. In no particular order:

  1. Is there a way to boot the Steam Deck directly into desktop mode, without going through the Steam environment first? (Strictly as a time saver)
  2. In practice, how well does sudo steamos-readonly disable and installing things from pacman work out for you? In particular, I want to use PWAs For Firefox and it requires this package in order to work. Do packages actually get wiped with SteamOS updates, as the FAQ warns?
  3. Is it possible to re-enable the read-only filesystem after installing a package, to safeguard it from accidental changes?
  4. Any other tips, tricks or warnings you’d like to share.
  • warmaster@lemmy.world
    3·
    1 hour ago

    When docked, the Deck works great as a desktop PC. But not as a laptop. It’s too much to carry (lapdock + deck). The lapdock would be more suitable for your phone.

    Also, I wouldn’t change the Deck’s OS, the only viable alternative is going with Bazzite. Anything else would be either a risk or a downgraded experience.

  • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzMEnglish
    3·
    2 hours ago

    For 2, there are ways to install packages without messing with the read only file system. Easiest ways are using nix packages or using distrobox to install non-flatpak software.

    So for the linked aur PWA package you provided, you could create an arch linux distrobox, enter it, install yay (or another aur helper), install firefox and your pwa package, and then use the distrobox-export --app <package> command to make the installed software directly runnable from the desktop.

  • Telorand@reddthat.com
    6·
    3 hours ago
    1. Yes, kinda. This apparently breaks your ability to easily switch back to game mode, but you can still get back there by running the second command below and rebooting.

    to boot into desktop mode by default

    steamos-session-select plasma-persistent

    to boot into gaming mode by default (and to fix inability to go back to gaming mode from desktop)

    steamos-session-select gamescope

    1. It will last until each update. Updates happen via an A/B partition switch, so the other partition gets updated, then that one becomes the default for booting (both still technically boot, but the original image will be behind).

    2. If you mean accidental changes by you, then it would be steamos-readonly enable. Note that changes happen via a persistent OverlayFS. Re-enabling might remove that overlay and your changes. Test with something easy to see if it persists. Note point 2 about permanence.

    3. Don’t bother messing with the system files if possible. Try to use an AppImage or Flatpak instead, as they exist in userspace and will persist over updates. The issue is that it’s the core system files that are written to a new image each update, not your home directory. Your home directory and settings will persist.

    If you want something modifiable but still atomic, Bazzite is a good option. You can apply rpm packages via layering, and you can install packages from other package managers via distrobox. You’ll still have the safety of images as restore points. If you want a more traditional Linux experience, though, look into something like CachyOS.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      2·
      3 hours ago

      Thanks, awesome answers all around!

      Regarding another distro, I do use CachyOS on my desktop so that’s definitely an option, but for the time being I want to give SteamOS a fair shot before I go and install a different OS on it. There’s every chance I’ll cave and install CachyOS within a month or two.

      Don’t bother messing with the system files if possible. Try to use an AppImage or Flatpak instead, […]

      Yes, definitely; I was going to do that anyway. There are only a few corner-cases, like the PWAs For Firefox that I linked in the OP, where this isn’t possible or might require a lot more fiddling than I prefer. But in almost all cases, I can work with Flatpaks, AppImages, or through a web browser.

      Thanks for answering, I was honestly not sure I’d get much good info here but you proved me dead wrong :)

  • morgan423@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 hours ago

    To save you time, Nested Desktop can effectively get you into Desktop stuff much more quickly than the standard reboot-to-Desktop sequence.

    That is an older post, but all of this still works exactly the same way now as it did then.

  • Björn@swg-empire.de
    8·
    4 hours ago

    I think it would be much less hassle for you to install another OS instead of SteamOS. Like Bazzite. You should be able to configure that to your liking more easily.

    • Vulwsztyn@programming.dev
      5·
      4 hours ago

      Wanted to suggest the same thing.

      Bazzite is immutable tho, unless I’m mistaken, so if you’d rather use a mutable distro you can look into CachyOS or DraugrOS.

      • Telorand@reddthat.com
        5·
        3 hours ago

        Bazzite will present a similar experience to SteamOS. They’re both immutable/atomic in the same way, but Bazzite has the ability to persist some system changes via package layering, and distrobox allows for installing packages in a semi-traditional way.

        But I agree, if you want a more standard Linux experience, CachyOS and others would be better.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      1·
      2 hours ago

      Thanks for the advice. I’ll consider it long-term, but want to stick with SteamOS for now. I gave a more detailed reply to a different comment if you’re interested in reading it.

  • Broadfern@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    5 hours ago

    I haven’t looked into 1 but from my experience yes, 2 does wipe your changes with every OS update. Coming from another arch-based system it was my preference too but I learned the hard way. Yes it’s annoying but for an immutable distro like SteamOS it’s simpler to install via flatpak.

    If you’re using desktop mode in handheld it does take a minute for the trackpads to work because it uses steaminput, and the Steam client needs to start separately in desktop mode. Touch works immediately.

    Make sure to put your go-to file paths in Places (I think that’s what it’s called) because navigating Dolphin in handheld can also be mildly annoying.

    If you’re using a customizer like DeckyLoader holding off on updates for a week or so until there’s confirmation of stability and compatibility is advisable, but that’s more for handheld mode.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      2·
      2 hours ago

      Thanks for the advice! I did already figure out the thing about the trackpads. I found the whole environment to be surprisingly usable in handheld mode, but definitely not ideal.

      Thankfully that’s not how I’m planning to use it. I ordered a lapdock (specifically this one, which is the only one I’ve found that ships to my godforsaken country) and it should arrive in a couple of weeks and be the main way I use Desktop Mode. Then I don’t need Steam input.

      If you’re using a customizer like DeckyLoader holding off on updates for a week or so until there’s confirmation of stability and compatibility is advisable, but that’s more for handheld mode.

      Can you tell me more about DeckyLoader and why I might want to use it? Or just link to a page with that info. I never looked into it, and I’m wondering what’s actually missing from vanilla SteamOS.