Steam Deck replaced the game for PC players, opening a world of portability that was usually reserved for nintendo fans. Naturally, the manufacturers tried to follow the suit with Windows-based handheld and have results, we will say, mixed. Now, the valve has issued official instructions to install its steamos on equipment other than steam decks. Let’s do it – and do you need it.
I should pay attention in front: This is going to be an unclear area when it comes to the official support from the company that has made in your hand. At the time of writing, Lenovo Legion GoS “operated by Steamos” is the only handheld with branding (in addition to steam deck), meaning it is officially supported with the final build. You can install steamos on devices such as Legion Go and The ROG Ellie, but their support is not final.
In addition, it should be said without saying, but we will say it anyway: If you wipe the windows from your handheld, you will not be able to play Windows-based games that are not supported through steamos. This happens to a large extent Online gameBut it is worth checking the sites Abundant To ensure that your favorite games will work on Stemos.
Why should you install steamos on your Windows Handheld?
So, what are the upsides, with cavets out of the way? Placed (excessive), bus, Windows is not designed for handheld. In fact, under the hood, Windows goes to see your gaming as a laptop. To include things such as Microsoft teams, which run in the background, or pop up the alert box that disrupts your game to inform you about a low battery.
Now that people are able to experiment with steamos and Windows on the same hardware, it is clear that Windows is the only one. A huge nerf for both frame rate and battery lifeEven gaming laptops, which can often stay for the whole day for normal work, can struggle to get a few hours of the gameplay even after staying away from a charger. So it’s so important Best Battery Life Tick Your Settings,
Gaming handheld only makes this problem worse with a small form factor, and thus a small battery. In my experience, I have struggled to play two hours like a light game Stardyu valley From a windows handheld, while steam decks and even the switch can be more than six hours or more.
Since Windows is mainly designed as a computer (and in the form of other tablets) as a computer, it is also difficult to Twinkling the settings using the controller input. What, in fact, is the controller Ctrl+alt+equal to? When you can plug into a keyboard to excavate around in your handheld settings, it is easy to do on steamos, as its interface control is made from ground for input.
At this point, the valve has also shown that running steam games through the proton compatibility layer works so well that it is almost comfortable. I agree, when the steam deck was first announced, I expected the game to be broken or their original Windows would perform much poorly compared to counterparts. In four hundred hours Heads II Later, however, and it is clear that many games can actually run better On steamos compared to windows.
Step 1: Download and prepare a steamos recovery image USB stick
Out of the way, let’s start. To install steamos on your gaming handhald, you will need two things: steamos recovery image and a USB stick (preferably USB-C) with at least 8 GB storage. Make sure anything is properly supported on the USB stick, as this process will improve that device.
Steam deck recovery image Can be found hereThis is slightly higher than 3GB, so it may take some time to download based on your connection. When you wait for it, you will also need a utility to make a recovery USB drive. Valve recommends Ruffas for Windows usersAnd Balena for Mac or Linux users,
Once the recovery image is downloaded, use whatever tool that chose to write a recovery image on your USB drive. This process should be relatively straight. For example, the rufus will introduce you with a dropdown, which will be with a dropdown to select which drive to write the file under the device, and under boot selection, click on select to take the recovery image file. Start and wait click on. reminder: This will erase your USB drive content.
Step 2: Disable safe boot in your hand
This part can be a bit difficult, and the exact process will be different, based on which you are in your own hand. Valve is Breaking of steps here For some specific equipment, such as Legion Go and ROG partners. However, MSI or other devices of Ayaneo will have their own process.
In general, steps will usually go into something like this:
What do you think so far?
-
Reboot BIOS. How you can catch DEL or F2 on a computer while rebooting to achieve BIOS, similarly, your gaming handheld has a similar process. Often it holds the volume + -like button when pressing the power button, but check the instructions of your specific device if it does not work.
-
Navigate on safe boot settings. You may have to hit around for this. Look for categories like safety, and you may have to switch to advanced settings mode or menu to find it. This setting should be called a safe boot. Change it to disable it.
-
Save the settings and restart your device. Once you change safe boot settings, be sure to save changes in your BIOS and restart.
Depending on the device, you may have to use touchscreen to navigate the BIOS, or even plug into the keyboard or mouse. Again, the link near the valve has nuances for some devices, but if you are lost, the manufacturer of your device will be your best bet to get specific instructions.
Step 3: boot using steamos recovery image
Credit: Eric Revennecraft
Once you disable the safe boot, you can plug the USB stick into your handheld and restart the device. At this point, you should finish on a boot menu that lets you choose which drive to boot. Once again, this process will sometimes differ by the device, so if you are not sure how to go to the boot menu, check the document of your device.
When you reach the boot menu, select your USB drive with a steamos recovery image on it. This will take you to the steamos desktop environment. Here, you will see four shortcuts on the desktop. The label that we care about is label “Install wipe devices and steamos”Give that a single tap (double-tapping will launch it twice, so be careful).
At this point, you should see a warning Proceeding with this step will disappear everything on your deviceIf you have an important game on this device, save, media, or work file (for some reason), which were not already supported, you can still bail on this process and reboot Windows to save them. This is not a return, though. Make sure you are ready before proceeding.
Step 4: Familures yourself with Quirks of your new handheld
Credit: Eric Revennecraft
The install process will not have a very long time, and when it happens, your handheld will resume and start the setup as it is a natural-birth steam deck. Although some are quirks. For example, in my test on Legion Go, the device tutorial pointed to the “steam button” down-left, but used the Xbox logo. In fact, the concerned button was in the top-rights, and there was a legend logo. It also pointed to a microSD card slot on the bottom of the device which is not present.
Prepare for something strange when you are using the device until you are using an official “steamos” device. In addition to the tutorial, I found some games that I was not able to install – pressing the “install” Apocalypse Just did nothing, for example – and it took some time to find out which hardware buttons were mapped, which steam deck input was mapped.
For my surprise, some things I expected to break, when I tested it, worked perfectly. Legion Go is unique that its controllers can be separated from the hand, the joy-con style. When I used to play with steamos, I expected Heads II Run- A game that does not forgive the input lag too much.
Your mileage can depend on which game you want to play and which hardware you want to run steamos. Nevertheless, as we wait for manufacturers to support steamos more officially – or to make for Microsoft In a proper hand of your own-It is exciting for these devices to be a choice in the stage.
