Steam Deck (using SteamOS) handheld by Valve

[matzesu]

I have to eat this evening out of house, and its near our local Electronic Market, so i could look for a USB C Hub for the Steamdeck, even though i still wait for my Order Email, i think it shouldnd be that far away now..

My needs are:
- HDMI Out, to a normal 1080 p TV, a bit for Gaming, and other stuff on you could make whit this thing
- a few USB A 3 Ports for Mouse, Keyboard, etc
- USB C Power , so i could Give the Steamdeck some charge whyle its runs.., so it might need also a Power Supply..

Question is: Can i use every Hub i find? Or do i need something special for the HDMI Feature? And how much Current will i need?

Would a USB Powerbank work that was also powerfull enough for the Switch and the Pyra?

 

[levi]

Most hubs are pretty simple electronically inside. Normally +V and gnd are wired straight through between all devices, and signal are only interpreted on the data lines. If you plug a dumb USB charger into it it'll pump out that much. But if you're wiring a charger that negotiates the level then that could be problematic, especially if it can pump out different voltages (then it'll absolutely definitely need to pay attention to the resistors on the data lines).

 

[matzesu]

I just made a quick search: You can use every USB C Hub whit HDMI Out, but its also needs a USBC In Port, then you can use the HUB for our Periphirals and to Charge the Steam Deck..

Could i use the Kickstand from the Nintendo 3DS? It was also working whit the Pandora and the Pyra, but i would suspect it could have some issues whit the Steamdeck as this thing is much much bigger than a Switch..

 

[levi]

The kid Icarus one? Seems a bit small to cope with a steamdeck, but I don't have a steamdeck so I couldn't say for sure. Note using a hub to charge a device and to connect peripherals won't work on everything. For example it won't work on the Pyra because the charge port is acting as a client and putting out debug information, it's just the fact that most wall worts don't care what's on the data lines and will put out a charge regardless. Many hubs have in and out labels on them, but I'm not sure if they're strictly necessary. To be safer if the charge port is actually a full featured host port would be to connect that to the out label and connect the peripherals and the charger to all of the in labels. The charger shouldn't care about the network configuration and just put out +V on the rails regardless, while the peripherals may well care about being connected to a host.

 

[matzesu]

Well, as i ditnt got a Hub yesterday (i was too late for the Store to had open), i will now look for a proper Steamdeck Dockingstation whit holder,
i need some more T-Shirts anyway, so its time for a new Order at Jeff Bezos..

 

[Eight Bit]

I Love my steamdeck, I'm even using it more now than I used my Pandora when I just got it... I'm sorry to say it, but my Pyra is collecting dust now... :-/
Streaming the games to my steamlink enabled TV works fantastic so for me there's no real need for HDMI. Mouse and keyboard is nice for desktop use, I have a wireless keyboard and mouse with USB receiver but I hardly use those. It could be bluetooth too btw which would spare yet another USB connection.
I installed kodi for watching and listening my media and retroarch for emulators and I can start both directly from the SteamOS UI so there's hardly any need to start the desktop mode anymore.
For me the Steamdeck is a wonder machine!
As for portability, yes... The Steamdeck is a bit big, but it's very sturdy and the nubs on it prevent it from laying or falling directly on the screen. The carry case is very nice too so putting it in a backpack or something is no problem at all.

 

[matzesu]

Well I just ordered some stuff even though I still wait for my actual Steam Deck to become orderable :
A USB C Hub whit HDMI, but whitout Steam Deck Stand,
Because I also ordered a TPU Case whit Stand, so I could put the Steam Deck on a Table like the Switch and use it for Video Streaming..

 

[Askarus]

I just made a quick search: You can use every USB C Hub whit HDMI Out, but its also needs a USBC In Port, then you can use the HUB for our Periphirals and to Charge the Steam Deck..

Could i use the Kickstand from the Nintendo 3DS? It was also working whit the Pandora and the Pyra, but i would suspect it could have some issues whit the Steamdeck as this thing is much much bigger than a Switch..

If you are looking for a Kickstand, take that one: Link

I use it with my GPD Win 3.
When I purchased it I expected some cheap plastic trash device, but it is high quality solid metal.
I purchased a second one just in case, because I like it so much.

It might be too small for the Steam Deck, but for anything smaller it is the best kickstand I have ever seen.
\It might work with the Steam Deck. I did not test it.

If you ever want to use a kickstand within the next 10 years, get that one while it is still available.

 

[matzesu]

Just got my Order Email yesterday, now its just a matter of waiting for deliefery..
I got a Kickstand on this Steam Deck Protection Case i ordered 2 Weeks ago..

Just to have a comparassion: The Case is 6 x the Size of a Gameboy Micro, so seems like the Gameboy is quite tiny or the Steamdeck will be quite gigantic..

 

[matzesu]

How good is the Emulations Experience whit the Steamdeck ? How easy is it to map the Stuff on the Gaming Buttons?
I think I will only the Stuff I allready have whit Pyra: from Gameboy till Dreamcast ..

I also want to make Steamdeck Videos on Emulation and on my Steam Games..

But the Roms will go to my SD Card

What is the fastest option for copy over from the Pyra SD?

On the dual SD Reader in the Pyra? Or should I put the Pyra SD Card in my USB C Hub and write it on the Steamdeck on SD?

 

[TeDaDeS]

On the dual SD Reader in the Pyra? Or should I put the Pyra SD Card in my USB C Hub and write it on the Steamdeck on SD?

You'll only copy once so I assume it will not make a big difference as there are many variables that influence copy behavior. The type of SD-card for example, the amount and size of files being copied etc.

 

[matzesu]

Ok so I would assume best to use the Steamdeck itself,
I allready found my other 400 gb Card that got corrupted on the Pyra but was re formatted and should be fine now, so I can use it ^^
I found EmuDeck which should work whit the Steamdeck Controlls..
I will report when Tetris runs on the Deck,..
it want be my competitor to the Pyra as it’s just for nice playing at home while the Pyra is the Machine for Portable Emulation..

But whe will have to wait until I got my Unit delivered and the Emulators set ..

 

[levi]

Does steam carry any paid or free emulators? Or do you need to break out of steam, and juts use linux?

 

[matzesu]

Well you have to go to the Desktop Mode, and then you can just Download and Execute the Emu Deck, then you can run a Software called Steam Rom Manager and this puts your all stuff on the Steam Library..

Then you can run Super Mario Land directly from Steam..

 

[PowerGod]

Does steam carry any paid or free emulators? Or do you need to break out of steam, and juts use linux?

 

[matzesu]

I ditnt found out if this works when the Roms are in Underfolders which would make Sense if you have Par exemple PlayStation ISOs in Folders..
but I will try it as far I got my Steamdeck

 

[matzesu]

Well, some of my Games got only the "Playable" Certificate on Steam, as some features are too many for the Controller Layoat, so i think i will not play the whole time on "Handheldmode" but using Mouse/Keyboard and TV for some Games..
I know BeamNG got lots of Features like Gearbox, some Hotkeys etc, and most of the Games are meant to get played whit Mouse and Keyboard.

The Emulationside on the other Hand should be fine whit Controlls, allthough i will see how good it works whit a external Gamepad for TV Mode..

I could use my XBOX Series Pad, if its then still connects whitout issues back on the XBOX...

The Handheld is meant to get delievered tomorrow, so i can setup everything tommorow evening, and maybe allready Copy over the Emulator Roms that arend that big
The First Game to finish on this Thing should be Super Mario Land DX as usuall..

 

[rygD]

@matzesu do you have (classic) Doom or Quake? I would like to hear your thoughts on those on the steam deck. I wish you could compare them to the switch versions.

 

[matzesu]

I have the Doom 3 BFG Edition on GOG, this should work on Steamdeck too whit Proton, i will test it maybe on weekend..

 

[matzesu]

Yesterday this thing arrived finally, some impressions:
- The Case is quite big, but sadly not from the best quality: the Strap that should secure the Handheld in place allready broke ;(
- The Handheld is quite big was to expect, , about 7 Times the Gameboy Micro
- After Booting, i deactivated some of the Menue Sounds,

I hooked this thing up to my Desktop Setup, works out of the box whit the HDMI Output of my HUB, and also the LAN Port gets supportet,
- On Desktop Mode, lots of Windows arend made for external Display, so i had some issues whit buttons i couldnd reach..,
- The Firefox from the discover got allready the option to have "DRM" running, so i was able to sign in to my Netflix Acount and test some Star Trek
- I had some issues whit the Download of EmuDeck, maybe because i ditnt saw the Button on Firefox that pops up after you click on Download (you have to scroll down, but i ditnt found a key for this on this part of my discovery of the OS)
- After EmuDeck was set up, i startet to put some Roms on, needed quite some time for the Dreamcast Games, but as the Evening was starting to became late, i decided to stick whit some Dreamcast, and the Gameboy as i ditnt had that much time left, and called it a day for this task..
- Also downloaded the Proton GE and the Launcher for Games that are from GOG..
- I decided to not use the Steam Rom Manager as it would take to long

- So some testing: Retroarch is allready mapped from EmuDeck so you can run it also from the Desktop Mode, , i had to figure out what my Rom Directory was, but then i was able to play some Super Mario Land from the Gameboy and Street Fighter Collection from the Dreamcast
Worked good, but i ditnt wrote the Manual so instead of getting back to Retroarch Menue, i shut down the whole Emulator (you have to push booth Nubs for Menue), but as i only had these Games on it yesterday i couldnd test other emulators..

Also Downloaded some Steamgames: My Summer Car, Beam NG Drive, Snowrunner and EuroTruckSimulator 2, as well as Terarria

Navigation whit the Trackpad and using the Triggers as Mousebuttons on Desctop Mode is not that confortable as the Pyra

This Afternoon i plan to put the Rest of my Roms on the Steamdeck, connect my Bluetooth Headphones, and Sign in to all of my Streaming Services as well as Youtube,
Also i will let Retroarch search for all of my Games which will take a while but should save some time its takes to navigate to my Folder

I also have to install "Aperture Sience Job" which is a Interactive Tutorial to the Steamdeck and for Free ^^

A Video where i compare this thing to the Pyra will follow maybe ^^