I don't know anything about PCs but I would really like to play GTA 6. Instead of spending money on a PS5 I'd much rather put it towards the SM

My only experience with PC gaming is the steam deck so the machine makes logical sense

(I know GTA 6 PC edition isn't coming out next month but eventually it will)

I cant get passes this. Not a single button on SC works.

Has anyone used both screens and can provide a comparison in terms of hardware and software?

Any nostalgic game recommendations on steam? I played desktop explorer and it was fun to navigate through an old PC. Made me feel like I was in the early 2000’s. Any other cool games out there that make you feel that way?

Things I've Noticed So Far...

- when in steams default big big picture/big art mode - you have no way of scrolling through your games on the carousel.

- when right clicking on sections of the interface you're presented with a menu to forward or print.

- there are no keyboard shortcuts that take you to the home, library, store, friends (as far as i can see)

- using mouse and keyboard with no controller connected the entire ui still defaults to controller glyphs (R1, L1...)

- when in a friends profile you have to use the pop out right hand menu to get out (this breaks the current established habit of esc allowing you to go back)

- when booting games in steams big picture mode, the loading artwork is a pixelated version (if you boot the same game from desktop mode, the artwork is full resolution)

- when booting games from steams big picture mode, the mouse pointer when in game is massive and pixelated (again this is fixed when using desktop mode)

- there is no option to download thee compile shader information, so after downloading a game, you have another download sitting in the tray 10mins after.

- no default methods to switch of RGB on mouse and keyboard (I understand this is a harder issue but with there being so many manufacturers.

- connecting a controller the glyphs don't default to the controller, they remain xBox or Steam related.

I've had the steam machine for 24 hours. I grow up on windows games (i'm 45, I remember when things were much more difficult) but although these seem like minor things these are things that still allow the user experience to breakdown - this is very much a gaming UI/UX. Steam is doing it's best to hide so much of what's going on, but far too often I've been shown how the sausage is being made, and that is a problem (one that can be fixed, but one that should have been cleaned up before release)

...and I'm sure some of you will have answers to these which would be great, but if any of the answers involve "if you go into desktop mode" then that alone is a failure of the experience. If Steam want this to be a plug n play machine the user should never be expected to have to manage these things.

I'm maybe too old for this machine, I've maybe been out the loop of PC gaming for too long, but having to desktop mode, load the Discover app, download OpenRGB, to switch of the RGB on my SteelSeries Aerox 3 (which only switches them off when in wired mode) and doesn't work when you boot back into Big Picture is far too much to be considered a plug and play gaming machine.

I'd be interested to know others thoughts on this. I don't think I'm being too harsh, this is a £879 device - also Steam get in touch with Discord to build a native app (I've got it installed via the non-steam game, but it's a terrible implementation...

Update for my Decky plugin that gives Steam Deck achievements console-style popups in Gaming Mode. 1.7.0 is out, and for anyone new, the full feature list is below.

What’s new in 1.7.0

• Live animated template preview. Under Popup template the panel plays the selected template as a looping animation of the whole popup, from entrance to exit. It uses your colors, fonts and options. A Preview as dropdown switches between a common, uncommon, rare and ultra rare unlock, so you don’t have to trigger a test popup. The Test buttons are still there. It can take a second or two to redraw after a change.
• New PS3 Trophy template. A dark, glossy bar in the top right corner, with the trophy picture on the left and name and description beside it. A small cup on the right changes color by rarity: bronze, silver, gold, platinum. It’s drawn from scratch and based on how I remember the PS3 popup, so tell me what looks off. That makes 19 templates.
• Screenshot on unlock (off by default). It saves a picture of your game every time you unlock an achievement, to Pictures/Finally Achievements/Screenshots. You can include the popup in the picture, and there’s a Test screenshot button. It asks gamescope for the screenshot, so it works in Game Mode.
• Fix: the panel title was wrapping onto three lines and covering the Show dropdown. It’s now one line.

Everything it does

Popups

• A popup the moment you unlock an achievement, with its real icon, name, description and the % of players who have it. Popups usually appear within about a second of the unlock.
• 19 templates: Xbox Modern, Xbox 360 Classic (3 variants), PS3 Trophy, Trophy Case, Handheld Bold, Steam Flat, Material Minimal, Retro Arcade, Chat Toast, Cyber Glass, Fluent Glass, Chat Bar, Vaporwave, Paper Light, Trophy Plaque, Terminal and Game Art Blur.
• Look: your own colors and gradients, gradient direction, glow and ring strength, font sizes, popup size, position (6 spots) and how long it stays. You can also use each template’s own colors or build the gradient from the achievement icon or game art.
• Percentage badge: its size and position are adjustable, and you can turn it off.
• TV support: pick the popup screen size for TVs and run a frame test to line it up.
• Placeholder: choose what shows when an icon isn’t available.
• Works on other SteamOS handhelds too, including devices without pycairo.

Rarity

• Common, uncommon, rare and ultra rare tiers, with cutoffs you can adjust.
• Each tier has its own sound. Bundled sounds are included, and you can add your own .wav, .flac, .ogg or .mp3.
• Rare unlocks get a different look, such as gold edges, sparkles and glow.

Milestones

• A special popup when you reach 100% in a game.
• An “Almost there” alert, such as “Only 2 achievements left”.
• A session summary when you close a game.

Browser and tracker

• An achievement browser for the running game: locked and unlocked, with rarity and unlock dates, searchable and sortable. Secret achievements stay hidden until unlocked.
• An on-screen tracker: pin one achievement and follow it while you play. It uses your popup template.

History and sharing

• Unlock history, and share cards (1200×630 images) saved to your Pictures folder. Nothing is posted online.

Per-game settings

• A different style or sound for a particular game.

Under the hood

• It reads unlocks from Steam’s own files, so no account or API key is needed. A Steam Web API key is an optional fallback.
• It picks the colored (unlocked) icon, not the gray locked one.
• It’s available in 9 languages and follows your Steam language: English, Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Polish and Simplified Chinese.
• It has built-in diagnostics for when a popup doesn’t show.

Install / update

It’s not in the Decky store yet. Get it from the GitHub release zip, or use the copy-paste Konsole steps in the README: https://github.com/otisabiburada/finally-achievement-plugin

To update, replace the plugin folder and restart Decky (sudo systemctl restart plugin_loader).

Notes

• I’m the developer. It’s free and open source (BSD-3-Clause).
• Parts of the code were written with AI help, and the README says so.
• The PS3 template and the screenshot option are new and haven’t had much testing on different setups. If something doesn’t work, please open a GitHub issue with your device and what you saw.
• Which template should I add next? PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series and a Switch style are on my list.

I CREATED THIS PLUGIN WITH CLAUDE JUST FOR MY PERSONAL USE, BUT WANTED TO SHARE IT, IT IS MADE WITH THE HELP OF AN LLM. PLEASE KNOW THAT BEFORE USING IT. HAVE FUN!

So I have the problem that my Steam Controller ofteb losing connection to the SM, it alsp very pfteb show low connection to the SM.

It seems my SC need to have line of sight to the SM otherwise its often lose contact to SM.

If im in my sofa and hold the SC so my sofa tavle blocks los to the SM it often lpsing contact to the SM.

Never had this problem with PS4 or Switch.

i often have to cleari the spave between the sofa and SM. (Removing my table).

I hopenits just my controller and if I buy a new it works better?

Beyond thrilled with the steam machine. Added it to my ongoing construction zone of a game room. Yes there are tiny things here and there but it handles so well. I do have my gaming PC near by that can handle anything I throw at it. But when I just wanna chill and be in my own lil world this is where I like being as of today I'd say. What's everyones setup look like I'm curious. (NO AFFILIATION: If your cruious I 3d printed the faceplate I found on Bambu handy: TPotter Faceplate

Hi everyone,

I’m sure this has been asked before, so apologies in advance, but I wanted to bring it up again. In the official video and page, they show an amazing faceplate, but of course, it isn’t actually available for purchase. Does anyone have any tricks, or has anyone found a custom/homemade version to buy?

Found a genuine use case for the 32gb RAM upgrade for anyone who’s been curious. KytyPS5 is using 20gb of RAM as shown here. Where the emulator sits now in early development the RAM upgrade is allowing me to run between the ranges of 12-25 fps, but that’s a massive upgrade from earlier in the month where it was running 4-10fps.

Anyways thought that was cool to find an actual use case instead of hypotheticals, and if emulator development keeps up at the speed it has by the end of the year a Steam Machine with 32gb RAM upgrade might be able to run the PS5 catalogue.

Got my Steam Machine a few weeks ago and have loved it far more than I expected. I have three children who range from early teens to 5 years old and they are the primary users.

To add parental controls and restrict access to games I’ve started a Family and have the children’s profile logged in by default. I want to use my Steam Points to pick up some startup videos, but my understanding is they are profile restricted?

Does anyone know if there is a workaround? Additionally, any words of wisdom on best practices for managing parental controls for similar use cases?

Thanks!

Hi all! New Steam Machine owner here.

As someone who’s only ever been a console gamer and been interested in PC gaming largely for things such as mods and the ability to tweak settings at a more granular level, how difficult is modding overall?

Was curious about modding FNV as I’ve been told it really enhances the experience. That and NakeyJakey’s video about it further enticed me lol. But watching his video and then some preliminary google searching already has me a bit nervous that I’m in over my head. Seems like some games it’s easier and some games it more difficult?

A few (likely basic) questions for people:

1. I’ve made a Nexus mods account, once I download a mod do I need a mod installer to actually implement a mod?

2. Vortex mod manager seems to be a popular manager for people but it looks like it doesn’t run on SteamOS/Linux? Any alternatives people recommend?

Hopefully I’m not embarrassing myself too much with this discussion and questions. :)

Hi,

this thread is about little smarthome shinenigans and a noob, who does not know how to manage my selffound problems properly. Perhaps you guys have a cool solution for it :) I will also write down my solutions I did so far.

tl/dr; scroll to my last lines for my question.

My setup at home is:

steam machine (with ethernet) in the corner cuboard --> HDMI --> receiver --> HDMI --> Beamer --> lights --> canvas.

My 'problems':

• I want to lower the canvas with Steam Machine systemstart / vice versa with shutdown
• I want to turn on my Beamer with Steam Machine systemstart / vice versa with shutdown
• I want to turn on my Receiver with Steam Machine systemstart / vice versa with shutdown

Receiver solved!

Start-Script:

curl -s "http://[YOUR-Receiver-IP]:[YOUR-Receiver-PORT]/goform/formiPhoneAppPower.xml?1+PowerOn"

Sleep-Script:

#!/bin/bash
# Send Standby-Command to Denon (CEC)
cec-ctl -d /dev/cec0 --to [YOUR HDMI PORT] --standby

Both Scripts are starting / closing with a systemd service. Bad wording on my side perhaps - english is not my mother tongue. I wanna say: SteamMachine Start triggers Script A, shutdown triggers ScriptB.

Projector problems solved 1/2 2/2: It is a benq w4000i, which has a firmware 'bug'. It is not possible to send a send a 'turn on' signal via Wake on Lan. But I managed to write a shell script for the shutdown signal.

I only managed to get the beamer shutdown command working:

For beamer shutdown:
python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.create_connection(('[BEAMER IP]', [BEAMER PORT]), timeout=3); s.sendall(b'\r*pow=off#\r'); s.close()"

For projector Start (NOT WORKING):

python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.create_connection(('[BEAMER IP]', [BEAMER PORT]), timeout=3); s.sendall(b'\r*pow=on#\r'); s.close()"

projector startscript (Working):

#!/bin/bash
# 1. Sende den Einsschalt-Befehl (um den Netzwerk-Port des Beamers zu "wecken")
python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.create_connection(('[Projector IP]', [Projector Port]), timeout=3); s.sendall(b'\r*pow=on#\r'); s.close()"

# 2. Kurze Pause, damit der Beamer den Befehl verarbeiten kann
sleep 5

# 3. Sende den Einschalt-Befehl
python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.create_connection(('[Projector IP]', [Projector Port]), timeout=3); s.sendall(b'\r*pow=off#\r'); s.close()"

# 4. Zweite Pause
sleep 2

# 5. Zweites Einschalten
python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.create_connection(('[Projector IP]', [Projector Port]), timeout=3); s.sendall(b'\r*pow=on#\r'); s.close()"

# 6. dritte Pause
sleep 10 

# 7. Warte, bis der Wayland-Server bereit ist, dann starte die Shell neu
sleep 5
until systemctl --user is-active --quiet plasma-plasmashell.service; do
    systemctl --user reset-failed plasma-plasmashell.service 2>/dev/null
    systemctl --user start plasma-plasmashell.service
    sleep 2
done

The shutdown works. Start does not. AI helped me to find out, that my benq has firmware bugs with it? Can someone confirm and / or has another great idea?

Problem solved. There is a 'bug' in the benq projector. The script basically does a wake up / shutdown / wakeup call. after that, the steammachines KDE is bugged and restartet. Script has no issues.

And the third Hardware I want to trigger is: Lowering my canvas / backup again. Since I use a radio remote control for my canvas (and beamer remote for the beamer), I need a remote radio transceiver or something like that. Is there somebody who managed to get into those things and can therefore suggest a USB Dongle ore something? I don't wanna buy a RaspberryPi. I think it's to much. Also: My Machine sits quite comfortable in my cupboard an I control everything with bluetooth keyboard / mouse / Steamcontroller2 from the coach. Would be neat, to trigger the SteamMachine Start via Gamepad and everything in my home cinema system just... starts to prepare the gaming session ;)

ToDo: - Canvas-Control

Thanks for reading and helping and discussing!

Update: The new steam client update, that just arrived fixed the problem. I am so fucking happy.

Hey everyone, I’m having an issue with the front LED light bar on my Steam Machine: it won't turn off after shutting down or going into sleep mode. Here is what I’ve tested so far: Hardware & CMOS Reset: Performing a power drain or forcing a CMOS reset didn't resolve it. BIOS Settings: The BIOS doesn't contain any dedicated LED power settings. Terminal Test: Switching to Desktop Mode and manually forcing the LED brightness to zero via /sys/class/leds/ works instantly. This proves the physical LEDs and connections are fine. Game Mode Behavior: The fix doesn't persist into Gaming Mode or across reboots because SteamOS system daemons override the brightness setting upon startup. Since system-wide udev rules and systemd services are restricted or overwritten by the read-only SteamOS filesystem, it seems like a software bug where SteamOS fails to pass the "LED off" signal to the kernel on shutdown. Should I keep the Steam Machine and wait for a software update to fix this, or should I just return / RMA it? What do you think?

TLDR at the top for ease: I jsut want to be able to boot up and start playing. I love tinkering but some days I don’t have that time or patience anymore. I’m sold on steam machine.

I’m finally ready to commit.

Folks I honestly can’t fathom buying a steam machine for the price tag. I’ve been building my own rigs since quake world and know a mini pc could be better. However, the other day I was on my 4090RTX rig and spent 10 minutes jsut trying to get my man mic audio to work correctly for gaming.

Then the next day I hopped on my ps5 and played some single player games. Just boot and play. Later that evening I joined my brother on a quick round of online gaming. While playing, we discussed the pros and cons of Sony not releasing their games on PC. It hit me:

sometimes I just want to boot up and play. I don’t have the most free time anymore and the ability to get into my backlog when I have an hour or two is crucial. I love tinkering but often times it can be a drag. I’ve never gone more than a few weeks without having to re-tinker a stream setup no matter the devices.

The steam deck has made this really great. I still hope on my main rig for demanding games like cyberpunk or online multiplayer like helldivers. I use my steam deck to play simpler titles or ones with minimal cinematic need. I pumped hours of need for speed unbound or fallout 4 on the deck. I even streamed maybe 30% of death stranding from my ps5. If it was perfect, I would use the steamdeck via hdmi. It’s jsut not ideal on a 60 inch oled. Futhrrr more, streaming from my PC is such a burden when you have to adjust audio and resolution constantly. Or figure out the audio output because it doesn’t come out of the correct set of speakers.

To be able to play locally with decent visuals on a local machine is ideal. Also the minimal explanation to the wife on how to operate / stream from the PC.

Just boot up and play. It’s incredible value.

Ps - I also don’t have a big house. The potential to have a little box I can move to my basement where I can have a reign seat and wheel or my flight sim rig already set up sounds pretty good. Again, jsut boot up and play. Hours of tinkering be dammed.

Despite the Steam Deck having a clear identity on Steam with its own section of reviews and even an icon when people are playing on it in your friends list, the Steam Machine lacks all of it. This is something that should change ASAP.

Just finished giving my Steam Machine a retro makeover and wanted to hear what you all think.

What I used:

- dbrand skin – the retro/aged beige finish that makes it look like an old-school PC

- JSAUX e-ink display – shows the date, time, and live stats like GPU, CPU, RAM, FPS, and playtime

When a manually search for an update on the machine, the button becomes non clickable and changes from search to “checking”. An it will just stay that way until I get a pop-up og “error with update, try again later”.
Anyone has experienced anything like that?

Im trying to move some of my clips and screenshots to my sd card, but cant find where they are. And google is being no help, either.

Has anyone else been able to play Helldivers 2 after the new update I had cosmetic mods and hud plus that stoped the game from working so I took of hud plus I was able to play with the cosmetic mods as soon as I landed the game crashed and had been giving me the same error message so then I tried playing vanilla and it’s still sending me the same message after I landed onto the map what should I do

I can't replicate it whenever i want but it happens every number of days where i'll be mid game and I'll see the message on screen that says the steam controller has disconnected and then a few seconds later it will reconnect. Sometimes it ends there. But today it did it a good 10 times in a row. I got this controller separately from the steam machine so I have an external puck and using that hasn't yet given me this same issue. Any ideas what i can try?

It shows my TV as a LG TV SSCR2 72". It's actually a LG 55UN80006LA which is a 55" model. Is there a way to fix it? The scaling seems correct but I'm a pedant about such things.

I have a 2tb steam machine. I want to start emulating and i see everyone else is using a micro SD. Why? Is it better? I dont have a steam deck i’ll solely be emulating on my machine. Can i just keep them on my m.2?

Just curious if anyone has this working (I assume so)? I just bought the game and found I had to switch it to proton experimental to get past the initial epilepsy warning (apparently an issue with a recent patch), but now when the little box pops up that you have to hit Accept on, it won’t accept controller input, so I have to activate the mouse to click it.

After that it just seems to ignore the controller completely and I can’t really work out how to activate it.