hashtagbasit/SteamOS-ARM-Port v1.3.0

v1.3: Stable on Every Soc, Major Changes

on GitHub

1.3 is out as a stable release for all three socs (8 Elite, 8 Gen 3 and 8 Gen 2), rebased on the latest SteamOS ARM from the Steam Frame. You need to flash it once, after that future updates can be done through the updater. Thanks to everyone who tested the betas and sent logs, photos and fixes, most of what's below started as one of your reports.

Download

Each image comes in three .7z parts. Download all three for your device and extract the .001 one with 7-Zip or WinRAR to get the .img. Checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Install

Everyone installs 1.3 fresh, including people on 1.2 or a beta.

1. Flash the .img to a microSD card (32 GB or bigger) with balenaEtcher or Rufus.
2. The image brings ROCKNIX ABL 1.2 for your chip. If you don't have it yet, boot Android, copy the rocknix_abl folder from the card's BOOT drive to internal storage and run flash_abl.sh from your chip's folder with the device's root script tool. It backs up your current ABL first.
3. Turn the device on holding Volume Down, pick your device in Set device model, set boot mode to Linux and hit START.

First boot takes a couple of minutes. The full guide is on the website.

Changelog

• Updates through Steam

  • Settings > System > Check for updates now installs new versions in place, no reflashing
  • Updates are signed and only include what changed. If one fails it rolls back
  • Offline updates work by putting the .sau file in Downloads or on a microSD card / USB drive

• Loadout (beta)

  • New store for emulators, game launchers and apps, picked for your device and the games you have
  • Includes Heroic for ARM64, so Epic, GOG and Amazon games can be installed and played from Game Mode
  • Installed apps show up in your Steam library with artwork
  • Installing takes a lot of disk and CPU, so expect some lag in Game Mode while it runs. Please install apps one at a time for now instead of whole packs, this gets better in a later update

• Sleep and battery

  • Sleep now uses real suspend on every chip
  • Fans, Wi-Fi and stick lights come back properly after waking, and Wi-Fi reconnects in about a second
  • Fans don't spin up on wake or on short load spikes anymore, and follow the whole chip instead of its hottest core
  • Steam's performance profile, TDP, charge limit and bypass charging controls work
  • Steam shows the real charging power and time until full

• Install to internal storage

  • SteamOS can be moved from the microSD card to internal storage with Easy UFS Installer in Desktop Mode, Android keeps working next to it
  • Tested on the 8 Gen 3 and 8 Gen 2 handhelds, still needs testing on the 8 Elite

• Performance and games

  • Fixed Steam's frame limiter, it only lists rates your screen supports and 30/40/60 stay smooth
  • Fixed frame generation, it runs in performance mode now so it actually adds frames
  • Added hardware video decoding for Firefox, Moonlight, Chiaki and other video apps
  • The performance overlay shows real GPU usage, clock and VRAM
  • Per-game fan curves in Handheld Control

• Bottom screen (AYN Thor, AYANEO Pocket DS)

  • New launcher home and dashboard with themes, game art and a play log
  • Trackpad and keyboard with autocorrect for the top screen
  • Lower Deck panel in Quick Access to control the bottom screen

• Devices

  • KONKR Pocket FIT: the KONKR and Performance buttons can be remapped in Handheld Control (next profile, stick lights, fan boost, or a game button you bind in Steam). LC/RC work as back buttons, and sound works over HDMI/DisplayPort (Pocket S2 too)
  • AYN Odin 3: default controller mapping, UI scaling, fan control and power button sleep (thanks @Chazmus), performance overlay works
  • AYN Odin 2: A/B are the right way round again on the new kernel
  • AYANEO Pocket DMG: touchscreen should work now
  • AYANEO Pocket S: volume rocker fixed
  • AYANEO Pockets: show up as one controller instead of two, volume keys work in Game Mode
  • AYN Thor: touches don't get stuck anymore, bottom screen brightness uses the full range
  • Retroid Pocket Nova: no white flash on wake or when switching to Desktop

• Desktop Mode

  • Scaled for your screen, with a touch keyboard on every chip
  • Steam's right-stick mouse moves the pointer

• System

  • Fixed a startup hang that could leave Game Mode on a black screen
  • microSD cards can be formatted and mounted from Steam, and Steam no longer offers to format the system card
  • Decky plugins keep working after Decky updates itself
  • Debug logs now include GPU hang dumps and clock speeds while playing

• Updated SteamOS ARM (Steam Frame) to 20261002 (0.5.3), the kernel to 7.2.8 on 8 Gen 3 and 8 Gen 2, Mesa to 26.2.3, Gamescope to 3.16.30 and Decky Loader to 3.2.10

Something not working?

Make an empty file called debug on the card's BOOT drive, boot and wait 3 minutes (or play a bit if it's a performance problem), then send me the debug-logs folder on Discord or in a GitHub issue.

Supporting the project

Any amount raised will be used to buy devices to support and boost development, a star helps too!

Have a device you'd like to see supported? Sending one over for long term development is the fastest way to get it there, message me on Discord.

_{Unofficial community port, not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve.}