Skip to content

1.8 Troubleshooting Problems

baldsealion edited this page Feb 22, 2023 · 10 revisions

LEGACY wiki -- DEPRECATED--

Effective 2-22-2023

This wiki will no longer receive updates

Why is my specialized boot menu no longer working / Why is my screen garbled on boot?

You likely followed Deck Wizard's famous YouTube Dual Boot video, in which he has you install & configure rEFInd.

You should really review the entire contents of the original script creator's readme below, this includes instructions to fix most of your issues and also contains the most up-to-date script:

If you have problems that are not listed in the readme, then make an Issue report on the owner's Github(not here).

Why is My Game Having Double Inputs or Sending Keyboard Commands (B button is sending ESC key)?

This is because Lizard Mode is enabled in SWICD. Generally, if you're playing a controller game, this should be turned off. If you are using the configuration provided in 1.4 Controller Configuration, you can toggle this on/off by pressing Steam + L5

Why are Windows Apps Scrolling with Left/Right Trigger?

This is something introduced in Windows 11 22H2 - it appears that this is embedded in the Xbox controller drivers and does not appear to be a way to disable. As a workaround, when you are using the desktop you can turn off Controller Emulation in SWICD. If you are using the configuration provided in 1.4 Controller Configuration, you can toggle this on/off by pressing Steam + R5

Games Look Blurry

You have three options:

  1. ⁠Change the properties of the game exe and check “Disable Fullscreen Optimizations”

  2. ⁠Get it to run in Windowed mode or Windowed Borderless.

  3. ⁠Use “Borderless Gaming” to force windowed Borderless on a windowed game(not fullscreen), download is below:

Borderless Gaming - Releases

Gamepass Games Aren't Launching

Make sure your Date & Time are accurate in Windows You can fix the time permanently with a registry entry, instructions located here FIx Timezone by Changing to UTC

Wireless Slow/Spotty(Latency spikes)

The following are suggestions that have helped some community members to resolve their wireless issues with the SteamDeck

Install Unlocked Wireless Drivers & Custom Settings

Please follow instructions to download and set up unlocked wireless drivers

This has been a breakthrough fix that has helped a lot of people, myself included!

Force 5Ghz Mode on SteamDeck

For Wireless Access Points that don't have a separate SSID for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, you can force the SteamDeck to connect to 5Ghz by changing the Wireless Mode in the Driver Configuration:

  • Go to Control panel > Hardware and Sound > Device Manager > Expand Network Adapters > Double-Click the RealTek 8822CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E-NIC
  • Click the Advanced tab and change Wireless Mode from Auto to 802.11a/n/ac(depending on which driver is installed, it may not have this option)

Create a separate 5GHZ SSID for SteamDeck

Some users have reported creating a new SSID and only joining the SteamDeck to it resolved their issues, even on the same wireless access point. Also, it is recommended that if you have a wireless network that broadcasts both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, to create a 5Ghz only SSID and join the SteamDeck to this

Try another Wireless Access Point(or Hotspot)

Unfortunately, SteamDeck appears to be extremely picky about the wireless device it's connected to. If you can try a spare wireless access point, or a hotspot from your phone, this will help determine if the issue is related to your wireless network specifically.

Performance Troubleshooting

My games are slower since APU Upgrade or I get errors when launching games that used to work before upgrade

Unfortunately if you did not choose "Factory Reset" when installing the latest APU drivers, then it is likely that the APU driver is the cause of your performance issues. To fix this, you will need to do the following:

  1. Download and run the old APU Drivers from June 2016 Here

  2. When running the installer, click the Additional Options on the right and then choose Factory Reset on the left.

  3. After this has finished installing/rebooted your Steam Deck, download the current APU Driver from here

  4. Perform the same steps as in Step 2, with the new driver.

  5. After the Steam Deck reboots, everything should be good. If you have unlocked the Refresh Rates as outlined in Section 1.5, you will need to use Custom Resolution Utility again and re-import the BIN file.

Online Games have stutter/long load times (Fortnite, Destiny 2)

These stutters are often related to poor wireless performance. Please follow instructions to download and set up unlocked wireless drivers. If you still have issues, please follow the instructions in the same guide about changing custom settings: