SteamOS 3.8: How to install the update for Steam Deck, Xbox Ally and co.

Valve has released a new preview version of SteamOS. We show you how to download the update.

SteamOS 3.8: How to install the update

Valve has released version 3.8 of SteamOS as a preview version. As this is still a partially unfinished preview, the update will not be downloaded automatically on all devices. This must first be activated in the settings.

How it works:

• Press the Steam button
• Go to the “Settings” item
• Go to the “System” item there
• The “System update channel” item is preset to “Stable”. Change this to “Preview”
• Select “Check for updates” and download the latest version as normal

Preview versions can be faulty. As a rule, however, there are hardly any problems and you can try out and use new features straight away. You can also switch back to “Stable” at any time using the same method.

If you are using a device other than the Steam Deck, you may need to install SteamOS first. Valve explains how this works in a very clearSteamOS 3.8: The complete patch notes

Valve has posted the complete patch notes for SteamOS 3.8 in English in thecommunity area. We have translated them into German for you.

General

• First support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware.
• Updated Arch system base.
• Updated graphics driver with performance and stability improvements.
• Fixed an issue where application-specific performance settings were not applied at times when launching a game.
• Improved support for screencasts in game mode (e.g. OBS/Discord).
• Fixed an issue where drop-down menus were not displayed in some games.
• Improved VRR frame pacing.
• Fixed an issue where the FSR icon in the performance overlay remained disabled even though it was actually active.
• Improved support for games that try to open PDF files in external viewers.
• Fixed an issue with certain titles (such as “SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide”) where the game window could have an incorrect position.
• Fixed: Closing certain titles (such as “STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor”) and Starfield caused the session to crash.
• Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that start in a non-default mode.

  • These are often devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installation program and must be set to their normal mode by the operating system.

• Firmware updates for the Steam Deck controller now show the progress of the update on the home screen.
• Fixes an issue with certain Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller unusable for that session.
• Numerous stability and security updates.

Bluetooth

• Re-enable the Bluetooth wake-up function for the Steam Deck LCD.

  • Fixed further problems with unwanted wake-ups that occurred during previous attempts.

Audio

• Detection of the number of HDMI channels and display of the surround configuration, if available.
• Add a setting to use microphones in Bluetooth headsets (Bluetooth playback quality is poorer while recording is active).
• Restore internal audio devices on reboot if they are set to “Off” in desktop mode.
• Increase the sleep timeout for HDMI devices so that audio is not interrupted after a few seconds of inactivity.
• Fixed an error when switching input devices when a wired headset is connected.
• Fixed issue where audio underruns could occur after sleep/restore.

Accessibility

• Added an option to force mono audio output.

Desktop mode

• KDE Plasma has been updated from version 6.2.5 to 6.4.3 and now uses Wayland by default.

  • Fixes several cases of performance degradation in desktop mode compared to game mode.
  • Improved support for rotated screens.
  • Better scaling on TVs out of the box.
  • Adds support for external HDR screens.
  • Adds support for VRR screens.
  • Added support for a per-screen scaling factor.

• Keyboard mapping and language are now based on the settings in game mode.
• Improved window behavior for games running under Proton.

System firmware

• Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133

  • Security updates
  • Added “Memory Power Down” setting option.
  • Preliminary support for sleep mode.

• Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114

  • Security updates
  • The charging LED now changes color as soon as the charging target is reached, and no longer at 100%.

Non-Deck

• Improved compatibility with current Intel and AMD platforms.
• Significantly improved video memory management for platforms with discrete GPU.
• Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with current UEFI firmware.
• Short and long presses of the power button are now supported on a variety of devices
• Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO and Lenovo Legion Go.
• Controller support added for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2.
• Added support for system and controller firmware updates for the Lenovo Legion Go 2.
• Added preliminary support for charge limiting for Legion Go, Legion Go S and Legion Go 2 – currently only available in desktop mode.
• RGB LED color settings added for the controller of the Lenovo Legion Go 2.
• Added support for controller, TDP control and speaker audio for ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series.
• Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8 ms to 100-500 µs.
• The Night Mode, Color Intensity and Color Temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs.
• Fixes for seamless booting on Z2E and later AMD APUs.
• Automatic processing of internally rotated displays for some third-party handhelds.
• Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs.
• Improved SD card reliability for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2 and MSI Claw.
• Fixed washed out colors on Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds.
• Some GPU crashes on Phoenix APU devices have been fixed (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II).
• The power consumption of ASUS ROG Ally by the fingerprint sensor when turned off has been fixed.

Developers

• Desktop mode now uses Wayland by default.
• X11 support can still be selected via the Steam developer settings or viasteamosctl.
• The Linux kernel has been updated to 6.16.
• Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger switching between desktop sessions.
• Added support for setting the desktop password in the developer settings.
• First support for running as a guest of a virtual machine (virtio guest driver)
• Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS start menu via an EFI variable.
• Added link custom-updatetoatomupd-managerto simplify testing of certain builds.
• System reports now include more audio debug information
• First support for the LAVD CPU scheduler viasteamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd.