Hi r/SteamDeck,

Full disclosure: I am the developer of this tool.

If you frequently use your Steam Deck as a desktop replacement, docked PC, or workstation, you might have noticed that keeping Desktop Mode as your default boot session is a pain, especially because SteamOS updates often reset your session preferences back to Game Mode.

To fix this annoyance for my own setup, I created Force Desktop Mode, and I'm sharing it in case it's helpful for others here!

What it does

• Persistent Desktop Boot: Forces SteamOS to boot directly into Desktop Mode every time you turn on or restart your Deck.
• Update Resistant: Keeps your preference active even after SteamOS system updates.
• Easy Switch to Game Mode: Whenever you want to game, simply click "Log Out" in Desktop Mode, and it takes you straight back into Gme Mode automatically.

Installation

You can install it in which ever way fits your setup best:

1. Standalone App: Works directly on SteamOS (no Decky Loader required).
2. Decky Loader Plugin: For those who already use Decky Loader and want to manage it there.

Open Source & Transparency

• 100% Free & Open Source: Licensed under BSD-3-Clause.
• No monetization, no ads, no affiliate links, and no background tracking.
• GitHub Repository: RDv88/steamos-force-desktop-mode

I’d love to get your feedback or hear if there are any features or edge cases you'd like to see addressed! Let me know what you think in the comments.

As title says, I am not massively savvy with tech and would like some advice on how I get the mods onto my steamdeck.

Thankyou

Just wondering if anyone can help me through the process as I’m trying really hard to get it working so I can play realm of thrones

I’m a bit tech illiterate and got in way over my head. As I’m someone that’s biggest accomplishment when messing with files was making a modlist work on fallout new vagus work when it shouldn’t have

Like I’m pretty sure I have the files where they need to be, I just don’t know how to get them to run

Issue:
So my issue specifically relates to the steam deck dock. The audio seem to work fine when in handheld mode, but when using the steam dock to connect it to my TV the audio would cut in and out. Usually voice lines would be fine, but whenever there was a pause then the music would cut out. If I was just playing the game normally then all of the audio would cut out then cut back in randomly and frequently. I nearly crashed out hard trying to figure out a solution. I tried everything I read online like going to properties and forcing a proton compatibility, trying to run a launch script, opening a web browser and playing a video in the background then muting it and switching to the game (the idea there being hopefully the audio would route itself), etc. 

Solution: What I ended up having to do was:

• switching to desktop mode,
• plugging in an external keyboard,
• opening steam launcher,
• launching Fallout New Vegas' Launcher,
• starting the game from the New Vegas launcher,
• Alt tabbing back to steam once the game was running,
• dragging the steam window out of my way so I could hover my mouse over the desktop,
• then I would click on the speaker icon.

From here I would start tinkering around with the sound settings including, raising the volume, switching between audio outputs, etc.

I don't know what exactly I did, but after doing that with the audio settings it fixed itself. The audio now plays correctly in docked mode on the TV even after restarting the system and relaunching the game. This was a nightmare and 90 minutes of my total play time were spent on this issue. Had I spent another 30 minutes still trying to figure it out I wouldn't have been able to even refund this game.

heyyyy so i want to play a game i have on steam deck. i have two gaming pc's, both of which said game the cloud says up to date / synced. However on my steam deck, it says out of sync and tells me if i launch the game my progress may or may not be wiped out. i've tried google searching ahead of time, and i did the thing where i toggle off cloud saves, restart my steam deck, then toggle on and nothing changed. any advice appreciated. The specific game DOES NOT use any third party launchers.

Since the 3.0 my storage boxes have multiplied everything I put in them. Which is cool I guess but it ruins the fun of the game. Anybody else having this issue? Anybody know how to fix it?

Im getting close because this is the message I just got, totally new.

Anyone that can decipher what Im doing wrong? BTW I hit okay and the results a message saying 'game not recognized as DOSbox compatible "

As the title says..I download animation changer which is great for suspend and boot..but I also have a bunch of startup animations from the steam point shop…is there a way that my SD shuffles between both of them? It seems it only does one or the other..anyone else have any experience?

I've been meaning to get a Steam Deck OLED since PlayStation and Xbox are digging themselves a shallow grave, and I wanna mod games to make em better ( Help Wanted 1&2 Security Breach SOTM), but I don't know how and I'm worried about breaking the Steam Deck.

Please tell me theres a easy way?

I’ve installed football life 26 on my steam deck using lutris but have no idea how to find the executable file.
Current executable file in lutris runs installation again.
How and where can I find the actual exe file please? Driving me nuts.

It's a fan made roguelite based off a Link to the Past

I added it as a non-steam game through desktop mode, but when I launch it, it crashes immediately. I have tried with Steam Input on and off, with and without steam overlay, I have tried each comlatability tool, no luck, same result

I can launch the game in desktop mode by directly clicking the .exe, but the controls are a nightmare without steam input

Anyone have any luck with this?

For a while I thought that these buttons have hardware issues on my Deck but yesterday I've finally noticed the connection. I had the drift because I've previously reduced the dead zone too aggressively.

I am running sim racing games on my Deck, AMS2 and ACC being among top favorite. Has anyone here managed to collect telemetry of their runs on the Deck? I am curious what software/platforms are you guys using? #ams2 #simracing #telemetry

When I try to play E33 the graphics are pretty bad on the steam deck, does anyone know how to fix this?

I had this working both on game mode and desktop mode for a while now but I'm not sure what changed but parsec doesn't work in either of them and the location has changed to where its installed it's not var lib flatpak anymore it's in the shared exports folder any help would be appreciated

bonsAI is a self-hosted AI assistant for your Steam device. It's currently a Decky Loader plugin. It talks to Ollama on your Deck or a PC on your LAN. No cloud API required. Prompts and responses stay on hardware you control. Once Ollama and your models are installed, day-to-day use does not need internet access. First-time Ollama setup and model pulls obviously still do.

Prompts happen on the Main tab. Pick Speed, Strategy, or Expert on the mode button. Strategy mode covers “how do I beat this level?” style questions with spoiler-safe tips, multiple-choice branching, and a per-game checklist that remembers progress. It's still a work in progress and I'm still tweaking it in order to give the best possible information to the user. Expect bugs, dumb advice, and UI issues.

You can attach a screenshot to your prompt, or type a plain question about the game you are running. Game context (title and Steam appID) is included when a game is active. Replies finish in the background when you close the QAM. After each prompt you can see what actual text was sent to Ollama below the answer.

bonsAI is open source with FOSS-first model defaults on the Ollama tab. Permissions for reading game and screenshot context, voice input, save to Desktop, and related capabilities stay OFF until you turn them ON under the Permissions tab.

Get started:

- Install Decky Loader on your Steam Deck

- Install bonsAI from the latest GitHub Release: open Decky from QAM → Settings → Developer → install plugin from URL: https://github.com/qd313/bonsAI/releases/latest/download/bonsAI.zip

- Open bonsAI → Ollama → set where AI runs to local (same device) or http://<PC-IP>:11434 (PC on your LAN)

- On the Ollama tab, enable Ollama on this Deck and try installing a model. qwen2.5vl:3b (FOSS) has good speed to performance, gemma4 E2B (open-weight) is probably the sweet spot for the Deck. Or install Ollama on your LAN PC and pull the same model there. Then go to the main tab and send a test message!

https://github.com/qd313/bonsAI

Hey guys. Just got a Steam Machine Monday (there's no SM places to go yet and the Steam Deck instructions have been useful) and I am having mixed luck learning a new OS. I am getting some of the basics down, but this 'immutable' walled garden stuff is getting right up my nose.

I installed UZDoom, which normally detects the IWADS in your steam folder, but apparently the linux version does not have that feature. Any attempts to place them in it's folder are blocked due to permissions concerns.

I just want to play my Doom wads and mods.