How to install SteamOSUpdated 5 hours ago

SteamOS is the Linux based operating system that powers the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It boots straight into a controller friendly Steam interface and is built around AMD hardware. This guide covers getting your USB installer, preparing your BIOS, running the installer, and first boot setup.

There are two ways to get your installer, and you only need one of them. If you bought a SteamOS system from us, the recovery drive shipped in the accessory bag and is ready to use as is. If not, you will need to download the image from Valve and write it to a USB drive first.

⚠️WARNING: INSTALLING STEAMOS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON THE DRIVE YOU INSTALL IT TO. PLEASE BACKUP ANY IMPORTANT DATA BEFORE CONTINUING. META PC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA LOSS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PERSONAL FILES, APPLICATIONS, CONFIGURATION SETTINGS, PICTURES, OR VIDEOS.

GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU SWITCH

SteamOS is a completely different operating system from Windows, so a few things work differently. Worth knowing before you wipe anything:

SteamOS is built around AMD graphics. AMD systems get the smoothest experience. NVIDIA support is inconsistent and some cards will not work
Windows apps and utilities do not run, including Armoury Crate, Polychrome, iCUE, and HYTE Nexus. RGB control on SteamOS is handled by community software in Desktop Mode, so our RGB guides do not apply once you switch
You do not install graphics drivers manually. They come bundled with SteamOS system updates
The installer takes over an entire drive. There is no built in dual boot option. If you want to keep Windows, install SteamOS to a separate physical drive. Guide here: How to install or reseat an M.2 SSD

⚠️WARNING: IF YOUR PC HAS MORE THAN ONE DRIVE (SSD/HDD) INSTALLED, THE INSTALLER MAY NOT ASK WHICH ONE TO USE. DISCONNECT ANY DRIVE YOU ARE NOT INSTALLING TO BEFORE YOU START!

If you would rather not open the system up, bring it by the shop and we can disconnect the extra drives for you.

GETTING YOUR STEAMOS USB DRIVE

USING THE RECOVERY DRIVE THAT CAME WITH YOUR SYSTEM

If you bought a SteamOS system from us, the recovery drive shipped in the box and is ready to use as is.

IF YOUR SYSTEM DID NOT COME WITH STEAMOS, OR YOU CANNOT FIND YOUR RECOVERY DRIVE, SKIP THIS SECTION AND FOLLOW CREATING YOUR OWN STEAMOS USB DRIVE BELOW INSTEAD.

Every SteamOS system we build ships with a SteamOS recovery drive in the accessory bag. It is already written and ready to go, so there is nothing to download or format. All you need is the drive, a wired keyboard and mouse, and an internet connection.

Find the flash drive labeled SteamOS Recovery in your accessory bag
Plug it into a port on the back of the PC
Skip ahead to Preparing Your BIOS below

✏️PLEASE NOTE: Hang onto this drive. It is the fastest way to get your system back if SteamOS ever stops booting, and it saves you the download later.

CREATING A STEAMOS USB DRIVE

If your system did not ship with a recovery drive, or you have lost yours, you can build one yourself in a few minutes.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

A USB flash drive, 8GB or larger
A working Windows PC to prepare the drive
A wired keyboard and mouse
An internet connection, wired Ethernet is easiest but Wi-Fi works. The download is around 3GB
A backup of anything important on the PC

⚠️ WARNING: EVERYTHING ON THE FLASH DRIVE WILL BE ERASED DURING THIS PROCESS

STEP ONE: DOWNLOAD THE STEAMOS RECOVERY IMAGE

Go to Valve's official SteamOS Recovery Instructions page
Download the recovery image. It will save as steamdeck-recovery-X.img.bz2
Leave the file in your Downloads folder, there is no need to extract it

✏️PLEASE NOTE: Only download the image from Valve. Third party mirrors are often outdated and may be missing the driver support your hardware needs.

STEP TWO: DOWNLOAD RUFUS

Rufus is a free tool that writes the image onto your flash drive.

Go to rufus.ie and download the standard version or the portable
Rufus portable does not install, just double click the file you downloaded to run it
Click Yes if Windows asks for permission

STEP THREE: WRITE THE IMAGE TO YOUR USB DRIVE

Plug in your USB flash drive and open Rufus
Under Device, select your flash drive

⚠️ WARNING: DOUBLE CHECK YOU HAVE PICKED THE RIGHT DRIVE. RUFUS WILL ERASE AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE JUST AS HAPPILY AS A FLASH DRIVE!

Click SELECT and choose the steamdeck-recovery-X.img.bz2 file you downloaded
Leave Partition scheme on GPT and Target system on UEFI (non CSM)
Click START, then click OK on the warning
Wait for the status bar to read READY, then close Rufus and eject the drive

✏️PLEASE NOTE: If the recovery image does not show up when you click SELECT, change the file type dropdown in the bottom right corner from Disk or ISO image to All files. If Rufus still will not take the compressed file, extract it with 7-Zip first and point Rufus at the .img inside.

Once your drive is written, please move onto Preparing Your BIOS below.

INSTALLING STEAMOS

PREPARING YOUR BIOS

SteamOS will not boot with Secure Boot enabled. This is the single most common reason an install fails, so take care of it before anything else.

Shut the PC down completely and plug the USB drive into a port on the back of the PC. Front panel ports, hubs, and USB-C adapters are unreliable during install
Boot into your BIOS by spamming the DEL and ESC key on startup and set Secure Boot to Disabled
Save changes and exit, usually F10

Our Secure Boot guide has the BIOS key and the exact menu location for each motherboard brand. Follow it to find the setting, then set it to Disabled instead of Enabled: How to enable Secure Boot

✏️ PLEASE NOTE: If you are keeping Windows on another drive in this system, turning Secure Boot off can make Windows ask for your BitLocker recovery key the next time it boots. Grab your key before you change anything: How do I locate my BitLocker recovery key?

BOOTING FROM THE USB DRIVE

Power the system on and repeatedly tap your motherboard's boot menu key as soon as it starts:

ASUS: F8| ASROCK: F11 | MSI: F11 | GIGABYTE: F12

Select your USB drive from the boot menu, it may show up as UEFI: [your drive's name]
The SteamOS recovery environment will load in a minute or two

✏️ PLEASE NOTE: Every SteamOS system we build uses an ASUS motherboard, so your boot menu key is F8. If you are working on a system that did not come from us, the model name is printed on the board itself, usually between the PCIe slots or along the top edge near the RAM. It is also shown at the top of the screen once you are in the BIOS.

RUNNING THE INSTALLER

You will land on a plain desktop with a few shortcuts on it. This is the recovery environment running off the flash drive, nothing has been installed yet.

⚠️WARNING: THIS STEP FORMATS THE DRIVE AND INSTALLS A FRESH COPY OF STEAMOS

Double click Wipe Device & Install SteamOS
A window will pop up, it "Proceed" to begin the process.Let it run. This takes a few minutes depending on your drive
⚠️DO NOT TURN THE SYSTEM OFF WHILE THIS IS RUNNING!
When it finishes you will get a prompt to reboot. Remove the USB drive once the system reboots fully.

FIRST BOOT SETUP
Now that you've rebooted it's time to start setting up the OS.

Pick your language and region
Connect to Wi-Fi, or plug in Ethernet
Sign into your Steam account
Let the system check for updates and install them

This first update matters. Recovery images go stale, and the update pulls in the current graphics drivers. On newer GPUs it is often the difference between working and not.

We also recommend staying on the Stable update channel. The Beta and Preview channels regularly ship broken Wi-Fi, audio, and controller behavior.

✏️PLEASE NOTE: If the PC does not boot into SteamOS after the install first reattempt booting back into flash drive and proceed with wiping and installing SteamOS. If that not work enter the BIOS and set the drive you installed to as boot option #1. If your BIOS settings are in a strange state after all this, you can start clean: How to reset the CMOS

GOING BACK TO WINDOWS

Changed your mind? Nothing here is permanent. Installing Windows over SteamOS works the same as any other clean install, and you will want to re-enable Secure Boot afterward so anti-cheat games work again.

If you have worked through the steps above and are still stuck, reach out to our support team with your order number and what you have already tried, and we will pick it up from there.

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