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Another big day for Steam Deck owners, as SteamOS 3.5 is finally here with lots of big additions. Plus, Valve also released a fresh Steam Client update.

SteamOS 3.5 is the update that brings official support for the new Steam Deck OLED, along with adjusting the default colour rendering for the Steam Deck LCD to emulate the sRGB color gamut giving warmer and more vibrant colours. Although you can change this any time in the new display settings:

You will also now have:

  • HDR settings for external displays.
  • VRR can be enabled for external displays.
  • Fixed an issue where certain workloads would exhibit severe CPU performance issues unless SMT was manually disabled.
  • Auto-mounting of external drives.
  • Improved Bluetooth connection stability, especially with multiple controllers.
  • Upgraded graphics drivers with lots of performance and compatibility improvements.
  • An updated Arch Linux package base.
  • Upgraded KDE Plasma desktop to 5.27.
  • + lots and lots and lots more.

Full SteamOS 3.5.5 changelog here.

As for the Steam Client update that pulls in some recent additions from various Beta versions for both Desktop and Steam Deck. This includes:

This update has been re-released with the following fix:

  • Fixed video freeze when streaming games with launchers when using NVIDIA hardware encoding.

General

  • Allow local game content transfers from a plugged-in Steam Deck to other Steam clients on the same LAN.
  • Fixed setting the correct AppID in Source SDK mod manager.
  • Visual tweaks to Steam Deck, Big Picture Mode and SteamVR: Many small changes throughout to make the user interface a more visually-rich experience in Home, Library and other areas.
  • Nicer layout for Soundtracks pages. These pages are now easier to navigate in Big Picture Mode and feature larger artwork on Desktop.
  • Fixed some layout and interaction bugs in the Media viewer.
  • Move the controller support information in the desktop client from the play bar to a widget in the right column
  • Add HDR badge to app details for games that are marked as having HDR output.
  • Fix bug preventing you from launching a game that had temporarily disabled auto-updates if new workshop content was available.
  • Additional information about controller support has been added to the client:
    • Game details pages in the library will now show information about specific controller and VR support in the right-hand column when devices are connected.
    • PlayStation controllers have a new default mode in Steam Input where Steam will route controllers to the game's built-in support if available and to Steam Input when they would be unsupported. These controllers can still be globally opted-in or out of Steam Input in the controller tab of the Steam settings page.
    • The landing page of the controller configurator now has controller support information, and it has been made easier to quickly opt in or out of Steam Input for a particular game.
    • In the Big Picture library there is now Xbox/DualShock/DualSense support tabs similar to the "Great on Deck" tab that are populated based on your connected devices.
    • DualShock, DualSense, and Steam Input API support have been added to the available filters in the library.
    • Games that require controllers (no mouse/keyboard support), require a VR Headset, or support both VR and standard game modes will now show that information in the client, similar to how it displayed in the store.
    • Footer icons for DualSense controllers in Big Picture have been updated to use the black and white style on the device.

Remote Play

  • Fixed hidden mouse cursor when streaming to Android TV.
  • Fixed stream lockup when using Intel iGPU hardware encoding.

Steam Input

  • Improve look of configurator when there are no controllers connected.
  • In games that support SteamInput API Actions we no longer hide the Flick Stick as Mouse option if a FlickStick action is defined - this is so that Gyro To Mouse can be properly complemented if you wish.
  • Fixed the ROG Pugio II mouse showing up as a controller.
  • Fix: Gyro Joystick mode: Core gyro quaternion is updated even when the app requesting it is not focused.
  • Fixes to both Gyro as Joystick Modes: Min/Max remapping was not allowing values to become zero when gyro values were less than minimum required joystick output values.
  • Gyro to Joystick (Deflection) mode uses sensor fusion controller accelerometer rather than quaternion for more consistent behavior. This should address issues where the X output would become canted in the legacy modes. Note: it may feel subtly different. Feedback welcome.
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16 comments
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Pengling Nov 17, 2023
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Brilliant - been looking forward to this update! For some games I've found that the late LCD model can look a bit too saturated, so being able to adjust that should help.

All of the fixes and new additions for external storage should be handy, too.

Sounds like a great update overall, going by the full update-notes!
drjoms Nov 17, 2023
OH WHOA!
HDR ON LINUX?
Ok i get it it Steam Deck only, but HOT DAMN!
Solitary Nov 17, 2023
Quoting: drjomsOH WHOA!
HDR ON LINUX?
Ok i get it it Steam Deck only, but HOT DAMN!
Is it actually only Steam Deck? I would have thought gamescope is what drives it, so maybe it could be possible on desktop too... but maybe it needs something underneath (kernel?) and that might not be in the upstream yet.


Last edited by Solitary on 17 November 2023 at 11:47 am UTC
gaboversta Nov 17, 2023
The biggest thing might be the update to Plasma. Going from my Tumbleweed desktop to the Steam Deck desktop always feels like revisiting the past.
CatKiller Nov 17, 2023
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Quoting: drjomsOH WHOA!
HDR ON LINUX?
Ok i get it it Steam Deck only, but HOT DAMN!
It's gamescope only for now; the kernel work is ongoing, and there's a Wayland spec in progress. Gamescope uses a cut-down version of that spec for HDR in one fullscreen application, and KDE Plasma is using that same cut-down version for the same purpose in Plasma 6.
CatKiller Nov 17, 2023
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One thing to note with this update: if you had a per-application framerate cap set previously then updating will make the Deck forget about it because of the new slider. I ate most of my battery playing GTA Batman before I noticed.
Liam Dawe Nov 17, 2023
Article updated to add new video in.
Pengling Nov 17, 2023
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Quoting: CatKillerOne thing to note with this update: if you had a per-application framerate cap set previously then updating will make the Deck forget about it because of the new slider. I ate most of my battery playing GTA Batman before I noticed.
Thanks for the warning! I haven't gotten to install it yet and was wondering if it might do that.
emphy Nov 17, 2023
Am I missing something obvious or is the family view switch really not present in steam's small mode (any version)?

I noticed, because I had to turn off the family view, hence switch to large mode first, before being allowed to check for updates (however this latest client version can check for updates when in family view fine).


Last edited by emphy on 17 November 2023 at 3:39 pm UTC
poiuz Nov 17, 2023
Is now everything necessary included to disable the shader cache?
What are the requirements & what have I to do to enable the improved shader compilation (apart from Proton 8)?
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