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Last active September 30, 2022 21:33
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Steam Deck Windows Instructions
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windows_dual_boot.md

These are some rough steps for setting up Windows dual-boot on the Steam Deck. Please note that this may or may not work, since I didn't follow this exact path and did a lot of experimentation to land on these recommendations.

Things you need:

  • A decent chunk of time (1-2 hours if things go smoothly) set aside to set this up, doesn't have to be all in one go
  • Enough free space (at least 30GB) on your Steam Deck internal drive for a Windows install plus games. Note that if you just follow this first set of steps (eg. if you don't want to buy a Paragon Linux Filesystem for Windows license) you won't be able to use your SD card for Windows game storage.
  • 1-2 USB sticks (depends on if you want to burn Windows to USB beforehand or after you do the partitioning)
  • A keyboard, although you might be able to get away without it since Windows Setup has pretty good on screen keyboard support w/ the touchscreen
  • USB C to USB A adapter if your USBs or keyboard are USB A
  • Some knowledge of partitioning. There are some great guides out there on GParted if you're not familiar.
  • Knowledge that this might cause data loss if the steps are faulty or not followed. You can always get SteamOS back via Valve's Recovery Image that's available online. Make sure all your saves are backed up to Steam Cloud.

Steps:

  1. On another PC, put GParted live CD on a USB https://gparted.org/download.php. You can use https://rufus.ie/en/ or similar tools for this
  2. Plug your USB into Steam Deck via a USB adapter
  3. Go to Settings->Storage and note down the size of your library partition (/home/deck) so you can identify it in GParted
  4. Boot into GParted by shutting down your Deck completely then holding down the Volume Down button and tapping the power button
  5. You should get a screen with a bunch of boot targets. Select the non-SteamOS option with the name of your USB
  6. In GParted, click on the drive that is the size of your SteamOS games partition and click "Resize". In "free space after", type how much space you want in your Windows partition. For GB multiply by 1024 (e.g. 2GB = 2048). You should see empty space now under the drive in the list. Click Apply once you're sure that the partition layout is the one you want.
  7. Shut down your Deck and remove the USB
  8. Back on your computer, using Rufus click the little arrow beside "Select" (or similar can't remember the label) button and click "Download". Select Windows 11, then 21H2. 22H2 will blue screen if you install the sound driver. Use Rufus to put the image on the USB.
  9. Boot into your Windows USB the same way as GParted
  10. Go through a normal windows install, taking care to select the unallocated space when you're choosing where to install
  11. Your Deck should boot into Windows 🎉 This is where you may need a keyboard if you can't manage to get the on screen one yet
  12. In Windows, go to Edge and download the Steam Deck Windows Drivers, following Valve's instructions exactly for each one
  13. Download Steam
  14. Your Deck is now all set up for Windows and SteamOS dual boot. There's some guides out there that tell you how to set up a boot loader to give you a choice of OS at boot time but I didn't bother. To switch OSes you can hold down the Volume Down button and press the power button while the deck is powered off.

There are some good post-install resources at the WindowsOnDeck Subreddit FAQ.

Shared SD card between Windows and SteamOS

I haven't tried this long enough to be sure that it doesn't have adverse effects, but here's how I set up Paragon Linux Filesystem for Windows to have my Steam Deck libraries shared between Windows and SteamOS. Again, back up your saves to Steam before trying this.

Requirements:

  • Windows-SteamOS dual boot set up
  • After a 10 day trial, $25.70 CAD or equivalent for a Linux Filesystem for Windows

SteamOS

  1. In SteamOS Desktop View, create a folder called SteamLibrary (or whatever you'd like) on your SD card
  2. Move the steamapps folder and libraryfolder.vdf file to the new folder.
  3. Open Steam on the SteamOS Desktop View and visit Steam->Settings on the top bar. Go into Downloads then Manage Game Libraries.
  4. Click to add a new library, and in the dropdown navigate to /run/media/mmcblk0p1/SteamLibrary
  5. Ensure that your games are showing up correctly
  6. Remove the old library by clicking on it, clicking the ..., and then Remove/Delete.
  7. Reboot into Windows

Windows

  1. Download Linux Filesystem for Windows from the above link. Set it up as a trial to make sure it works before you buy
  2. This will set up all your Linux filesystems as drives on your computer
  3. Find the SD card filesystem, and add it to your Steam library via the same method as above.
  4. Make sure your games are listed
  5. You should now be able to play your Steam games that are on your SD card via your Windows Steam
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