g4xx/Steam-Gamemode.md

## Steam-Gamemode.md

      
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              Steam-Gamemode.md
            
          
    Steam Gamescope Session

Instructions

1. Install Gamescope

Install the gamescope using your package manager.
2. Setup Steam inside Gamescope


Run the following command to launch Steam within a Gamescope instance from the terminal:
gamescope -e -- steam -steamdeck


3. Run through Steam Deck set up


Run through the set up process by:

Selecting the language of your choice
Setting the timezome


You will then be presented with the home screen (like Big Picture mode).
Close the window to exit from Steam.

4. Creating a script to launch Steam inside Gamescope


Using a code editor, create a new file called gamescope-session, add the following lines to the file and then save the file
#!/bin/bash

sleep 10 && gamescopectl adaptive_sync_ignore_overlay 1 &
STEAM_GAMESCOPE_VRR_SUPPORTED=1 STEAM_MULTIPLE_XWAYLANDS=1 gamescope --mangoapp -W <resolution_width> -H <resolution_height> -r <refresh_rate> -O <output_display> -e --xwayland-count 2 -- steam -steamdeck -steamos3


Replace <resolution_width> and <resolution_height> with the width and height of your primary dispaly's resolution, <refresh_rate> with the refresh rate of your primary display, and <output_display> with whatever display you wan't to use as the primary. You can get the <output_display> value for your primary display using wayland-info command and looking for the name field of your primary display.
As an example, for me, the command looks like this:
STEAM_GAMESCOPE_VRR_SUPPORTED=1 STEAM_MULTIPLE_XWAYLANDS=1 gamescope --mangoapp -W 1920 -H 1080 -r 165 -O DP-1 -e --xwayland-count 2 -- steam -steamdeck -steamos3


The --mangoapp flag enables controlling of MangoHud overlay from within Steam.


The gamescopectl adaptive_sync_ignore_overlay 1 command is required to fix an issue where VRR behaves erratically when used with --mangoapp flag to enable MangoHud support.


The STEAM_GAMESCOPE_VRR_SUPPORTED=1 flag is required to fix a VRR issue.


The STEAM_MULTIPLE_XWAYLANDS=1 flag combined with --xwayland-count 2 option is required when you want to be able to use keyboard and mouse properly inside Gamemode.


Set the file permissions and copy it to the ~/.local/bin directory using the commands:
chmod +x gamescope-session
cp gamescope-session ~/.local/bin


5. Creating a script to switch back to 'desktop mode' (close steam)


Create a new file named steamos-session-select, add the following lines to the file and save it:
#!/bin/bash

steam -shutdown


Set the file permissions and copy it into ~/.local/bin directory using the commands:
chmod +x steamos-session-select  
cp steamos-session-select ~/.local/bin


6. Applying fixes for software updates


Create a new file named steamos-select-branch, add the following lines to the file and then save it:
#!/bin/bash

echo "Not applicable for this OS"


Set the file permissions and copy it to the ~/.local/bin directory using the commands:
chmod +x steamos-select-branch  
cp steamos-select-branch ~/.local/bin


Create a new file named steamos-update, add the following lines to the file and then save it:
#!/bin/bash

exit 7;


Set the file permissions and copy it to the ~/.local/bin directory using the commands:
chmod +x steamos-update  
cp steamos-update ~/.local/bin


Create a new file named jupiter-biosupdate, add the following lines to the file and then save it:
#!/bin/bash

exit 0;


Set the file permissions and copy it to the ~/.local/bin directory using the commands:
chmod +x jupiter-biosupdate
cp jupiter-biosupdate ~/.local/bin


7. Understaing TTYs

Before proceeding to the next step, let's recap some info about TTY.

TTYs are essentially terminal sessions which can run in parallel.
You can switch between terminal sessions using the keyboard combination Ctrl+Alt+[F1-F6], where Ctrl+Alt+F1 will switch to TTY1, Ctr+Alt+F2 will switch to TTY2 and so on, upto TTY6.
On GNOME (I don't know about other desktop environments), TTY1 corresponds to GDM, the login manager and TTY2 corresponds to the GNOME session itself, while TTY3-TTY6 are available for use. For the sake of an example, let's choose TTY3 as our Gamescope session target.

8. Setting up autologin on target TTY


Open a terminal and execute the following command: sudo systemctl edit getty@tty3. Replace tty3 with any other tty which you want to use.


Insert the folling text where the cursor is pointed by default:
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty -o '-p -f -- \\u' --noclear --autologin <username> %I TERM
Restart=no

Replace <username> with you user account's username.


Save the file and reboot your system.


9. Setting up command to start and exit the session


Edit the ~/.bashrc file and insert the following text at the end:
alias gsteam="gamescope-session; chvt 2; exit"

Here, I'm using chvt 2 since GNOME runs on TTY2. If you know for sure that your desktop environment runs on a different TTY instance, replace 2 with whatever instance number you desktop environment runs.


Save the file and exit.


Edit your ~/.bash_profile file and insert the following text at the end:
if [[ $(tty) == "/dev/tty3" ]]; then
    gsteam
fi

Here I'm using /dev/tty3. If your selected target TTY was anything else, replace tty3 with your selected target i.e, if you want to use tty5 for the Gamemode, replace /dev/tty3 with /dev/tty5.


Save the file and exit.


10. Testing things out


Log out and login again and test it out by switching to the selected TTY using the keyboard shortcut. Here, since I used TTY3, I can test it by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F3, which should open Steam Gamemode.
You can exit it by going into the menu and selecting Switch to Desktop, which should switch you back to your usual Desktop Environment and terminate the Steam Gamemode.
To switch between the TTY sessions (including the one where your desktop environment is running), you can just use the keyboard shortcuts, and both the desktop environment and Steam Gamemode will run in parallel.
Steam Gamemode will only terminate if you click Switch to Desktop in Steam.

Credits

Shoutout to shahnawazshahin for the Gamescope Session guide and u/felix_ribeiro for the fix for Keyboard and Mouse input.