robertkirkman/README.md

## README.md

      
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    How to record or stream Steam Deck/SteamOS 3.0+ in gamescope (Gaming Mode)
Another method not covered here, but also likely to work to some degree, if you want other options try this: https://github.com/nowrep/obs-vkcapture
Prerequisites for all methods outlined here

On SteamOS 3.4, some of these steps become much harder, but the good news is, thankfully, you no longer need to recompile mesa - Valve has fixed the encoding issue, and now you just need to make sure that your /etc/pacman.conf uses the right repositories for the branch you are on - at time of writing, the fixed mesa is in the jupiter-main repository. I can confirm this does technically still work on SteamOS 3.4, but I'm thinking over the best way to support it with this guide.


Set a password (if you haven't already) and disable read-only rootfs (yes this means after updating SteamOS [not Steam Client] this will all be deleted and you will have to do all this again if you want to stream again)

passwd
sudo steamos-readonly disable


(OPTIONAL) The on-Steam Deck OBS guide is written in a way that shouldn't require a separate device to actually execute any commands (the Sunshine guide requires a separate device for Moonlight), but for much less awkward and more efficient CLI activity, especially if you don't have a physical keyboard that's compatible with your Steam Deck, you can enable the SSH server to allow remotely connecting using your preferred keyboard-endowed device

sudo systemctl enable --now sshd


Set up pacman

sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --populate
sudo pacman -Syyu


Reinstall all corrupted packages that once contained header files before Valve deleted /usr/include


You might see a huge number of errors generated by dracut during the post-transaction hooks phase. These are spurious and can be safely ignored.

sudo pacman -S $(pacman -Ql | grep include | cut -d' ' -f1 | awk '!a[$0]++')


Install toolchain packages

sudo pacman --overwrite=/etc/ld.so.conf.d/fakeroot.conf -S base-devel meson cmake


Install your preferred terminal emulator (unless you prefer konsole which is preinstalled), Launch KDE Plasma Xorg (Desktop Mode), open Steam LIBRARY tab, and add it as a non-Steam game; here kitty is used as an example. At this time, I would also suggest you add a large number of dummy/duplicate non-Steam game entries for future use, because if you wish to remain in Gaming Mode, you will be able to change preexisting non-Steam game entries to add new shortcuts, which is otherwise impossible without switching to Desktop Mode.

yay -S kitty


Suggested kitty Launch Options in non-Steam game properties:

LD_PRELOAD= %command% --start-as=fullscreen

Sunshine

Clone the repository of the AUR package for sunshine, which is maintained by the upstream developer

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/sunshine.git


Apply a patch of my own design (shown below this file) that makes sunshine usable in Steam Deck's Gaming Mode

cd sunshine
(curl https://gist.githubusercontent.com/robertkirkman/753922262259486ec417e5ff8b5b924b/raw/e07bdfb89847483e99e48458656e96570b60e02c/sunshine-aur-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch && echo) | git apply -v


Build and install sunshine using makepkg

makepkg -si


Enable DRM capture mode in sunshine


WARNING: setcap is a security risk and after running it, all users and software with executable permission for the affected binary can be considered effectively root-equivalent (in this context, they would definitely be able to see your screen for example). To remove setcap permissions from any binaries granted this, use sudo setcap -r /path/to/file.

sudo setcap cap_sys_admin+p $(readlink -f $(which sunshine))


Launch sunshine and background it to continue using this shell

sunshine &


Make sure the Steam Deck is connected to Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and identify its local IP address for use in the following steps

ip a


Now move to the LAN device you would like to connect to the Steam Deck's Sunshine from and install Moonlight and a browser capable of accessing Sunshine's PIN entry box, for example epiphany; example command for an Arch Linux device with yay


Unfortunately, OBS cannot record the moonlight-qt window in gamescope without adding the additional overhead of the OBS section below this section, and epiphany is bugged and does not work in gamescope, so both of these softwares can only be effectively used to connect to Steam Deck Gaming Mode Sunshine from a separate device.

yay -S moonlight-qt epiphany


Launch your browser, connect to the Sunshine web server on the Steam Deck where you replace 192.168.12.146 with your Steam Deck's local IP address, accept all warnings (which occur on every default copy of Sunshine) and create a username and password for administration of Sunshine, re-enter the new credentials to log in, then navigate to the "PIN Pairing" entry box

epiphany https://192.168.12.146:47990


Launch Moonlight and add the Steam Deck's IP address as a new device, then type the PIN provided by Moonlight into the PIN box in the browser window


Sometimes Moonlight will fail to authenticate the first time even if the PIN is correct, just keep trying until you can click on the Steam Deck's entry and see the "Desktop" button.

moonlight


Click the Steam Deck's entry in Moonlight and the "Desktop" button, you can now see the entire Steam Deck screen and almost every menu and game, with a few exceptions - sometimes the onscreen keyboard and Quick Settings menu are invisible in Moonlight, but overall, Sunshine configured this way is capable of capturing much more, more reliably, than any other software. You can also capture the moonlight-qt window using OBS, which works better than the OBS guide below as long as you have this other system to run Moonlight on. Sometimes, sunshine might crash or Moonlight might spontaneously disconnect; if that happens, just restart both and everything will start working again.


If you use Sunshine+Moonlight for streaming-based netplay (someone playing on Steam Deck while someone else plays on another device), you might want to configure advanced audio settings (such as making sure the person using Moonlight can hear the game audio, but not themselves through your VOIP software like Discord). Steam Deck contains two distinct digital sound controllers that behave almost the exact same way their desktop PC counterparts do, which makes such advanced audio settings both possible and nearly identical to how they would be on a desktop Arch Linux PC. Therefore, for now I consider such settings outside the scope of this guide, but if you struggle with audio settings, let me know and I will consider expanding this to cover that common audio use case.

OBS

Unfortunately, this is a very messy method that encodes twice, stutters a lot, and sometimes looks green. The plugin obs-kmsgrab used to work for zero-copy single-pass encoding circa March 24, 2022, but sadly it does not receive updates often, and does not work in gamescope anymore; I suspect an update to gamescope could be at fault, but I haven't bisected this yet - I will try to eventually. If it works for you in gamescope, please let me know how. Edit Nov. 2022: obs-kmsgrab has started recieving updates again, which is very exciting, thank you xnqs! I haven't tested it again but I will try to soon - if I can get it to work again, I will restore its section to this guide.


Install OBS and ffmpeg


WARNING: setcap is a security risk and after running it, all users and software with executable permission for the affected binary can be considered effectively root-equivalent (in this context, they would definitely be able to see your screen for example). To remove setcap permissions from any binaries granted this, use sudo setcap -r /path/to/file.

yay -S obs-studio ffmpeg
sudo setcap cap_sys_admin+ep $(readlink -f $(which ffmpeg))


If you do not have any unused dummy shortcuts to populate with OBS, launch KDE Plasma Xorg (Desktop Mode), open Steam and add OBS to Library as a non-Steam game, then right click on it, click Properties, and place the following text exactly as shown in the Launch Options box:

LD_PRELOAD= QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb %command%


First create a new Scene in OBS, then add a new Media Source to the Scene and uncheck Local File. Then add the following and click OK


Input: udp://localhost:4444


Input Format: udp


Switch to gamescope, navigate to Library and launch your terminal emulator, then execute this command; ffmpeg will crash anytime you leave the Steam client window by selecting a game or non-Steam app, and this should automatically restart it

while true; do ffmpeg -thread_queue_size 512 -framerate 60 -device /dev/dri/card0 \
     -f kmsgrab -i - -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 \
     -vf 'hwmap=derive_device=vaapi,scale_vaapi=format=nv12' \
     -c:v h264_vaapi -bf 1 -f mpegts udp://localhost:4444; done


You will also need to bind Ctrl+C to actually be able stop this capture with the least difficulty; navigate to "Controller settings" for your terminal emulator's non-Steam game entry and bind buttons to these keys, as pictured below. It is very possible that there is a better way of controlling ffmpeg without an external keyboard than this, but unfortunately I haven't found that way yet.


Navigate to Library, launch OBS and start your stream or recording now. ffmpeg will often crash when you switch windows, but wait for a few seconds each time you do. The loop will automatically reset ffmpeg, and anything you can look at should be captured. When you are done, navigate to OBS and stop your stream or recording, then navigate to your terminal emulator and hold down your Ctrl+C keybind for a few seconds to kill the ffmpeg loop


Sometimes, ffmpeg will only record a small rectangular portion of the screen and the rest will be black. I don't know exactly why this happens and I haven't found any way to consistently prevent it, but it doesn't happen every single time, so if the source looks incomplete in OBS, kill the loop and try running it again until it looks acceptable.


Special thanks to people who helped me with various parts of this guide:
scaled#4479
logan2611#2351
kamae#7499
2zd9R#9421
and to the developers of all the software involved


## sunshine-aur-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
diff --git a/PKGBUILD b/PKGBUILD
index eff5709..95a37ff 100644
--- a/PKGBUILD
+++ b/PKGBUILD
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ sha256sums=('SKIP')
 prepare() {
     cd "$pkgname"
     git submodule update --recursive --init
+    git apply -v ../../sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
 }

 build() {
diff --git a/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch b/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a807e44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+diff --git a/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp b/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
+index 3b9257b..ebaf20c 100644
+--- a/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
++++ b/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
+@@ -523,8 +523,8 @@ public:
+         if(monitor != std::end(pos->crtc_to_monitor)) {
+           auto &viewport = monitor->second.viewport;
+
+-          width    = viewport.width;
+-          height   = viewport.height;
++          width    = viewport.height;
++          height   = viewport.width;
+           offset_x = viewport.offset_x;
+           offset_y = viewport.offset_y;
+         }
	diff --git a/PKGBUILD b/PKGBUILD
	index eff5709..95a37ff 100644
	--- a/PKGBUILD
	+++ b/PKGBUILD
	@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ sha256sums=('SKIP')
	prepare() {
	cd "$pkgname"
	git submodule update --recursive --init
	+ git apply -v ../../sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
	}

	build() {
	diff --git a/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch b/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
	new file mode 100644
	index 0000000..a807e44
	--- /dev/null
	+++ b/sunshine-steamdeck-gamingmode.patch
	@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
	+diff --git a/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp b/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
	+index 3b9257b..ebaf20c 100644
	+--- a/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
	++++ b/src/platform/linux/kmsgrab.cpp
	+@@ -523,8 +523,8 @@ public:
	+ if(monitor != std::end(pos->crtc_to_monitor)) {
	+ auto &viewport = monitor->second.viewport;
	+
	+- width = viewport.width;
	+- height = viewport.height;
	++ width = viewport.height;
	++ height = viewport.width;
	+ offset_x = viewport.offset_x;
	+ offset_y = viewport.offset_y;
	+ }