Note: This update is for the Steam Deck Preview channel, and includes new features that are still being tested. You can opt into this in Settings > System > System Update Channel.

These notes contain all changes since the current stable SteamOS 3.7 release, with the changes added since the previous preview noted in bold

General

  • [[b]New in 3.8.1[/b]] Fixed a case where WiFi performance could become degraded until the device was put to sleep or manually reconnected

  • [[b]New in 3.8.1[/b]] Fixed excessive trackpad sensitivity on certain early Steam Deck LCD models

  • Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware

  • Updated Arch system base

  • Updated graphics driver with performance and stability fixes

  • Fixed a case where per-app performance settings would intermittently fail to apply when launching a game

  • Improved support for the screencasts in Game Mode (e.g. OBS/Discord)

  • Fixed dropdown menus not appearing in some games

  • Improved VRR frame pacing

  • Fixed FSR badge remaining off in the performance overlay, even if it was actually active

  • Improved support for games that attempt to open PDF files in external viewers

  • Fixed an issue affecting certain titles (such as “SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide”) where the game window could have an incorrect position

  • Fixed closing certain titles (such as “STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™”) and Starfield resulting in a session crash

  • Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that boot in a non-standard mode

    • Frequently these are devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installer, and must be switched to their normal mode by the OS

  • Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display update progress on the splash screen

  • Fixes issue on specific Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller inoperative for that session

  • Numerous stability and security updates

Bluetooth

  • Re-re-enable Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD

    • Fix for more spurious wake issues that were present in earlier attempts

Audio

  • Detect HDMI channel count and expose surround configuration if available

  • Add a setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics (Bluetooth playback quality will be worse while capture is active)

  • Restore internal audio device on reboot if set to “Off” in desktop mode

  • Increase suspend timeout for HDMI devices so initial audio isn’t cut off after a few seconds of inactivity

  • Fixed a bug with switching input devices when a wired headset is plugged in

  • Fixed an issue where audio underruns could be experienced after sleep/resume

Accessibility

  • Added an option to force mono audio output

Desktop Mode

  • KDE Plasma updated to version 6.4.3 from 6.2.5, and now uses wayland by default

    • Fixes several cases of reduced performance in Desktop Mode compared to Game Mode

    • Improved support for rotated displays

    • Better scale factor out of the box on TVs

    • Adds support for external HDR displays

    • Adds support for VRR displays

    • Adds support per-display scale factor

    • For more information, see Plasma release announcements

      • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.3.0/

      • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.4.0/

  • Keyboard layout and language are now obeying Game Mode settings

  • Improved windowing behavior for games running in Proton

System Firmware

  • Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133

    • Security updates

    • Added “Memory Power Down” setup option

    • Preliminary support for hibernation

  • Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114

    • Security updates

    • Charging LED now changes color when charge limit is reached, rather than only at 100%

Non-Deck

  • Improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms

  • Greatly improved video memory management with discrete GPU platforms

  • Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with recent UEFI firmware

  • Power button short and long presses now supported across a wide variety of devices

  • Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go

  • Added controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2

  • Added system and controller firmware update support for the Lenovo Legion Go 2

  • Added preliminary charge limiting support for Legion Go, Legion Go S, and Legion Go 2 – currently only accessible in Desktop Mode

  • Added controller RGB LED color settings for the Lenovo Legion Go 2

  • Added controller, TDP control, and speaker audio support for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series

  • Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8ms to 100-500us

  • Night mode, color vibrance, and color temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs

  • Seamless boot fixes for Z2E and later AMD APUs

  • Automatically handle internally rotated display for some third-party handhelds

  • Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs

  • SD card reliability improvements for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2, and MSI Claw

  • Fixed washed out colors for Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds with OLED

  • Fixed some GPU hangs on Phoenix APU devices (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II)

  • Fixed ASUS ROG Ally power consumption from fingerprint reader while shut down

Developer

  • Desktop Mode now uses Wayland by default

    • X11 support may still be selected via Steam developer settings, or via `steamosctl`

  • Updated Linux kernel to 6.16

  • Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger desktop session switching

  • Added support for setting the desktop password in developer settings

  • Initial support for running as a Virtual Machine guest (virtio guest drivers)

  • Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS boot menu via EFI variable

  • Added `custom-update` verb to `atomupd-manager` for easier testing of specific builds

  • System reports now include more audio debug information

  • Initial support for LAVD CPU scheduler via `steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd`

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