Valve has pushed SteamOS 3.9 out the door, which is an extremely important update for those using Steam Deck and Steam Machine. Not only is this fixing a number of persistent stability problems, but it's also boosting battery life efficiency. Why is this important?
Major backend changes improve connectivity and battery efficiency
For starters, the update will patch a number of connectivity bugs that affected users' ability to connect to hidden WiFi networks in the past. This also fixes game crashes for some popular titles like Elden Ring and Forza Horizon 6. Beyond that, there are some very important backend changes that make the system more compatible with new hardware and even more stable.
- Desktop Environment: Plasma 6.7.3
- Linux Kernel: 7.2
- Base OS: Arch Linux
- WiFi Backend: wpa_supplicant
The big story here is how Valve is shaking up the underlying Linux system in ways that change the entire nature of how hardware is handled. They've rebased Linux kernel to 7.2 which is a big change that will have a major impact on the security and stability of the OS, whether you're gaming or running desktop mode. There's also a new default WiFi backend that replaces iwd with wpa_supplicant which is aimed at improving connectivity to more types of wireless networks.
Valve is bringing KDE Plasma 6.7.3 to desktop mode, replacing the previous 6.4.3 build for a more modern interface experience. Hibernation is also being added with preliminary support, meaning users can now save their state in the session, but this isn't exposed to the UI in Game Mode on Steam Deck just yet due to driver limitations. Also, SteamOS guest VM support has been improved for using it as a virtual machine guest with accelerated graphics for developers/power users who experiment with it in a virtual environment.
Some notable fixes have been made for specific hardware/software interactions. For example, the Steam Deck's idle power is now better with no audio in use. Also, there's some preliminary support for brightness controls on the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which makes the OS more compatible with other 3rd party handhelds.
Valve has also revoked some compromised eMudhra CA certificates to improve security and they've updated the bootloader to be better compatible with motherboards. All around, they're keeping things secure and stable across a variety of different setups.
You'll want to know that while the hibernation stuff is there, it's disabled on the Steam Deck right now due to a pending driver bug. So just stick with using suspend/resume. The new default WiFi backend may mean re-authenticating with your networks, but it should reduce WiFi drops after resuming from sleep. Overall, it's a solid update for improving stability in the SteamOS ecosystem and Valve's addressing more of what people have been reporting in upcoming patches.
Source: SteamDeckHQ
Discussion
0 comments