holoiso/README.md

HoloISO

SteamOS 3 (Holo) archiso configuration.

Yes, Gabe. SteamOS functions well on a toaster.

This project attempts to bring Steam Deck's Holo OS into a generic, installable format and replicate close-to-official SteamOS experience.

Upon booting, you'll be greeted with Steam Deck's OOBE screen, from where you'll connect to your network and login to Steam account, from there, you can exit to KDE Plasma seamlessly by choosing Switch to desktop in power menu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smfwna2iHho

Q1:

• Is this official?
• The code, and packages are straight from Valve with zero possible edits. And ISO is being built on official Steam Deck recovery image running inside QEMU instance.

Q2:

• The ISO didn't boot for me, any solution?
• Currently, ISO only boots if flashed using BalenaEtcher, RosaImageWriter, Fedora Media Writer, DD with 4MB block size or Rufus with DD mode.

Working stuff:

• Boots
• SteamOS OOBE (SteamDeck UI First Boot Experience)
• Deck UI (separate session)
• Switch to Desktop from plasma/to plasma without user interference.
• Deck UI (-gamepadui)
• TDP/FPS limiting
• Global FSR
• Shader Pre-Caching
• Valve's exclusive Vapor appearance for KDE Plasma
• cool-looking neofetch?
• SteamDeck pacman mirrors

Known issues:

• NVIDIA GPUs are stuck on black screen or Triggering uevents. Solution: Boot with nomodeset=1 and install proprietary drivers https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA. Keep in mind, that Steam Deck session won't work for now, delete /etc/sddm.conf.d/autologin.conf to avoid booting into black screen with infinite crash.
• Intel GPUs/iGPUs require Gamescope and MESA downgrade in order to boot into Steam Deck session. Refer to https://gist.github.com/drraccoony/8a8d0a9e3dfde9fafd3e374e418d2935 for further guidance.

Installation process:

Prerequistes:

• 4GB flash drive
• AMD GPU with Vulkan and VDPAU support
• UEFI-enabled device
• Disabled secure boot

Installation types:

• 1. barebones: Barebones OS-only installation, resembles vanilla Arch Linux installation
• 2. gameonly: Steam Deck UI only (AMD GPU only; no desktop), as said, this doesn't ship any DE, and only has Steam Deck UI installed.
• 3. deckperience: Full SteamOS 3 experience, Includes proper session switching, KDE Plasma and media apps, Chromium preinstalled

Installation:

• Flash the ISO from the Releases tab using BalenaEtcher, RosaImageWriter, Fedora Media Writer, Rufus with DD mode, or by typing sudo dd if=SteamOS.iso of=/dev/sd(your flash drive) bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
• Boot into ISO
• Run holoinstall
• Select your installation flavor
• Enter drive node, starting from for ex. sda or nvme0n1 when asked
• Take your favourite hot beverage, and wait till it installs :)

Screenshots:

Notes:

This configuration includes Valve's pacman.conf repositories, holoinstall script and holoinstall post-installation binaries.

This configuration builds releng-based ISO, which is default Arch Linux redistribution flavor.

Building the ISO:

Trigger build by:

git clone https://github.com/bhaiest/holoiso/
sudo mkarchiso -v holoiso

Once it ends, your ISO will be available in out folder