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Introduction | Download + Installation Guide (non Steam Deck Users) | Features | Discussions | Bug Fix & New Features Scheduling | Guide to Restoring BCD | Tweak Paradise

(Guide by @AllevatoreAnonimo)

Required Hardware

  • 1 USB flash drive (must be empty, at least USB 2.0)
  • 1 Keyboard
  • 1 Mouse
  • 1 Docking station with video output
  • 1 (Optional) Monitor (to don't watch in Portrait/Vertical the screen)
  • 1 Steam Deck + Power Adapter
  • 1 (Optional) External HDD/SSD for backing up the disk image (ensure there's enough space for the image)
  • 1 Additional PC to prepare the necessary files
  • 1 USB Hub 3.0 (if your dock doesn't have at least 4 USB ports: for mouse, keyboard, USB flash drive, and SSD/HDD)
  • Knowledge of the difference between LEFT SHIFT (left-side shift key) and CAPS LOCK
  • Knowledge of the difference between MBR and GPT

Required Software

Preparing the Ventoy USB Drive

  1. Once everything is downloaded, connect the USB flash drive to your PC.
  2. Open Ventoy, go to Language in the top menu, and select your language.
  3. Go to Options, make sure Secure Boot is checked.
  4. Under Options, scroll to Partition Table Style and select GPT.
  5. Still in Options, click on Partition Configuration.
  6. Check the box for exFAT. In the Cluster Size dropdown menu, select System Default.
  7. Do not check Reserve some space [...].
  8. Check the box for Align partitions to 4KB.
  9. Click OK.
  10. In the Device dropdown menu, select your USB flash drive. If it doesn’t appear, press the button with the two circular arrows to refresh the list. If it still doesn't appear, the USB drive might not have an assigned letter—format it as a standard USB drive and try again.
  11. Once the USB drive is formatted, copy the 3 ISO files you previously downloaded (Clonezilla, GParted, and HandleOS) onto the drive.
  12. Safely eject the USB drive to prevent corruption of the ISO files when unplugging it.

Steam Deck Preparation

  1. With the Steam Deck OFF (not in standby), hold down VOL+ and Power, and the BIOS will appear.
  2. Scroll using the D-PAD to Setup Utility, then press A.
  3. Scroll down using the D-PAD to Advanced, press Right to enter the list.
  4. Scroll down to UMA Frame Buffer Size, then press A.
  5. Scroll down to 4G, then press A.
  6. Press the Left button to go back and scroll down to Exit, then press Right.
  7. Select Exit Saving Changes and press A.
  8. Now turn off the console after SteamOS boots as usual.

Backup of Steam Deck Disk Image

Before proceeding, ensure you have enough space on the target disk:

  • If the Steam Deck's SSD is 256GB, you will need at least 256GB of free space on the target disk.
  • For a 512GB SSD, ensure the destination disk has space for 512GB, and so on.
  1. Connect the docking station with the monitor, Steam Deck, keyboard, mouse, and prepared Ventoy USB stick. Do not connect the SSD/HDD where the Steam Deck backup will be stored.
  2. Also, connect the power adapter to the dock to ensure proper power delivery. The adapter must supply at least 60W.
  3. With the Steam Deck OFF (not in standby), hold down VOL- and Power, and the boot menu will appear.
  4. If everything is connected properly, the image should appear on the monitor instead of the Steam Deck.
  5. Select the prepared USB stick with Ventoy and press Enter.
  6. Select the Clonezilla ISO to boot.
  7. Choose Boot in normal mode.
  8. Clonezilla’s menu will appear. Select the first option Clonezilla Live (VGA 800x600) and press Enter.
  9. Scroll to it_IT.UTF-8 Italian | Italiano, then press Enter to confirm. (From here on, press Enter to confirm selections.)
  10. Select Keep to skip keyboard configuration.
  11. Choose Start_Clonezilla.
  12. Select Device-Image.
  13. Select Local_dev.
  14. Now connect the HDD/SSD where the backup will be stored to the dock or USB HUB, then press Enter.
  15. You should see the list of inserted disks. If not, disconnect and reconnect the device and wait for detection.
  16. Once everything is detected, press CTRL+C.
  17. Clonezilla will now scan for both readable and writable partitions.
  18. After this process, select the destination disk where the Steam Deck disk image will be copied.
  19. Carefully select the correct destination disk using the UP and DOWN arrows, then press Enter.
  20. Select whether you want to verify the disk or not.
  21. Select the destination folder if one was created earlier, or scroll directly to Done.
  22. Review everything and press Enter to confirm.
  23. After scanning the destination disk, choose Beginner.
  24. Then select Savedisk.
  25. Type a name for the backup or leave the default, then press Enter.
  26. Now select the Steam Deck SOURCE SSD using the Space Bar. It is usually labeled nvme0n1. Press Enter.
  27. Choose a compression method; I recommend the first multicore option.
  28. Choose whether you want to check the file system before starting.
  29. Select if you want to verify the saved image afterward.
  30. If you don’t have top-secret information on your Deck, do not encrypt the image.
  31. Choose what to do when the copying process finishes; I suggest selecting -p choose.
  32. Ignore everything and press Enter to confirm all settings.
  33. The backup process should now start. Check if everything is correct, press y, then Enter.
  34. Go do something else, as this will take a while.
  35. The process cannot be canceled, so if you are in a hurry, you must wait.
  36. Once done, check the result of the copy and press Enter.
  37. Select Poweroff to shut down the system.
  38. Wait for the shutdown, then connect the external destination disk to your PC to verify that the backup files are present.

Resizing the Partition to Make Space for HandleOS

Before starting, make sure you have enough space before resizing the partition. If you don't have sufficient space, you won't be able to install HandleOS at the end of the disk. It's recommended to free up at least 128GB to install some games, and anything extra is a bonus!

  1. Turn on the Steam Deck by holding down VOL- + Power, and the boot menu will reappear.
  2. Select the USB drive where Ventoy is installed.
  3. Scroll to the GParted ISO and press Enter.
  4. Select Boot in Normal Mode.
  5. In the menu that appears, select GParted Live (default settings).
  6. On the next screen, select Don't touch keymap.
  7. Example: Type 14 for the Italian layout or 33 for the USA layout.
  8. Press 0 to immediately launch the graphical interface.
  9. Once the graphical interface starts, the GParted program will appear.
  10. Maximize the window by clicking the dark gray square in the top right corner.
  11. Right below the top right square, there is a dropdown menu. Select the device /dev/nvme0n1.
  12. Once the disk space allocation graph appears, right-click on the largest partition.
  13. Select Resize/Move.
  14. In the graph, drag from the right to the left to reduce the partition size. Adjust the size using the Free space following field.

Note: The space is measured in megabytes, so if you want 512GB, for example, calculate it as approximately 512000 megabytes.

  1. Once you're done, click Resize/Move.
  2. The changes are not yet applied. To confirm them, click the green checkmark (V) at the top.
  3. It should only take a few seconds.
  4. Close the window by clicking the black square in the top right corner.
  5. Double-click on EXIT.
  6. Select Shutdown and then OK.

ℹ️IMPORTANT!!! If SteamOS boots up after this, it will try to reassign the extra disk space. If it accidentally starts, let the resizing process finish and repeat the procedure. DO NOT TURN IT OFF until SteamOS has fully started, otherwise, you risk corrupting SteamOS and will need to reinstall it!

Installing HandleOS

  1. Turn on the Steam Deck by holding down VOL- + Power, and the boot menu will reappear.
  2. Select the HandleOS ISO.
  3. Select Boot in normal mode.
  4. Once the screen appears, select the appropriate format and keyboard layout, then click Next.
  5. Accept the terms and conditions, then click Next.
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the partition list and select Drive 0 Unallocated Space, then click Next.
  7. Wait for the installation to complete. It should restart automatically.
  8. On the first login, it will prompt for a C2D update—ignore this and launch the pre-installed Playnite.
  9. In the menu, select Console2Desk by pressing A twice.
  10. Using the mouse, click Yes on the security screen.
  11. In the C2D (Console2Desktop) screen, select Desktop.
  12. Close all open programs.
  13. Go to Start and type UAC in the search field.
  14. Click on Change User Account Control settings.
  15. Move the slider down to the bottom, then click OK and Yes.

Removing Buggy Microsoft APU Drivers

  1. Remove the USB stick with the ISO from the Docking Station and connect it to a support PC.
  2. Copy all the remaining software you previously downloaded (various drivers and tools) onto the USB stick.
  3. Once copied, safely remove the USB stick and reconnect it to the Dock.
  4. Create a folder called Utility on the desktop of the C: drive and copy the software you just transferred into it.
  5. Extract the .7z file and run the installation file for DDU.
  6. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select Safe Mode → Restart in Safe Mode.
  7. Once Safe Mode is launched, ignore any error messages and go to the folder where you extracted DDU.
  8. Launch Display Driver Uninstaller, click OK on the warning, and leave the default options by pressing Close.
  9. In the dropdown menu Select device type, select GPU.
  10. If AMD doesn’t appear automatically in the dropdown below, select it manually.
  11. Click Clean and do NOT Restart.
  12. Wait for the cleaning process to finish.
  13. Once complete, right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select Safe Mode → Restart in Normal Mode.

Installing Modified APU Drivers

  1. Extract the modified APU driver file WHQL-AMD-Software-Hybrid-Edition-23.11.1-PVN-AMDSoC-Nebula-Native-DCH into a subfolder.
  2. Run the file SetupCLI.exe.
  3. Select 1 for Steam Deck / VanGogh, then press Enter.
  4. Use the ARROW KEYS to scroll to SDI, then press Enter.
  5. On the left column, click Select all, then click Install.
  6. If it asks for confirmation to install, proceed with the installation.
  7. The screen may appear rotated or have large pillars on the sides—this is normal.
  8. Continue waiting for the driver installation to complete.
  9. The screen might return to the default Deck orientation in Portrait mode—THIS IS NORMAL. This indicates the installation was successful.
  10. Click on the flashing SDI button.
  11. Now, right-click on the background and select Display Settings.
  12. Enlarge the window and change the desktop orientation from Portrait to Landscape, then click Keep Changes.
  13. On the Deck's screen, return to the installation menu (make sure you didn’t accidentally close it). If SDI is still open, close it only.
  14. In SetupCLI, select AMD Default.
  15. Then select Long.
  16. Next, select Adrenalin.
  17. Use the arrow keys to select Standard.
  18. Then select RdNID Mode - Standard.
  19. Now select Factory RdNID.
  20. Flashing text will appear—this is normal.
  21. Select Yes to install the Catalyst software.
  22. Select 1.
  23. A folder c:\AMD will be created. Copy the file ccc2_install_v5.5_23.30.exe into that folder.
  24. Select MANUAL.
  25. Confirm that the file has been copied after the download. Ignore any window pop-ups.
  26. Once completed, close the Catalyst Installer window to return to SetupCLI.
  27. Press X to exit the installation.
  28. Restart your device.
  29. After restarting, the image should reappear on the main screen.
  30. Reset the display orientation to Landscape as before.
  31. Press the keyboard shortcut WIN+P to select only the external display.

Disabling Driver Signature Enforcement

  1. Restart the Steam Deck while holding the Left Shift key. If successful, a Please Wait... message will appear.
  2. Select Troubleshoot.
  3. Select Start-up Settings.
  4. Press Restart.
  5. Press the F7 button to disable driver signature enforcement.

Installation of Modded Wi-Fi Drivers

  1. Go back to the Utility folder and extract the file named SteamDeck-Windows-WiFi-Fix-main.zip.
  2. Now, right-click on Start and select Device Manager.
  3. Ignore other missing devices; they will be fixed later in this guide.
  4. Under the Network Adapters section, double-click on Realtek 8022CE [...].
  5. Go to the Driver tab and click Update Driver.
  6. Select Browse my computer for drivers.
  7. Choose Let me pick [...].
  8. Click on Have Disk.
  9. Navigate to the Driver folder of the previously extracted files.
  10. RTK Killer Wi-Fi 5 8822CE Xtreme [...] should appear in the list. Select it and click Next.
  11. In the red warning screen, force the installation by clicking Install this driver software anyway.
  12. Click Close and restart your device.

Installation of Audio Drivers

  1. Follow the installation procedure for the official drivers. Right-click on the .inf file and install it in both folders.

Installation of Bluetooth Drivers

  1. Follow the installation procedure for the official drivers.

⚠️WARNING!! THE INSTALLATION SCRIPT HAS A BUG; INSTALL FROM A PATH WITHOUT SPACES!!

Installation of MicroSD Drivers

  1. Follow the installation procedure for the official drivers.
  2. Restart the Steam Deck.

Installation of Missing Drivers

  1. Connect to the internet and perform Windows updates; some missing drivers are provided by Microsoft. Repeat the updates until everything is up to date.
  2. Three drivers called Unknown device will remain to be installed; these are the ACPI drivers never officially released.
  3. Extract the file AMD ASD WB64A.zip.
  4. Click on each device and force the installation of the drivers for each one by selecting the extracted driver, similar to the Wi-Fi card.
  5. Restart the computer.

BONUS TRACK: Possible Missing Driver

It may happen that one of the missing drivers is neither detected nor installed by Windows updates: the AMD PSP 10.0 Device. You can find it separately on the HandleOS GitHub.

⚠️WARNING!! After the Windows update, audio drivers may stop working. Remove audio devices and reinstall them.

Installation of Dual Boot Management Program

  1. From an admin CMD, run the following commands:
bcdedit.exe -set {globalsettings} highestmode on
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation" /v RealTimeIsUniversal /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f

The first command sets the correct screen setting at startup, and the second sets the system clock to UTC like in Linux.

  1. Power off the console and hold VOL- + Power.
  2. Select SteamOS.
  3. Once booted, go to desktop mode and set a root password if you haven't done so already.
  4. Open the console and run the following command:
git clone https://github.com/ryanrudolfoba/SteamDeck-Clover-dualboot
  1. If an error occurs, it means you had previously installed Cloverboot. Delete the old folder with:
rm -rf ~/SteamDeck-Clover-dualboot
  1. Then redownload the updated repo:
git clone https://github.com/ryanrudolfoba/SteamDeck-Clover-dualboot
  1. Launch the installation:
cd ~/SteamDeck-Clover-dualboot
chmod +x install-Clover.sh
./install-Clover.sh
  1. Follow the on-screen instructions; in case of problems, rerun the installation script or consult the official GitHub.

Installation of Various Useful Libraries for Game Installation

  1. Download and install the Visual C++ libraries, both x86 and x64 versions.

    Link: Visual C++ Redistributables

  2. Download and install DirectX (do not install the Bing toolbar when prompted; installation time may vary depending on the MicroSD used and internet speed):

    Link: DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer

  3. Download and install the .NET 6.0 Desktop Runtime:

    Link: .NET 6.0 Desktop Runtime

(Optional) Remove Password Prompt When Exiting Sleep Mode

  • Open CMD with administrative privileges and disable the password prompt when exiting sleep mode:
PowerCfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0
PowerCfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0

NOTE: To benefit from this option, it is absolutely necessary to keep the Fast Startup option enabled under the advanced power saving features.

(Optional) Replace On-Screen Keyboard with a Better Version

  • Replace the default OSK with the Touch version:

Link: Replace OSK

Optimizations Dedicated to Steam Deck

  1. Download and install the ViGembus Gamepad drivers:

Link: ViGembus Driver

  1. Download and install RTSS (Rivatuner):

Link: Rivatuner Statistics Server

  1. Download and install Steam Deck Tools in Setup version:

Link: Steam Deck Tools

⚠️WARNING!! If the Steam Deck is used for online gaming, it is advised not to alter the fan speed values and governors, as anti-cheat software may detect this as tampering, resulting in a ban.

Installation of Steam Client

At this point, you can finally install the Steam Client:

Link: Steam Client