A strange thing happened recently where my son’s SteamDeck was not detecting the internal screen. I tried all the usual, “hold the power button down for 30 seconds” bit and even tried my touchscreen fix routine, all without any success.
This was exceedingly irritating as I am not sure what even caused this to happen. To make sure the SteamDeck was not “bricked”, I used an external, portable screen to ensure the system was still functional. Thankfully it was still functional. As part of my investigation, I switched to desktop mode to see of the Plasma Desktop offered it as an option it was completely not detected. At this point I was concerned that it was either a hardware failure or maybe, just maybe some sort of firmware issue.
The good news is, it was a firmware issue and here is how it can be remedied.
The Fix
Following this guide, from the Steam Community forum, I was able to run through this and restore the internal screen to its former functional state. The first step was to ensure that the SteamDeck was fully updated. That didn’t work
The Next step, move the SteamDeck from the beta channel to the stable channel. This will require a restart to commit to this change but before “restarting” it, instead power off the machine with the purpose of triggering rebuilding the firmware.
This is the recommendation is, if the BIOS version is F7A0121 or higher:
Unplug the external display/monitor from the Deck (so once the fix is done it will display to the Deck’s internal screen instead).
I do want to note that I believe this may put the SteamDeck into a kind of sleep state as not only is there no video, but also no audio. I can’t verify this but I would have expected to hear the SteamDeck’s interface sounds when moving the joystick or d-pad. Also, thinking about it, it could be that the display and the audio is linked together like some kind of HDMI output. I wish I would have tested this.
Fully shutdown the unit by holding down the power button for a full 15 seconds. This will shut the system completely off. Do not release the power button until the full 15 seconds has elapsed (this is because the unit will may not be shutdown fully even though the display is off).
After the SteamDeck has completely shut down, it’s time to initiate rebuilding the firmware. Hold the volume down (-) button and QAM (…) button down at the same time.
Holding those two buttons while you tap the power button once.
If performed correctly you should hear the normal chime sound and see the power LED on top start blinking. This indicates the process has started and you can then let go of the volume (-) and QAM (..) buttons.
Allow the SteamDeck to fully boot. This process may take up to 15 minutes while it is repairing the firmware. If after this it does not work still, go through the steps again to rebuild the firmware and if it is still dead, it may be an issue with the screen itself.
Thankfully, I only had to do this once and the screen was detected. The SteamDeck is back to fully operational once again. This also meant, I made my 9-year-old’s day.
Final thoughts
This was a rather odd situation for the SteamDeck. Largely, this appliance just works. It works well. If I did not have an external screen to plug into, like a user didn’t have a dock station or a portable monitor that can connect my USB-C, the user might surmise that something has failed on the SteamDeck, but it is nothing more than some sort of discombobulation at the firmware level.
Thankfully, everything is working like it should and the world is a happy place once again for my 9-year-old. Situations like this do not deter or sour meat at all with the SteamDeck. This is still a fantastic device that I thoroughly enjoy.
References
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/0/4358995818048874100/
Restoring SteamDeck Unresponsive Touchscreen
SteamDeck
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