SteamOS 3.2 Beta Brings Improved Fan Control, Experimental Refresh Rate Switching

[phoronix]

Phoronix: SteamOS 3.2 Beta Brings Improved Fan Control, Experimental Refresh Rate Switching

Valve overnight released a beta of SteamOS 3.2 with some notable improvements for Steam Deck users...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=SteamOS-3.2-Beta

[skeevy420]

NGL, at this point I'd rather them call it the SteamDeckOS than SteamOS. Just feels like a big tease when we're at version 3.2 without a general purpose installer while calling it a beta. Come on now.

I really wish they'd make me look like an asshole by releasing an ISO today. Finger's crossed.

[Calinou]

This is a pretty nice thing to expose – I wish desktop Linux platforms exposed low refresh rate more readily. Refresh rate adjustments should be pretty interesting for emulation and retro gaming, where framerates aren't always 30 or 60.
It would also be interesting to see if the display could be overclocked to 70 Hz, which can be useful for some DOS games. That said, I'd expect it to be a lottery for a +10 Hz increase on a 60 Hz display.

When you're just on the verge of hitting 60 FPS but can't lock to it reliably, targeting 50 FPS is also a good idea.

[kokoko3k]

Dirty script for xorg (with wayland is not so easy) to test modelines.
requires cvt12 for reduced blanking (better 'overclock'):

koko@Gozer# cat scripts/refresh.rate.custom.sh
#!/bin/bash

if [ ! $# = 3 ] ; then
  echo "Usage: $(basename $0) <WxH> <Refresh> <Output name or ALL>"
  echo Example: $(basename $0) 1280x1024 75 ALL
  echo Example: $(basename $0) 1280x1024 75 DVI-D-0
  exit
fi

w=$(cut -d "x" -f 1 <<< "$1")
h=$(cut -d "x" -f 2 <<< "$1")
output=$3
hz=$2

#Genera la modeline
#GTF_OUT=$(gtf $w $h $hz|grep Modeline)
GTF_OUT=$(cvt12 $w $h $hz -b |grep Modeline)
MODE_NAME=koko_"$w"x"$h"_"$hz"
TIMINGS=$(echo $GTF_OUT|grep Modeline|cut -d \" -f 3)
MODELINE="$MODE_NAME $TIMINGS"

echo $MODELINE
#aggiungo al pool:
xrandr --newmode $MODELINE

#Aggiunge e setta il modo custom a tutti i monitor
if [ $output = "ALL" ] ; then
  MONITORS=$(xrandr|grep " conne"|cut -d " " -f 1|tr \\n " ")
    else
  MONITORS=$output
fi

for MONITOR in $MONITORS ; do
  xrandr --addmode $MONITOR $MODE_NAME
  xrandr --output $MONITOR --mode $MODE_NAME
done



sleep 1
echo "Press a key in 5 seconds to keep settings"
read -n 1 -t 5
if [ ! $? == 0 ]; then
  #Cleanup:
  for MONITOR in $MONITORS ; do
    xrandr --output $MONITOR --preferred
    xrandr --delmode $MONITOR $MODE_NAME
    xrandr --rmmode $MODE_NAME
    xrandr --output HDMI2 --left-of HDMI1
  done
fi

[arboy84]

Are they ever going to upgrade KDE to 5.24.x? I feel like a lot of bugs that are relevant to Steam Deck have been fixed and will continue to receive fixes since that release is an LTS.

[arun54321]

So, Steam Deck doesn't have freesync?

[nranger]

So, Steam Deck doesn't have freesync?

No it does not. It uses a portrait native panel most likely originally designed for 60fps tablets. Freesync arguably wouldn't be that useful with such a limited VRR range.

I get that a lot of games hover in the forties or fifties FPS range and could potentially take advantage of VRR, but such games would also be pegging the CPU and/or GPU, thus being a worst case in terms of battery life. Better to just lock the framerate at 40 or 44, get a much smoother gameplay experience, and save some battery while you're at it.

[ntropy]

Havent updated to the latest beta update, but the last one already had the fan curve adjustments on. Now the device is perfect. Been gaming Fallen Order on it, down tuned to 30 fps with 3:30 hours of battery time at 60 degree Celsius. Fan was pretty loud, to loud to game in bed with the wife sleeping. Now the temps are up to 68 degree Celsius but the device is silent. There was a suspend issue, when the new curve got lost after suspend, the latest update tho prolly ruled that one out. I did too by using a custom systemd script.

Device is perfect now

[Awesomeness]

Just feels like a big tease when we're at version 3.2 without a general purpose installer while calling it a beta

"calling it a beta"? Huh? 3.2 is the beta. Stable branch is still 3.1.

Come on now.

SteamOS has enough rough edges at the moment. It's pointless to waste development resources on random PCs while basics like non-English languages in desktop mode are not even working properly, yet.

[CochainComplex]

NGL, at this point I'd rather them call it the SteamDeckOS than SteamOS. Just feels like a big tease when we're at version 3.2 without a general purpose installer while calling it a beta. Come on now.

I really wish they'd make me look like an asshole by releasing an ISO today. Finger's crossed.

Im also waiting...