steamos-teardown

An UNOFFICIAL repository of information about SteamOS 3, the system powering the Valve Steam Deck.

Pull Requests Are Welcome!

• The contents of this repository are not endorsed or verified by Valve in any way.
• I make no guarantees of accuracy or correctness:
  • Follow the advice and instructions in this repository at your own risk.
  • SteamOS is a moving target, and the contents of this repository may not necessarily match the current release.
• This repository is aimed at a technical audience already familiar with Linux system administration, particularly on Arch.
• All materials are based on public information and by inspection of a running SteamOS install.
• All material and opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

The focus is on SteamOS. The Steam Client is proprietary software and is out of scope for this repository.

Topics

SteamOS Customizations

SteamOS 3 is built upon Arch Linux, but applies heavy customizations that deviate from a plain Arch install in significant ways. This section aims to document these differences for any tinkerers interested in customizing the OS.

• Partition Layout and the Read-Only OS Implementation
• Booting SteamOS
• SteamOS Update Mechanism
• System Folders, Scripts, and Services
  • Custom System Scripts
  • Custom SystemD Units
• Default System Packages
• Desktop Environment and X config - TODO
• Security Considerations - TODO
• Default Background Services - TODO
• Glossary of Terms and Codenames

Guides & Other Resources

These are third-party guides I've found helpful in my explorations. Follow these at your own risk!

• User evlaV on GitLab maintains a series of repos with the sources of custom SteamOS binaries.
• Running the Steam Deck’s OS in a virtual machine using QEMU

License

All text in this repository is licensed under the LGPL-2.1+ in order to match the licensing of script files found in SteamOS 3. See LICENSE for more details. This repository may contain reproductions or snippets of SteamOS files licensed under LGPL-2.1+.

SteamOS 3 is governed by the terms of the STEAM® END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT found at the SteamOS download page.