Need to get your Steam Deck fixed up? Well, you no longer have to do it yourself as Valve have officially opened up some repair centers. If you need to send off your Steam Deck for any reason, it will now go to one of their specialized repair shops.
If your issue is under warranty, Valve will continue fixing free of charge. However, you now have the option of getting out of warranty repairs done professionally with a charge depending on what the problem is, instead of having to wait for iFixit to have parts and doing it yourself.
As they explained:
- If your unit begins to develop an intermittent button input issue (rare, but it sometimes happens), contact support, who will help get your Steam Deck shipped to one of our repair centers. Our team will diagnose it, replace the button, test and calibrate the unit, then send the fixed unit back to you, free of charge – as this is covered by warranty.
- If your dog gnaws on your thumbstick and breaks it, this is not covered by warranty. Previously your only option was DIY repair, but now you'll now be able to contact support, who will supply instructions to ship your Steam Deck to one of our repair centers. Our team will take a look and offer to replace and calibrate your thumbstick for a fee. This process will also be available once your warranty expires.
This just continues to show how all-in Valve are on the future of the Steam Deck, like the recent confirmation that there will be future Steam Decks (like a Steam Deck 2?).
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
In the end, I think the reason for Valve is simple to grasp. While they don't stop us from opening the device, they don't want to encourage us either. There are probably also not enough people with ee diplomas reaching out to them to create a separate process, including the verification of these. Support hours are also resources to manage.
Last edited by const on 11 September 2022 at 9:55 am UTC
Last edited by const on 11 September 2022 at 9:55 am UTC
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Quoting: Guestpost removed
Putting aside how condescending you are in this entire reply, I find it pretty ironic that you attack someone for claiming to be a legal expert (which they didn't), then go on to try to appear to be an expert in European law (by "researching" whatever the hell that means). And the comment you're replying to was mainly talking about America anyway. Sheesh.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 17 September 2022 at 8:25 pm UTC
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Quoting: Guestpost removed
Apropos killing the planet: Apparently, as one of their employees told me when I had to send in mine, Valve's RMA process consists of throwing away bad units and sending brand new ones.
I can't fully confirm this, but I can tell you the one I got back after RMA had a different serial number. And the problem I had could've been easily solved by swapping out the hard drive which is not even soldered in.
Although this is super wasteful, good news is you'll get a new deck sooner than expected if you send it in for repair. What's a little e-waste sitting on a dumpster between friends? /s
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 17 September 2022 at 8:25 pm UTC
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Quoting: GuestImagine if you had to send your car back to Japan every time it needed a tire change. That's really stupid.Japan, no, but if you want the tire replaced for free because warranty, you have to go to that car company's dealership.
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Quoting: setzer22Presumably that's one more reason they are now making repair centres. If they didn't have repair centres until now, it's not a huge surprise that they went with a quick-and-dirty approach that didn't require any actual, you know, repairs. Hopefully that will now change.Quoting: GuestIt sucks that Valve can't send me replacement parts under warranty. My sticks are drifting badly and support says I can't get sticks sent to me, even though I'm an EE and can replace them myself. Why are my only two choices either losing my deck for weeks, or shelling out $30, if my Steam Deck is practically new and is still under warranty? Why do I need to ship 2 kilos around the world instead of a few grams, killing the planet that tiny bit more?
Apropos killing the planet: Apparently, as one of their employees told me when I had to send in mine, Valve's RMA process consists of throwing away bad units and sending brand new ones.
I can't fully confirm this, but I can tell you the one I got back after RMA had a different serial number. And the problem I had could've been easily solved by swapping out the hard drive which is not even soldered in.
Although this is super wasteful, good news is you'll get a new deck sooner than expected if you send it in for repair. What's a little e-waste sitting on a dumpster between friends? /s
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I think we can all agree with cheater that there are probably better, more flexible and innovative ways that repairs could be carried out. And I think we can all agree with various other voices in this thread that in the real world, putting these into practice can be challenging and carries some risks.
I'm just glad that Valve are actually taking the first baby step towards that more flexible model, by devolving the repairs to global centres that can turn around devices more effectively. Fingers crossed it's the first improvement of many.
As for me, cheater, even if your model was available to me right now, today, free of charge and with my warranty intact after I carried out my own repairs... I wouldn't use it. I'm not comfortable opening up my device to do those repairs and honestly even I was, doing so is a waste of my time. This is as true of my steam deck as it is of my washing machine.
I actually remember opening up my three-year-old GBA to fit a front light many years ago. It worked, but it took me hours, it was stressful, and I managed to get some dust under the display that I never managed to get rid of. Never again!
Last edited by scaine on 12 September 2022 at 3:36 pm UTC
I'm just glad that Valve are actually taking the first baby step towards that more flexible model, by devolving the repairs to global centres that can turn around devices more effectively. Fingers crossed it's the first improvement of many.
As for me, cheater, even if your model was available to me right now, today, free of charge and with my warranty intact after I carried out my own repairs... I wouldn't use it. I'm not comfortable opening up my device to do those repairs and honestly even I was, doing so is a waste of my time. This is as true of my steam deck as it is of my washing machine.
I actually remember opening up my three-year-old GBA to fit a front light many years ago. It worked, but it took me hours, it was stressful, and I managed to get some dust under the display that I never managed to get rid of. Never again!
Last edited by scaine on 12 September 2022 at 3:36 pm UTC
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Quoting: GuestYour sources? :DQuoting: Liam DaweQuoting: GuestEven now, far too many Decks are shipping with defects that should be detected and rectified in the factory.People only think there is because of confirmation bias. The community is still overall relatively small and so voices about defects can easily cut through the noise. I can guarantee you the rate of failures are pretty normal for mass production.
According to my sources, the rate of manufacturing defects for Steam Deck is far higher than it should be, which could simply because Valve have only shipped less than 150,000.
Hopefully the manufacturing process continues to improve.
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