Update at 20:10 UTC: this Beta seems to have a pretty major bug. I would suggest you stay away from it for now otherwise you might find you can't open things on Linux and Steam Deck.
Valve has released a new Steam Client Beta for both desktop and Steam Deck, with new fixes and some new features too like showing full or partial controller icons when hovering over items.
The changelog is basically the same with different titles across desktop and Steam Deck, with the desktop client having an additional fix for macOS.
General
- Changing download regions no longer requires restarting the Steam client
- Show icons for partial and full controller support in Library when a game portrait is focused or hovered
- Add a rollup of gifts received in the Quick Access > Notifications area
Steam Input
- Controller configurator now groups commands if they are attached to the same input
- Controller configuration browsing screen can now preview configurations and the selection processes now previews then applies instead of directly selecting the configuration
Desktop Linux
- Fixed some errors causing the Library not to render properly
- Fix the "Start in Big Picture Mode" setting not updating
- Center the navigation column in the Big Picture Overlay vertically to match the rest of the main menu
Virtual Keyboard
- Standalone keyboard can now be brought up outside of Big Picture Mode
- Fixed some issues using the Paste button outside of a web context
An important detail they seem to have left out though, is that this new full / partial controller icon that appears when you hover over a game in your library is not actually on Steam Deck. It appears to only work on a desktop PC in the New Big Picture Mode (it doesn't even appear on Steam Deck Desktop Mode with New Big Picture either). This is the second time they've noted something not actually there for the Steam Deck, like the last Beta mentioning new controller options for idle turn off time and turn it off when exiting Big Picture. Seems they once again copy and pasted bits of the changelog, without enabling it on Steam Deck directly.
Here's how it looks on Desktop Steam:
Steam Client Maximum number of clients reached
or
Steam occasional startup failure - Maximum number of clients reached
Be careful...
Last edited by Nanobang on 12 January 2023 at 2:45 pm UTC
mr-victory Jan 12, 2023
Quoting: Goggo66It seems Valve has messed up this beta release. See here:
Steam Client Maximum number of clients reached
Does this also affect Wayland? Not to start an Xorg vs Wayland discussion but I use Wayland and if it is affected I will have to switch back.
Quoting: Goggo66It seems Valve has messed up this beta release. See here:
[Steam Client Maximum number of clients reached ]
Ah, that explains why I had to kill my X session earlier.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 12 January 2023 at 8:14 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryDoes this also affect Wayland?Yes. Switching to X11 does nothing to alleviate the issue. Use Stable client or wait for a fix.
Mountain Man Jan 13, 2023
Quoting: GuestThis update has completely broken desktop mode for me, meaning I'll have to do another reimage of SteamOS to fix it.
It's getting ridiculous how many times updates break something on the Deck.
One day, Valve might actually hold back an update until all the bugs are ironed out.
To be fair, you did install a beta build. When you select the beta channel in Steam settings, it even warns you to expect bugs. If you don't want to risk an update breaking things, then stick with stable.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 13 January 2023 at 4:27 am UTC
Mountain Man Jan 13, 2023
Quoting: GuestQuoting: Mountain ManQuoting: GuestThis update has completely broken desktop mode for me, meaning I'll have to do another reimage of SteamOS to fix it.
It's getting ridiculous how many times updates break something on the Deck.
One day, Valve might actually hold back an update until all the bugs are ironed out.
To be fair, you did install a beta build. When you select the beta channel in Steam settings, it even warns you to expect bugs. If you don't want to risk an update breaking things, then stick with stable.
I'm actually on the Stable branch and hadn't updated since November.
It doesn't matter what branch we use,SteamOS is broken and buggy.
Surely that's an exaggeration. I've been using Steam for nearly two decades, and it is far from being "broken and buggy".
Last edited by Mountain Man on 13 January 2023 at 2:57 pm UTC
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