SteamOS 3.6 Preview for Steam Deck brings numerous big new features

Valve have now put SteamOS 3.6 into Preview for Steam Deck, so those willing to test can jump in now and check out more big new features.

It's only in the Preview channel, which you need to manually change over to in the Steam -> System settings. In the drop-down box change it to Preview and then your Steam Deck will need a reboot. After you should check for updates and see SteamOS 3.6 available.

There's plenty of great stuff in it like an updated Arch Linux package base that includes newer GPU drivers, a newer Linux kernel, microSD card improvements, Mura Compensation, KDE Plasma 5.27.10, overclocking on the LCD Steam Deck, improved SteamOS updates and so much more.

It's going to be a fun weekend of testing! Seems like this fixes and improves some of the big stuff people have been requesting for a while.

Full changelog below:

General

• Updated to a more recent Arch Linux base
• Improved pairing experience with Apple AirPods
• Improved session recovery speed after GPU crashes
• Fixed some connectivity failures with access points supporting WPA3 security
• Updated Linux kernel to version 6.5
• Improved speed of subsequent OS updates
• Improved reliability of certain microSD card usage scenarios
• Fixed game session cursor offset alignment
• Worked around misdetection of some SanDisk microSD cards
• Fixed an issue where a thin grey line could appear at the bottom of the screen during boot in some situations
• Fixed an issue causing temporary files to accrue when using Flatpak
• Enabled support for Bluetooth A2DP and BAP profiles
• Improved connection speed of some Bluetooth devices
• Improved performance and stability in memory pressure situations
• Fixed an issue where the Performance Overlay would spuriously enable itself under certain conditions
• Added mechanism to configure which Bluetooth device categories are allowed to wake the system from suspend
  • By default, controllers are the only devices that can wake the system from sleep
  • Finer-grained UI configuration options will be available as part of a future update

Display

• Improved display uniformity, under some conditions (Mura Compensation)
• Improved display color balance (reduced green tint) at lower brightness levels, under some conditions
• Improved gamma uniformity (yellow tint), under some conditions

Graphics and Performance

• Updated graphics driver to Mesa 24.1, with many performance and correctness improvements
• Improved responsiveness of the Steam UI

Desktop Mode

• Updated to KDE Plasma 5.27.10
• Enabled thumbnail previews for videos in the file browser
• Fixed an issue with desktop use that could cause subsequent microSD card auto-mount to fail

Deck Dock

• Added support for some HDMI CEC features:
  • TV remote input
  • TV wake up
  • TV input switching
• Updated Dock firmware, with compatibility fixes for high-refresh-rate VRR displays

BIOS

• Added overclocking controls on Steam Deck LCD
• Fixed not being able to set the SDCard as default boot device
• Adjusted power LED slow charging threshold
• Fixed spurious power LED blinking in S5

Development and Modding

• Modified files in /etc are now migrated to new OS versions based on a whitelist
  • Fixes numerous issues with incidentally touched /etc files becoming 'sticky' and persisting unexpectedly
  • Additional whitelist entries can be added via config fragments
    • See /etc/atomic-update.conf.d/example-additional-keep-list.conf
  • Added /etc/previous/ containing modifications from the previous update to prevent unexpected data loss
    • Up to five previous snaphots of /etc modifications will additionally be retained in /var/lib/steamos-atomupd/etc_backup/
• Added support for {ssh,sshd}_config fragments

Known Issues

• Frequent session switches can result in the sound driver crashing, needing a system reboot

Let me know how you get on with the update in the comments!

On top of Proton 9.0 being released recently we're seeing again constant improvements from Valve. Always great to see. Linux and Steam Deck gaming just keep on getting better.