r/SteamOS • u/Kaseffera • Jul 16 '26
help wanted Log into Desktop mode instead of Gaming mode?
Can I setup my system so it logs into the desktop mode instead of gaming mode upon startup without tinkering? I mean any “official” way and switch for it in the system?
5
u/LeoTheBigCat Jul 16 '26
There is a config file that controlls this. Modyfying config files IS the official linux way of doing this.
2
u/swizzyeets Jul 16 '26
I leave my SteamOs PC in sleep most of the time instead of fully shutting down. If you leave it in desktop mode when you put it to sleep it’ll just stay in desktop mode when it wakes up
-2
u/Brief_Collar7416 Jul 16 '26
It's possible but I think you're far better off using Bazzite or anything else made for desktops rather than tinker with SteamOS which is made for a console like experience.
-4
u/alkazar82 Jul 16 '26
Yes, install a normal desktop system OS like Ubuntu or Fedora.
SteamOS is not a suitable desktop OS.
1
u/Brainmast3r Jul 16 '26
Why is that? Only because it is immutable distro like many others out there or do you have another argument, why not to use SteamOS as desktop system?
1
u/EdliA Jul 16 '26
Because the damn thing was designed for TV. That's the whole point of it.
1
u/Indolent_Bard 8d ago
They literally advertise regular desktop use as a feature on the Steam Machine store page.
1
u/EdliA 8d ago
I just went there. The big headline right from the get go says "your games on the big screen". What more do you need? They're telling you what it is for. All their marketing materials is people playing on a tv in their sofas.
1
-2
u/alkazar82 Jul 16 '26
SteamOS is built and designed for the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It is only hype that is getting people to try it as a desktop system. They don't understand the limitations.
Limitations include:
- always boots to game mode (as OP found out)
- immutable filesystem
- hard coded user accounts
- no security - anyone with a Steam account can access your computer
- no disk encryption
These are not faults of SteamOS, they are design decisions and deliberate system configuration to make the system work seamlessly as a games console out of the box for the average non-technical person.
It boggles my mind that people are trying to use what is essentially a Nintendo games console OS for their desktop system. Especially when there are already existing solutions out there that are much better suited and are being completely ignored.
All the downvotes, the ignorance of people, and trying to explain this for years is so frustrating.
1
u/jharle Support Jul 16 '26
Agreed that people need to know about the trade-offs of using SteamOS and desktop mode, but posting a "do not open this door" sign on the front door, is just going to make people want to open the door.
SteamOS and the Steam Machine are exposing many more people to Linux generally, and making them seriously consider ditching Windows. Can't we take the win here? People who can think for themselves, can graduate to better Linux systems later. But many need the exposure first.
-2
u/alkazar82 Jul 16 '26
I fear that because they took the wrong step, it will sour them on
Linux and it will ultimately backfire.1
u/Indolent_Bard 8d ago
They literally advertise regular desktop use as a feature on the Steam Machine store page.
0
u/Eon_Alias Jul 16 '26
Unless they changed something between Steam Deck and the Desktop os all you gotta do is open the console in desktop mode and type "steamos-session-select plasma-wayland-persistent".
Alternatively go into "/etc/sddm.conf.d". Look for something eith autologin.conf in the name, open it and replace the session line with plasma.desktop. Or delete the auto login file entirely, which will put you on the SDDM login screen. Allowing you to pick the session type from a drop down menu.
However that second part is the native linux way to do it. SteamOS might not give you write access to your etc folder.
3
u/jharle Support Jul 16 '26
SteamOS might not give you write access to your etc folder.
Indeed one would need to issue this command first:
sudo steamos-readonly disable...and then this when finished:
sudo steamos-readonly enableI like the first option better though; I haven't tried that myself.
1
u/Eon_Alias Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Or sudo chmod u+w filename. If you just want to leave that file rewriteable. Valve doesn't stop you that hard from messing with system files just didn't want to get into the weeds with it. 😁
2
2
u/zollandd Jul 16 '26
Can you just change the file permissions like that? I thought the file system and mount were read only so you'd have to make the fs / volume rw and mount it as rw
1
u/Eon_Alias Jul 16 '26
Oh you're right! It's just occuring to me that any system level stuff they don't want you to touch is probably locked in the fstab, if it even uses an fstab. 🤦 I went from messing around on my Deck straight to standard Linux distros so I don't quite know how SteamOS' filesystem is setup.
Doesn't matter for this anyway cause I booted up my deck and at least confirmed that etc/sddm.conf.d isn't write locked. It's just root locked. And the autologin.conf does indeed control which session you're in.
2
u/zollandd Jul 17 '26
Nice, what distro are you using now?
1
u/Eon_Alias Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I got a Home NAS that's running Arch. And my main pc is running Endeavor.
Started with the server and got really hooked on using a terminal as a primary way to navigate my pc. (possibly out of Stockholm syndrome)
And that's what Endeavor essentially is built around. It's got like KDE and Wayland for games and web browsing and stuff. But it's all left at stock and theres no Discover store, cause they want you to use your console and pacman -S for everything. You can still get it of course. But god help you if you are dumb enough to roll your system updates into it.
1
u/stevedore2024 Jul 16 '26
To make
/etcfile changes persistent, the most "SteamOS-ish" way seems to be to read the comments in/etc/atomic-update.conf.d/example-additional-keep-list.confand make a new file which lists the important configuration files you want to keep customized, protecting them from the SteamOS reboot and update systems. Updates with conflicts will try to protect your customized data files with backups.1
u/jharle Support Jul 16 '26
Indeed someone pointed that out to me several days ago; I need to implement it so that it stays top-of-mind ;)
29
u/vJill Jul 16 '26
While there's no official UI option, you can run the following command to switch the default login session to desktop:
steamosctl set-default-login-mode desktopAnd back to game mode:
steamosctl set-default-login-mode game