3d ago

Using the Steam Deck docked has been a dreadful experience for me. Is it just me going wrong?

I've hooked it up to my TV to play some games with a PS4 controller. But I've encountered some really annoying issues. Audio not outputting through my TV speakers unless I go into desktop mode, then reset the console. When I go into desktop mode, the controller no longer registers so I can't play. So I have to go back to gaming mode, where I can't get sound from TV speakers. I've tried adjusting settings on both my steam deck and TV to no avail. That is, display options on desktop mode, and steam input settings.

The performance is also horrendous, with a very unstable ~20fps. This is even at 720p resolution and lower. When I reset the console docked, I have to unplug it then plug it back in or the screen just stays black.

It's all incredibly frustrating. Is it just human error, or is SteamOS still really buggy when it comes to docking? I feel like it should just be plug and play, but I'm tired of having to set so many things up just to play on my TV. And then it being subpar visually compared with just using the deck's own display.

33 comments

Nah it isn't ideal, I wanted to make a post about it eventually but I wanted to try some third party docks and/or see if updates fixed it.
What I have figured out is that the best way to use the dock is to boot the steam deck up not connected to the dock, get it to the home screen and then connect it to the dock. I find this has the best chance of inititating everything right.
Make sure to check the controller order under the control settings for a particular game, use change who is the number 1 control input easily once you learn where it is, and that can help some of the problems that arise.
I don't have any performance issues, but not that if you try to run a really high resolution tv at anywhere near a native resolution the steam deck just is going to quickly be outclassed by the performance demands. So idk, 720p sounds suspiciously low though, try checking the settings (under the lefthand bar) and examining how the display settings are set. Change it to native or some other setting and see if that helps, it might be that the settings are keeping your steam deck from jumping up to a higher resolution. Same thing with framerate lock, which you can check under the righthand bar, I recommend setting framelock settings (maximum framerate) on a pergame basis.

Your TV is playing a large part in the degraded visuals. It may be receiving a 720p signal from the Steam Deck, but it then needs to upscale that to whatever resolution your TV is displaying. Most TVs are hot garbage at doing this task, and will make your picture look washed out, or even pixelated.
If you aren't using the Official Dock and Charger, then you need to make sure they're delivering enough power for the Deck and any attached peripherals. USB-C is much more complex than previous generations, and not all docks/cables are created equal.
These are problems I've never encountered in my ~2 years of owning a Deck myself, but I can't give you more feedback without knowing what specific Dock and Television you're using.

I know it's not helpful but I don't have any of these problems. Very much plug and play for me.
- Yea, I'd try and alternative dock and maybe see if there's something with the display settings - I have no issues using a simple USB adapter and some Xbox controllers.
  I know the PS controllers can be finicky, as well as CEC causing problems - might need to see if those are some of the root causes by disabling/changing.

Using the official dock? Most of my problems were solved by updating the firmware. That does NOT happen automatically via the regular Steam Decker updates btw, need to trigger it yourself.

Yeah. It's really that bad. They've been releasing quality of life patches, but Valve made a portable device that happens to support docking, not a device meant to be docked.
Based on your experience, I assume you have the official Steam Dock, which I find worse to use with the SteamDeck than any random USB C dongle that I have tried.
Edit: Be sure to check for updates. I recall some of the issues you mention (like the blank screen) were mentioned in SteamOS release notes this year.

I've had a pleasant experience with my anker dock and tcl TV. My only issue is that the resolution upgrade can make the performance worse depending on the game.

Which dock are you using ? We can't help much without information.

I use a dell dock from work and various controllers and have had no problems at all, in fact we use it almost exclusively as a console.

I have none of those issues, but a couple of extra weird ones… this is the official dock btw. First, maybe it’s something I plugged in, but the Deck’s battery will be drained (slowly, over many days) if it’s plugged in and not turned on. Suspended or off is the same, I must unplug. Then the one that really pisses me off because I can’t wrap my head around it, I can’t unplug it unless I fully turn it off first. Doing otherwise tends to make my home network comatose! Basically nothing can see anything. Computers lose connection to the NAS, to the router… nothing works until I plug it back and turn it on, then I can turn it off and unplug. ffs.

I definitely sometimes have the audio issue and it’s annoying as hell. I don’t have a solution though I’m sorry

I don't often dock my steam deck (have no controller so I'll only use it as a media console) but when I do the only issue I've had was some applications starting in the wrong resolution when in gaming mode.
Otherwise I can't say I could see the issues you're having; I have no issues with sound over HDMI, my mouse and other Bluetooth devices stay connected in desktop and gaming mode.
Have you tried connecting another device (ideally also Linux) through the same dongle to check wether it outputs the sound through the Tv?

The official dock has been fine for me on both an LCD 1st batch model and a late 2024 OLED model, plugged in 100% of the time. What dock are you using? There’s a lot of bad docks out there, from a compatibility standpoint.
Another thing to try is a full factory reset. Make sure your game saves are backed up in steam cloud and move as many games to the SD card or temporary drive as you can to make it easier to get back up and running.

There's gotta be an issue in your setup. I've never had audio issues and performance should be identical when running at the same resolution.

My experience has been the polar opposite of yours. Of course, depends on the dock and TV as much as it depends on the deck, so our mileage will vary.

sorry to not be helpful but I have not had this problem

Try to enable “Game Mode” or “PC Mode” on your TV for that HDMI input. Also check the audio settings for supported formats and play around with the settings.
Also, what dock are you using?

Yea, plug and play for me as well using xbox controllers. Super seamless. Are you using steam decks og dock? Maybe your tv is the problem?

It sounds as if the dock was the problem. I myself have a third party dock and haven't had such problems.

After using a Switch for nearly a decade, the docking experience with Deck is pretty awful in comparison. Make sure the firmware is up to date on the dock you have or buy a better one if that doesn’t work and you can certainly get it in a useable state without serious issues… but I sure do wish it was a simple as slotting it in and having everything seamlessly work like it is with Switch.
- Yeah. I'm sympathetic to the whole "technology is hard" thing, and the idea that the SteamDeck is primarily meant to be for mobile gaming.
  But switching from Nintendo Switch to SteamDeck really highlighted to me how good the Nintendo engineering team is, that I never had any of these display issues with a docked Switch.

From what I understand the official dock is the only one that doesn't have issues. Don't ask me why, but I have seen this issue multiple times online. The only solution seems to be the official dock.
- I've heard the opposite, people having lots of issues with official dock while 3rd party docks will work fine.
  I've got a $20 3rd party dock, and it's been doing fantastic for me.
- No problems with my Anker hub.
- The funny part is that the official dock was what gave me a ton of issues. Steam Deck’s screen would go blank like it was outputting to a screen, but the TV would refuse to accept the video signal. So it just looked dead until I unplugged it. The JSAUX dock has been hassle free.
  
  I only have a JSAUX dock and its been flawless. I even had a game running, put it on the dock and it switched over to the TV without issue - I was really impressed

There's some component in your docking setup (the dock or the TV) that's causing this. I regularly dock to a 1440p monitor and a 1080p projector with zero issues.
That being said, there are multiple docks out there (even the official one) that don't jibe with both the Deck and every display and thus give a subpar experience, as there are widespread reports of that. You kind of have to luck into the compatibility of both of those components, and even then there are also TVs out there that aren't really dock-happy with anything.
Try docking to someone else's TV next time you go visit someone, if it's fine then you know it's either your TV or your TV and dock not liking each other.

Sounds to me like your dock is garbage.

I had the no audio issue once. It "fixed" itself after I shut down my deck, connected it via a different dock I have lying around from my switch, rebooted and switched over to the original dock again.
Don't ask me why, I guess somewhere something "remembered" a wrong audio setting or something and was forced to reset with the other dock.
Or it might be I had a cable not properly set and got it right when plugging back in.
I also frequently have an issue where I get no signal at all to the TV when waking up the deck, and that's usually only fixed by rebooting the deck. Which I have to do blind or unplug it, because the deck knows it's in TV mode, the TV just apparently doesn't.
Also, yeah, I pretty much only play 2D / pixel art games docked. It's not powerful enough to output a good looking picture to a big TV screen.

I have two docks. With one of the docks I experience sound coming through the stream deck and no signal. With the other that doesnt happen. So far ive had zero issues with the 2nd dock.

Jsaux one works fine. I just miss not having a steam controller when docked.

Very interested in reading about this since I plan on getting a used LCD Deck and keep it docked (just through Usb-c, so without a dock in fact) a lot.

I've got quite a few complaints about the deck, but this hasn't been one. I play liftoff docked with fpv goggles and my radio via usb and its great.
I also played armored core on my bros tv, and had no issues.

33 comments