Steamdeck setup without PC
Steamdeck setup without PC
I’m considering purchasing a steamdeck. I may be away from my computer when I get the steamdeck. Could there be any issues with setting up games without access to a computer with my steam account? I assume cloud saves will be available. What about setting up a game that requires rockstar launcher?
Edit: Thanks for the feedback. It looks like the answer is no, I don’t need access to a computer with my steam account.
You'll be fine. The Steam Deck is a PC itself.
I don't even own a PC but have had a SD from the beginning. All good here!
More than PC. It's a console they happens to play PC games, which which is why it is better than an Asus Rog Ally.
You don't need any other device to set up the steam deck unless you have 2FA through the steam app or something.
You'd have to try hard to do it without a pc, since it's a pc itself.
At least in RDR2 (the only Rockstar game I have) the launcher works like you'd expect – ie. it's annoying as shit but no different from the PC version. I've had a Deck for a couple of years now and haven't needed my desktop for anything related to it.
Excellent news.
Out of the box it works, including cloud saves.
The only thing I needed my PC for was to upgrade the SSD: I used my desktop to prepare a flash drive with the SteamOS image. Honestly you could probably do that using a USB adapter on the Steam Deck, booting with the original SSD.
It really comes down to convenience. It takes a minute or so to switch between desktop and gaming modes on the Deck. A lot of stuff is easier if you have a larger screen or two, plus a mouse and keyboard. And file transfers are faster over Ethernet. All of those things you can either work around with the Deck as it is, or you can use a dock or hub to plug in those extra peripherals, but it's still an inconvenience unless you're planning on using it docked often.
I cloned my original ssd on the new ssd, without using a computer. I used an usb nvme box.
An important thing, is after the swap, the OS will create the other partitions ( like swap) during the first boot. So be patient after cloning directly th
Not really. The only big issue I could see is if you needed create a bootable USB to restore SteamOS.
It's also occasionally easier to install non-Steam games on a desktop and transfer over the files but that's mostly just about saving time.
And you can create the bootable USB with the Deck before you swap the SSD. You should never need a second PC to set up the Deck unless you bought your Deck without an OS installed already.
It’s also occasionally easier to install non-Steam games on a desktop and transfer over the files but that’s mostly just about saving time.
And honestly that would be solved with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
The Steam Deck generally does not use an external PC to set up. It is a PC, and can be put into a (Linux-based) desktop mode, which is generally what you’d use for any configuration beyond what the Steam menus give you.
You only need your Steam account and wifi access. Everything can be done on the device. You can pop up a virtual keyboard with Steam+X. When you hold down the Steam-Button you get an overview of all the shortcuts.
I never needed my computer for any reason while setting either of my Decks up so you should be good. Never tried any Rockstar game on the deck so I can’t be sure but I don’t see any reason a computer would be needed.
You can always just switch to desktop mode on the Deck and use the regular version of Steam if anything requires it. The only time I’ve needed to do that though was when I wanted to add some box art to a non-Steam game.
Just make sure all your cloud saves are synced from your PC and you should be good!
Oh and make sure you can access your email somehow, or Steam Guard on your phone if you have it set up, it’ll probably have to verify your account when you sign in the first time.
I think that is the main thing I need to do. Check all my cloud saves for the games I want to continue. Thanks.