This post is not created with the intention of alarming or making people obsess over details and defects. On the contrary, it is intended to help, inform, and, if possible, provide tutorials and tools for people who have the misfortune of being affected to find useful solutions for their Steam Deck OLED and avoid an RMA, which is like playing Russian roulette.
I’ve had many Steam Decks with LCD for defects in RMA, and I’ve had to fix most of them, something Valve did not do. I’ll try to contribute a bit here to avoid RMA, which is “a headache.” If anyone finds more issues and their solutions, please let me know, and we’ll add them to the list:
Dead Pixels on Steam Deck OLED: Many cases have been reported on Reddit and Resetera in the last hours and days of people with “Limited Edition” Steam Decks with dead pixels. This is because the “BOE” panel, which seems exclusive to the LE model, has a higher predisposition to this defect. I haven’t seen reported cases in the normal editions yet. To check for dead pixels, you can use this test on your Steam Deck from a browser: Link to the test.
Solution: Send for RMA or accept it and adapt.
Sticks sticking or making a clicky noise when moving: Some users have uploaded videos reporting that one of their sticks makes a rubbing or clicking noise that the other one doesn’t. Possible solution: Disassemble the deck, remove the sticks from the motherboard, take out the mushroom on top, and reposition it. That usually fixes it. Sometimes, the rubbing comes from the touchscreen cable; move it slightly inside the stick to prevent it from rubbing against the motherboard. If that doesn’t work, apply vaseline around the pole where the mushroom fits (as a side effect, this will make the stick movement smoother and less stiff; consider this before doing it). Secondary solution: Send for RMA.
One or both triggers sticking or rubbing when moving, or one of them moves smoothly and the other rubs: The solution is to remove the deck’s casing and sand with fine sandpaper the area of the casing that rubs against the trigger. Another possible issue is that the trigger makes a spring sound; it is resolved by disassembling the trigger with iFixit’s tutorial and reinserting the spring. If that doesn’t fix it, lubricate the spring with water or vaseline and then clean it. Secondary solution: Send for RMA.
A, B, Y, X buttons dancing or making maraca or rattling sound: Sometimes, even without shaking the deck, just having a finger on them causes them to dance a lot or make a maraca or vibration sound. This defect has been reported in some OLEDs and did not exist in the LCD deck. If you have this problem, I recommend RMA if it bothers you. Currently, I do not know if it is a design decision and exists in all units or is a real defect. We need reports from users in greater quantity.
Button B sticking: This problem has been reported in some units of Steam decks OLEDs, and the same happened with the LCD in the first units sold. It was fixed in the following batches. If your deck suffers from this, it is NOT normal, and it IS considered a defect, and there is no guarantee that it will disappear with use. One solution is to sand the internal part of the button that has excess burrs and rubs against the casing, causing it to stick. The other is RMA. I only recommend the particular solution in this case to advanced users or those with experience tinkering.
My D-pad is too hard to press, making excessive noise, or the bottom left press of the D-pad collides with a piece, making an annoying noise that doesn’t exist in the rest of the D-pad: I have seen this reported on some Steam Deck OLEDs; it happened to me on my last Steam Deck LCD. If you don’t want to send it for RMA, a homemade solution or mitigation of the problem is to apply some vaseline with a paper and slide it along the edges of the D-pad. Also, along the inner edges of the D-pad with a toothpick; this will reduce the bad press, and it will be less hard and noisy, although I do not consider it a 100% solution.
One of my trackpads or both have very weak haptic feedback, or they make a faulty noise rubbing against the casing, or they create a non-existent click effect, or my Steam Deck, in general, has weak overall haptic feedback: I group all these possible defects into one section because they all have the same solution. This is to use iFixit’s tutorial to disassemble both trackpads and reassemble them and screw them back in. When screwing them back in, always reach the maximum by tightening the screws with a flat-head screwdriver but without overdoing it and damaging them; simply reach the maximum tightness. Tightening more will make the vibration stronger, and loosening it will make it weaker. (I recommend that if there is any screw with glue residue making it screw incorrectly, clean it with lubricant and vaseline and then dry it; this improves the fit of the parts.)
I do not recommend sending for RMA: You may be lucky that Valve sends you one with the haptic feedback fixed or the trackpads, or they may come the same, worse, or with another problem your deck did not have before. Only do it if you are afraid to open it, and you cannot tolerate the problem.
The post will be updated with new information or collected possible defects… to be continued…
You must log in or register to comment.
I’'m not sure if I got a lemon or what. I had an OG Deck and it had close to no bugs whatsoever.
Out of the gate it had the wifi problem. It logs me out of my account with a ? over my avatar but the frame is still there. It loved to do this after sleep, but it seems better now.
It had a lot of problems just downloading games. Very finicky, like it would just freeze and not move, or go to 100% and just stay there. Rebooting seemed to fix it.
General performance hiccups off the SD card (possibly not just SD card) that I never noticed on my OG.
When sleeping, it likes to black the screen out as if its off, but if you hit the Steam button or the one on the other side, those menus pop up over the black.
My latest fun is the stupid thing won’t show the Microsoft login screen for Sea of Thieves (what I play most by a lot). Again, it’s just black. The task switcher thing shows it’s open and in focus, and if you close it Sea says you have to login to MS (ashbeard error I think).
This thing has a been a dumpster fire compared to my OG deck so far.
Anyone had the issue of one joystick feeling stickier than the other? My left is like very new and sticky rubber on the face, but the right one is very dusty and almost powdery dry.
Both of mine feel the same on my OLED, but very different from my LCD. My LCD sticks had a dry, almost textured feel on top (that did develop the “white dust” look over time). My new LE OLED sticks have a very sticky, rubbery feel to them. I’m getting used to it, but it’s still rather odd.
If anyone has a fix for WiFi just not showing up at all to connect to please let me know!
Looking at most of these the solution seems to just be RMA tbh, especially if it’s an issue with wifi not working
No fix but same boat as you. Hoping it’s a software fix and not hardware :(
I have the same issue: wifi works for a while then disconnects and stops working completely. Reboot and it works again for a while. I ended up having to use an ethernet adapter to install all the updates but the wifi still breaks after a few minutes like clockwork.
My router is wifi 6e compatible, fully updated and I’ve tried on all the different channels. I really hope it can be fixed by update.
Yeah I have a 6e router and other devices work fine with it, but for some reason this Deck does not want to go to the 6ghz band. I’m like 5 feet from the router.
Fix for me was shutting off WiFi 6 on my router. There is some issue with WiFi 6 that might get updated later.
WiFi
This seems to be a firmware issue connecting to particular wifi 6 chipsets (like in my RT-AX86U Asus router).
A few solutions:
- Connect to 2.4ghz
- Turn off 160ghz channel for wifi 6
- Change General -> Settings -> 24-hour clock to ON
Solutions 1 and 2 seem to maybe require a restart before working. I just tested solution 3 and it worked right away. So I’m going with that one right now.
Also me and other people are having issues with the USB-C port not powering external devices at all, not even an USB drive
I’ve this problem with the usb c port too. Is there a workaround?
Entering the BIOS and changing “USB Dual Role Device” from “DRD” to “XHCI” seems to have worked for someone, I have not tried yet
that solved my problem. thanks! but i wonder why it shipped with the other usb option active.
Great thread. Very useful. Thanks.
My wife and I received our OLED Steam Decks the other day and we are loving them! Such a fantastic gaming device.
“A, B, Y, X buttons dancing or making maraca or rattling sound: Sometimes, even without shaking the deck, just having a finger on them causes them to dance a lot or make a maraca or vibration sound. This defect has been reported in some OLEDs and did not exist in the LCD deck. If you have this problem, I recommend RMA if it bothers you. Currently, I do not know if it is a design decision and exists in all units or is a real defect. We need reports from users in greater quantity.”
My 2022 512 LCD, 2023 256 LCD and new 512 OLED has this.
It definitely does exist on the LCD deck and from my experience it is the norm, not a fault.
I reported this to Valve today. Make sure you all report it, so they are aware and can possibly make new batch of buttons with corrected tolerance.
Made a post abou it earlier: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/s/smkGsjTOdd
I would be interested if changing the buttons to some aftermarket one solves this. I mean when i take my xbox one controller, nothing is rattling and it feels good. That should be the standard.
My LE deck is perfect except for the buttons. Definitely a big manufacturing issue. My B is sturdy than the others. The whole deck feels solid but these buttons make the experience feel cheap.
My B button is the only one that doesn’t rattle when lightly touched.
I definitely have one dead pixel on my LE but it is so close to the outside edge of the screen I just don’t care.
Anybody else have a static noise coming from the USB port? Kind of sounds like interference or a light coil whine. 1 tb OLED.
For those of you with USB issues(on a dock), update the deck. If it still doesnt work with the new update, then go into bios and change usb settings to USB XHCI mode. You can also reset the usbc port by holding the + and … buttons till it either beeps or shakes. Do not reset the port while docked like I did once.
I was unable to get wifi 6 to work in any capacity with my Steam Deck OLED. Anytime I’d even try it would break my wifi settings requiring a reboot.
The only think that fixed it was going into my routers advanced settings and changing the compatibility mode of my 5ghz network to remove AX compatibility. This seems to be what allows a router to run wifi 6. It removed the little 6 on all of my other devices, and suddenly my OLED could connect and everything’s been flawless since.
I’ve seen several other people with wifi 6 issues.
Issue with USB flash storage
Don’t think this is a issue specific to OLED but it can be good to include it for new owners of Steam Deck.
I think it affects mainly microsoft games that requires microsoft/live sign in. After opening the game, a black screen appears with sound. The issue appears to be that the microsoft sign in pop screen doesn’t show up as it should.
Work around is to run the game in desktop mode and to use an external keyboard to login.
The pop up is now visible but the steam keyboard appears to be unavailable (via steam+x) so I had to use a physical one.
I’ve had this issue when trying to play Sea Of Thieves. I couldn’t find anything online and had to figure it out.
Another fix was to reprogram R4 and L4 into Alt and Enter (in control customization), this one would switch between full screen and borderless. Forza Horizons got this too
A, B, Y, X buttons dancing or making maraca or rattling sound: Sometimes, even without shaking the deck, just having a finger on them causes them to dance a lot or make a maraca or vibration sound. This defect has been reported in some OLEDs and did not exist in the LCD deck. If you have this problem, I recommend RMA if it bothers you. Currently, I do not know if it is a design decision and exists in all units or is a real defect. We need reports from users in greater quantity
Its possible they made the buttons looser to prevent them getting stuck over time as gamers have a tendency to get the holes gunked up with there cheeto fingers if controllers are an indication of anything.
Or there simply cutting corners in terms of quality control, which is understandable given the competitive pricing of these things as it is already.
Thanks for putting this list together! It would definitely be great to make Valve’s support more aware of these issues than they already are. I just received my own OLED and it has multiple of the issues and defects listed that my LCD didn’t have at all. To be honest, despite the great features and updates on the refresh, it has really sapped my enthusiasm for the device. Glad most other people seem to have great units or ones with more ignorable issues.
LE OLED, received yesterday 11/24. Anyone having an issue with misaligned A B Y X buttons on the underlying pad (or whatever the button mechanism is)? My A button is the worst, actuating it feels terrible, only the right side of the button presses down, left side stays mostly in the upward/undepressed position. I can force it down but it’s a mushy mess the whole way. Y button actuates normally. I didn’t have this issue on my launch LCD model. Super jarring and considering returning the deck, but at the same time I don’t want to receive someone else’s returned deck (lol) with a different issue. The buttons are a big deal on something like a handheld device because a user is often pressing them, which you’d think would go without saying!