How to Dual Boot a Steam Deck: The Easy Way

[@jaeplae8689]

I was going to do a duel boot, but I decided to just go full Windows 11. Having SteamOS makes it feel less of a PC with all the limitations. I can't even play my favorite game Gears 5 online. With proton, I can offline (if nobody joins the lobby). Now I just can upgrade the ssd to 1tb and I am good to go. Now it's officially a handheld pc without the OS desktop limits or unable to play certain online games. Thanks for that video to make it into a legit pc handheld. Oh. you got a new sub.

[@dexxlan]

I’ve had no problems with it at all I’ve put over. 300 hr on the windows side of things

[@dexxlan]

Not a problem hope it helps you out

[@jaeplae8689]

@@dexxlan I am enjoying it.

[@Dave-kh6tx]

if you want to save a lot of time and trouble follow the instructions but get an external usb 3.0 or 3.1 ssd enclosure and use an ssd lying around or buy one cheap and put your windows to go installation on that. now you only have to enter the boot menu when you want windows and you don't have to worry about partitions and reinstalling steamOS. it's pretty snappy still and should read and write over 400MB/s if you have a good enclosure and good ssd.

[@impoppy9145]

You might as well buy a pc. Steam Deck is supposed to be portable, hanging ssd from steam deck defeats the purpose. Also you only do the partitions once and you're set for life

[@coryvallad7578]

​@ImPoppy it doesn't really defeat the purpose as the ssd would be portable as well lol its the same as if you had to have it plugged in while playing. Still portable either way. Better than nothing

[@Wilscuts]

Thank you for that script at the end I needed that!

[@dexxlan]

Glad I could help

[@warlockboyburns]

Thanks for the tips

[@betosn18]

I feel like you didn’t show the steps to get to where you started the video, very confusing

[@dexxlan]

It’s in steamos video that’s linked in description but thank you for the feed back :)

[@betosn18]

@@dexxlan what if my steam is brand new 500 gb model and want to dual boot on ssd, do i still need to do that process as well?

[@dexxlan]

If you have not made any account yet you can but if you have then you can do Clear local user data - This reformats the home partitions on your Steam Deck, which will remove downloaded games and all personal content stored on this Deck, including system configuration. If the home is still locked (some ppl have had problems with it still being locked) then you’ll have to reinstall steamos.

[@betosn18]

@@dexxlan yes its a new deck no accounts or anything on it yet, i figured i might as well do it now before making and account and such. By locked home what do you mean by that.

[@dexxlan]

When you go into the partition, if you have any data saved to your steam deck, your home partition will be locked so you won’t be able to do a separate windows, partition four-dual booting

[@TehhPatron]

I know this is a weird question but can you show us please in a video or reply on how to uninstall Refind but still keeping Windows and SteamOS, I just want to remove Refind! Thanks

[@henkykwok]

Hi.. i have follow all your instruction.. it's easy and working, thanks a lot for the tutorial! I chose over win 10 because more compatible compared to win 11 just like you said. So until 6:45 at that time shown dual boot icon ( Steam os and Windows), i found out strangely when I choose boot to steamdeck and restart ,it will show both choices, and have no problem , but if you shutdown and turn it on, it will automatically boot to windows without any dual boot icon, I have tried several times restart / shutdown or change windows boot menu in msconfig but nothing do good. Did I miss something or what? I just hope dual boot will work as it should. sorry for my bad grammer. Thanks

[@dexxlan]

Hmm,very odd I’ll need to check and see if anything has changed with dual boot since video was made .this may work if u can get into steamos go to desktop mode then go to user from ur menu click it set a password and don’t change wallet settings.sometimes that oddly fix’s it but let me know what happens.

[@tomekkowalski5522]

@@dexxlan same issue here ☹️ Did you find out what is wrong and how to fix it?🤔

[@dexxlan]

Nothing has changed with way windows is installed to Steamos but this has changed so hopefully this helps fix things github.com/jlobue10/SteamDeck_rEFInd

[@fon_time]

How did you make the transfer from settings to normal mode 0:47

[@dexxlan]

Im not sure I understand what ur asking

[@fon_time]

I wanted to clarify, did you restart Steam Desk after completing the operation in the console?

[@dexxlan]

Ah,no I didn’t reset steam deck after completing the console commands

[@aimanmokthar-mv2em]

Please make video how to remove window 10/11 on steam deck.. please bro 🙏

[@dexxlan]

How to recover STEAMOS on the steam deck kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnSxoH13rbWVaNU

[@Hakax]

Can it be done if I have windows installed on microsd? or do i need to have both systems on internal disk?

[@dexxlan]

Has to be on same drive.

[@CognitoTanKhaiiHuitkh9917]

Does this allow you to have both windows and steamos on the SSD?

[@kerrzo1]

When i open KDE partition manager there is a padlock on a few of the partitions including /home so it wont let me slide the partition bar also unmount wont work any idea where i have gone wrong or what i can do? hope u can help

[@dexxlan]

That means u have a Steamos file located on that partition

[@kerrzo1]

@@dexxlan thanks for your reply.. happy to report thanks to your video i am all up and running i basically watched to many different videos and my brain was a bit fried and i tried to take a few shortcuts (needless to say i learnt a few things) anyway just just took my deck back to factory settings sorted out my partition that i had fkd up as i made from a windows sd card (i know) and started all over again following your video properly this time A-Z, love the script at the end for the boot up very cool thanks again. subscribed!

[@dkracingfan2503]

Is there a way to do this with one usb? Could Just delete the iso after I reinstall steam and add the new windows iso?

[@dexxlan]

Yea,but you would need to install one then delete the one you just installed off usb then install the other one

[@LA-qv1ir]

Is it possible to do this without reinstalling SteamOs? i.e., will the partition manager allow the partitioning for an NTFS partition to install Windows on on an internal Steamdeck SSD that already has installations in it? I've done a ton of customizations on my SD and would loathe to do it all over again. I've lent my SD to my sis and her kids so I can't this myself right now.

[@thegameling9760]

You should just be able to adjust the size of the partition to the size you want windows on and it should work

[@captainaxlerod1297]

REFInd keeps getting knocked down the boot order by windows

[@nolife1041]

At 6:09 what does it mean by password has not been set yet

[@dexxlan]

Koncole Password has not been set yet. noramlly you need to put Passwd into commands then it will have u set password

[@d-walt2]

i dont know what im doing wrong but it doesnt give me an option to choose my partition it just installs straight on the usb drive

[@dexxlan]

Are you in the boot menu on the steam deck? Or what I don’t have enough info to fully help

[@d-walt2]

@@dexxlan i created a 500gig partition through kde partition manager made it ntfs, i used rufus to load windows 10 onto my usb drive, went into the boot manager and booted from my usb drive and it starts to boot but i never get an option to select a drive to install onto in window, i just installs the os onto the usb drive

[@dexxlan]

So it doesn’t even give you the option to install windows to a partition after following steps . Because that should be option after license agreement

[@nhellg6971]

How to undual boot im not okay with dual boot i like to go back in steam os only and i want to use all my partition in ssd0

[@dexxlan]

Just reinstalled Steam os that will reset everything back to factory settings fastest way

[@nhellg6971]

​@@dexxlan how about the partition in ssd no need to merge it?

[@dexxlan]

It’s been a good few months since I’ve used windows on steam deck so I’m a bit rusty but if you’re wanting to go back to Steamos you’ll have to remove all windows partitions there’s a way to merge saved date but I do not remember how so long store short no need to merge unless ur really trying to save something but with cloud save kinda pointless I hope that helped

[@riddelekking6654]

Can you do a tutorial of this but with windows on a sd card? I have trouble getting the steam os recovery working.

[@dexxlan]

Yeah,I can for sure do that for you.

[@dantemack57]

I only have a MacBook is there a way around this? Appreciate it.

[@dexxlan]

www.balena.io/etcher/. You would use this program for mac I’ve haven’t use it more then once so I couldn’t tell u much about it

[@GTSmazhh]

Could I use one USB stick for both steam and windows? As in make it a media creation tool then make it a steam os booter?

[@dexxlan]

I guess yes and no but once u install one you’ll have to delete the one u just installed off the usb

[@warlockboyburns]

Need windows for those occasions microsoft gamepass has a wicked good game.

[@iamrocketray]

Much easier to go FULL Win Deck, it plays everything!

[@MasterBen117]

does the guide also work with the latest version 3.4 if you have never done dual boot before? got my 512gb steam deck today and want to dual boot it for game pass. 225gb per partition and the 256gb sd card for steam os and old games. since you also have a video for repairing 3.4.

[@dexxlan]

Yup it still works perfectly:)

[@MasterBen117]

@@dexxlan thanks I've never had linux or anything and was a bit nervous. Windows is currently on the SD card and this is problematic because some games and programs do not load well. the cutscenes are always hanging on Hi Fi Rush too. looking forward to it after work. many thanks!!! now the PC with RTX4090 stays off :)

[@dexxlan]

With a pc like that I’d do steam link because windows on the steam deck isn’t the best

[@MasterBen117]

@@dexxlan I only play lighter and older games on the steam deck. I prefer to play triple A games like the new Dead Space and Atomic Heart on a PC with a 34-inch monitor.

[@dexxlan]

Ah,now that makes sense,good move

[@donovann3308]

Would you know why amd wouldn’t complete downloading ?

[@thegameling9760]

If you’re on windows 11 you’ll have to right click to do the stupid prompt

[@donovann3308]

@@thegameling9760 I’m on windows 10 I’ve did everything else right i believe. But when i try to download amd it’ll go half way then say something went wrong

[@dexxlan]

I’m sure this isn’t the fix but I had to reset mine boot bk into windows right click run as administrator under the AMD Drive set up

[@Mac_2_iLL]

when i right click on the new partition i get this message "there are already 8 partitions on this device. this is the maximun number its partition table can handle. you cannot create, paste or restore a primary partition on it before you delete an existing one" not sure what to do from here

[@dexxlan]

What stage are you on??

[@Mac_2_iLL]

@@dexxlan i split my partition and when i right click on the unknown partion to click on new it gives me that error

[@dexxlan]

Wow,I’ve never ran into that error before I’d have to look into that one

[@Mac_2_iLL]

@@dexxlan yeah everyones stumped lol any help would be appreciated . thanks!

[@dexxlan]

Gparted is the best bet to fix it I’ve never use it but I just KZbin how to gpart steam deck partitions ppl said it worded for them

[@lorianngarcia15]

Is it true everytime Valve sends out a update it breaks the Dual B just wondering because I heard it does?

[@dexxlan]

I’ve personally has no problems with my dual boot I had a few problems when I was using windows 11 after updating to 2h22 that’s why I recommend win10

[@vincentwhitehead]

There’s a program that Microsoft is running that started back in the windows 10s’s infancy where you could download windows for free on devices like the steam deck

[@dexxlan]

Gparted is like that

[@KoKoSINIU]

which is named?

[@alfredobahamondes7385]

How do I remove rEFInd script? I don't have windows anymore and I don't want the option to choose the operating system.

[@dexxlan]

Boot into SteamOS desktop, then launch konsole. If you haven’t setup a terminal password yet, type “passwd” to set one. Then, type “sudo -s” to open a shell as root. Carefully type (or copy/paste) the following: rm -r /esp/efi/Microsoft The windows boot loader should now be removed from the boot manager. Obviously, this will prevent you from booting any Windows install still on the system, so only do this if you want to completely remove it and go back to stock.

[@alfredobahamondes7385]

@@Revenx9 thank you🙌🏻

[@Austinredstoner]

Is it possible to dualboot with android instead of windows?

[@dexxlan]

I don’t think so but I know there is a emulator that allows you to play android.

[@Austinredstoner]

@@dexxlan thanks for reply. Do you know what the emulator is called?

[@dexxlan]

LDPlayer or BlueStacks both are okay emulators but both also have issues running smoothly with certain apps/games

[@trudimension]

Hello one question i did everything right up until the password part when i pulled out the digital keyboard the whole thing glitched to a black screen i re entered everything the way you did got the installation done and it said it was installed but when restarting it boots to windows :/

[@dexxlan]

Did you make sure the scrip was installed correctly and fully?

[@trudimension]

@@dexxlan at the end of the script it said rEFInd has now been installed im guessing i did ?

[@dexxlan]

@@trudimension yeah that it. Odd it didn’t work correctly.

[@trudimension]

@@dexxlan so i went back and read that there was a problem error: failed to initiate alm library:(root: / , dbpath /var/lib/pacman/) not sure what i did wrong

[@dexxlan]

@@trudimension I don’t even know what that error means I’ll look into that see if I can find anything related to the error.

[@devincurrie4145]

Am trying to get away from Windows. Wonder if it's worth trying to dual boot to a different Linux OS that is not SteamOS? I prefer to leave SteamOS as-is including the partition and boot into a different Linux OS from the SD for workstation use.

[@dexxlan]

Linux works good on the deck actually

[@alexclayfield67]

Love the video but all this looks confusing to me this is my first console I’ve played since game boy DS 😰

[@dexxlan]

Glad you liked video,and it can be a bit overwhelming but believe in yourself and you’ll get the hang of it in no time.

[@aaaaaaaaaaron92]

Does Game Pass work after Dual Boot?

[@dexxlan]

Yes and no yes on steamOs side no on windows side

[@cyphaborg6598]

@@dexxlan ? how it's under Windows.

[@dexxlan]

As of 3.4 is works okay

[@RPGVeir]

how can I reallocate the space between the two partitions once everything is already installed on both?

[@malisa71]

@@Revenx9 why start over? if you want to reduce the SteamOS partition, go to Desktop mode and reduce the size. Then boot the Windows and increase the NTFS. Or vice versa.

[@samsixx7087]

Can't you partition without reinstalling the steam os?

[@dexxlan]

You can clear your local storage from the boot manager some ppl have problems with it working right

[@hyperphantom499]

Wym by clear your local storage like delete everything ?

[@dexxlan]

Yea, Clear local user data - This reformats the home partitions on your Steam Deck, which will remove downloaded games and all personal content stored on this Deck, including system configuration.

[@hyperphantom499]

Oh I had a feeling I there a way to partition it with out losing data? Have you had any problems with the way you’re doing it?

[@dexxlan]

There is a way to go about no losing ur data but you’ll have to go into boot management every time to do windows and no I haven’t had any problems

[@cjcannady4287]

my windows 10 will not install

[@thegameling9760]

😅

[@dexxlan]

🤔