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DeckDoc diagnostic center

DeckDoc is a full-system Steam Deck diagnostic and incident-response platform. Its job is to turn “my Deck is broken” into a narrower, evidence-based question across boot, applications, Steam/Proton, Gamescope, kernel/GPU, memory, storage, power, thermal, audio, network, suspend/resume, controls, display, docks/peripherals, or physical hardware. The wiki is the symptom-first entry point to the collector, continuous probe, outside-OS Rescue environment, and guided DeckMD checker.

If the Deck is smoking, swollen, wet, unusually hot to touch, smells electrical, or has a damaged charging port, stop using it, disconnect power if safe, and contact Steam Support. Do not run software diagnostics on a physically unsafe device.

Start here

1. Getting started — install DeckDoc and create the first report.
2. Triage flow — choose the branch that matches what is happening now.
3. Reading DeckDoc reports — separate strong evidence from noise.
4. Collecting and sharing evidence — preserve the incident and protect private data.
5. Recovery and escalation — decide when to restart, roll back, repair, re-image, file a bug, or contact Valve.
6. Continuous incident probe — opt in to low-overhead event capture.
7. DeckDoc Rescue — outside-OS evidence for a Deck that will not boot normally.
8. Privileged diagnostic authorization — approve an exact read-only command set once without sharing a password.

Find your symptom

Boot, crashes, and performance

• Recovery, boot failure, and escalation
• Crashes, GPU hangs, page faults, and memory pressure
• Reading retained core dumps and current-boot crashes

Audio, network, and sleep

• Audio problems and SOF DSP failures
• Network and resume problems

Power and storage

• Power, thermal, fan, charging, and battery problems
• NVMe, filesystem, and microSD problems

Docks, controls, boot, and hardware decisions

• Dock, USB-C, power delivery, and external displays
• Controls, Bluetooth, touch, and input
• Hardware failure decision guide
• DeckDoc Rescue
• Coverage and diagnostic gaps
• Recovery and escalation

Display and Game Mode

• Display and Gamescope problems
• Black screen on first start after several days powered off
• Screen black while sound or input still works
• Display diagnostic runbook
• Physical LCD blackout investigation

Reference desk

• Module reference — every module, log file, dependency, and limitation.
• Research and issue index — repository issues, upstream evidence, and implementation status.
• Safe remediation policy — mandatory safety boundary for every fix.
• Continuous incident probe — capture architecture, limits, privacy, installation, status, and removal.
• Privileged diagnostic authorization — exact allowlist, security boundary, use, update, and removal.

Evidence standard

A single log line rarely proves a root cause. A strong DeckDoc diagnosis has:

• the symptom captured while it is present or immediately afterward;
• timestamps that align with the failure;
• two or more independent signals that agree;
• current-boot evidence separated from retained history;
• explicit alternative explanations and coverage limits;
• a narrow, reversible test and post-test verification;
• human confirmation for physical outcomes such as visible pixels, sound, fan motion, or charging.

The wiki distinguishes observed, correlated, likely, ruled out for this incident, and confirmed by remediation. Those phrases are intentionally different.

Project boundary

DeckDoc collects evidence and implements only a small number of guarded fixes. It is not a replacement for Steam's built-in System Report, Steam Support, warranty service, electrical safety judgment, or offline filesystem repair. When a symptom is not automated, this wiki says so and provides a safe collection/escalation path instead of inventing a fix.