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Recovery and Escalation
Recovery restores operation. Diagnosis explains the failure. Preserve evidence before recovery when the device is safe and responsive enough to do so.
Use the least destructive step that matches the evidence:
- Capture: DeckDoc report, Steam System Report, current/previous boot journals, physical symptom.
- Narrow reversible action: reconnect one device, toggle one service/setting, or use a documented DeckDoc remediation whose precheck matches.
- Normal restart: appropriate for wedged firmware/session state after evidence capture.
- Clean control run: updated stable system, third-party plugins/modifications disabled, one known title/device/network.
- Rollback previous SteamOS: official recovery option that retains user data where supported.
- Repair SteamOS: official recovery environment; understand the option before selecting it.
- Re-image/factory reset: destructive, clears data; backup first.
- Hardware service/Steam Support: physical safety, repeated cross-software faults, or failed storage, panel, board, battery, charging, fan, or input evidence.
Valve's recovery page is authoritative for the current options and their data impact. Do not follow an old third-party button sequence when the official instructions differ.
Stop and contact support for:
- smoke, swelling, liquid, electrical smell, sparking, or charging-port damage;
- abnormal heat while idle/off or a fan that remains stopped as temperature rises;
- recurring hard locks/GPU reset failures across unrelated software;
- storage errors that threaten data or prevent safe backup;
- a panel/input/charging fault that persists in firmware/recovery environments;
- any repair that would require opening the device when you are not equipped to do so.
Use for warranty/hardware, safety, account-specific issues, recovery failure, and guided service.
Use for reproducible SteamOS/kernel/session regressions with version, model, steps, timestamps, and redacted system evidence. Search first and add a high-quality reproduction to an existing matching issue when appropriate.
Use when the evidence isolates a reproducible upstream component and includes its logs/version. A generic “black screen” without branch evidence is unlikely to be actionable.
Use when DeckDoc misclassifies a state, misses a documented signature, has an unsafe/incorrect command, or needs a new module. Include a sanitized fixture whenever possible.
- Steam Deck LCD/OLED model and relevant storage/peripheral;
- SteamOS, client, kernel, update channel;
- exact incident time and boot scope;
- Game/Desktop Mode, dock/power/wake state;
- reproducible steps and frequency;
- relevant report sections, not an unexplained dump;
- what has been ruled out and how;
- recovery/test outcome;
- privacy redaction statement.
DeckDoc records evidence before action. Preserve the incident, change one variable at a time, verify the result, and use Steam Support for safety, warranty, and hardware concerns.
- Home
- Getting started
- Triage flow
- Reading reports
- Collect and share evidence
- Continuous incident probe
- Privileged authorization