By the time it happened twice, I was sure it wasn’t a coincidence; By the time this happened four or five times, I was determined to blow up the entire operating system and try again. And I was particularly interested in trying the real SteamOS again, just in case a fresh install of Bazzite had the same problems as the one I was already using.
After some research I found this directory. If you browse through these folders, you’ll see OS images for different versions of SteamOS, including the newer versions of SteamOS 3.7 (the “stable” version you’ll find on the Deck) and versions of SteamOS 3.8 and 3.9 (the Deck will remove these if you switch from the “stable” OS channel to the “main” channel). Not all of these folders include the repair image you need to wipe a device and install SteamOS, but a few do: this one, dated October 27, is the most recent as of this writing.
These newer versions of the operating system include changes that expand hardware support for SteamOS, including a progression from Linux kernel version 6.11 to version 6.16. And that was it steamdeck-repair-main-20251027.1000-3.8.0.img.zip file that I was finally able to flash onto a USB drive and install to my TV’s desktop following Valve’s instructions.
It’s only been about a week since then, but at least so far I’m finally getting what I wanted: the same experience as on my Deck, just on my TV, with hardware a little better suited to a larger, higher resolution screen (and that’s the main reason to do this, rather than using a docked Steam Deck for everything).
The SteamOS experience
The “console-like experience” designed for the Steam Deck also works well with a TV and gamepad.
Credit: Vanne
Once the operating system is installed and running, anyone who has used a Steam Deck will find it instantly familiar, and all you’ll need to do to get started is connect or pair a gamepad and/or keyboard and mouse.
