Valve’s handheld gaming computer named the Steam Deck, released last year, saw massive success, with over 3 million units to be sold in 2023. The deck uses a custom Linux distro called SteamOS built on Proton, a compatibility layer that allows users to run games built for Windows systems on the device. It can also be connected to a TV, monitor, or other display, basically turning it into a handheld console device. However, as good as all this sounds, it is not without its problems. Players have reported that the recovery image is not booting for the Steam Deck after they tried loading Windows 10 on the device.
In software lingo, a recovery image is basically a copy or a backup of a program that is used when something goes wrong with the original. So for devices like the Steam Deck, if something went wrong with the pre-installed instance of SteamOS or you installed another OS and would like to go back to SteamOS, the recovery image would be the way to go about it. It does not erase any data; it just restores the OS to the original stock version. However, many players have reported that the Steam Deck does not boot the recovery image. What do you even do in such a delicate situation? Messing with a device’s OS is certainly scary, so keep reading this guide until the end to find out how to fix the issue.
Steam Deck recovery image not booting: How to fix it?
There are a couple of workarounds you can try to fix the issue. We have listed them below.
Wait a while –
It seems like the Steam Deck is just really slow while loading the new OS, and quite a few people have been fooled into thinking their deck is frozen when in reality it is just taking a lot of time. So try leaving it to do its thing for maybe an hour or two and see if it fixes the issue. For Frickeladm, it took 20 minutes but it finally worked.
Use an alternate boot device –
You can load the recovery image into the Steam Deck using multiple devices. If you have tried using USB, try a micro-SD card (which seemed to have done the trick for TapVirtual and Ballistic_Peanut). Or if you used a micro-SD card previously, try the USB route.
Try again –
According to Burger_Addiction2, if your Steam Deck does not immediately go to a black screen or after the Steam logo is displayed, turn it off and try and boot the device from USB again. It took six tries for P00pmaster, but it did work eventually, so patience is key!
Try installing the desktop version –
If you tried the above steps and your deck still does not work, Realistic-Success-88 suggested installing the desktop version of SteamOS. This is basically the version you would use if you wanted to install SteamOS on your PC. Apparently, nothing happened when trying to boot with the normal recovery image. However, with this one, it booted in 10 seconds. Keep in mind though, this is the desktop version. So it is highly likely that the Deck’s controls will not be recognized properly. The purpose of doing this method is to get a clean install working so you can then flash the correct recovery image.
Well, those were some of the ways to fix the Steam Deck Recovery Image not booting issue. You can try a couple other workarounds if these do not work like re-flashing your USB device/micro-SD card, using a different device, or just contacting support. Anyway, if this guide helped, make sure to check out Android Gram for more such guides. Also read: Can you mod games on Steam Deck?
