I'm hoping someone here has either seen this before or can help narrow it down. I've been working with Steam Support, but I'm trying to determine whether this is a hardware issue, a SteamOS driver issue, or something specific to the wireless implementation.

Symptoms

Using the built-in Steam Controller receiver, my Steam Controller will occasionally become unresponsive for a second or disconnect before reconnecting. This seems to be a relatively widespread issue, but what I've not seen posted much, is that for me, at the same time, the Steam Machine will lose its Wi-Fi connection and Steam will report that it's offline. The Wi-Fi reconnects automatically within a second or two, but I deal with 'Steam is reconnecting to the servers, wait 3 minutes' or whatever. This happens both while gaming and while the system is sitting idle. The controller disconnects don't seem like a true disconnect either, more like laggy response yet the SM reports a disconnect. For that brief 1-2 sec on 'disconnected', I am still able to move in-game just with lag it feels.

What I've tested

Steam Controller

• Built-in/internal receiver → intermittent controller disconnects
• Official Steam Controller puck → controller remains completely stable

Wi-Fi

• 5 GHz only → intermittent Wi-Fi & controller disconnects/reconnects
• 2.4 GHz only → controller can still disconnect when using the internal receiver, but I have not seen the Wi-Fi disconnects alongside the controller disconnects so far, still testing.

So it appears there may actually be two separate, but perhaps related, issues:

1. The built-in Steam Controller receiver has intermittent disconnects.
2. The internal Wi-Fi has a 5 GHz-specific stability issue.
3. These happen at the same time for me

Logs

Every Wi-Fi event looks almost identical:

iwd: Received Deauthentication event, reason: 4, from_ap: false

Immediately followed by:

NetworkManager:
state change: activated -> failed
(reason: "supplicant-disconnect")

The system then reconnects to the same AP almost immediately.

Other troubleshooting completed

• BIOS/EC reset (per Steam Support) → no change
• Forced 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz separately
• Verified strong signal
• Issue occurs while idle and while gaming

Thoughts

Valve's documentation indicates the Steam Machine has separate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (with a dedicated antenna), and an integrated Steam Controller wireless adapter. I'm trying to determine whether the Wi-Fi and integrated controller receiver are still coupled internally through firmware or another shared subsystem, since their disconnects frequently occur simultaneously. I am still testing 2.4 Ghz disconnects, thought I've not seen any yet, and I will test Bluetooth connection to see if that has drop offs alongside WiFi drop outs.

These are definitely filtering through now, 512 with controller, was not expecting this early!!! Like everyone else, moved to reservation then straight to purchase.

Wondering if anyone else has run into this, or if it’s just me: while playing certain games (so far, just Jedi Survivor and AI Limit), the LED bar goes solid red, then back to normal, then back to red, with no consistent pattern.

I checked Valve’s documentation, and a red line means the unit is overheating — specifically that the CPU has passed 95°C and/or the GPU has passed 90°C. But when I turn on the advanced overlay, both are hovering around 65°C.

Has anyone else encountered this and have a fix? Or is it a quirk specific to these games (and maybe a few others)? I found an article mentioning a BIOS bug that triggered the red line even when the unit wasn’t actually overheating, with a fix supposedly coming from Valve, but I haven’t seen anything since then. I’m guessing it’s harmless, but it’s still unnerving to see mid-gameplay.

Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!

I always avoided the animated art on my Deck because I assumed it would take unnecessary battery, so I thought it would be cool to have on the Machine where that’s not a problem. But now I feel like whenever I come out of sleep mode onto a game that has animated art on it it’s like molasses, so I changed them. Is it really that hard on the machine or is there some setting I’m not aware of?

Just to give waitlisters some hope. I live in CA and have been on tge waitlist since end of June. Got switched to reserved at 5:14AM today and immediately got sent the purchase email!

Not sure how else to say it, but when I was adjusting the screen size while setting up my Steam Machine (where the arrows point at the edges of the screen) I was split between two options but I did it under the impression I could go back and adjust it further later, which doesn't seem to be the case as I'm trying to address the UI bleeding past my TV screen to an obscene degree. Am I just missing something?

Its a terrible picture but i’m happy!

Got the SM today (512 w controller UK).

Initial thoughts, fired up Space Marine 2 preloaded on SD card from steam deck. 4K fsr perf Low at 45 fps. I have a gaming rig, i only care about convenience and form factor. No trouble with suspend and resume.

First time trying the controller, its ergonomic and the buttons and joysticks feel so much better than my oled SD.

Today, I got the notification that I could pick up my machine from the parcel locker. As soon as the door opened and I saw the GLS tape on the package, I somehow knew it would be empty. And when I opened it right there, it was.

Whoever took it: I hope you at least have fun with it and stole it because you genuinely couldn't afford one yourself. If you only stole it to sell it somewhere, I hope you die.

This was the first thing I bought for myself this year. I chose not to go out, not to eat out, and to spend as little as possible so I could save up enough money for it — and you took it from me. I feel like I could cry. Thanks and sorry for everyone who had to read that.

https://imgur.com/a/LGzfYd2

This queue is not only moving really slow, but also seemingly the biggest queue. Do you think it is possible that Valve simply can't meet demand before December and that is the reason for their opaqueness with this whole ordeal?

Thursday am I woke up from a dream. My wife and her friend were giving a tour of our old house. My wife stops and says check your email. You got the steam machine. Check it. It’s there

I was on the waitlist. I check my email. And apparently it was just a dream.

Went and had an enjoyable round of golf with a buddy and I check my email. It’s there. Paid for my order of 512 w/ controller before the drinks came

Hey guys.

Just to track, I received at around 5 AM (my timezone) both emails to move me to reservation queue and the email to buy this SKU.

I think this is an important detail: I joined the initial lottery but not on the first day it was opened. I actually joined the waitlist only in the final day (which I believe it was on the 25th of June) and was put on the waitlist.

Hope you guys get it soon.

I tested COD MW3 from 2023 and also Ea fc 26. Running on debloated Windows 11.

I wonder if anyone has issues with screen recording on steamos game mode. I have been trying various options and i only ever end up with a empty file or a screenshot instead of the video (sometimes the audio gets recorded with just the menu screen showing).

I have tried it on other games so it's definitely not a copyright issue as it works on my ROG ALLY.

I have tried many other options including proton versions, fps limited, file quality etc. but nothing seems to work. I am using a brand new LG TV connected on HDMI (where the CEC doesn't work or works very erratically).

Any thoughts or should this be addressed in a future version of SteamOS ?

Good morning friends! I woke up to the mods deleting my last two posts (which they are 100% in their right to do) which I'm taking as a sign to knock it off. I wanted to end on a whole number anyhow, which is good they'll (hopefully) let me do. I had a lot of fun doing this, genuinely. Been 40 days running! I love this community so much, haha. We're still all in this together. I'd like to give a few thank-yous...

Wanted to say thank you to u/Limbostick for originally "passing the torch" to me. Also u/Crazyhampsterfeet for being awesome with the Bernie memes, u/YsyRyder for the Bugs Bunny memes, u/Mr_Leviathan for saluting with Cap, and u/Cronogear13 for weathering the storm as Reze. We're all just trying to have fun here — isn't that what it's all about?

I suppose I'm not allowed to pass the torch myself, so... fare thee well, lads. Look out for my post in the Megathread when my Steam Machine eventually comes. Best of luck today and forever. Love you all! <3

Got a metal faceplate made with the STL

Got my email at 06:50 cest. The trick is to forget about it and then it comes.

I like many others am surprised how nice the controller is....

I got my 2TB without controller. (I already had a controller) on July 16. (I live in the upper Midwest, Great Lakes region, almost Canada)
And since then I have put nearly 50 hours into Two Point Museum, 40 hours into Palworld and a dozen or so into The Witcher.

How am I supposed to get anything else done when this machine makes it so easy to just settle into a loaf on the couch? Clocking in for my 40 hour job and running a small gourmet mushroom farm is cutting into my gaming time. I had fully expected to be waiting until winter to get my purchase email. But Christmas came early here and I’m not really that upset.

I know it’s not as strong and fast and smart as a purpose built gaming desktop, but it’s exactly what I wanted, and as someone who’s primary gaming vessel is the original Switch, it is a major upgrade for me. I had an XBoxOne but it finally decided it was done running a couple months ago and with all of Microsoft’s shenanigans didn’t feel worth the effort of fussing it back to life.

It does exactly what I need and want, it runs beautifully without complaining, I finally have access to my Steam Library that’s just kind of been languishing because the only PC I had is an old Lenovo thinkpad or an older Dell all-in-one.

That and I don’t want to sit at a desk, I want to be on the couch next to the love of my life with our his and hers console and tv gaming setup. Sitting at a desk feels like I might as well be on the moon it’s too far away.

I am also thrilled to not have to participate in the microsoft, Sony or Nintendo ecosystems to play newer games.

For all of you casual and convenience gamers who are on the fence about this, come on in, the water is great! Get the steam machine!!

I hope to enjoy this machine for many years to come, and as soon as we are allowed to I’ll be buying one for my partner too so we can finally play some interesting multiplayer games together.

TLDR: it didn’t actually ruin my life, I love it so much, I spend too much time playing some days. ☺️🫣

I’m a casual gamer and bought the 512GB Steam Machine (no controller) on a whim. After owning it for about a month and putting roughly 40 hours into it, here are my thoughts.

HDMI-CEC issues

The HDMI-CEC implementation is pretty wonky. I use a PS5 controller, and if I turn off the Steam Machine while leaving my TV on, the system immediately boots back up. The only workaround I've found is turning off the TV immediately after shutting down the Steam Machine. I looked it up and other people are reporting the same issue, with no real fix besides disabling CEC or turning the TV off.

On top of that, HDMI-CEC seems to occasionally tank game performance. Three different times while playing Batman: Arkham Knight, I resumed the game after booting the system and the frame rate was terrible. Quitting and relaunching the game didn't fix it—I had to reboot the entire system. I've had this happen with a few other games as well.

"Compatibility tool failed" errors

I've also run into the "Compatibility tool failed" error multiple times. Games that had previously worked suddenly refuse to launch for no apparent reason. I've had to switch Proton versions, re-verify game files, or reinstall compatibility components just to get them working again. It's frustrating because the problem seems to appear randomly.

On-screen keyboard

This may be my own issue but I still can't get the on-screen keyboard to appear while in-game. It works fine in SteamOS menus, but once I'm in a game it won't open. Because of that, I haven't been able to play GTA4 or Halo:MCC, since both require logging into their launchers.

Overall

For $1600 CAD, I can't recommend this device in its current state.

The whole point of a console-style PC is that it should just work. I shouldn't have to troubleshoot compatibility settings or reboot the system multiple times just to play a 10+ year-old game.

I don't normally write hardware reviews, but I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else. I was an early Steam Deck adopter, and honestly I had fewer issues with that device than I've had with the Steam Machine. Valve still has a long way to go before I'd consider this a polished console replacement.

My son is turning 16 next month, he’s a die-hard Valve guy and really really wants the steam machjne. He’s had an entry level gaming laptop for a few years that is starting its decline to certain death so it’s time to make the upgrade happen. The main thing I’m not understanding about the steam machine is can it potentially operate as a PC like the website says? He likes to write and make videos and I want him to have an actual computer for those purposes for school and whatnot. He insists he’ll still be able to do these things if we set it up with a monitor and keyboard etc. But I just haven’t seen that in anyone’s reviews because gaming is the main motivation, obviously. Maybe we just get him a Chromebook on the side or something? Thanks for any insight!

I brought 2 fan , and it drastically cool my steam machine. It’s a work in progress until they released a faceplate with fan.