Finally decided I think I am going to get a Steam Deck. Decided to look at upgrading the hard drive, it is a little more compacted than I thought it would be. For those who have swapped, was it easy enough?
Mandatory reminder to remove the microsd before opening the Deck…
It’s not hard at all, if you’ve done any kind of tech disassembly before you should be good. Just make sure you don’t strip the screws (don’t use a screwdriver that’s too small, make sure it’s all the way in the screws before turning it).
You will have to either clone the drive or install SteamOS fresh on the new SSD from a USB drive. They may have fixed it, but originally the SteamOS installation/recovery USB had a software bug that would crash the wifi driver if you connect to a 5GHz wifi 6 network. So if you have a WiFi 6 network, I would suggest only connecting to the 2.4Ghz version of it until you’ve completed setup and downloaded updates.
If you clone the drive you don’t have to worry about that, but sometimes after cloning you have to realize the cloned partitions to actually take advantage of the larger drive.
If you run into any of those issues and need help, feel free to reply to me here and I’ll do my best to help out.
Yes, well worth it.
I see all the important tips in the comments apart from doing it with a discharged battery.
I had no issues when I did mine.
Seeing the discharged battery bit in the ifixit video is what gave me pause.
It’s a precaution. If you were to damage the exposed battery it could cause it to heat up and probably catch fire.
You do no want a lithium battery fire in your house.
If you’re going to do it make sure you have enough time to do it all in one go so you don’t have to leave the back off.
It’s not a long task, I think setting the blank drive up afterwards took longer than the actual drive swap
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Yes, it’s totally worth it.
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Get good small screwdrivers !!!
That’s very important ! The general consensus is that the ifixit ones are fit for the task.
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As others have said the microsd card is fine.
But if you plan to use the steamdeck in desktop mode, the internal drive can fill up kind of quickly with random stuff.
I thought it was easy enough to replace, but I used to be a computer tech in my old life.
Yes. You just have to copy your existing system to your new drive. I used dd for this. Afterwards resize your storage partition (the largest one) on the new drive. I used gparted for this for it’s simplicity.
if you don’t care about the content of the drive (just steam games and everything in steam cloud), you can basically just reinstall steamOS with the official image
It’s pretty easy. Just remember to remove the microsd card before removing the back panel or it will snap the card in half
In twain
To shreds, you say?
It’s mostly unscrewing covers and peeling stickers, if you can get a good savings that way I believe it’s worth it.
MicroSD also is really not bad if you pick a fast, deck tested one. Lots of my non-primary games are stored there and still load acceptably for me
Primary games works fine too for me
Looks easy : https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Steam+Deck+SSD+Replacement/148989
Edit: Is it worth 30-60minutes of your time, the screwdrivers, maybe the spatchula, and reinstalling steamOS onto the drive?
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Steam+Deck+SSD+Replacement/148989
I work on computer hardware a lot, so I might not be the best judge, but this seems simple (If a bit tedious) enough for a normal person to accomplish.
Yeah, I was watching the video. The first thing that gave me pause was the, “drain battery to 25% as a charged lithium battery puncture can bee dangerous.”
And then I hate having to use the guitar picks to pry open stuff.
That said, I used to build my own computers. I have installed new SSDs in both of my ps5s. But it is not something I do often.
Honestly, you can half ass that shit. As long as you don’t go hacking away at everything you’ll be fine.
Just remember to remove the SD before opening!
I did mine after watching a YouTube video. I thought it looked easy and when I tried it, it was.
Yes. 100%. It was very easy.
Have you installed a Linux operating system before?
The hardware swap is not difficult, but you do have to reinstall the OS on the new drive, so if you’re not already familiar with that process it may be a hurdle. The good news is there shouldn’t be any important data on it, so if you do have a problem you can just wipe it and start over.
I bought the original largest model, and in less than 6 months decided I wanted more than the 512GB. I wish I had saved the $200 and bought the cheapest model. There’s no other appreciable difference.
Have you installed a Linux operating system before?
I have. I used to run OpenSUSE years ago, mostly stopped because I was an avid WoW player and I was never able to get it running.
I wondered if it would be a full reinstall, or if the deck had a separate OS drive.
If you have a drive enclosure or a large enough backup drive you can clone the old SSD with
dd.
The top end model has etched glare resistant glass on the panel, both on the old IPS displays and the newer OLED models.
My work sometimes comes with long hours of downtime in the outdoors with the sun shining, the anti glare glass is fantastic for that scenario. I know there are etched glass screen protectors, but I’ve seen one up close and didn’t look as clear as mine.
So, that’s at least one reason to go for it in my opinion.
Yeah I put a screen protector on mine right away. It’s a portable device.
The combination of the etched screen and an etched screen protector definitely hurts the sharpness - I would’ve been better off with the standard glossy screen.
Yeah, I’m not saying one plan is better than the other, just that it’s something to be aware of when making a choice. My steam deck sees a lot of travel and a lot of use, and I’ve never used a screen protector, because you’re really not supposed to with the matte screen. Haven’t noticed a scratch yet, so it works for me. The only protection I use is the tpu rubberized grip case, I think from spigen. That and the case it came in for travel.
Thank for that. I did not realize this.
I paid for the 1 TB model but it should be simple enough to upgrade the SSD. Think of it as a learning experience.
Absolutely, the best upgrade you can make.
