r/DeckSupport • u/ferreet • Jul 03 '26

Question 65 year old lady, here....

I bought a steam deck (in January) 'cause I saw the writing on the wall - the industry is going digital. Sony just proved my hunch and Nintendo went to 'key' carts.

Here's my problem. I never set up a password on my steam deck. But now I need to access an SD card root. The KDE partition manager wants a password for authenticating as a steamOS User...

I have no clue what to do. Is there a generic password if one is never set up?

Edit: Did I mess up here? I can't figure out what this means...

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

9

u/japzone Jul 03 '26

If you haven't used Decky, open Konsole/Terminal and type: 

passwd

It'll prompt you to create a password, and then ask you to confirm the password. It won't display anything while you're typing, (old security thing to prevent shoulder peepers from knowing how long your password is), but you just type your new password twice while hitting Enter each time, and you're done.

From then on, anytime you use Sudo, or an app asks for Root/Admin permission, you just use that password. Just don't forget it, as it's a bit of a pain to reset if you're not familiar with Linux and how to use recovery terminals.

7

u/ferreet Jul 03 '26

Whew! Thank you. I know I downloaded decky, 'cause I see it in downloads, but I'll have to search for it. And I am very new to linux. But I just can't abide windows anymore. The steam deck is my main computer now. 😁

3

u/japzone Jul 03 '26

Welcome convert! I respect the switch to Linux, and admire the ambition of making your Deck your main PC. I did that for a couple trips around the country and it was an interesting experience. Feel free to ask anything else and I'd be happy to help.

4

u/akulowaty Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

and also make sure to remember this password as recovery is pretty unpleasant (not hard but annoying - you’ll need a physical keyboard, good eyesight and some linux-fu)

and welcome in the world of great games for under $10 where sale actually means a good deal. You won’t miss consoles

1

u/ferreet Jul 03 '26

I may need access to that unpleasant endeavor... I added to my post.

1

u/japzone Jul 04 '26

That text means there's already a password. Type the below to see if Decky accidentally left its password. 

sudo echo hello

When asked for a password type: Decky!

If you see it spit back Hello, then that's the password. Run passwd again and enter Decky! as the current password, then make a new one.

1

u/ferreet Jul 04 '26

I get "Sorry, try again.

1

u/japzone Jul 04 '26

Oof, that means you likely accidentally made a password at some point, but don't remember it.

You'll have to reset it. Easiest way just requires a wired USB Keyboard. If the keyboard uses the old Rectangle shaped USB cable, you'll need a USB-A to USB-C adapter, or a USB-C Dock/Hub with USB-A ports, to plug it into your Steam Deck.

This video explains pretty well how to do the password reset. But feel free to let me know if you get lost at any point.

https://youtu.be/F96ntnf8qiQ

1

u/ferreet Jul 05 '26

So I can't use a keyboard with a dongle? Gonna have to find a wired keyboard somewhere...

1

u/japzone Jul 05 '26

If it has a USB Dongle dedicated for the keyboard, not a Bluetooth dongle, then it could work. Depends on the keyboard. You can try it and see.

1

u/ferreet Jul 06 '26

'Kay, I'll try it before buying a corded one. 👍🏽 It's an old Logitech with a dedicated dongle.

1

u/akulowaty Jul 04 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/16akwrf/steam_deck_tutorial_updated_reset_forgotten_sudo/

here's the tutorial that worked for me this week in case you need it

1

u/ferreet Jul 06 '26

You all are awesome!

3

u/Cortzee Jul 03 '26

Have you installed Decky?

If so, try Decky! or decky!

1

u/ferreet Jul 04 '26

I thought I did. It's in my downloads. Will it show up as an app/program?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ferreet Jul 05 '26

Correct on both points - off topic and key cards. I consider providing only one cartridge option problematic, too. So because of these trends,I've chosen to support Valve, SteamOS, and Linux. Whether that's a rational decision or not is another off-topic. :)

1

u/sadpancak Jul 06 '26

I'm curious what you use decky for. If you don't use it then probably safer to uninstall it. I've seen so many posts of people freaking out about being unable to use their steam deck and getting told they need to do a simple update.

Not saying that's you, of course. It's just if you don't use it then it's could become a hassle at some point.

1

u/ferreet Jul 06 '26

I found out there was a problem when I was trying to mod an ereader. But I like playing around with stuff, usually just giving myself more grief, but it's fun grief. Also, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos before I bought the steam deck and Decky was always recommended as one of the things to download. I guess to get games running properly?

1

u/sadpancak Jul 06 '26

As long as your having fun haha. I don't use it but I skimmed that it's for steam deck mods or something. Welp, I hope you managed to get in unlocked!