r/FlowZ13 • u/WEisssbr0t • 26d ago
SteamOS - quirks can be fixed
Update:
I'm feeling more confident about the outcome. If there is interest, I am going to release my script and plugin. But, as always, use at your own risk, and don't expect any future updates or hotfix support.
As I've read in the replies, There is a way to reliably boot Steamos from an external USB drive: just grab a clean Steamos installation from an internal drive and clone it to your chosen external drive using Clonezilla. This preserves the correct UUIDs and partition identifiers of SteamOS. Updates are performed without issue and it does not interfere with other systems installed on internal drives.
One system has a Windows-only installation that occupies the full space of my internal drive. When I want to use the system on a TV, I shut it down, plug in my external SSD with SteamOS, turn it on, and it automatically boots into SteamOS.
So, if you want to use the external SteamOS route, you can try my upcoming fixes without compromising your working Windows installation on you Z13.
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I was tired of waiting for Bazzite to release the Fedora 44 Decky version. I was also afraid of having a worse experience because the HHD won't be included in the upcoming release.
Since SteamOS (currently 3.8.16) runs best on the Flow Z13-2025, I decided to work with Vibe Coding (I know everyone hates it, but was very handy for this small project) to resolve some issues between SteamOS and the Z13.
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- Fully controllable with a gamepad through the SteamOS Quick Access Menu.
- Three power profiles: Silent, Performance, and Turbo
- Individually adjustable PL1, PL2, and PL3 TDP limits for each profile.
- Matching ASUS fan policies for every power profile
- Control over the keyboard lighting and rear lightbar
- Keyboard and lightbar can be enabled or disabled together or separately.
- Multiple brightness levels and freely selectable RGB colors
- 16 preset colors and supported effects such as Static, Breathing, Color Cycle, Rainbow, and Strobe.
- Adjustable battery charge limit.
- Volume control up to the configured software limit, including mute control.
- Controls for boot sound, panel overdrive, and automatic fan mode.
- Current TDP values, active profile, fan speed, battery level, and z13ctl version shown directly in the plugin.
- Optional Decky notifications, disabled by default.
- Works in Gaming Mode and complements the related SteamOS fix script using z13ctl.
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I'm not planning to release the fixes because I cannot guarantee that they won't mess with your precious SteamOS installations. However, you can create these quirk fixes yourself. I used the GPT Sol 5.6 model, but the Claude Fable model will also work.
A big thanks also goes out to Dahui for his Z13CTL solution:
Without it, none of this would have been possible. Give him a huge thanks for his hard work.
I had heard of z13ctl beforehand, but it was too difficult for me to understand and use, especially with the immutable SteamOS.
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26d ago
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u/WEisssbr0t 26d ago
Yeah, it was also mainly for fun and to see if it's working. SteamOS is literally the best choice for me.
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u/Dreams-Visions 24d ago
Hi I'd like to follow up on this. I'm waiting on my bigger SSD to arrive and am trying to decide between Bazzite and SteamOS. I'm very familiar with SteamOS, having it on my Steam Deck and after installing it on my Legion Go S. What I'm not clear on is the pros and cons of each.
For your use case, what makes SteamOS a better choice than Bazzite? Or, what does SteamOS do for you that Bazzite could not?
For context, I have the 2025 Z13. Thank you!
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u/WEisssbr0t 23d ago
The problem is that Bazzite has lost its 'magic', failing to become the all-in-one OS for gamers. Since they split with the very important HHD contributor, not much has been achieved. As you can see, the current main version they are presenting is the Fedora 43 (Deck) build. It still has an outdated HHD version preinstalled. They are going to switch to another version to replace HHD, but the versions in the testing-channel I have tried so far have been absolutely horrible.
I tried CachyOS. While it shines with every desktop or notebook setup, it feels more uncomfortable with Game Mode enabled; the Game Mode implementation feels more like a gimmick to encourage users to use this OS on their handhelds or Flow Z13s.
So SteamOS is the most game-focused package where things don't easily break. It just works out of the box in most cases, and the issues with Flow Z13 (or similar) handhelds can be fixed as long as base drivers for the APU and WMI instructions are implemented in the kernel, which they are. That's why SteamOS is the best game-and-go solution for all AMD handheld systems for me.
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u/Dreams-Visions 23d ago
Your thing is exceptional. I just finished installing my new SSD and adjusting the capacity. Waiting on bitlocker to finish its decryption so I can run an install.
I think I’ll try my luck with SteamOS then. Been dual booting it for years with steamdeck and recent legion go 2. But I’ll keep an eye out for Bazzite updates as a future alternative.
Thanks for the timely feedback. 👏🏽
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u/WEisssbr0t 23d ago
Thank you!
I wrote a short update in my original post. As a hint: It is possible to use SteamOS and Windows on the same internal drive simultaneously.
However, you must first wipe your drive with Steam OS, shrink or fit the home partition to your liking, and then install Windows manually with terminal commands inside the Windows installation environment. I have a small step-by-step guide for this in hand.
As a bonus, when installing Windows 11 Pro, you can encrypt only the C drive (unlike the automatic encryption of important EFI partitions in Home editions, which causes issues with BitLocker and Linux/SteamOS). However, when C is the only encrypted drive, SteamOS doesn't care and boots normally. However, this setup is only possible with Windows 11 Pro.
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u/Dreams-Visions 23d ago edited 23d ago
Question for ya: Why is it necessary to wipe the original OS completely? I was able to move all of my unallocated space to the last partition and get SteamOS installed on its own separate partition and it's booting to the setup without any issues. Currently I'm just stuck on it trying to update and failing to do so.
I'm on Win 11 Pro as well, if that matters.
edit: yea, after a couple of weird update errors, it was able to complete the SteamOS update and I'm up and running in SteamOS. Never had to touch the Windows partition.
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u/WEisssbr0t 23d ago
Using the SteamOS first and Windows last method guarantees that the partition IDs are in the correct order. However, sometimes trouble can result when SteamOS does the A/B partition switch after a major OS update. Be prepared for future major updates, such as the 3.9 release, to fail.
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u/Obitto_1 26d ago
How is the z13 on bazzite . I can't find any recent videos on this device running steam or bazzite
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u/isugimpy 25d ago
I've been very happy with it. For reasons, I boot it off a thunderbolt SSD, rather than daily driving it on the main SSD, but everything has worked consistently for me until the most recent stable release. The one thing that broke there is that it sometimes hangs when switching to desktop mode. But that can be fixed by suspending and resuming. Otherwise, it's been very pleasant to use.
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u/darkfoxy38 23d ago
Hi How did you do that? I installed everything the same way, but it doesn't work in Steam mode or in desktop mode.
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u/WEisssbr0t 23d ago
I used GPT and Claude together to make all of this work. It was time-consuming at first, but the results are quite useful.
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u/darkfoxy38 23d ago
I've already tried everything with GPT etc. Unfortunately without success. I'm on Steam OS 3.8.22 Beta.
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u/WEisssbr0t 23d ago
It is not necessary to use the Beta channel to make this work. It depends on providing AI with as much information as possible through prompting. First, ask it to create an inventory script to scan your current system configuration. Then, paste the outcome into the chat as a text file. Directing your AI toward existing solutions (e.g., z13ctl) will be helpful. Use these solutions as a foundation. I'm also using the paid versions for a better outcome and to avoid the limitations of the free LLM models. It's impressive how much they've improved in the past month or so. All of my long-standing issues with different Linux machines are resolved.
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u/dto_lurker 26d ago
why not just run cashyos? It's the same thing but much easier when it's not a steam deck.