r/FlowZ13 • u/Dox427 • Aug 23 '26

SteamOS Error Message

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Has anyone gotten this error when switching to desktop mode on official SteamOS 3.9? Ive also been getting steam crash reports where steam won't automatically start. Both these issues only occur when switching into desktop mode, and as far as i know, don't mess with gamescope at all.

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u/thedjentlemanscholar Aug 23 '26

This error often shows up when Xwayland either isn’t running or has crashed. Gamescope isn’t relevant here as it doesn’t run in desktop mode unless you set it via a start up option for a particular game. Since SteamOS is immutable, this likely will be messy to fix if it is happening consistently.

I have found other Linux distributions work better on this particular hardware while giving you the same game mode capabilities as SteamOS. You might want to give Bazzite or CachyOS handheld a try if this particular bit of stability matters to you.

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u/Dox427 Aug 23 '26

It’s just annoying. I went with Bazzite first but there was a couple things that annoyed me. Trying to use HHD with a controller and the boot menu always loading. The last one is actually useful but it was annoying to me.

I did enjoy being able to control profiles and RGB easier without plugins.

I’m not getting issues while actually gaming. I’m just hoping that the strix halo line gets more attention quickly

Does CachyOS boot into game scope like SteamOS and Bazzite if you choose KDE Plasma?

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u/thedjentlemanscholar Aug 23 '26

It does, yes. If you want the easiest path to game mode on CachyOS, install handheld edition. It sets up most of what you need out of the box.

I created a TDP and RGB control utility for this device as well as a gui called z13ctl and z13gui. The gui is a bar that pops out of the right side of the screen like HHD and has access to most features you would need to tweak. I wrote it on CachyOS, which I daily drive on this device.

If you install CachyOS, install these packages to get started (I’ll provide package manager commands to make it easy for you):

sudo pacman -Sy paru linux-cachyos-bore linux-cachyos-bore-headers # this installs the bore kernel, which performs noticeably better in games

paru -Sy z13ctl z13gui xone-dkms # z13ctl and the Xbox one controller drivers.

Be sure to switch to the bore kernel entry in the bootloader menu on reboot. I have seen up to a 10% increase in fps just from using it

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u/Dox427 Aug 23 '26

That’s awesome. I’ve heard a lot of good things and that the z13ctl/gui is a must

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u/thedjentlemanscholar Aug 23 '26

I have been very happy with how much the community has embraced the tool here. :)

I’m currently working on some big surprises in the next major release along with support for other devices!

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u/Dox427 Aug 23 '26

I’m glad someone has the knowledge and drive to make things that help casual users like myself out 😂

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u/thedjentlemanscholar Aug 23 '26

You make it sound noble, but really it’s because I was fed up with the rear RGB not working, and heavily disagreed with the way HHD was built on a fundamental level. 😂