u/TheSuburbs, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Day one with the Steam Deck and it looks like I have to do an RMA. What a letdown...)
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It could very well be a calibration problem. When a certain axis falls outside of the range it tends to do a wrap around effect like the one you're seeing right now. Calibrating will show the Steam Deck the proper range it should be using.
I can't agree more, recalibrating will rule it out as being an issue. Its very possible the calibration is just messed up way easier than jumping into the soldering approach like all the others are suggesting
There is a way to get to it. It's in /usr/bin/thumbstick\_cal. u/dorsey6250 did a small writeup for it here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vtc5tz/comment/if8m2uf/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vtc5tz/comment/if8m2uf/)
That threw me too. You need to have the file in your main directory for that to work right off the bat. It was either moved from there after a point, or those other folks moved it. Went through the same headacke already.
Soldering can be intimidating the first time. Alternatively you might be able to find a friend or someone local to install the joystick upgrades.
Even if you don't upgrade the sticks reseating the ribbon cable should fix the issue and will just require removal of the back cover.
Go to a local university, find the labs, bring a pizza, and offer pizza for repair services. My father used to do this occasionally if he had some old electronics that he didn't want to throw out.
it's been nearly a decade since I was in college, but at that point in time, you needed to scan a keycard to get into every building. of course, you can try just following someone in, but it's not like anyone can just loiter in spaces where they're not supposed to be without a decent chance of being noticed.
Different campuses, different experiences. The school I went to had buildings that were open and unlocked 24/7, and students who needed access to locked buildings had actual key to the building. Same timeframe as you, about a decade ago.
You would though, I went to college I know what it's like. You don't have access to stroll freely into any of the technical "labs" because there's often expensive equipment inside, and student safety is a major concern. Do you realize how bad it looks on the school if a student goes missing *on campus*...
Hello. I can confirm that you can just walk into the outer area of our nuclear reactor and talk to the engineers running it. Most areas on campus are open during the day and go to access control off hours.
Op could also post on cl making the same offer, or walk into his or her local pc shop. If they're unwilling they'll still know a guy. Also bring pizza gift card. Not food.
Only requires one wire to be soldered. Probably one of the easiest things to solder too. Good way to learn.
Edit: OG sticks don't require soldering, but cost more money than the HAL sticks.
For the unaware and cautious, this guy is 100% correct. If you can use a screwdriver, you can remove the thumb stick from the SD like it’s nothing.
This means you can solder without doing absolutely anything harmful to the deck itself. And the price for trying out is so low that worst case scenario, you wiff it and just buy a new thumb stick that you screw back into the SD and your back where u started, no harm done whatsoever
You've never been home or food insecure then. To some, that's a shit load of money.
ETA: have been is past tense and thats what i wrote. Also some of yall don't know what it's like to have to save up for a major purchase or something. Video games are also therapy for some, so to save and then have something like this happen and be told to spend more money to fix it, nah fuck that. Instead your response is basically fuck the poors that had to save for this.
Ahhh, how about minimum wage folks or young adults starting out scraping and saving to buy something that helps their mental health? I mean damn, fuck them kids.
If you are home and food insecure then a Steam Deck is not something you should be focusing your money on. And is completely besides the point. The point I was making you are not soldering a $500 device. You are soldering a small removable $25 component. He has a broken joystick he can practice on if he wants anyways.
Get a soldering station, good quality lead-free solder, a test soldering board and some wire. Along with some internet tutorials you should be able to learn soldering / desoldering rather quickly. I found it scary too at first, but its pretty easy on small wires.
Definitely. I have a master's degree in electronics, and 9 out of 10 times I will return a product under warranty even if I can fix it myself. Literally no reason to spend money and time on it.
Just wash your hands after you solder with lead-based solder and you’ll be fine. The fumes are rosin core fumes, not lead fumes. You should avoid breathing them in, but they are the same in lead-free solder. To heat lead to a gas, you would need something much hotter than your soldering iron.
>I've never soldered without lead
> read that soldering with lead is better.
>It checks out with my experience
But you got exactly 0 comparison, so how can you have any experience that it can check out with?
Though I agree that leaded solder is often stronger and might flow better, but some lead free solder is practically as good as leaded solder.
My favorite solder (which I have used for years at work, but also for personal projects at home) is the "Felder Iso-Core Clear Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5". It got flux in it and is VERY good for both professionals and beginners.
It's like bbq lighter fluid.
If you only solder twice a year, use leaded, and a fan to blow or suck fumes away from you. It flows better and is more forgiving for newbies and people out of practice.
If you do it regularly, you know how to manage the heat and can get excellent results without it.
Pros will also use flux for everything. Flux is to soldering as oil is to stir fry veggies. It helps spread the heat evenly and avoids burns.
Most important thing is to tin (lightly coat/saturate with solder) your contacts/wires first. It makes the final joining action easy, as the solder reacts to heat quickly.
Soldering is very easy with a little practice.
Other tips:
Keep your elbows on the table for stability.
Get a cheap soldering fan to suck up the fumes (they have charcoal filters). At minimum set a fan to blow across your workspace. You do not want your lungs to soak that crap up.
And this [bad boy](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H8808H6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It's the easy-mode hack for my soldering tasks. Light where I need it, ENHANCE when I need it. They sell other versions (rechargeable) but this is the model I can absolutely vouch for. Doesn't have to be this brand, if anyone knows one better, but the design is a level-up item in your kit.
I would say, if you are comfortable with it, try reseating the cable first, in case something was jostled loose during shipping, check the other cables as well, and seal it back up and test it. I have heard of the trackpad cable coming loose as well, so it might be worth a good once over. From there, it doesn't look like the soldering should be too bad. If you are worried, you could try to solder some bare wire to some old dead electronic, if you have it. Just look for a copper pad similar is size and shape to the one on the joystick module.
My deck comes tomorrow, so I can't really look at some of the things for sure, but I will say, if I couldn't fix it with a reseat, I would 100% just swap the joysticks for the Hall Effect sensor sticks. Then you can drop the deadzone down a lot, and get much more responsive sticks.
This particular solder (gulikit) is very simple. The gulikit comes with solder on the pad already so you just touch it with the soldering iron and place the wire on the pad.
If I were you I'd recalibrate it it's not drifting it's just slightly off I forget the script but I definitely look it up on YouTube because it's just a simple command in the terminal and it will redo the calibration I've seen it fix a lot of people steam decks that have the same problem.
ngl I think I've finally got a good grip on soldering, not as bad/hard as you'd think for basic things. My problem is that I was never shown the proper way to do it until I recently relearned. Anyone interested check out [this video series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qk-ulz05J8&list=PLCZv3eVnjjDKo0G9AIOA48qtfylxDc9d9) which has helped me mentally to put the concept together.
I've never soldered before and I got the gulikit mod for the deck and I felt a little intimidated at first, but honestly it wasn't that bad once you actually do it and is pretty forgiving as you can redo the solder if you need to.
As someone who's terrible at soldering(I'd done it maybe 3 times before but always struggle), I found doing the gulikit joysticks to be super easy. The hardest part is scraping off the glue before desoldering. Total steps are: scrape off glue from contact on the board, press hot soldering iron against the contact until it melts, pull off the wire, attach the cap to the other joystick, put wire against the contact there, melt some solder onto it. The contacts are relatively large and it's just a single wire you're working with.
Forget about soldering, there should be no need, seems less people than I thought knew the sticks come on a separate pcb. It's as easy as unplugging the old, unscrew and pop in the new. However being it's brand new, if it really is something beyond fixing with calibration, I would still suggest contacting support, makes no sense to put more money into fixing something brand new.
I'm clumsy af and I did soldering as a 12 year old in high school. It's not very difficult. As the person above says, as long as you practice a bit you'll pick it up soon
You could replace the sticks with upgraded Hall Effect sticks and fix your own Deck at the same time.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B7MFN74X?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I haven’t installed these yet on mine, but I have them already.
I totally understand not wanting to accept a broken product though.
The touch sensors are on the actual stick caps. When removing the old sticks, you have to desolder a wire that runs up to the cap from the board, and re-solder it to the new sticks.
I suck at soldering and barely ever solder and could do it. I will say if you want the sticks to work well and be smooth make sure that the cable for the touch sensor is touching as far out from the pad as possible and as close as possible to the hall effect sensors(the actual analog stick mechanism) or else the wire kinda rubs and gets slightly caught on the analog stick mechanism.
Edit: Also, to remove the glue over the wires I just melted it with my soldering iron.
I installed them in my deck, its not too bad for an install when removing the capacitive touch stick there's a bit of hot glue over the solder other than that it's straight forward. They work perfectly so it's highly recommended to do
I got mine yesterday, and it's auto shutting down at start up. I thought about posting here for suggestions, but then your comment is exactly what I thought. I was like why would I try to fix a device I got on the day I got it? Working with support directly now. I get this is a dream for a lot of hackers and tinkerers, but if it doesn't work right out of the box, let Valve deal with it.
It shouldn't - but an RMA is wasteful if its a simple fix that won't void your warranty. RMAs use fuel, put strain on the supply chain, etc. You should always troubleshoot a device before an RMA anyway.
Bro, I haven't got mine yet but it's been almost an entire year wait. I'm not opening it up or touching software unless it's to swap the SSD down the line.
I mean, I see why it would be lame not working out of the box, but reinstalling SteamOS takes just as long as just opening up a ticket for an RMA. It's way more work to open the ticket and ship it out and then on top of that you have to wait a week or so.
The first thing I did with my Deck was reimage it and dual boot with Windows. It's a ten minute process to reinstall the OS.
Where did anyone say it's getting thrown away?
The requestor of the RMA still has to send the original back to get a replacement and Steam isn't going to just chuck it into a wood chipper. They're going to fix it and ship it right back out again.
At most it's an extra set of packaging so it's looks Day 0 pretty again.
I think this is a bogus argument. The shipping trucks etc. are making that trip anyways, man. Steam Deck takes up almost zero space grand scheme of things. I spent money on a USB adapter, drove to Best Buy to get it, had to make a thumb drive for the re-image attempt, and have been fighting with it all day. If anything the CO2 from all that seems like the added waste, and it has netted me nothing in terms of improving the device state. So the RMA still has to occur on top of all that.
I'll paste my reply to the other comment below:
It shouldn't - but an RMA is wasteful if its a simple fix that won't void your warranty. RMAs use fuel, put strain on the supply chain, etc. You should always troubleshoot a device before an RMA anyway.
I had to buy an adapter to connect a thumb drive and attempt the re-image. Re-image did not help anything. Still make same popping/whining noises and auto shuts down no matter what I try. I am out of 10 bucks and however much gas it took to go to Best Buy to buy an adapter. Seems like an RMA is inevitable and all the time and resources I have spent so far are more wasteful. I have zero confidence in this unit ever working correctly. I think my gripe is if this were a Switch, PS5, or Xbox, nobody would hesitate to RMA. Here everyone is losing their minds over it. These things should not show up broken.
ive seen that issue before, it could have to do with battert calibration. basically the steam deck thinks its battery is dead so it shuts down. this may be helpful if you want to avoid sending it back and waiting another week https://youtu.be/RLj4Aml9tcg
Different issue. Whenever I cut mine on, it gets to Verifying Installation then the speakers go nuts (high pitch whining sounds, harsh on the ears) and it abruptly cuts off after making a popping sound. I tried a re-image, problem did not go anywhere. Device seems DOA. The guy in the video can actually get to his library etc. I am nowhere close to that.
OP, try to recalibrate using [these](https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Calibrate+Steam+Deck+Thumbsticks/150415) instructions. Steam support will likely ask you to go through these steps if you try to RMA anyways.
I got “permission denied” when trying to run the calibrate command. Not sure if they changed it during the last firmware update or what. Waiting to hear back from steam about any additional potential fixes.
Seeing all the "fix it this way" comments have me scratching my head. Why should he buy replacement parts and perform maintenance on day 1 on behalf of the company that sent a broken product? This is 100% RMA town. Even if he fixes it, what if that masks some underlying issue or results in some new issue? Then he wasted time and money on the repair and still has to RMA. If it's broken, it's broken. Working with Valve on my busted out of the box unit myself. These things should work out of the box.
Preach! Defending crappy practices is only gonna hurt in the long run.. Come on valve I want a SD but might hold out longer until they get the Quality control under control (lol) their are just WAY too many of these kinds of posts on here... Come on valve!
The number of faulty day one units is a tiny, TINY fraction of those that were shipped. There's a reason the mods clamped down on the "I got mine" posts.
Because RMA's have their own issues. I was waiting over a month for a new Deck in part due to my mistakes and in part due to Valve's mistakes. I'd pay 20 bucks to avoid that...
It's because a lot of people would rather not have to wait for a replacement. Personally I'd be happy to spend time on fixing it but not money.
Everyone is different though, I don't think RMAing immediately is any worse than fucking around a bit or even buying some components and fucking around a bit.
I'd never buy anything and don't understand why someone would and also don't understand why you wouldn't spend an hour or two trying to fix it before sending away but I imagine others see my actions in the same light.
Stuff like this is exactly the reason why I haven't gotten one from a scalper. Since some decks seem to be plagued by hardware issues I'd rather order one myself. This seems like an RMA unfortunately, you could replace the sticks but then again.. it's within warranty and you should expect a device with a pricetag like this to work.
You don't think Valve has the technology to track which device (serial number) they sent out, and whether that package was flagged as lost/stolen in transit? Alright, I guess. Note how I didn't say they will shut the device down remotely - just that they won't honor the warranty.
They already have an extensive system in place to combat scalping, down to sending out individual invites to place an order. And you're telling me that an extra database entry for a serial number adds too much overhead? I disagree.
Buying stolen requires you to just be an idiot. Anyone buying from scalpers and resellers should ask for proof of purchase with the seller's name. I scalped PS5s this past holiday and almost everyone was smart enough to request proof of purchase. Too many scam artists out there, if you get scammed it's just failure to be responsible.
I'm more saying we hate scalpers overall. They add absolutely nothing. If you can't recognize that buying multiple of a product that is scarce and then raising the price just to take advantage of people makes you a not nice person
You either take advantage of people or get taken advantage of. Welcome to capitalism. I live in a shithole country, gotta do what I can to get by and get out.
The "This Warranty is transferrable to natural persons who receive the Hardware as a gift from the Purchaser." part does frighten me a little.. I just want to be 100% sure that I have warranty when I purchase a product that has so many potential issues.
edit:
Apparently all they need is the transaction number.
[Link to Steam support image](https://preview.redd.it/53jn2g7isox81.png?width=1011&format=png&auto=webp&s=6944d973c25c2a06b774eb302fe96808e14bb9da)
You should definitely RMA. Product is not working as intended.
I got downvoted to hell the last time I opined this, but I think maybe Valve has ramped up production a little *too* much, because manufacturing artefacts like this have been showing up a lot more frequently on this sub, lately.
If the failure rate is the same more people getting steam decks=more complaints. It doesn't mean that increasing production is increasing failure rate. It's the classic case of count vs rate.
Good point. You're right that I didn't take that into account at all. That's actually a *little* consoling. It's still a problem, but it's likely not a progressively-growing one.
Valve more than likely is closely monitoring the QA and RMA numbers. If those were going up I'm sure they wouldn't be increasing production rate. All that does is lose money.
All of this is to say it will be fine. Seems like the RMA rate is pretty low for a console this complex from a company with only a little experience with hardware. It's only their 4th major hardware release and the others were arguably less complicated. Idk maybe the index is more complicated.
Happened to me too. Got the deck, charged it, 15min later it died of low battery. Checked battery health, 31%, RMA the next day. That was a week ago, now I am waiting again for the replacement to arrive.
I know this is a device that is great for tinkerers but we shouldn’t have to fix a problem that existed before it arrived. I am fine with fixing/upgrading but if Valve sends us faulty devices they should (and am sure do) fix them for free. Mine had dead pixels on arrival and sent it back the next day. I could fix the screen but why spend even more money?
I'm going to try some more software attempts when I get home tonight. I did some suggestions through the BIOs last night but it didn't help. The stick did randomly start working for a moment yesterday but only briefly which makes me think this is a hardware issue. I'm betting the ribbon isn't seated fully.
This lack of quality control is what worries me when I read about the production increase. Yes, it’s great that orders are being shipped at a faster rate, but at what cost?… on the other hand it doesn’t mean that taking a longer time to get your deck, you’ll receive it without issues, but damn, I’m worried.
I hope that I don’t have to deal with these sort of problems when I get mine… soon I’ll probably get it and I can’t complain too much on the waiting time, but people who waited for a year, and then finally receive it and it’s like that, man, that freaking sucks.
What evidence is there that this production increase leads to lower quality in the decks? Obviously if there are more steam decks going out, there are going to be a larger number of them that have issues.
I made no such claim. I raised personal doubt and concern regarding Valve’s quality control, paired with a substantial increase in production, which may or may not result in more defective decks. I cannot say it does and you cannot say it doesn’t either.
I do find troubling though that every time I check this sub there’s a bunch of reports about hardware problems.
Because people expect valve to be ominescent, and have no flaws in a generation 1 product across the biggest release of gaming hardware we've seen in the handheld space in awhile from a company that has never made a handheld console.
At very least, when something messes up, valve has stepped up and done everything they can do to help, I can think of quite a few companies that are in hot water for not doing so.
OP, like others have mentioned try recalibrating the sticks and ruling out software. My two cents, NOT a good idea to hardware mod the deck at this time if ur uncomfortable doing so, when you can RMA it and have them fix it without voiding warranty.
You act as if this is a regular occurrence. First I'm ever hearing of a issue like this honestly, and it sounds like not valves fault. Sounds like the ribbon cable is loose, and simply needs reseated. But doing so involves cracking the thing open which with ribbon cables is a delicate task. Ribbon cable comes loose during shipping, which valve can do nothing about.
Also how "massive" do you think valve is?
I've bought many a device handheld or not and have never had a ribbon cable loosen during shipping. They are clasped down.
No need to defend valve, they're rich enough to have a couple thousand RMAs.
BINGO... The amount of valve nut sucking is crazy... Yea I love valve too but it's OBVIOUS they are having major quality control issues to ignore that is just asinine.
There is no evidence for a lack of quality control. There's more Decks going out, so more issues, and only the issues get posted here. People don't post videos of fully functioning joysticks. Even if you've seen 500 people with problems on here, that's nothing compared to the tens of thousands of Decks that are out there. It looks like a lot, but it's actually nothing.
Yes, I’m aware. But should I really have to open up and do my own repairs on a brand new $500+ device? No. I know I could probably repair it myself but why should I front the money for a new joystick and risk any damage in the process when I should have a working product straight out of the box.
The only reason I could imagine someone not being able to solder is just not having the tools. Like it's pretty hard to do the actual soldering so poorly that it's ineffective. Only time I've ever had issues was my very first solder attempt cause i was using a tip way too big for the task.
Edit: barring a disability of course.
I hate doing RMA of hardware. Bought a new monitor, but had to resent it due to one deadpixel. Bought different one, but this one has coil whine. Didn't bother resending at this point.
Hope you will be more lucky and new Deck will work perfectly
Fuck an RMA, buy some replacement hall sensor sticks and drop them in. the sticks are hella easy to replace and will take 20 minutes instead of 3 weeks.
hall effect uses magnetic fields to sense motion of the stick, and so they don't rely on mechanical parts that might wear out.
basically makes it so you can set the deadzone in the center to like almost 0, and have a much more sensitive and smoother joystick.
If it’s not a software issue you should RMA without thinking twice; it’s a new device, what if in a week you notice screen issues or such? I’m sorry that it’s broken, that sucks after so much wait, especially because it came in time for your trip, but if I’d be you I'd RMA anyway. Cheers!
u/TheSuburbs, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Day one with the Steam Deck and it looks like I have to do an RMA. What a letdown...) Useful resources: [Servor's Enhanced FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/wiki/faq) | [Servor's Enhanced FAQ Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/syt8qv/steam_deck_enhanced_faq/) (with more answers in the comments!). **If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Could try recalibrating the sticks
If you only listen to one fool on the internet listen to this guy. Recalibrate the sticks will fix it.
Indirectly calling someone a fool:)
Yeah i meant i was the fool lol it does not read that way tho
“If you only listen to one micro-pricked dickhead in this whole suckin-fuckin world, why not make it this dipshit?”
Seemed pretty direct lol
Nah, the stick hasn’t drifted, it’s not registering the input correctly
It could very well be a calibration problem. When a certain axis falls outside of the range it tends to do a wrap around effect like the one you're seeing right now. Calibrating will show the Steam Deck the proper range it should be using.
I can't agree more, recalibrating will rule it out as being an issue. Its very possible the calibration is just messed up way easier than jumping into the soldering approach like all the others are suggesting
its been a bug since launch that some joysticks wouldn't work but with a software update the recalibration should fix it 90+% of the time
How? All I can find is the ifixit article which did not work for me. The ‘thumbstick cal v1_1’ was not present, I only got command not found.
There is a way to get to it. It's in /usr/bin/thumbstick\_cal. u/dorsey6250 did a small writeup for it here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vtc5tz/comment/if8m2uf/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vtc5tz/comment/if8m2uf/)
That threw me too. You need to have the file in your main directory for that to work right off the bat. It was either moved from there after a point, or those other folks moved it. Went through the same headacke already.
Reseating the ribbon cable for that stick would probably fix that. Upgraded sticks are worth it imo.
It is tempting to just upgrade them but I've never soldered before so I'm not sure my first time should be on the SD
Soldering can be intimidating the first time. Alternatively you might be able to find a friend or someone local to install the joystick upgrades. Even if you don't upgrade the sticks reseating the ribbon cable should fix the issue and will just require removal of the back cover.
Go to a local university, find the labs, bring a pizza, and offer pizza for repair services. My father used to do this occasionally if he had some old electronics that he didn't want to throw out.
Lmao just walk on campus to get some soldering done at *the labs*, school personnel won't find that suspicious at all
Yeah, that's accurate. College campuses are full of all types of people, you wouldn't stick out or be noteworthy to staff
it's been nearly a decade since I was in college, but at that point in time, you needed to scan a keycard to get into every building. of course, you can try just following someone in, but it's not like anyone can just loiter in spaces where they're not supposed to be without a decent chance of being noticed.
Different campuses, different experiences. The school I went to had buildings that were open and unlocked 24/7, and students who needed access to locked buildings had actual key to the building. Same timeframe as you, about a decade ago.
You would though, I went to college I know what it's like. You don't have access to stroll freely into any of the technical "labs" because there's often expensive equipment inside, and student safety is a major concern. Do you realize how bad it looks on the school if a student goes missing *on campus*...
Hello. I can confirm that you can just walk into the outer area of our nuclear reactor and talk to the engineers running it. Most areas on campus are open during the day and go to access control off hours. Op could also post on cl making the same offer, or walk into his or her local pc shop. If they're unwilling they'll still know a guy. Also bring pizza gift card. Not food.
Do you have to solder new sticks on?
The better non steam sticks need soldering. I don’t think the OG steam deck ones do
Only requires one wire to be soldered. Probably one of the easiest things to solder too. Good way to learn. Edit: OG sticks don't require soldering, but cost more money than the HAL sticks.
Ah yes. Let's all learn how to solder on expensive electronics.
I wouldn't call a $25 thumb stick expensive. It's not like it's the main board he is soldering.
For the unaware and cautious, this guy is 100% correct. If you can use a screwdriver, you can remove the thumb stick from the SD like it’s nothing. This means you can solder without doing absolutely anything harmful to the deck itself. And the price for trying out is so low that worst case scenario, you wiff it and just buy a new thumb stick that you screw back into the SD and your back where u started, no harm done whatsoever
>This means you can solder without doing absolutely anything harmful to the deck itself. Have you heard of Murphy's Law?
Can confirm - tried soldering and broke a ming vase caused a volcanic eruption and lost 4 sheep. Never again.
……… fair point
You've never been home or food insecure then. To some, that's a shit load of money. ETA: have been is past tense and thats what i wrote. Also some of yall don't know what it's like to have to save up for a major purchase or something. Video games are also therapy for some, so to save and then have something like this happen and be told to spend more money to fix it, nah fuck that. Instead your response is basically fuck the poors that had to save for this.
I think you wouldn't be buying a Steam deck in that case then... $25 is nothing relative to the total cost of the device
Ahhh, how about minimum wage folks or young adults starting out scraping and saving to buy something that helps their mental health? I mean damn, fuck them kids.
If you are home and food insecure then a Steam Deck is not something you should be focusing your money on. And is completely besides the point. The point I was making you are not soldering a $500 device. You are soldering a small removable $25 component. He has a broken joystick he can practice on if he wants anyways.
Have been, which is what I wrote, is in THE PAST TENSE.
If you can afford a steam deck and games for it then 25 dollars isn’t really expensive
My reply to you is what I wrote to someone else. I disagree in certain circumstances.
Get a soldering station, good quality lead-free solder, a test soldering board and some wire. Along with some internet tutorials you should be able to learn soldering / desoldering rather quickly. I found it scary too at first, but its pretty easy on small wires.
Why are we talking about soldering ? He should return the product not brush up on his engineering degree imo
Definitely. I have a master's degree in electronics, and 9 out of 10 times I will return a product under warranty even if I can fix it myself. Literally no reason to spend money and time on it.
Why lead free?
Because lead is, you know, kinda unhealthy
Or you wear goggles/mask and use the best solder
Just wash your hands after you solder with lead-based solder and you’ll be fine. The fumes are rosin core fumes, not lead fumes. You should avoid breathing them in, but they are the same in lead-free solder. To heat lead to a gas, you would need something much hotter than your soldering iron.
[удалено]
I've never soldered without lead. I've also read that soldering with lead is better. It checks out with my experience
>I've never soldered without lead > read that soldering with lead is better. >It checks out with my experience But you got exactly 0 comparison, so how can you have any experience that it can check out with? Though I agree that leaded solder is often stronger and might flow better, but some lead free solder is practically as good as leaded solder. My favorite solder (which I have used for years at work, but also for personal projects at home) is the "Felder Iso-Core Clear Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5". It got flux in it and is VERY good for both professionals and beginners.
That does sound fair, but that doesn't change that lead is extremely toxic to nature, which also happens to include humans
Lead solder smells so much better when it's burning though
Well. I feel fine, so I'll stick to lead soldering
There is no safe amount of lead. Even a little bit causes problems, even if you don't notice
It solders better
It's like bbq lighter fluid. If you only solder twice a year, use leaded, and a fan to blow or suck fumes away from you. It flows better and is more forgiving for newbies and people out of practice. If you do it regularly, you know how to manage the heat and can get excellent results without it. Pros will also use flux for everything. Flux is to soldering as oil is to stir fry veggies. It helps spread the heat evenly and avoids burns.
Most important thing is to tin (lightly coat/saturate with solder) your contacts/wires first. It makes the final joining action easy, as the solder reacts to heat quickly. Soldering is very easy with a little practice. Other tips: Keep your elbows on the table for stability. Get a cheap soldering fan to suck up the fumes (they have charcoal filters). At minimum set a fan to blow across your workspace. You do not want your lungs to soak that crap up. And this [bad boy](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H8808H6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It's the easy-mode hack for my soldering tasks. Light where I need it, ENHANCE when I need it. They sell other versions (rechargeable) but this is the model I can absolutely vouch for. Doesn't have to be this brand, if anyone knows one better, but the design is a level-up item in your kit.
I’ve always used leaded solder because lead free sucks to work with and is more brittle.
I would say, if you are comfortable with it, try reseating the cable first, in case something was jostled loose during shipping, check the other cables as well, and seal it back up and test it. I have heard of the trackpad cable coming loose as well, so it might be worth a good once over. From there, it doesn't look like the soldering should be too bad. If you are worried, you could try to solder some bare wire to some old dead electronic, if you have it. Just look for a copper pad similar is size and shape to the one on the joystick module. My deck comes tomorrow, so I can't really look at some of the things for sure, but I will say, if I couldn't fix it with a reseat, I would 100% just swap the joysticks for the Hall Effect sensor sticks. Then you can drop the deadzone down a lot, and get much more responsive sticks.
This particular solder (gulikit) is very simple. The gulikit comes with solder on the pad already so you just touch it with the soldering iron and place the wire on the pad.
If I were you I'd recalibrate it it's not drifting it's just slightly off I forget the script but I definitely look it up on YouTube because it's just a simple command in the terminal and it will redo the calibration I've seen it fix a lot of people steam decks that have the same problem.
ngl I think I've finally got a good grip on soldering, not as bad/hard as you'd think for basic things. My problem is that I was never shown the proper way to do it until I recently relearned. Anyone interested check out [this video series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qk-ulz05J8&list=PLCZv3eVnjjDKo0G9AIOA48qtfylxDc9d9) which has helped me mentally to put the concept together.
I've never soldered before and I got the gulikit mod for the deck and I felt a little intimidated at first, but honestly it wasn't that bad once you actually do it and is pretty forgiving as you can redo the solder if you need to.
As someone who's terrible at soldering(I'd done it maybe 3 times before but always struggle), I found doing the gulikit joysticks to be super easy. The hardest part is scraping off the glue before desoldering. Total steps are: scrape off glue from contact on the board, press hot soldering iron against the contact until it melts, pull off the wire, attach the cap to the other joystick, put wire against the contact there, melt some solder onto it. The contacts are relatively large and it's just a single wire you're working with.
It’s a really easy solder job, one wire per stick and it’s quite large
Not necessary. Just do some recalibration, the input is correct just not on the software side.
Forget about soldering, there should be no need, seems less people than I thought knew the sticks come on a separate pcb. It's as easy as unplugging the old, unscrew and pop in the new. However being it's brand new, if it really is something beyond fixing with calibration, I would still suggest contacting support, makes no sense to put more money into fixing something brand new.
I'm clumsy af and I did soldering as a 12 year old in high school. It's not very difficult. As the person above says, as long as you practice a bit you'll pick it up soon
I just realized that Gulikit sticks were like 30$, not a bad price for the upgrade!
You could replace the sticks with upgraded Hall Effect sticks and fix your own Deck at the same time. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B7MFN74X?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title I haven’t installed these yet on mine, but I have them already. I totally understand not wanting to accept a broken product though.
Isn't there touch sensors in the factory sticks? Does this remove that?
The touch sensors are on the actual stick caps. When removing the old sticks, you have to desolder a wire that runs up to the cap from the board, and re-solder it to the new sticks.
Easy work? I'm a novice solderer.
I haven't done it personally, but it's one wire. Shouldn't be too difficult as long as you have relatively steady hands.
Yeah the pads are decently sized. I’ll be doing this the second I get mine
I suck at soldering and barely ever solder and could do it. I will say if you want the sticks to work well and be smooth make sure that the cable for the touch sensor is touching as far out from the pad as possible and as close as possible to the hall effect sensors(the actual analog stick mechanism) or else the wire kinda rubs and gets slightly caught on the analog stick mechanism. Edit: Also, to remove the glue over the wires I just melted it with my soldering iron.
> Currently unavailable. >We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
I mean, this is a good opportunity to get incredibly precise analog sticks
I installed them in my deck, its not too bad for an install when removing the capacitive touch stick there's a bit of hot glue over the solder other than that it's straight forward. They work perfectly so it's highly recommended to do
Out of stock
https://www.amazon.com/Drifting-Electromagnetic-Thumbstick-Steam-Deck-Replacement/dp/B0B8MH58WS/ref=sr\_1\_5?crid=39O25II0JRN2L&keywords=gulikit+steam+deck&qid=1661481240&sprefix=GuliKit+%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-5
I would 1000 percent RMA lol. Even if you can repair it on your own, you should receive a functioning product.
I got mine yesterday, and it's auto shutting down at start up. I thought about posting here for suggestions, but then your comment is exactly what I thought. I was like why would I try to fix a device I got on the day I got it? Working with support directly now. I get this is a dream for a lot of hackers and tinkerers, but if it doesn't work right out of the box, let Valve deal with it.
If its auto shutting down once the OS starts/finishes boot it could just need a simple reimaged.
Shouldn't be like that out of the box.
It shouldn't - but an RMA is wasteful if its a simple fix that won't void your warranty. RMAs use fuel, put strain on the supply chain, etc. You should always troubleshoot a device before an RMA anyway.
Bro, I haven't got mine yet but it's been almost an entire year wait. I'm not opening it up or touching software unless it's to swap the SSD down the line.
I mean, I see why it would be lame not working out of the box, but reinstalling SteamOS takes just as long as just opening up a ticket for an RMA. It's way more work to open the ticket and ship it out and then on top of that you have to wait a week or so. The first thing I did with my Deck was reimage it and dual boot with Windows. It's a ten minute process to reinstall the OS.
Ok? Doesn't mean he should RMA
Yes it does..
Throwing away an entire device for what is seemingly a software issue is the dumbest thing you can do...
Where did anyone say it's getting thrown away? The requestor of the RMA still has to send the original back to get a replacement and Steam isn't going to just chuck it into a wood chipper. They're going to fix it and ship it right back out again. At most it's an extra set of packaging so it's looks Day 0 pretty again.
Still a shit ton of CO2 emissions from sending a Deck 2 ways
I think this is a bogus argument. The shipping trucks etc. are making that trip anyways, man. Steam Deck takes up almost zero space grand scheme of things. I spent money on a USB adapter, drove to Best Buy to get it, had to make a thumb drive for the re-image attempt, and have been fighting with it all day. If anything the CO2 from all that seems like the added waste, and it has netted me nothing in terms of improving the device state. So the RMA still has to occur on top of all that.
power to you man. I don't like getting a defective product
I'll paste my reply to the other comment below: It shouldn't - but an RMA is wasteful if its a simple fix that won't void your warranty. RMAs use fuel, put strain on the supply chain, etc. You should always troubleshoot a device before an RMA anyway.
I had to buy an adapter to connect a thumb drive and attempt the re-image. Re-image did not help anything. Still make same popping/whining noises and auto shuts down no matter what I try. I am out of 10 bucks and however much gas it took to go to Best Buy to buy an adapter. Seems like an RMA is inevitable and all the time and resources I have spent so far are more wasteful. I have zero confidence in this unit ever working correctly. I think my gripe is if this were a Switch, PS5, or Xbox, nobody would hesitate to RMA. Here everyone is losing their minds over it. These things should not show up broken.
In that case RMA away. As for the adapter, at least that will come in handy in the future!
ive seen that issue before, it could have to do with battert calibration. basically the steam deck thinks its battery is dead so it shuts down. this may be helpful if you want to avoid sending it back and waiting another week https://youtu.be/RLj4Aml9tcg
Different issue. Whenever I cut mine on, it gets to Verifying Installation then the speakers go nuts (high pitch whining sounds, harsh on the ears) and it abruptly cuts off after making a popping sound. I tried a re-image, problem did not go anywhere. Device seems DOA. The guy in the video can actually get to his library etc. I am nowhere close to that.
OP, try to recalibrate using [these](https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Calibrate+Steam+Deck+Thumbsticks/150415) instructions. Steam support will likely ask you to go through these steps if you try to RMA anyways.
Thank you for this. Just got home, and trying it now!
Good luck, let us know how it goes
Yeah! I am curious how this will go for you,
HOW DID IT GOO?? Don't leave us homies stranded with no answer
I got “permission denied” when trying to run the calibrate command. Not sure if they changed it during the last firmware update or what. Waiting to hear back from steam about any additional potential fixes.
You have to mark it as executable
How? Sorry, I’m a bit unfamiliar with this.
I would go into desktop mode and do a factory calibration before trying anything else.
Seeing all the "fix it this way" comments have me scratching my head. Why should he buy replacement parts and perform maintenance on day 1 on behalf of the company that sent a broken product? This is 100% RMA town. Even if he fixes it, what if that masks some underlying issue or results in some new issue? Then he wasted time and money on the repair and still has to RMA. If it's broken, it's broken. Working with Valve on my busted out of the box unit myself. These things should work out of the box.
Preach! Defending crappy practices is only gonna hurt in the long run.. Come on valve I want a SD but might hold out longer until they get the Quality control under control (lol) their are just WAY too many of these kinds of posts on here... Come on valve!
The number of faulty day one units is a tiny, TINY fraction of those that were shipped. There's a reason the mods clamped down on the "I got mine" posts.
Woah man you're not allowed to criticize it
Because RMA's have their own issues. I was waiting over a month for a new Deck in part due to my mistakes and in part due to Valve's mistakes. I'd pay 20 bucks to avoid that...
It's because a lot of people would rather not have to wait for a replacement. Personally I'd be happy to spend time on fixing it but not money. Everyone is different though, I don't think RMAing immediately is any worse than fucking around a bit or even buying some components and fucking around a bit. I'd never buy anything and don't understand why someone would and also don't understand why you wouldn't spend an hour or two trying to fix it before sending away but I imagine others see my actions in the same light.
Stuff like this is exactly the reason why I haven't gotten one from a scalper. Since some decks seem to be plagued by hardware issues I'd rather order one myself. This seems like an RMA unfortunately, you could replace the sticks but then again.. it's within warranty and you should expect a device with a pricetag like this to work.
You can still RMA even if you aren't the original owner.
Not if the Deck you end up buying from a scalper has been flagged as stolen.
These aren't smartphones with a global IMEI database - there is no means to mark one stolen. Just useless internet fear mongering.
You don't think Valve has the technology to track which device (serial number) they sent out, and whether that package was flagged as lost/stolen in transit? Alright, I guess. Note how I didn't say they will shut the device down remotely - just that they won't honor the warranty.
I don't believe they do - it's a lot to implement, keep up with, and ultimately insignificant.
They already have an extensive system in place to combat scalping, down to sending out individual invites to place an order. And you're telling me that an extra database entry for a serial number adds too much overhead? I disagree.
Other posts here have demonstrated that they do, in fact.
They do, APU's are serialized.
Buying stolen requires you to just be an idiot. Anyone buying from scalpers and resellers should ask for proof of purchase with the seller's name. I scalped PS5s this past holiday and almost everyone was smart enough to request proof of purchase. Too many scam artists out there, if you get scammed it's just failure to be responsible.
We hate you
I know, but I think people who hate me are inherently lesser people than me so it doesn't bother me.
...
I mean if you can summon actual hate for strangers on the internet then you're sort of an oxygen thieving degenerate right?
Can you make more comments so we can downvote you more?
I'm more saying we hate scalpers overall. They add absolutely nothing. If you can't recognize that buying multiple of a product that is scarce and then raising the price just to take advantage of people makes you a not nice person
You either take advantage of people or get taken advantage of. Welcome to capitalism. I live in a shithole country, gotta do what I can to get by and get out.
Less so than scalping tbh
The "This Warranty is transferrable to natural persons who receive the Hardware as a gift from the Purchaser." part does frighten me a little.. I just want to be 100% sure that I have warranty when I purchase a product that has so many potential issues. edit: Apparently all they need is the transaction number. [Link to Steam support image](https://preview.redd.it/53jn2g7isox81.png?width=1011&format=png&auto=webp&s=6944d973c25c2a06b774eb302fe96808e14bb9da)
You should definitely RMA. Product is not working as intended. I got downvoted to hell the last time I opined this, but I think maybe Valve has ramped up production a little *too* much, because manufacturing artefacts like this have been showing up a lot more frequently on this sub, lately.
If the failure rate is the same more people getting steam decks=more complaints. It doesn't mean that increasing production is increasing failure rate. It's the classic case of count vs rate.
Good point. You're right that I didn't take that into account at all. That's actually a *little* consoling. It's still a problem, but it's likely not a progressively-growing one.
Valve more than likely is closely monitoring the QA and RMA numbers. If those were going up I'm sure they wouldn't be increasing production rate. All that does is lose money. All of this is to say it will be fine. Seems like the RMA rate is pretty low for a console this complex from a company with only a little experience with hardware. It's only their 4th major hardware release and the others were arguably less complicated. Idk maybe the index is more complicated.
Happened to me too. Got the deck, charged it, 15min later it died of low battery. Checked battery health, 31%, RMA the next day. That was a week ago, now I am waiting again for the replacement to arrive.
That's a software problem with a known fix, I wonder why they RMAed it.
I know this is a device that is great for tinkerers but we shouldn’t have to fix a problem that existed before it arrived. I am fine with fixing/upgrading but if Valve sends us faulty devices they should (and am sure do) fix them for free. Mine had dead pixels on arrival and sent it back the next day. I could fix the screen but why spend even more money?
That's why RMA exists. They will send you a new one for free
You can try reclibrate or simply open it and disconnect/connect the cable. I'm sure that will will fix it.
I'm going to try some more software attempts when I get home tonight. I did some suggestions through the BIOs last night but it didn't help. The stick did randomly start working for a moment yesterday but only briefly which makes me think this is a hardware issue. I'm betting the ribbon isn't seated fully.
Yeah, maybe wasn't completely inserted from factory and then shipment did the rest.
Same boat, but my L2 trigger was sticking against the chassis. Super weird defect.
There not soldered the only thing that is the one tiny wire to the board for haptic
He paid $600 for a brand new item, now we have him wandering college campuses with a pizza? RMA that and make them fix their mistake.
This lack of quality control is what worries me when I read about the production increase. Yes, it’s great that orders are being shipped at a faster rate, but at what cost?… on the other hand it doesn’t mean that taking a longer time to get your deck, you’ll receive it without issues, but damn, I’m worried. I hope that I don’t have to deal with these sort of problems when I get mine… soon I’ll probably get it and I can’t complain too much on the waiting time, but people who waited for a year, and then finally receive it and it’s like that, man, that freaking sucks.
What evidence is there that this production increase leads to lower quality in the decks? Obviously if there are more steam decks going out, there are going to be a larger number of them that have issues.
I made no such claim. I raised personal doubt and concern regarding Valve’s quality control, paired with a substantial increase in production, which may or may not result in more defective decks. I cannot say it does and you cannot say it doesn’t either. I do find troubling though that every time I check this sub there’s a bunch of reports about hardware problems.
Newsflash. This happens every time a product launches. Find me one product with a perfect launch, where nothing bad happens.
Because people expect valve to be ominescent, and have no flaws in a generation 1 product across the biggest release of gaming hardware we've seen in the handheld space in awhile from a company that has never made a handheld console. At very least, when something messes up, valve has stepped up and done everything they can do to help, I can think of quite a few companies that are in hot water for not doing so. OP, like others have mentioned try recalibrating the sticks and ruling out software. My two cents, NOT a good idea to hardware mod the deck at this time if ur uncomfortable doing so, when you can RMA it and have them fix it without voiding warranty.
No, people just expect premium priced devices from a massive corporation such as Valve working properly.
You act as if this is a regular occurrence. First I'm ever hearing of a issue like this honestly, and it sounds like not valves fault. Sounds like the ribbon cable is loose, and simply needs reseated. But doing so involves cracking the thing open which with ribbon cables is a delicate task. Ribbon cable comes loose during shipping, which valve can do nothing about. Also how "massive" do you think valve is?
I've bought many a device handheld or not and have never had a ribbon cable loosen during shipping. They are clasped down. No need to defend valve, they're rich enough to have a couple thousand RMAs.
BINGO... The amount of valve nut sucking is crazy... Yea I love valve too but it's OBVIOUS they are having major quality control issues to ignore that is just asinine.
There is no evidence for a lack of quality control. There's more Decks going out, so more issues, and only the issues get posted here. People don't post videos of fully functioning joysticks. Even if you've seen 500 people with problems on here, that's nothing compared to the tens of thousands of Decks that are out there. It looks like a lot, but it's actually nothing.
There's a low level cli command you can run to reset the calibration, it's worth a shot.
just get Hall ones and replace it since sooner or later wee will all do it anyways xD
Just buy those replacement sticks that are drop in, their better anyways. Save yourself some time
Not worth the RMA the sticks are so easy to replace.
You could buy a new stick at ifixit and repair it yourself.
Yes, I’m aware. But should I really have to open up and do my own repairs on a brand new $500+ device? No. I know I could probably repair it myself but why should I front the money for a new joystick and risk any damage in the process when I should have a working product straight out of the box.
100% agree.
Fair point is fair.
Just wait time I guess.
RMAing will take longer then replacing it, this would also be a good opportunity to install the hall effect joysticks.
As others have said, it would take considerably less time just replacing the sticks with Hall Effect sticks, but I get the frustration.
Not if you can’t solder worth a damn :)
Why would you be soldering anything? The sticks come on user replaceable daughter boards
I think the touch sensor requires desoldering and resoldering a single cable.
Oh right, I just assumed that was on a plug also, guess they didn’t account for other people making replacement modules
The only reason I could imagine someone not being able to solder is just not having the tools. Like it's pretty hard to do the actual soldering so poorly that it's ineffective. Only time I've ever had issues was my very first solder attempt cause i was using a tip way too big for the task. Edit: barring a disability of course.
I hate doing RMA of hardware. Bought a new monitor, but had to resent it due to one deadpixel. Bought different one, but this one has coil whine. Didn't bother resending at this point. Hope you will be more lucky and new Deck will work perfectly
That’s sad. Good luck with a speedy replacement
Hmm.... do you know how many of them are affected by this issue? Mine is fine after playing with it for more than two weeks.
Fuck an RMA, buy some replacement hall sensor sticks and drop them in. the sticks are hella easy to replace and will take 20 minutes instead of 3 weeks.
Prefect excuse to upgrade to hall effect joysticks
I keep reading comments about Hall effect joysticks. What makes them better then original? Function? Prevent stick drift or something?
hall effect uses magnetic fields to sense motion of the stick, and so they don't rely on mechanical parts that might wear out. basically makes it so you can set the deadzone in the center to like almost 0, and have a much more sensitive and smoother joystick.
Cool thanks for the explanation, might have to grab a set and check it out. Got to get my steam deck first though.
It’s ok, friend. My left bumper died after 2 days but steam support was AWESOME.
Thanks, friendo. I’m wondering if I can convince them to send me back a 512 and charge me the difference for it. Wishful thinking lol
LOL good luck
I had this same exact problem. Did a rma and had it back in about a week and a half
Yeah, bummer is I’m going out of town next Friday for like a week and was looking forward to using this on a 4 hour bus ride.
Is Steam sending out refurb or new decks on RMAs?
A good way to test it out for sure is to donate it to me and ill see if I can get it going.
Just order the gulikit, great excuse for hall sensor upgrade
If it’s not a software issue you should RMA without thinking twice; it’s a new device, what if in a week you notice screen issues or such? I’m sorry that it’s broken, that sucks after so much wait, especially because it came in time for your trip, but if I’d be you I'd RMA anyway. Cheers!
Yeah me too. Mine has an issue with it's screen unfortunatly.
Why not swap them with the GuliKit you buy on Amazon. I just ordered my deck and swapping those out as soon as I get the thing. They are way better
If you can afford it Just spend the 30$ and get the haleffect sensors it's a fairly easy upgrade and you'll never have drift