Hey folks I’ve been a Fedora workstation user for some time now and love the experience. I should have switched from Windows to Linux sooner. I have a small question today. I bought a Steam deck a while back for gaming on the go. Nice device that gives me tons of fun. I would like to use the little handheld as a backup device for urgent work matters. I know the Steam Deck isn’t suitable for that, but I’d like to get a bit more out of the device than just gaming.

I was thinking of flashing a USB drive with a Tails OS install and using that as a backup workstation when I don’t have my laptop with me. I wanted to ask if it would be possible to use Tails OS on the Steam deck. Or if any of you know of another alternative for what I’m looking for.

Many thanks in advance.

  • Snot FlickermanEnglish
    6•5 months ago

    I wanted to ask if it would be possible to use Tails OS on the Steam deck. Or if any of you know of another alternative for what I’m looking for.

    According to a handful of users on Reddit, it works out of the box on Steam Deck, just like you’d usually run Tails off a USB thumbstick.

    According to a few others, they ran into some hiccups.

    I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible, as the Steam Deck is a fully featured PC just in a console packaging.

    I’ve not tried Tails OS myself on my Steam Deck, however I’ve run a Windows To Go USB on the Steam Deck and it works pretty well, you just need a high-speed USB thumbdrive.

    I’ve had good luck with these from Samsung: https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Type-CTM-Transfers-Compatible-Waterproof/dp/B09WB2RPS4/

    • @Qual@lemmy.worldOP
      4•5 months ago

      Oh, this is good to hear. I was thinking first to change the OS to Bazzite a use full disk encryption (SteamOS doesn’t have it). But if Tails work out of the box then I could use it as my backup work related station. If the deck gets stolen then I don’t lose any work related or important related data. Thank you.

      • Snot FlickermanEnglish
        6•5 months ago

        In case you’re unaware, the way to boot from a different drive is to do the “smartphone recovery boot” of pressing the power button and volume down button at the same time while the Steam Deck is off. It will boot to a drive selection screen which you can choose which drive to boot from.

        In other words, you should just be able to plug in the Tails OS USB and boot from it using that button-combination. Cheers, and I hope it works out for you!

        EDIT: Also, since your username is “Qual” here is an obligatory James Quall animated gif: