I don’t often dock my steam deck (have no controller so I’ll only use it as a media console) but when I do the only issue I’ve had was some applications starting in the wrong resolution when in gaming mode.

Otherwise I can’t say I could see the issues you’re having; I have no issues with sound over HDMI, my mouse and other Bluetooth devices stay connected in desktop and gaming mode.

Have you tried connecting another device (ideally also Linux) through the same dongle to check wether it outputs the sound through the Tv?

• Yeah. It’s really that bad. They’ve been releasing quality of life patches, but Valve made a portable device that happens to support docking, not a device meant to be docked.

Based on your experience, I assume you have the official Steam Dock, which I find worse to use with the SteamDeck than any random USB C dongle that I have tried.

Edit: Be sure to check for updates. I recall some of the issues you mention (like the blank screen) were mentioned in SteamOS release notes this year.

Nah it isn’t ideal, I wanted to make a post about it eventually but I wanted to try some third party docks and/or see if updates fixed it.

What I have figured out is that the best way to use the dock is to boot the steam deck up not connected to the dock, get it to the home screen and then connect it to the dock. I find this has the best chance of inititating everything right.

Make sure to check the controller order under the control settings for a particular game, use change who is the number 1 control input easily once you learn where it is, and that can help some of the problems that arise.

I don’t have any performance issues, but not that if you try to run a really high resolution tv at anywhere near a native resolution the steam deck just is going to quickly be outclassed by the performance demands. So idk, 720p sounds suspiciously low though, try checking the settings (under the lefthand bar) and examining how the display settings are set. Change it to native or some other setting and see if that helps, it might be that the settings are keeping your steam deck from jumping up to a higher resolution. Same thing with framerate lock, which you can check under the righthand bar, I recommend setting framelock settings (maximum framerate) on a pergame basis.

I have none of those issues, but a couple of extra weird ones… this is the official dock btw. First, maybe it’s something I plugged in, but the Deck’s battery will be drained (slowly, over many days) if it’s plugged in and not turned on. Suspended or off is the same, I must unplug. Then the one that really pisses me off because I can’t wrap my head around it, I can’t unplug it unless I fully turn it off first. Doing otherwise tends to make my home network comatose! Basically nothing can see anything. Computers lose connection to the NAS, to the router… nothing works until I plug it back and turn it on, then I can turn it off and unplug. ffs.

It sounds as if the dock was the problem. I myself have a third party dock and haven’t had such problems.

I use a dell dock from work and various controllers and have had no problems at all, in fact we use it almost exclusively as a console.

I definitely sometimes have the audio issue and it’s annoying as hell. I don’t have a solution though I’m sorry

I’ve had a pleasant experience with my anker dock and tcl TV. My only issue is that the resolution upgrade can make the performance worse depending on the game.

I know it’s not helpful but I don’t have any of these problems. Very much plug and play for me.

Try to enable “Game Mode” or “PC Mode” on your TV for that HDMI input. Also check the audio settings for supported formats and play around with the settings.

Also, what dock are you using?

Yea, plug and play for me as well using xbox controllers. Super seamless. Are you using steam decks og dock? Maybe your tv is the problem?

There’s some component in your docking setup (the dock or the TV) that’s causing this. I regularly dock to a 1440p monitor and a 1080p projector with zero issues.

That being said, there are multiple docks out there (even the official one) that don’t jibe with both the Deck and every display and thus give a subpar experience, as there are widespread reports of that. You kind of have to luck into the compatibility of both of those components, and even then there are also TVs out there that aren’t really dock-happy with anything.

Try docking to someone else’s TV next time you go visit someone, if it’s fine then you know it’s either your TV or your TV and dock not liking each other.

After using a Switch for nearly a decade, the docking experience with Deck is pretty awful in comparison. Make sure the firmware is up to date on the dock you have or buy a better one if that doesn’t work and you can certainly get it in a useable state without serious issues… but I sure do wish it was a simple as slotting it in and having everything seamlessly work like it is with Switch.

Which dock are you using ? We can’t help much without information.

From what I understand the official dock is the only one that doesn’t have issues. Don’t ask me why, but I have seen this issue multiple times online. The only solution seems to be the official dock.