I Turned a Mini PC Into a Steam Console With Linux

I like to play on my PC Linux in my office, but I also like my living room sofa. I do not care to buy a console for my living room and enter a new game ecosystem, but I realized that I could transform my mini PC into a steam game console that lives in my entertainment center. Here’s how I did it and how it turned out.

Geek Mini PC week's week.

Setting objectives is important

To make the console as fun and easy to use as possible, I settled on certain things I needed to be true of the Linux distribution that I install, ideally without much configuration on my part:

  • Start directly in steam: I wanted my mini PC to act as an ordinary console, starting in a menu allowing you to select a game to play. I didn’t want to arrive at a locking screen or an office requiring point and click operations to start.
  • Protected steam device pilots: I have a steam controller that I like to use, but some Linux distributions are not delivered with the Steam-Devices package required to fully activate its use. I need the distribution to include it by default.
  • Minimal need for a keyboard and a mouse: I want to use my steam controller or another game controller whenever possible. The less I touch a keyboard and a mouse, the better.

I knew that these facts were true for Steamos on pocket computers like the Steam bridge, so I thought that my goals were not completely unreasonable. It was just a matter of research.

Step 1: Crush the windows with Bazzite

I looked online an alternative steamos, and Bazzite is that that’s it. It is a Linux distribution that some people install on their steam deck. There are other Linux distros centered on the game, and some are designed to accommodate configurations of PC Home Theater PC (HTPC) like this. After having already tried Garuda Linux and Cachyos, and not having found that they fully meet the needs of my living room console, I decided to move forward with Bazzite.

Bazzite will personalize the image for you according to the equipment you use and your favorite desktop environment. I already knew that I prefer the plasma kde at the gnome, so I was happy to see this choice available.

Bazzite Download Images Selecting Menu.

It gave me the ISO to download, and I wrote it on a USB drive that I then connected to the mini PC and started. I had to enter UEFI to select the starter player. I also disabled secure start -up, as I am used to doing for many Linux distros, although I learned later that deactivation was not necessary. Bazzite actually offers to register keys signed for a secure starter during installation.

Fortunately, my steam controller worked from the start. Unfortunately, the installation program has not changed well on my living room television.

It may have been the easiest to install when it is connected to a regular monitor first, but I was committed to testing the full experience of the living room console. So, during the installation duration, I ended up standing right in front of the television so that I could see what I was looking at.

A living room TV with a visible Bazzite installation screen.

Jordan Gloor / Geek.

Once it was finished, however, I immediately increased the scaling in office mode so that I can see the icons and other user interface elements of my sofa. I was worried to play with the scaling of the display interfere with the Steam experience, but fortunately, this was not the case.

Step 2: Connect my game rides (and get a mini keyboard)

As I said, I managed to grop the configuration and the installation with my steam controller, thanks to the fact that Bazzite comes with an integrated support for Steam devices. On some other operating systems, I had to manually install the Steam-Devices package.

I used the 2.4 GHz dongle of the steam controller for that, and the right thing on this subject is that it allows the steam controller to wake up the mini PC of sleep. In this way, I can simply recover the controller and start playing with a thrust of the Steam menu button.

I also connected my 8BitDo Pro 2 wireless controller via Bluetooth. It works well, but without a USB connection of any kind, it cannot awaken the mini PC from sleep as the steam controller.

Of course, it was inevitable that at one point, I would need to use a keyboard and a mouse. I could have removed an old keyboard and a cheap wireless mouse, but I didn’t want them to take up space on my coffee table. In addition, two peripherals with USB Dongles would occupy two USB ports.

This is why I ended up obtaining a mini keyboard and a micro center mouse combo which was the size of a remote control. It’s tiny enough to put yourself easily when I don’t need it, but still when I need to get in my console.

RII Mini Mini X1 Keyboard and touchscreen.

Brand

Rii

Connectivity

Bluetooh, 2.4 GHz

A keyboard of television size on front television dead with a touchpad and commands of attached mouse. Use Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz to connect to any wireless device you want to interact.


Step 3: Install the games from more sources

In addition to those on Steam, I have several games in the Epic Games store and on the good old games. On my main desktop, I prefer to install and manage these games using the heroic game launcher. Bazzite, however, recommends Lutris and includes it preinstalled. I decided to try the Bazzite experience, and I would use his favorite method.

Lutris Game Manager displaying purchases of epic game stores.

Lutris’s interface for me feels dated and clumsy compared to the heroic, but I was able to obtain Death by daylight Installed and in progress following its prompts. I received strange error messages along the way, so my advice is to continue if you see them. After adding the steam shortcut, it was easy to get started from Steam’s overview.

Step 4: Profit

Steam on a television screen setting up the game rally.

Jordan Gloor / Geek.

With the installation and configuration away, I had a ton of fun playing several games of my Steam library in the comfortable space of my living room, without a bulky console or giant PC tower. Bazzite is not an official valve product, but it does a good job to recreate a feeling of steamos.

There are limits and problems to be solved

My mini PC steam console is not a perfect configuration, at least not yet. I have encountered problems that I have not yet solved.

Limited games without GPU

The first most obvious problem is that the mini PCs are generally too small for a dedicated graphics card, and the one I bought was no exception. The Intel integrated graphic chip has managed low intensity 3D graphics games fairly well, but I will not play AAA games so early.

To remedy it, I have some options. First of all, I could buy an external GPU. It would cost a nice penny, but I would surely put it to use, because there are a surprising number of devices to which you can connect an EGPU.

A much cheaper option is to broadcast from my office office PC, which has a dedicated graphics card to my mini PC. The steam distance game allows, although in the past, I have had problems with wireless connections in distance game. I will first try to configure this as a native solution, but otherwise I will examine a third -party solution like the streaming of Moonlight games.

No HDMI-CEC support

The most boring part of the configuration was the fact that it did not include the support for HDMI-CEC. This feature would allow the Mini PC to tell my TV to light up when it wakes up or to go out when it falls asleep. I would need to collect fewer remote controls this way.

Unfortunately, this feature requires equipment with which most PCs are not built. I learned thanks to research that there are rare adapters that will allow HDMI-CEC for any device in which it is connected, such as the 3D club USB-C adapter in HDMI. I could decide to chase one right for this steam console.

Gamepads did not work in certain non-Garrows

I was disappointed that some applications, especially Plasmatube and Jellyfin, failed to work in terms of work with one or the other of my gamepads. Plasmatube seems to be missing from GamePad support entirely, and even if Jellyfin, even the launch via Steam did not allow him to work for me. I was able to map the steam controller on keyboard and mouse controls, but it seemed much more capricious than GamePad should not.

Related

5 reasons why I will not yet execute Steamos on my game PC

I will stick to the windows for the moment.

It was disappointing because I hoped that the Mini PC console would also work to replace my chromecast streaming stick. I will do more research to find out if there is a configuration that I can do to make it easier to use for streaming.


I can’t wait to play and test more with my “steammbox” console to make the game more fun and the experience more transparent. However, there are many reasons to obtain a mini PC, more fair for living room games.

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