Steam Deck OLED 1TB Does Not Respond to ARP Requests on WIFI

[x-0D]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1748033199
• SteamOS version: 3.7.8
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: No
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

On a Steam Deck OLED 1TB, devices on the same WIFI network (using Keenetic ViVA router for wifi) are unable to ping each other. Upon investigation, it appears that the Steam Deck does not respond to ARP requests from other devices on the network. This prevents successful network communication between the Steam Deck and other machines.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Connect the Steam Deck to the WIFI network.
2. Connect a PC to the same WIFI network.
3. Clear the PC's ARP table and start Wireshark for packet monitoring.
4. Attempt to ping the Steam Deck from the PC.
5. Observe ARP requests in Wireshark.
6. Note that there are no ARP replies from the Steam Deck.
7. The Steam Deck appears to be non-responsive to ARP requests, causing frustration and network issues.

Additional Information

• WIFI hardware: Keenetic ViVA
• Expected behavior: The Steam Deck should respond to ARP requests, enabling successful pinging and network communication.
• Current behavior: The Steam Deck does not respond to ARP requests, resulting in failed pings and broken network connectivity.
• Workaround: Enabled wpa supplicant at developer settings. This fixed the problem.

[kisak-valve]

Hello @x-0D, this is functionally the same issue as #1904 / #1907. Since this issue report potentially adds some more detail, I've transferred it to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1904#issuecomment-2910622760.

[fledermaus]

Hello @x-0D - if you would be willing to help us chase this down, on your affected deck/network:

Copy this package onto the deck:

iwd-2.14-1.3-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst.zip

Note: the unzip is just so I can upload the package, github doesn't allow .zst uploads.

unzip iwd-2.14-1.3-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst.zip
sudo steamos-readonly disable
sudo pacman -U iwd-2.14-1.3-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

Then set your system back to using iwd (ie not forcing a WPA backend) and restart.

This is the version of iwd that was in 3.6.21, but rebuilt for 3.7.x.

For anyone else wandering in - don't just grab this package and install it, it's quite old, we're trying to establish if this is definitely the responsible package. This package is missing all the changes since 3.6.21.

[x-0D]

@fledermaus , installed iwd-2.14-1.3-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst on the steamdeck, disabled wpa supplicant. will try this soon and write feedback

[x-0D]

@fledermaus downgrading iwd not help. ARP still not working correctly

[fledermaus]

Ok, thanks. That at least eliminates one line of inquiry.

[fledermaus]

There's a firmware change in SteamOS 3.7.10 which may fix this.

[x-0D]

@fledermaus is 3.7.10 stable or i need to switch to beta to test it?

[fledermaus]

3.7.10 is currently [2025-06-19 09:54:47 +0100] in the beta channel.

[kisak-valve]

Closing pending feedback.