ValveSoftware
fTPM data corruption
Your system information
- Steam client version: latest
- SteamOS version: latest beta
- Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
- Opted into SteamOS beta?: Yes
- Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
I've left my Steam Deck turned off for a while. I wanted to turn it on. It usually takes a while for it to power on and start booting the OS. It did so for a long time without issues. It powered on and displayed an error related to the fTPM data being corrupted. I've turned it off thinking that it might be due to the usual Steam Deck buggy silicon and firmware. It did the same thing after a few power off-on cycles. This Steam Deck has never run any version of Windows.
I took the photo of the screen, chose YES and it went away. It booted into SteamOS. I've shut it down, entered the firmware settings and disabled the fTPM. Numerous threads online suggest that the fTPM is likely to be a source of stuttering and other issues on some Ryzen CPUs. This silicon is also rather old silicon based on Zen2. There's no need for it to have the fTPM enabled on this device. It runs only Linux without hard requirements for a TPM.
One can ask so many questions. Is this something which can be fixed? Is this silicon degradation, a firmware bug or a combination of the two? I've seen other people mention the same problem on various forums. Is this hardware this bad? What uses the fTPM on SteamOS? Is it enabled just so people can install Windows 11 on this device? Was this fTPM also a contributor to the stuttering encountered by the Steam Deck in many games and in the game mode UI as well? Does this indicate that some flash is worn out or damaged?
Steps for reproducing this issue:
- Use a Steam Deck LCD for a while
- Power it off and leave it alone for 1-2 weeks while ensuring it doesn't discharge completely
- Power it on
- If the unknown conditions are met, the Steam Deck will display the error related to the fTPM data being corrupted
Interesting.. reading about it, seems like there were issues with it on Linux awhile back affecting audio and also annoying Linus because of the broken RNG functionality.
Since I'm not using Windows on the Deck, I decided to turn it off for now to see if there is any change in how the system runs.
Might need it later though, lostgoat is working on drive encryption for the deck.
It powered on and displayed an error related to the fTPM data being corrupted.
It should not make any difference, but just in case: were you using disk encryption when this happened?
To copy my experience over to this issue, same thing happened to me when I was using it for the Full disk encryption. I tried to reboot a couple times hitting no each time just in case but eventually accidentally hit yes. The A buttons isn't the only button press it accepts (I was pressing the dot-dot-dot as trying to hit the boot menu).
I had my Steam Deck sitting on a dock plugged in and in standby most of the time rather than completely powered off.
I ran into the problem as part of rebooting for updates I had postponed for weeks so I don't know how long it had been broken waiting to trigger.
It powered on and displayed an error related to the fTPM data being corrupted.
It should not make any difference, but just in case: were you using disk encryption when this happened?
I wasn't using disk encryption. It also never had Windows installed on it. This particular Steam Deck is also shut down completely when not in use.
I wasn't using disk encryption. It also never had Windows installed on it. This particular Steam Deck is also shut down completely when not in use.
Thanks for the confirmation.
I wasn't using disk encryption. It also never had Windows installed on it. This particular Steam Deck is also shut down completely when not in use.
Thanks for the confirmation.
Sure, sorry for the delay. This Steam Deck only ran Bazzite from an external drive some time ago (other than SteamOS). It's on the beta branch of SteamOS.