ValveSoftware
steamdeck background recording produces frozen video
Your system information
- Steam client version: 1748301070
- SteamOS version: 3.7.8
- Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No
- Opted into SteamOS beta?: [Yes/No] No
- Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: [Yes/No] Yes
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
background recordings seam to be broken on steamdeck
after few seconds the video just freezes and only audio remains
this seam to affect more ppl after the last update : https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/5/591770487774794914/
i would prefer for the recording to work like before
Steps for reproducing this issue:
- enable background recoding
I have this issue even when using the Record Manually option instead of the Background option, too (on the Steam Deck [beta]; I haven't tried on Desktop)
After a few seconds, the video just freezes on a frame and the audio continues as normal until the recording is over
Same freezing problem here, neither background or manual work with Stardew Valley and BG3. It does work with Hogwarts Legacy. Currently on 3.7.1.4, but it has never worked in these games on other versions.
Only tested manual recording, but in all games I've played so far (Ready or Not, Phasmophobia, FF14, Unreal Gold), the recordings consistently freeze after 6 seconds while the audio continues to play until the end of the clip. This is on a 1TB OLED Steam Deck on the Beta branch.
some new information
putting steamdeck in offline mode seams to fix the issue for me and some other ppl this is no way to play but might be a lead to what the issue is
some new information
putting steamdeck in offline mode seams to fix the issue for me and some other ppl this is no way to play but might be a lead to what the issue is
I have tried this in Ready or Not on my Steam Deck, both clips have frozen on a single frame after 6 seconds while the audio continued for an entire 9 minutes of each of the rest of the clips. Sadly that doesn't work for me ☹️
Having the same issue on the latest beta version of SteamOS (July 14th release) with my ROG Ally. When I had windows installed it worked as expected.
Hopefully they can fix this soon, since I've been playing with my friends R.E.P.O. and there have been many funny moments lost because the recordings were unusable :(
I am assuming that the beta release notes for July 17th has something to do with this? After updating to the 21st July build of Steam Beta on my OLED, the game recordings now seem to be working correctly. But I do admit I have deleted all my previous clips, cleaned background recordings and recorded a new clip on the Low preset, and then switched it back to High where it works for me without flaw--So I am unsure which of those actions sorted out this issue--but this was tested in only one game that didn't work before. (Ready or Not, all 9 minutes of the clip with no frozen frames.)
I am assuming that the beta release notes for July 17th has something to do with this? After updating to the 21st July build of Steam Beta on my OLED, the game recordings now seem to be working correctly. But I do admit I have deleted all my previous clips, cleaned background recordings and recorded a new clip on the Low preset, and then switched it back to High where it works for me without flaw--So I am unsure which of those actions sorted out this issue--but this was tested in only one game that didn't work before. (Ready or Not, all 9 minutes of the clip with no frozen frames.)
Ok I followed your steps and it didn't work for me on SteamOS Beta (July 23rd update) on the ROG Ally :(
Before the minute mark it works as expected. Then it gets a little choppy and keeps getting worse from there until it changes frames every minute or so. The audio is recorded correctly though.
The issue persists as of 3.7.13, and on Beta 3.7.14 as well
The weird thing is that recording works as intended when I have some Steam OS UI elements toggled on (three dots button), but freeze back when I close the UI element.
Ok I followed your steps and it didn't work for me on SteamOS Beta (July 23rd update) on the ROG Ally :(
Before the minute mark it works as expected. Then it gets a little choppy and keeps getting worse from there until it changes frames every minute or so. The audio is recorded correctly though.
The issue persists as of 3.7.13, and on Beta 3.7.14 as well
The weird thing is that recording works as intended when I have some Steam OS UI elements toggled on (three dots button), but freeze back when I close the UI element.
Can confirm it was unfortunately a one-off and it no longer works again even with the same steps. Steam Deck OLED clips continue to visually freeze after 6 seconds consistently regardless of the quality setting and game (Low to Ultra at 60fps, tested in RoN again, Lunacid, Phasmophobia, Stray, Little Kitty Big City), and @vpraion is right, during the recording if you bring up the left hand side or right hand side menus, the game frames record once again during the clip, and freeze the moment when either of the menus are closed. I am also unsure if my eyes are lying to me, but regardless of the quality settings, the output seems to look the same.
I theorize the first 6 seconds work due to the game recording started notification is on screen. Crudely saying, it seems to be dependent to the UI being actively drawn.
I might want to add the fact that I also never sleep my SD, I always shut it down and cold boot it each time I use it.
Sadly this is an issue that only SteamOS has. I was tired of waiting, so I installed Bazzite and the recording works perfectly. It also worked on Windows when I had it installed in my ROG Ally.
I'm one of the users from the Steam Community post.
I haven't tried Gaming Mode in a while since this has been happening, but recording is still working for me in Desktop Mode and has been for the past two months. I'm on the Steam Deck and Steam Client beta branches.
I noticed the first user from the Steam Community post was on Windows, so it's not localized to SteamOS (but said user has yet to post in the topic again, so is it still happening to them?). But if most of the users here and there are on Steam Decks in Gaming Mode, what is it doing differently than a Deck in Desktop Mode?
still not fixed after 3 months. will this bug get into stable branch as well?
Oh, it's already in stable, according to comments in here
I just realized game recording only produce frozen video for some games. For example Yakuza: Like a Dragon (non-steam, added through Heroic launcher) (game recording was working just fine for this game before)
While for other games it works as expected
Steam Deck user (about as stock as they come, with the dock), have been able to record fine in the past year up until August-now. Only recording in Elden Ring. Have tried recording offline, online, docked, undocked - manual recordings will reliably freeze after two seconds regardless of length.
I think i've found a workaround.
It’s been months. Frames are being recorded only when UI elements outside of game are being drawn.
The workaround for me is to keep the performance overlay on. You can then use the plugin Mangopeel to put 100% transparency on a performance overlay preset that you're ok to sacrifice if you don't want it being displayed on.
I’m on SteamOS.
I always have the performance overlay on in SteamOS, personally, and that made no difference for me when I originally began using the recording feature further up in the thread.
I always have the performance overlay on in SteamOS, personally, and that made no difference for me when I originally began using the recording feature further up in the thread.
Weird, I did ~1 hour testing before shouting out loud I've found a workaround. I don't know why having the performance overlay toggled on won't solve the issue for you. Sorry then.
Edit : I've tried it again for 2 hours. Recording works as intended when performance overlay is on, and it doesn't work when the performance overlay is off.
I don't know what's so different on my end if this workaround doesn't work on your end.
After recent dependencies update (Proton Experimental, Linux Runtime etc.) – recording started to work for me. SteamOS beta 3.7.16
UPD 26th, October: it's not working again
Please Valve, just copy the implementation on the Decky Recorder plugin https://github.com/SDH-Stewardship/decky-recorder-fork
That worked at least 900x better, it just stopped working because a solo volunteer developer couldn't keep up with all the moving parts on the project.
Please fix this issue... I just lost an hour and a half gameplay that I was gonna send to my gf... Now I need to play that part again
Not sure if this has been reported before but I've noticed that the video "unfreezes" for a few seconds if there is an achievement recorded. i think I've seen someone saying this could be relatated to system UI rendering on top of the game
Are there any known workarounds? This is a very annoying issue
There is are a couple that I know of.
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Just use it in desktop mode
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Game recording seems to work in every other game. So open a random first and record it, check if you got the freezing bug. If you did, open the game that you want to record. You should be able to record without the bug however many times you want, as long as you don't close the game.
I might have found some interesting stuff while I was tinkering around with Steam and its game recording on gaming mode, and I'll be sharing them in this post. My setup is:
- Steam Deck LCD 64GB SSD
- SteamOS 3.7.17
- Steam Client Update Channel: Steam Deck Beta
- Decky loader is not installed
- I did a factory reset last week
My goal was to actively record (steam button + A) a video that wouldn't freeze after 6 seconds in gaming mode. Reading @vpraion's comment, the first thing I tried was to mess with the Performance Overlay and see if it would make a difference to the recording. Shockingly, it did! Here's what I initially did that made it possible to actively record properly:
- Rebooted the steam deck
- Launched a game that would freeze when trying to record it in gaming mode (Spelunky 2)
- Opened the Quick Access menu and set, under the Performance tab, the Performance Overlay Level slider to 1
- Set the Performance Overlay Level back to 0 (seems optional, but still works)
- Recorded a minute of gameplay
- Watched the recording
Then, whenever I switched games (Geometry Dash and Europa), the recording would still work without having to do anything else. Switching to Desktop and getting back into gaming mode would still make recordings work. Even background recordings would work too, but sadly I wasn't able to check the recording without closing the game. But when I rebooted the steam deck, the recording would freeze again like always if I didn't do the aforementioned steps. Also, changing the level of the Performance Overlay after a failed (frozen) recording would not fix the issue until the game was restarted and the steps reapplied, but without rebooting the deck.
Also, this is where things went full bizarre: I was going to test if the recording would work if I changed the Overlay Performance Level outside of any game, on Steam, right after a reboot. When I was going to, I accidentally pressed a switcher button that was right above or below the Overlay Performance Level that was disabled, and it had a description that started with something like "Allow...". I can't say what it was because as soon as I enabled it, it disappeared! Nowhere to be found! But after that, my active recordings never froze again, even after a reboot. If someone can look into this and shine a light into this mystery, I'll be very grateful.
For months, the background recording feature on Steam Deck has been fundamentally broken for a significant number of users, including myself. A primary reason I invested in this device was for its promised, console-like convenience features, with seamless background recording being a key selling point.
It is incredibly frustrating to see this core feature remain in a non-functional state for so long without any official acknowledgement or a clear timeline for a fix from Valve. The community has been left to scour forums and devise its own bizarre workarounds (like toggling performance overlays) for a problem that should not exist in the first place.
This lack of communication and resolution is deeply disappointing. It undermines the trust I had in the platform and makes me question the commitment to polishing the user experience post-launch. I am posting this not just to report a bug, but to express my profound dissatisfaction as a customer. Please, provide users with a status update and dedicate the resources necessary to fix this critical feature.
Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/12072#issuecomment-3300512422
I actually think I know the reason, I did a bunch of troubleshooting and using a very similar method to this as well as turning steam overlay off for the effected game seems to fix it, I will continue to document my findings later on Edit: this seems to be yet again another one off unfortunately :(
The latest beta branch seems to have fixed the background recording issue.
Friendly heads up: applying the beta patch seems to also break Decky loader.
the game recording on steam deck is broken period.. I tried background recording, manual recording they are all broken when I play them back.. shame I can't show my epic gaming moments with my friends..
