Friday, May 19th 2023
YouTuber Modifies ASUS ROG Ally, Can Operate Like a Steam Deck
Popular gaming hardware content creator, ETA PRIME, yesterday teased that his ASUS ROG Ally preview unit was seemingly running Valve's Steam Deck operating system - the short YouTube video provided a glimpse of basic UI functionality as well as in-game performance (Forza Horizon 5). He promised that a full video was incoming, thus providing a full explanation of his modification process and a more in-depth exploration of more games running on the formerly Windows 11-based example. ETA PRIME has delivered on his earlier pledge - the first look/early impressions video was released only a few hours ago (at the time of writing). He reveals that his test platform ROG Ally is not running on Valve's Steam OS.
He has resorted to installing a gaming-focused Linux distro called Chimera OS - he notes that the similar HoloISO platform was not booting up on his handheld unit. On-board audio is reported to be non-functional - the Ally is connected to an external USB-C hub that outputs sound via the in-built 3.5 mm jack. Wi-Fi performance is reported to be inconsistent, ETA PRIME says that he has to reset the system in order to re-establish online connectivity. He was largely impressed with the Ally's gaming performance in a Linux-based environment, but prefers the Steam Deck's power efficiency. He will look into lowering the Ally's TDP, but there is no sure-fire way of making optimizations within the Chimera OS test build.
ETA PRIME's description: "In this video we take a look at Linux Gaming On the All New ASUS ROG Ally! Very similar to Steam Deck OS - we are using Chimera OS based on Arch. It has all (of) the bells and whistles that Steam OS version 3 possesses!"
Source:
Windows Central
He has resorted to installing a gaming-focused Linux distro called Chimera OS - he notes that the similar HoloISO platform was not booting up on his handheld unit. On-board audio is reported to be non-functional - the Ally is connected to an external USB-C hub that outputs sound via the in-built 3.5 mm jack. Wi-Fi performance is reported to be inconsistent, ETA PRIME says that he has to reset the system in order to re-establish online connectivity. He was largely impressed with the Ally's gaming performance in a Linux-based environment, but prefers the Steam Deck's power efficiency. He will look into lowering the Ally's TDP, but there is no sure-fire way of making optimizations within the Chimera OS test build.
18 Comments on YouTuber Modifies ASUS ROG Ally, Can Operate Like a Steam Deck
My issue with their videos is they always lean heavily positive.
Don't have to upgrade to the Ally, but it's exciting tech to follow non the less. What a time to be a live.
Any games you recommend me for my Steam Deck? I have about 200 indie games on my backlog.
Running HoloISO or ChimeraOS on handhelds is nothing new, the limitations are well known and it seems like he has overcome none of those limitations here. Windows is still the highest performing option for non-Valve handhelds.
As much as I think the Ally is a good bit of kit, it's not as flexible as the Steam deck and you can't really afford to run high TDPs on battery unless you want to nuke the entire battery in under an hour. That means you're paying for additional performance in the Ally only to cap it at Steam Deck performance anyway, just the stretch the battery life to a useful duration.
SteamOS is likely lighter-weight than Windows11 and will help with battery life a little, but it's absolutely custom-made for the Steam Deck, so if you're going to try and mash it onto an Ally, are you not just admitting that you bought yourself the wrong device?I'm hoping something good, and official comes of this:
gizmodo.com/microsoft-windows-steam-deck-gaming-pc-handheld-interna-1850332962
The warranty is for the hardware, not software which you will use on the device, you can use any operating system you want.
Dont know what the t&c is like for these though.