Switchdeck: Steam ARM64 for Switch (L4T)

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Installation

1. Download and run install-steam.sh in your terminal.
2. Use the shortcut or launch-steam.sh in your Steam folder to launch Steam.
3. In Steam go to Settings -> Library and turn on: Low Bandwidth, Low Performance and Disable Community Content.
4. Go to Settings -> Compatibility and select either Proton 10, 11 or Experimental. You can also download them manually in your library.
5. Go to Settings -> Controller: -> Show Advanced Settings: Enable "Combine Joycon Pairs" and Enable Steam Input for Pro and Generic Controller. (Capture Button below D-Pad switches from Desktop Mode to Controller)
6. Restart Steam to apply the DXVK-Sarek, VKD3D and Vertex Explosion patch to Proton.

Note: If Steam updates your Proton version you have to relaunch it to reapply the DXVK-Sarek, VKD3D and Vertex Explosion patch. It's applied on launch.

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Requirements

• Linux for Switch: Kubuntu Noble or Fedora 42. (Fedora currently has some WIP changes that may be unstable.)
• Box64 to run games. Shipped with Fedora 42 by default. Switchdeck installs it for you on Ubuntu.
• Vulkan 1.2 Support: Fedora ships with the latest GPU driver. Switchdeck updates it for you on Ubuntu.
• RAM OC: Nintendo Switch has 4GB shared between CPU and GPU so overclocking RAM helps a lot.

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Features

• SWITCHDECK_GAMEMODE=1 or 2 %command%. Launching Steam games with this command frees up over 1GB of RAM. In Mode 1 it unloads steamwebhelper on game launch and restores it on exit, online multiplayer is still supported in this mode. In Mode 2 it also stops KDE Plasma & background services. Restoring Steam or KDE after game exit is gonna take a few seconds.
• DXVK-Sarek Patch for Steam Proton and GE-Proton.
• VKD3D v2.3.1 Patch for Steam Proton and GE-Proton.
• Vulkan extension patch for Proton and GE-Proton to fix Vertex explosions in 32-bit games. (Caused by broken Nvidia Drivers.)
• KDE Context Menu: Add to Steam, to easily import non-Steam games.

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Information

• Game compatibility list. Not every title is supported or fully playable.
• Use the square taskbar icon to change your OC Profile. OC CPU should be enough for most games.
• Several launch commands are defined in launch-steam.sh. Feel free to tweak them to fit your needs. Changing STEAMDECK_MODE="false" to true at the top enables steamdeck / big picture mode.
• wineesync causes crashes with DXVK and is disabled in launch-steam.sh.
• Proton-CachyOS, GE-Proton and Luxtorpeda are supported. Some games may only work with GE-Proton.
• ProtonPlus can be used to install custom Proton versions. You can download and install the latest aarch64 release here. Only x86_64 Proton is supported, don't use aarch64/arm64 versions of Proton.

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Explanation

This script automates the download and installation of Steam ARM64. Because Steam client builds newer than April 15th, 2026, cause "illegal instruction" crashes on the Nintendo Switch, the script automatically downgrades specific parts of Steam to that version. The L4T kernel (4.9) is too old to support modern FEX-Emu translation layers, this setup establishes an alternative x86_64 environment powered by Box64 to run x86_64 Proton builds. It also applies custom compatibility patches to both native Proton and GE-Proton to ensure Vulkan 1.2 support and to disable a broken Vulkan extension, directly resolving vertex explosion bugs in 32-bit games on the Tegra X1.

Credits to Ivy for the original steam-arm64 download script

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Community & Support

• My Discord – My Discord for all my mods and projects.
• Twitter – Updates, clips, and general progress.
• Switchroot Discord – For general L4T Linux help.
• Patreon / PayPal – If you'd like to support my work!

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Legal Notice

The bash scripts (launch-steam.sh, etc.) in this repository are provided under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). The Steam binaries, libraries, and resources located in /files/downgrade/ are the proprietary property of Valve Corporation. These files are NOT covered by any open-source license and are subject to the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA). This project is not affiliated with, maintained by, or endorsed by Valve Corporation. It is provided "as-is" for the sole purpose of maintaining ARM64 compatibility for the Nintendo Switch (L4T) community.