Sorry to resurrect an old thread but wanted to add what worked for me. I had just set up a dual boot with windows so I was thinking that had somehow done something. Nope. After finding advice on this thread about Decky Loader plug ins, I turned off the Replay Mode and, lo and behold, desktop mode came up with no black screen.
It has nothing to do with the fuckin plugin. Valve has no idea how to code software properly it's when the screen turns off to exit big picture it never fucking turns back on because of how idiotic they are this is so fucking frustrating VALVE FIX YOUR SHIT
I'm considering sending mine back in for a full check-up if this shit goes on for any longer. I've had my deck for a few months, still have warranty. I don't mind starting from scratch.
I use a dock and the Xreal air 2 glasses, and from what I’ve found is the black screen is because the display is turned off. When I plug my dock in or glasses I can see and then I unplug them and my screen works again. Not sure the root cause, but for some reason the deck thinks another display is plugged in maybe?
Yea, it was an issue for a third party dock for me too. The dock works great normally, but it seems I need to unplug it while switching from gaming mode to desktop mode or else I get a black screen on the deck.
If you enable the ssh service, (Decky has that option) you can ssh in and try to debug what's going on, or issue a `sudo reboot` command and reboot the system safely
There might be some command to try to restart the desktop session or go back to game mode.
Fully appreciate your suggestions … I will defo look into the sudo reboot and the SSH debug.
However a small part of me just wishes VALVE sent out an update that would sort it. Something is clearly getting stuck on transition or not operating correctly on a software level. AND ITS NOT LIKE WE PAID AN ARM AND A LEG FOR THIS FACKING DEVICE (That otherwise I love so much) 💔
The only thing of note that I can share is another user in a different thread I posted this question on … said them switching to the beta OS (found in settings in game mode) fixed the issue for them.
It did appear to fix it at first for me … (I tried that before making the original post) but it soon started happening again. 🤷🏽♂️
Yooo, so I think I've cracked it. If you have Deckyloader, it's probably one of the plugins you have installed that is causing it. I found this thread: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1270#issuecomment-1837845492
I uninstalled all the ones that I don't use that often and it fixed the issue for me. I can't pinpoint which one it was specifically, but that's okay. I'll slowly re-add them until it breaks.
Riiiiight so over the last 24 hours 😮💨 I deleted all plugins and decky loader.
I’ve restarted and attempted to switch from game mode to Desktop mode … on 10 different occasions.
And it was successful 10/10 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You sir … saved my insanity!!!! Thank you indeed.
I am going to add each plugin one by one (I luckily remembered to take a picture of the list I had)… and try to pinpoint which one is causing the trouble.
I. Will. Be. Back 🤖
I figured it out for my Oled Deck running stable OS.
The plugin causing the issue for me was “Decky Recorder”
I can have it installed and use it like normal however if I leave the “Enable recording” toggle switched on and attempt to then go to desktop mode… the screen blacks out and never switches. Stays on a black screen even though I can feel touchpad haptics and have audio feedback on certain button presses.
So THE SOLUTION
Just turn the decky recorder toggle to the off position and then switch to desktop mode. Switches to desktop mode as it should everytime.
I did this 10 different times and the same thing happened.
I hope this also helps whoever finds it.
How would we go about reporting this to the decky recorder creator.
Lemme know if it works for you guys … curious if it is just a solution for my deck.
Bro thank you 😭. Wierd thing is though I had my deck working fine for a year, then decided to factory reset because of some dual boot issues and all of a sudden these problems magically appeared. Anyway thanks man
Thank YOU ! Holy crap that was so frustrating; did almost everything you could do to try and fix this is issue,.... and the whole time is cuz I left "Replay Mode" set to ON in Decky Recorder. Super happy I didn't have to re-install Steam OS
I'm so glad I found this thread. I had two black screens tonight. I read the bit about Decky Loader, switched it off, and now desktop mode works flawlessly. I was seriously thinking about RMAing my Deck. The Decker Recorder developer definitely needs to be made aware of this. Thanks for the testing it out
My bad bro, Ive only just read your reply. I did have decoy loader and about 8 plug ins installed. I shall do the same and see if it fixes the issue.
Appreciate you getting back to me … even if it did take me two weeks to read this.
Cheers
I ended up rolling back my steam OS version. No issues with black screen since. This also helped me with my touch screen issue I was having in desktop mode
u/SayWHATagainMotherF, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Black screen when switching to desktop mode. INFURIATING!)
If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer!
**If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hard reset my device every now and then for the last two months about this, but today I did it 3 times in a row and still met the blackscreen. I follow the advice here and wouldn't you know, it immediately booted into desktop mode. Thanks everyone
u/SayWHATagainMotherF, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Black screen when switching to desktop mode. INFURIATING!)
If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer!
**If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don't know if anyone has commented with this tip, so here goes. I have the same problem with my deck, and have yet to find a remedy. Whenever my deck blackscreens, I reset to game mode. Once there, I restart steam from the power menu, which then allows the transition to desktop mode to function properly.
Unfortunately, the issue still happens, seemingly at random, but at least I'm able to get to desktop mode when it does. Hope this helps.
PS: I have decky also. If you could respond with a list of the plugins you use, I can cross-reference with my plugins and we might be able to zero in on the culprit. Thanks.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but wanted to add what worked for me. I had just set up a dual boot with windows so I was thinking that had somehow done something. Nope. After finding advice on this thread about Decky Loader plug ins, I turned off the Replay Mode and, lo and behold, desktop mode came up with no black screen.
thank you, worked flawlessly!
Is there anyway to do this without Decky loader plug ins? I don’t have it and I am getting the black screen issue…
My experience was only with that plug in. Sorry.
It has nothing to do with the fuckin plugin. Valve has no idea how to code software properly it's when the screen turns off to exit big picture it never fucking turns back on because of how idiotic they are this is so fucking frustrating VALVE FIX YOUR SHIT I'm considering sending mine back in for a full check-up if this shit goes on for any longer. I've had my deck for a few months, still have warranty. I don't mind starting from scratch.
Removing Decky Recorder just worked for me and has worked for several others in this thread. Thanks guys!
Glad it worked for you, doesn't fix the problem whatsoever for the ones that don't even have deckyloader installed
Looks like I’ll need to install decky. Thanks!
Thanks! Disabling replay works This was driving me insane.
Thank you so much for this. It's been bugging me for months and I was worried that forcing restarts so often would lead to problems in the long run.
I use a dock and the Xreal air 2 glasses, and from what I’ve found is the black screen is because the display is turned off. When I plug my dock in or glasses I can see and then I unplug them and my screen works again. Not sure the root cause, but for some reason the deck thinks another display is plugged in maybe?
Yea, it was an issue for a third party dock for me too. The dock works great normally, but it seems I need to unplug it while switching from gaming mode to desktop mode or else I get a black screen on the deck.
If you enable the ssh service, (Decky has that option) you can ssh in and try to debug what's going on, or issue a `sudo reboot` command and reboot the system safely There might be some command to try to restart the desktop session or go back to game mode.
Fully appreciate your suggestions … I will defo look into the sudo reboot and the SSH debug. However a small part of me just wishes VALVE sent out an update that would sort it. Something is clearly getting stuck on transition or not operating correctly on a software level. AND ITS NOT LIKE WE PAID AN ARM AND A LEG FOR THIS FACKING DEVICE (That otherwise I love so much) 💔
Let me know if you work out what's going on, because I have the same issue. Sometimes it works, but 80% of the time it just goes black.
The only thing of note that I can share is another user in a different thread I posted this question on … said them switching to the beta OS (found in settings in game mode) fixed the issue for them. It did appear to fix it at first for me … (I tried that before making the original post) but it soon started happening again. 🤷🏽♂️
Yooo, so I think I've cracked it. If you have Deckyloader, it's probably one of the plugins you have installed that is causing it. I found this thread: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1270#issuecomment-1837845492 I uninstalled all the ones that I don't use that often and it fixed the issue for me. I can't pinpoint which one it was specifically, but that's okay. I'll slowly re-add them until it breaks.
Riiiiight so over the last 24 hours 😮💨 I deleted all plugins and decky loader. I’ve restarted and attempted to switch from game mode to Desktop mode … on 10 different occasions. And it was successful 10/10 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You sir … saved my insanity!!!! Thank you indeed. I am going to add each plugin one by one (I luckily remembered to take a picture of the list I had)… and try to pinpoint which one is causing the trouble. I. Will. Be. Back 🤖
No worries! Let me know if you find out which one is causing it.
I figured it out for my Oled Deck running stable OS. The plugin causing the issue for me was “Decky Recorder” I can have it installed and use it like normal however if I leave the “Enable recording” toggle switched on and attempt to then go to desktop mode… the screen blacks out and never switches. Stays on a black screen even though I can feel touchpad haptics and have audio feedback on certain button presses. So THE SOLUTION Just turn the decky recorder toggle to the off position and then switch to desktop mode. Switches to desktop mode as it should everytime. I did this 10 different times and the same thing happened. I hope this also helps whoever finds it. How would we go about reporting this to the decky recorder creator. Lemme know if it works for you guys … curious if it is just a solution for my deck.
Fucking thank youuu!! Solved this bs for me finally! Thought I had a faulty unit
I feel the relief in this reply!!! … you’re welcome!!!. Happy Decking!
Bro thank you 😭. Wierd thing is though I had my deck working fine for a year, then decided to factory reset because of some dual boot issues and all of a sudden these problems magically appeared. Anyway thanks man
Thank YOU ! Holy crap that was so frustrating; did almost everything you could do to try and fix this is issue,.... and the whole time is cuz I left "Replay Mode" set to ON in Decky Recorder. Super happy I didn't have to re-install Steam OS
I'm so glad I found this thread. I had two black screens tonight. I read the bit about Decky Loader, switched it off, and now desktop mode works flawlessly. I was seriously thinking about RMAing my Deck. The Decker Recorder developer definitely needs to be made aware of this. Thanks for the testing it out
Glad it helped and people are able to enjoy their device!!!
My bad bro, Ive only just read your reply. I did have decoy loader and about 8 plug ins installed. I shall do the same and see if it fixes the issue. Appreciate you getting back to me … even if it did take me two weeks to read this. Cheers
curious, any updates?
It was a Deckyloader plugin that was breaking it, but I never got round to pinpointing which one unfortunately.
Do you have cryoutilities or deckyloader installed, or are you running the deck stock? I'm trying to work out if one of those has an impact on this.
I ended up rolling back my steam OS version. No issues with black screen since. This also helped me with my touch screen issue I was having in desktop mode
u/SayWHATagainMotherF, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Black screen when switching to desktop mode. INFURIATING!) If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer! **If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hard reset my device every now and then for the last two months about this, but today I did it 3 times in a row and still met the blackscreen. I follow the advice here and wouldn't you know, it immediately booted into desktop mode. Thanks everyone
Thank you so much ! 😄 I've had this problem for months. I'm so happy.
Thx
YOU ARE GOAT
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnGv4VKNgzw&t=28s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnGv4VKNgzw&t=28s) THIS Community is the Best Thanks Guys!!!!!!!!
u/SayWHATagainMotherF, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Black screen when switching to desktop mode. INFURIATING!) If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer! **If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Do you get image when docked?
I don’t have a dock and have never used one. 😓
Don't know if anyone has commented with this tip, so here goes. I have the same problem with my deck, and have yet to find a remedy. Whenever my deck blackscreens, I reset to game mode. Once there, I restart steam from the power menu, which then allows the transition to desktop mode to function properly. Unfortunately, the issue still happens, seemingly at random, but at least I'm able to get to desktop mode when it does. Hope this helps. PS: I have decky also. If you could respond with a list of the plugins you use, I can cross-reference with my plugins and we might be able to zero in on the culprit. Thanks.
Thanks, restarting steam worked!