Summary
- Linux 7.1-rc2 adds a DMI quirk to restore the Steam Deck OLED audio probe problem since 2023.
- The issue hit only the OLED model; the LCD Steam Deck was unaffected.
- Quirk confines the fix to OLEDs to avoid breaking other devices; testing expected soon.
If you've owned a Steam Deck OLED for a few years, you may have noticed that the Linux 6.8 kernel messed with its audio probe. It happened late in 2023, and for years people were waiting for a patch to be released. As it turns out, the lack of updates wasn't due to a lack of care, but because the problem required delicate handling to ensure it didn't break everything else in the process.
Well, the Steam Deck OLED audio issue has now been fixed, and the patch has been merged into the Linux 7.1-rc2 build. And if testing goes smoothly, Steam Deck OLED owners should get their audio probes back in a few weeks.
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Linux 7.1 fixes a two-year-old problem with the Steam Deck OLED
The LCD model somehow got away unscathed
As spotted by Phoronix, a new patch has been merged into Linux 7.1. Titled "ASoC: amd: acp: Add DMI quirk for Valve Steam Deck OLED" and authored by Guilherme G. Piccoli, the patch aims to fix the Steam Deck OLED's audio probe that stopped working two years ago. The problem didn't affect the LCD model; only the OLED version was affected.
However, as Piccoli states, to say that the feature "broke" is an overstatement:
Commit 671dd2ffbd8b introduced a change that "broke" Steam Deck's audio probe, in the OLED model
...
Notice the quotes in "broke": it's not really a bug in such commit, but instead a problem with a topology file from Steam Deck OLED. This was discussed to great extent in, and Cristian proposed a pretty simple and functional change that resolved the issue for the Deck's issue. That change, though, would break other devices, so it wasn't accepted upstream. And the proper suggested solution (fix the topology) was never implemented, so Valve's kernel (and anyone that wants to boot the mainline on Steam Deck OLED) is carrying that fix downstream.
Piccoli's proposed solution was to use a "DMI quirk" to ensure the audio issue is fixed on the Steam Deck OLED, without the code changes affecting any other devices. That way, the patch will affect only Steam Deck OLEDs and won't break anything on other computers. It seems the solution was sound, as the patch has since been merged into the Linux 7.1-rc2 release, which should be released pretty soon for testing.
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