Valve has released SteamOS 3.9.5 to all users, with lower idle power consumption on Steam Deck while audio is inactive and fixes for wireless connections and external displays. The update also repairs a system crash on Legion Go 2 and launch failures affecting certain games on recent Panther Lake Intel CPUs. Preliminary hibernation support arrives for some systems, but a driver bug keeps it disabled on Steam Deck.
For wireless connections, Valve has made wpa_supplicant the default backend, saying the change improves compatibility across WiFi networks. It has also added faster reconnection after waking from sleep, a capability previously restricted to the iwd backend. A separate repair addresses hidden WiFi networks that would fail to connect on an initial attempt.
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Players using external displays get a correction for frame limits that produced frame rates below their intended targets on some screens. Valve also fixes the “Disable Frame Limiter” control when VRR is active and prevents the limiter from incorrectly affecting VR games streamed to Steam Frame from Steam Machine. Steam Remote Play now works on Steam Machine when the system starts without an attached external display.
Legion Go 2 gains preliminary brightness controls alongside a fix for a system crash triggered by launching Forza Horizon 6. On recent Panther Lake Intel CPUs, Valve addresses problems that prevented games including ELDEN RING and DARK SOULS™ III from running. Steam Machine also gets a repair for performance trouble in STAR WARS: Galactic Racer after waking from suspend.
Desktop Mode moves to Plasma 6.7.3 from version 6.4.3, while the operating system receives an updated Arch Linux base and Linux 7.2 kernel. Users can explicitly enable the Desktop Mode lockscreen in settings, although it remains disabled by default. Hibernation controls are not yet available through the Game Mode interface.
The wireless work follows July’s SteamOS 3.8.14, which corrected reduced WiFi speeds associated with routers supplying incorrect MCS requirements. That earlier fix reached stable users through 3.8.14 and beta users through 3.8.22.
Other repairs address sleep and wake problems on systems using RDNA1 or RDNA2 dedicated GPUs, plus excessive fan speeds after waking on some ASUS devices. Valve also fixes intermittent firmware installation failures on Steam Machine and revokes compromised eMudhra CA certificates.
