SteamOS on the Asus ROG Ally creeps ever closer in latest update to Valve's Linux distribution
Valve has long promised that it will make SteamOS available as a downloadable ISO for use on handheld gaming PCs that ship with Windows by default, and it has slowly started adding support for the likes of the Asus ROG Ally, with the latest update notes regarding the Windows gaming handheld coming by way of the SteamOS version 3.6.19.
The update notes don't offer much to go on, but Valve mentions that it has "added support for extra ROG Ally keys," which is a familiar update from SteamOS. Previously, we saw Steam add support for the Asus ROG Ally X's display, complete with working VRR support. In addition to the new Asus ROG Ally button support added to SteamOS, Valve has also added support for a host of third-party input methods.
The complete input section of the update notes reads as follows:
- Added support for extra ROG Ally keys
- Added support for the ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro controller
- Added support for the Machenike G5 Pro controller
- Added support for the Steam Deck motion sensors to the built-in non-Steam kernel driver
- Fixed an issue where scroll wheel Steam Input bindings weren't functional
- Fixed an issue where DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers would sometimes not function properly on their first connection
- Fixed calibration on some third-party DualShock 4 controllers
The other attention-catching update to SteamOS's input handling is the mention of adding motion sensor support to the non-Steam kernel driver. This, combined with the expanded Steam Deck OLED Windows support via a working Bluetooth driver, suggests that Steam is also widening support for the Steam Deck hardware to other Linux distributions, operating systems, and user-space applications.
Together, it looks as though Valve is working hard at getting SteamOS working on third-party hardware and making other Linux distributions, and even Windows, work better on Steam's hardware.
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