My Steam Deck may have died while loading a PS3 game...

[sam_86314]

Well, now.

Here I was loading an old favorite PS3 game of mine onto my Steam Deck (LittleBigPlanet 2). Got it installed, and went to run it.

Everything went as normal; RPCS3 begins compiling shaders and other stuff, fan spins up because this step is CPU intensive. I have my Deck plugged into my JSAUX dock, which is being powered by a 65W USB PD adapter. A USB hub with a wireless keyboard and controller and a USB 3 SSD are connected to the dock. The intake vent is not obstructed by the dock.

Suddenly, I hear a light pop, the Deck turns off, and won't come back on. Pressing the power button does nothing. Plugging in a charger doesn't cause the charging light to come on.

Now I'm worried that it's dead. I haven't opened it up yet, but no matter how long I hold the power button, nothing happens.

At this point, I don't know what could have caused this. Was it the dock, the power adapter/cable, one of the connected peripherals, or just the heavy CPU load from RPCS3? I've run PS3 games on it before without any issues.

I can't find anything online about other people having this happen with PS3 emulation.

 

[Frick]

Don't open it, RMA it. Pops and sudden death in electronics means something went really wrong (unless they have fuses of the kind that breaks audibly but I assume the Steam Deck does not have those).

 

[sam_86314]

Don't open it, RMA it. Pops and sudden death in electronics means something went really wrong (unless they have fuses of the kind that breaks audibly but I assume the Steam Deck does not have those).

Just opened it to look for anything obvious (hopefully that wasn't a mistake. Didn't spot anything, but it still won't power up after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

RMA submitted, we'll see where this goes.

 

[Vayra86]

Sounds like a typical USB short, had one in the laptop, small circuits doing high power and loading over several devices is a recipe for disaster.

But you know what they say about assumptions. Be happy you got warranty, but I had this happening while charging a JBL charge over the laptop port while it was gaming and connected to the wall socket. Poof, 1200 bucks worth of Skylake and Nvidia up in smoke

No funny smell?

 

[sam_86314]

Sounds like a typical USB short, had one in the laptop, small circuits doing high power and loading over several devices is a recipe for disaster.

But you know what they say about assumptions. Be happy you got warranty, but I had this happening while charging a JBL charge over the laptop port while it was gaming and connected to the wall socket. Poof, 1200 bucks worth of Skylake and Nvidia up in smoke

No funny smell?

It just smelled like a laptop's exhaust does when it's doing something intensive. I can't describe it other than a "warm" smell. Definitely no smell of burning electronics.

I've tried plugging it into the original adapter and the one it was plugged into when it died. Also tried both adapters on another device, and they're both fine.

 

[OneMoar]

rma you blew the vrms off it

 

[sepheronx]

Sucks man, but at least it has warranty.

I remember the earlier days of the switch and docks, there were quite a bit of failures over the USBc port. This may be one such incident as someone else mentioned overcharge or something.

But, at least you can get it repaired.

 

[oobymach]

Pop like a zap pop or pop like a capacitor going bang pop? If a cap blew you can replace it, if something went zap that shouldn't have it could be anything but since it doesn't power on then it's going to need replacing. At least it's steam and your library can be downloaded again.

 

[sam_86314]

Pop like a zap pop or pop like a capacitor going bang pop? If a cap blew you can replace it, if something went zap that shouldn't have it could be anything but since it doesn't power on then it's going to need replacing. At least it's steam and your library can be downloaded again.

It was a really quiet pop, thin-sounding pop. You'd probably get a similar sound by removing the battery from a device while it's powered on.

When I opened it, I looked at the area around the USB-C port and some small black chips near the CPU. Saw nothing out of the ordinary. No burn marks or weird smells.

EDIT: The chips marked in orange and yellow in this image are the ones I visually checked, which iFixit lists as power stages.

 

[OneMoar]

R M A
R M A
R M A
S A Y
IT
WITH
ME

 

[ixi]

Update us please, when you got info from valve. Interesting...

 

[sam_86314]

Submitted an RMA last night. Waiting for a response from Valve.

Since I fixed up my old phone, I was able to get some decent close-up shots of the board. I still can't spot any damage.

I've also posted about this on Reddit.

 

[sam_86314]

Got my RMA email today. I'm wondering if I should see if I can hold on to the SSD when I send it in. The email specifically says to back up your data and then do a factory reset, but since mine won't boot, it'd be better if I just kept the SSD.
Regardless, I'm going to take the SSD out to back it up before I send the Deck out.

 

[cvaldes]

Got my RMA email today. I'm wondering if I should see if I can hold on to the SSD when I send it in. The email specifically says to back up your data and then do a factory reset, but since mine won't boot, it'd be better if I just kept the SSD.
Regardless, I'm going to take the SSD out to back it up before I send the Deck out.

Undoubtedly the service center technicians have their own SSDs for testing with a known good OS image and diagnostic tools.

They don't know if any given customer has hacked the OS on his/her device.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Just opened it to look for anything obvious (hopefully that wasn't a mistake. Didn't spot anything, but it still won't power up after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

RMA submitted, we'll see where this goes.

Make sure you DONT TELL THEM that you opened it. Like most manufacturers, the slightest opportunity they get to void your warranty. They WILL void your warranty

 

[P4-630]

Make sure you DONT TELL THEM that you opened it. Like most manufacturers, the slightest opportunity they get to void your warranty. They WILL void your warranty

He wants to get his SSD out....

 

[lexluthermiester]

Don't open it, RMA it. Pops and sudden death in electronics means something went really wrong (unless they have fuses of the kind that breaks audibly but I assume the Steam Deck does not have those).

Great advice!

RMA submitted, we'll see where this goes.

That was the right move!

Make sure you DONT TELL THEM that you opened it. Like most manufacturers, the slightest opportunity they get to void your warranty. They WILL void your warranty

That is unlawful in the States and Sam is in Arizona. Valve is required by law to replace that defective unit.

 

[OneMoar]

warrantee void if removed stickers are illegal under federal law in the us

 

[sam_86314]

Alright, got the drive backed up, wiped (just the home partition), and reinstalled in the Deck. It's all boxed up and almost ready to go...

...just gotta wait for my shitty-ass printer to finally attempt to print the shipping label (or print it at work tomorrow, which is probably the faster option).

 

[sam_86314]

Steam support has received my Deck now. Hoping my new one gets sent within the next few days.

 

[natr0n]

stick to psx and dreamcast on there when you do get it back.

 

[LabRat 891]

Looking forward to how your RMA goes.

I've been very worried that my(the) Steam Deck has inadequate cooling (once even minimal particulate has built up). My Deck has gotten more aggressive on the fan the longer I've had it.
I've been primarily using my Deck docked with a Phillips hub and the factory Chicony branded charger. Just watching a video stream on my TV with it docked, it has noticeably gotten louder the longer I've used it this way. (Had my Deck for 2-3months)

Also, games like Harebrained Schemes' BattleTech shoot the APU to 85-92+C. I'm too scared to run that game due to the cooling issues.

I'm hoping Valve tells you what failed; I'm trying to 'passively research' what can be modified and improved (by a crafty end-user).

 

[R-T-B]

warrantee void if removed stickers are illegal under federal law in the us

Technically not illegal, just toothless (not the forum member), pointless, and only exist on the hopes someone believes them.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Technically not illegal, just toothless (not the forum member), pointless, and only exist on the hopes someone believes them.

The stickers are not illegal, but refusing a warranty for the removal or breaking of same certainly is.

 

[sam_86314]

Valve has provided a tracking number for the replacement, though it isn't valid yet.

So far it has gone smoothly.