**Version 0.1.3** — Steam Deck-style gaming mode for Linux + Hyprland. Press `Super+Shift+S` to enter Gaming Mode (Steam Big Picture in Gamescope), `Super+Shift+R` to return to your desktop.
Lineage: forked from [Super-Shift-S-Omarchy-Deck-Mode](https://git.no-signal.uk/nosignal/Super-Shift-S-Omarchy-Deck-Mode), briefly renamed Omarchy Deck, then renamed DeckShift as the project moves toward distro-portability.
> **Current status**: targets [Omarchy](https://omarchy.com) (Arch + Hyprland + SDDM + iwd). Works on other Arch + Hyprland setups with minor manual tweaks. Cross-distro support (Fedora / openSUSE / Cachy) is the next direction.
- **Saves your real pre-Gaming-Mode state** (CPU governor + power profile) on entry to `~/.cache/deckshift/saved-state` and restores those exact values on exit. No more guessing `powersave`/`balanced`.
- **Synchronous restore in `switch-to-desktop`** — runs *before* SDDM is restarted, so the restore can't be SIGKILL'd mid-write by session teardown.
- **`switch-to-desktop` now uses an atomic `systemctl restart sddm`** instead of a racy stop+disowned-start that could leave the display manager stopped (= black screen).
- **`powerprofilesctl` is now in the NOPASSWD allowlist** so the restore call can succeed without a polkit auth agent.
### v0.1.2 — TUI hardening + hybrid PRIME offload
- **Hybrid GPU support in the Settings TUI.** Two new GPU modes:
- **`[hybrid-nvidia]`** — for laptops with NVIDIA dGPU + AMD/Intel iGPU where the laptop screen (`eDP-1`) is wired to the iGPU. Sets `__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1` + friends so Gamescope runs on the iGPU but games inside still render on the NVIDIA dGPU via PRIME render offload. Tested working on Acer Nitro (AMD APU + RTX 3050) playing Homeworld 3 with NVIDIA acceleration on the laptop screen.
- **`[hybrid-amd]`** — for AMD dGPU + AMD/Intel iGPU laptops. Asks which GPU is the dGPU, then sets `DRI_PRIME` + `MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT` so games offload to the AMD dGPU.
- **Settings TUI no longer crashes on stale `OUTPUT_CONNECTOR`.** When the saved monitor is currently unplugged the TUI falls back gracefully instead of tripping `pipefail`.
- **Installer no longer preselects monitor / resolution / refresh rate.** Display selection is now exclusively the TUI's job; the installer writes only GPU and static keys to `gamescope-session-plus.conf`.
- **Conf writer is now per-key set/unset** (sed-based), idempotent — re-running the installer preserves user-set display values from the TUI instead of clobbering them.
### v0.1.1 / v0.1.0 — original deckshift fork
- Settings TUI launched from Walker (`Super+Space → "DeckShift Settings"`).
After install, launch `DeckShift Settings` from Walker (or run `deckshift-settings` directly) to change Gaming Mode display settings without editing config files:
| Option | What it sets in `gamescope-session-plus.conf` |
The TUI launches as a floating window via Omarchy's `TUI.float` pattern. Selections are **buffered** — nothing is written to disk until you pick **Save and exit**. **Cancel** discards unsaved changes. Saved changes apply next time you enter Gaming Mode (`Super+Shift+S`).
## What It Does
This installer transforms your desktop into a dual-mode system:
- **Desktop Mode** — your normal Hyprland session.
- **Gaming Mode** — full-screen Steam Big Picture running inside Gamescope (the same compositor used by the Steam Deck), with automatic performance tuning, controller support, and external drive mounting.
> **Note**: This script targets Omarchy and its stack (Hyprland, SDDM, iwd, UWSM, PipeWire). It works on other Arch + Hyprland setups with light tweaks, but isn't tested there.
If Gaming Mode (or anything else) leaves you on a black screen, here's the order of escalation:
1.**`Super + Shift + R`** — the keybind monitor inside Gamescope still works on a black screen as long as the kernel is processing input.
2.**Wait 10 seconds.** Sometimes the display is just renegotiating EDID after a session swap; give it a beat.
3.**Switch to a TTY**: press `Ctrl + Alt + F2` (try `F3` / `F4` if F2 is blank). You'll get a text login prompt.
4. Log in as your user, then run one of:
- **Cleanest** — log the graphical session out cleanly and bounce back to SDDM:
```
loginctl terminate-user $USER
```
- **Heavier** — restart the whole display manager:
```
sudo systemctl restart sddm
```
5. **From SSH** (from another machine on the network) the same commands work — handy if the box is wedged but its network is alive.
6. **Last resort:** hold the power button. Safe in this situation; you didn't cause the freeze, gamescope did.
If you keep ending up on a black screen, see [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) — most often it's a GPU↔connector mismatch on hybrid laptops (e.g. NVIDIA mode targeting `eDP-1`, which on a hybrid is wired to the iGPU). Switch the GPU mode in DeckShift Settings to `[hybrid-nvidia]` and pick `eDP-1` for the monitor.
The correct NVIDIA driver branch is auto-selected via Omarchy's `omarchy-hw-nvidia-gsp` / `omarchy-hw-nvidia-without-gsp` helpers — no manual override needed. Intel-only systems get a generation warning + Y/N prompt before continuing (Skylake/Kaby Lake era is slow; Tiger Lake / Arc is fine).
When Gaming Mode starts, the session wrapper saves your current CPU governor and power-profiles-daemon profile to `~/.cache/deckshift/saved-state`, then:
On exit, both `switch-to-desktop` (synchronous, runs first) and the wrapper's trap (backup) read the saved file and restore the **exact** values that were set before Gaming Mode.
> **Caveat — Omarchy + AC**: Omarchy's `omarchy-powerprofiles-init` autostarts on every Hyprland session and sets the power profile to `performance` whenever the laptop is on AC. So even after a perfect deckshift restore, the next Hyprland session will reset to `performance` if you're plugged in. This is Omarchy's intended behaviour, not a deckshift bug — it'd happen to any program that tries to set `balanced` and then a Hyprland session restarts. To opt out, comment `exec-once = omarchy-powerprofiles-init` in `~/.config/hypr/autostart.conf`. On battery the deckshift restore lands at the saved value and stays there.
Many systems running Hyprland use `iwd` or `systemd-networkd` instead of NetworkManager. Since Steam requires NetworkManager for its network settings UI, the installer creates a managed handoff:
Display keys (`SCREEN_WIDTH`, `SCREEN_HEIGHT`, `CUSTOM_REFRESH_RATES`, `OUTPUT_CONNECTOR`) and hybrid-PRIME env vars are **owned exclusively by the Settings TUI**. Re-running the installer preserves your TUI choices.
**NVIDIA note**: Gamescope on NVIDIA is currently capped at 2560×1440. The TUI flags any higher resolution as unsupported.
- **Persistence mode**: enabled during gaming, disabled on exit.
### Hybrid laptop note
On a hybrid laptop (NVIDIA dGPU + AMD/Intel iGPU), the laptop screen (`eDP-1`) is wired to the iGPU. NVIDIA cannot scan out directly to it — pointing the direct `[nvidia]` mode at `eDP-1` will black-screen.
Use **`[hybrid-nvidia]`** in the Settings TUI instead. Gamescope will run on the iGPU (which owns `eDP-1`) and games inside will render on NVIDIA via PRIME render offload, with the rendered frames flowing back through DMA-BUF for scanout. This is the same architecture Steam Deck uses (just with one GPU).
Most likely a hybrid-laptop GPU↔connector mismatch — NVIDIA can't drive the iGPU's display.
- Switch the GPU mode to **`[hybrid-nvidia]`** (or `[hybrid-amd]` for AMD-only hybrids) in DeckShift Settings.
- If you only have the laptop screen, that's the only working path — direct NVIDIA mode requires an external display plugged into the dGPU's HDMI/DP output.
See [Recovery from a Black Screen](#recovery-from-a-black-screen) for how to get out of the black-screen state.
**Screen sharing in Chromium / Firefox is broken after returning from Gaming Mode (only "Share a tab" works)**
`xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland` is bound to the killed Hyprland instance — tab capture works because it bypasses the portal, but desktop/window capture goes through it and fails silently.
DeckShift handles this automatically via `/usr/local/bin/deckshift-portal-recovery` (autostarted from `~/.config/hypr/autostart.conf`). If you installed before this fix or the autostart hook didn't get added, run:
**Suspend fails with "Access denied" after returning from Gaming Mode**
The runtime mask on `suspend.target` from the gaming switch wasn't cleared. DeckShift now handles this in `switch-to-desktop`. For older installs, the one-time fix is:
**Power profile stays on `performance` after Gaming Mode exit**
If you're on AC and using Omarchy, this is expected — see the *Performance Mode* caveat above. The deckshift restore is correctly running; Omarchy's session-init policy is overriding it on the next Hyprland start.
- Older Gen8/9 Intel iGPUs (Skylake, Kaby Lake) struggle with Vulkan workloads. Lower the launch resolution via the Settings TUI (`deckshift-settings`) — 720p / 1080p makes a big difference.
