Valve says Linux PCs already stream to a Steam Frame, but its guide says Windows only

Valve has told the owners asking about Linux hosts that plenty of them are covered. “Many Linux configurations already support streaming to Steam Frame and other headsets using Steam Link, and we hope you’ll find your configuration also works too,” says a seven-point reply posted at 14:38 UTC on October 3 to Valve’s SteamVR for Linux tracker, which puts the wireless adapter’s requirement at “SteamOS 3.9+, or Linux kernel 7.2+”.

Valve’s Steam Frame store artwork. The adapter requirement is SteamOS 3.9+ or Linux kernel 7.2+. Image: Valve

Valve’s own Steam Frame support guide says something firmer, and still does. “Full support for SteamVR and Steam Frame streaming via the wireless adapter are currently available on Windows only,” reads the undated support page, checked on October 3, which we reported on October 2. A tracker reply is not a documentation change, and the documentation has not changed.

The adapter wants software most Linux users do not have

Both numbers in that requirement are ahead of what is shipping, and the support guide carries the same pair. SteamOS 3.9 exists only on the beta and preview channels, with 3.9.2 Beta the newest, released on September 25; the stable line is still SteamOS 3.8.28. Linux kernel 7.2 is newer than the kernels most distributions ship by default.

Valve expects that to improve without saying how. There are “additional patches currently working their way through various packages to better support the dongle”, the reply says, naming no package, no kernel version and no timeframe.

What else the reply settles

The questions had been sitting since September 15, when an owner opened an information request titled “[Information Request]: Steam Frame Linux support” and asked for an answer before buying. “Official material names PC, laptop, Steam Deck and (later) Steam Machine as streaming hosts, but does not state whether a non-SteamOS Linux desktop is a supported host at launch,” it says. Eighteen days later, Valve answered.

On encoding, the reply is specific: “We use vulkan video to encode HEVC video on the host PC. We prefer discrete GPUs, and prefer a nvidia card if available. The GPU that steam link chooses will also be the one used by SteamVR too.” The owner who filed the request had asked whether the encode GPU can be pinned on a multi-GPU machine. Valve does not say it can, and Steam Link still gives you no way to pick a different card.

Eye tracking reaches PC apps, but only on request. “When permission is explicitly granted in Steam Link’s VR settings to send eye tracking data to other apps, XR_EXT_eye_gaze_interaction is supported on the host PC,” the reply says. Host audio, it adds, works the same way it does when streaming from a Quest.

The one line owners will want to lean on is the softest. “If you’re already using Steam Link with a Quest, we expect streaming to a Frame would also work just fine,” Valve writes, and an expectation is not a support commitment. The guide still warns that “SteamVR on Steam Machine and desktop Linux isn’t fully supported at this time”, and still tells anyone testing streaming from a Steam Machine to opt into the SteamVR beta and launch SteamVR by hand before starting a VR game.

The last point is housekeeping with a request attached. Valve says it reads both the GitHub tracker and the SteamVR community forums, that “a number of issues reported here have been fixed in recent SteamVR updates”, and that reports should use the issue template and carry logs. “A simple and concise hand-written message describing the problem you’re running into, and a description of your system/configuration, goes a long way to helping us diagnose and fix the problem,” it says.

So the position on October 3 is a developer saying it should work, a help page saying Windows, and an adapter that wants an operating system Valve has not finished shipping.

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