Taming CachyOS Handheld: SteamOS Experience on a Desktop PC

Usually, getting a true SteamOS experience on a PC involves installing a dedicated “distro” that wipes your drive or forces a console-only UI. But with CachyOS, you can simply install the cachyos-handheld package on your existing desktop.

The problem? It tries to turn your multi-purpose desktop into a dedicated console by bypassing your login screen and launching Steam automatically. Here is how to get the features without the “hostile takeover” of your PC.

Note: This guide assumes you initially installed CachyOS as a standard desktop operating system (not the Handheld Edition) and are running it on a regular desktop PC, rather than a handheld gaming device.

The Prerequisites 🔗

Before you start, ensure your system is fully synced. Running a blind install often leads to 404 mirror errors if your databases are stale.

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S cachyos-handheld

The “Desktop First” Configuration 🔗

When you install this package, it switches your display manager to plasmalogin and forces an autologin. To fix this, we need to poke a few configuration files.

CachyOS Handheld uses Plasma Login Manager (PLM). It places override files in /etc/plasmalogin.conf.d/ that skip the password prompt.

To get your login screen back, comment out the lines in these two files by adding a # at the start:

# File 1: Force-disable the autologin trigger
sudo nano /etc/plasmalogin.conf.d/zz-steamos-autologin.conf

# File 2: Disable the 'deckify' defaults
sudo nano /etc/plasmalogin.conf.d/steam-deckify.conf

Your files should look like this:

#[Autologin]
#Relogin=true
#Session=plasma
#User=indra

2. Enable Persistent Sessions 🔗

You want the system to remember your last choice. If you reboot from the Desktop, you should land back on the Desktop. Run this command to stop the system from “forcing” Game Mode on every boot:

steamos-session-select persistent

3. Killing the Steam Autostart 🔗

Even on a desktop session, the handheld package insists on launching Steam. Since this is defined in a system-wide directory, we “mask” it for our specific user:

# Create your local autostart directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart/

# Copy the system-wide entry and hide it
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/steam.desktop ~/.config/autostart/
echo "Hidden=true" >> ~/.config/autostart/steam.desktop

How to Switch Modes 🔗

The best part about the cachyos-handheld package is that it automatically creates a “Return to Gaming Mode” shortcut on your desktop.

To Game: Double-click the “Return to Gaming Mode” icon. It will log you out and launch the Steam Deck UI.
To Work: Use the Steam Power Menu > Switch to Desktop to return to your normal KDE Plasma environment.

Verification 🔗

Once you’ve rebooted, verify that:

Login Screen: You are prompted for your password.
Quiet Boot: Steam doesn’t pop up and steal focus immediately.
FPS Sliders: When in “Gaming Mode,” the ”…” Quick Access Menu now shows the performance sliders (FPS limit, FSR, TDP) just like a Steam Deck.