The Opt-In Data Gathering and Crash Reporting on Valve's Steam Deck
The Steam Deck by Valve, equipped with SteamOS, incorporates a system for collecting crash data as well as logging various noteworthy system events. These can include features like split-lock detection and other significant occurrences. Importantly, users have the choice to opt-in for this data collection, allowing Steam to gather insights. If you're interested in delving deeper into how this data collection works on the Steam Deck, a presentation at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference shed light on these aspects.
Presented by Guilherme Piccoli from Igalia, a consulting firm that has collaborated closely with Valve, the talk focused on the data collection methods utilized by the Steam Deck. This data collection serves dual purposes: it helps address issues related to software and hardware failures, while also providing valuable information that game developers can use to optimize their games, engines, or libraries for improved performance on the Steam Deck and SteamOS.
The data includes critical incidents such as crashes, GPU stalls, kernel errors, and out-of-memory situations. Additionally, it tracks less severe but still useful events like split lock detections. All of this data is crucial for enhancing user experience, but it’s worth noting that participation in this collection is entirely voluntary.
For those eager to learn more about the functionality behind Steam Deck’s data collection, there is a detailed PDF slide deck available. You can explore it here. However, video recordings from LPC 2025 are not yet accessible.
