Fun fact I discovered the hard way: a game supporting cloud saves is no guarantee for working sync between steam deck and (Windows) PC, because some games have quirks like completely different cloud saves for native Linux versions {like Shadow of the Tomb Raider), or strange uppercase / lower case path quirks (like X4).
Well, if you force Shadow of the Tomb Raider to run under Proton 7, it will be running the windows version, making the sync'd (windows) savefiles work on the deck. Basically it is the same issue I have with Borderlands 2/TPS, but with the benefit that you have a possible solution.
I don't know about no shadow of the Tomb Raider but I play the game just called Tomb Raider and it did not have triangular shaped boobs this game wouldn't let me transfer my save to PC.
Great video. I'd also like to add: if you're not too afraid of the terminal, you can set up syncthing to run as a service so it will even start itself up and sync in the background in game mode. I use this to synchronise my MH Rise mods between pc and deck and it's been amazing.
@@isaiahkoontz not 100% sure on that, I set it up to automatically run and my other devices don't connect in game mode. I think it has to be specifically set up as a service.
@@logicalfundy it was working for me when I used the system settings frkm desktop mode, but it didn't work if I used the "run at startup" option from within syncthing. To be fair, it might also just be broken now. Haha Patches are coming out so fast it's hard to keep track of what still works.
Correct me if it already exists, but could you (or someone) make a playlist of different "recommended Steam Deck setup guides"? Theres been different videos how to setup emulators, ProtonUp-Qt and so on.... Would be nice to have them in a single playlist.
@@Mysko I don't have a Steam Deck yet and I don't know about the cool stuff people have done for it, which I am sure other more invested people do know about. Thats why I am asking for a guide-playlist for us soon-to-be Deck owners and Linux-beginners.
@@kjn5991 you watched this video and the other videos you described, right? Make a playlist of them and add more to it as you find more helpful videos and make the playlist public. Then you can watch it when you get your deck and potentially help others too.
Bro you just saved me so much time having to SSH into my deck to manually move a single file or files between my Clone Hero Song Library and my Music Library which I always keep backed up.
3:50 no, I do not. I expected a practical example, not someone roughly telling me what to do. It's not something obvious. this is a step by step tutorial on how to set up syncthing with the steam deck ruclips.net/video/QOgalYK83Ao/видео.htmlsi=B-CXabnE1Ar1lDjd
@@n1lknarf Exactly. The link you've pasted presents synching configuration perfectly. It also explains how to set up synching to run automatically in the background.
I'm wondering why valve didn't decide to make custom syncing solution for games based on syncthing. If proton has tweeks specific for some games it shouldn't be too hard to make a list of save locations for games and "force them" to use cloud sync.
I like the saves being separate for the most part. I went through and actually turned off cloud saves on my steam deck because I wanted to keep them separate. Still, this is good advice for people who want to have their old saves.
I also have experienced building a deck in a card game and having the decks not sync to the game on from the deck to my Pop!OS and vice versa. I am imagining this could fix that too. 🤔
Good old Warhammer2 total war linux version can load sync save files, but its save files cant be loaded by the windows client... So its a one way, I can start a champaign on windows but only bounce it between my linux instal & steamdeck This is a very "this game" problem, and technically I could run windows version with proton with better performance in the menus but almost as good in game and have no issues, but if it has a native linux version like come on, I gotta use it!
I transfered a rom I was using in RetroArch on my PC and when I went to use it on my steam deck there was no save state (or save file if the game has saving). Would this work for that using the native Linux version of RetroArch?
Then there's X4: Foundations, which theoretically supports cloud saves, but treats Windows and Linux saves separately. Had to disable cloud saves and just use Syncthing.
Eyy, Syncthing is pretty cool. I prefer Resilio because it has a selective sync, but syncthing is cool too. I wish syncthing would get selective sync or Resilio would get a flatpak release (I haven't tried Resilio with distrobox or Junest, but maybe that'd be a solution for Steam Deck). And I periodically backup my saves with Ludusavi, and just sync that with Resilio. Very useful for stuff like visual novels I got outside of Steam and GOG.
@@tiagotiagot Basically, the file isn't downloaded, like how OneDrive works in Windows. I'm not entirely sure how it works in Resilio PC because it's been a while since I had the trial, but on phone, it means you can browse the files on your other devices and only pull stuff as necessary. Very handy when I'm not in the office and someone wants me to send a document, or in simulating a Google Photos alternative.
@@tiagotiagot I guess? I don't use ftp servers enough to be able to draw direct comparison. The best comparison I have is OneDrive/Dropbox/GDrive and Google Photos' selective sync. I guess instead of a server, it's just a peer.
Nice to see Syncthing in a video. It's by far the best self hosted sync option available, and much better than the overrated NextCloud by miles, that always seam to dominate RUclips channels.
What sort or resources does this use on steam deck, in terms of RAM and CPU usage (compared to cloud services withs symbolic links), obviously we need our Decks to be as efficiently as possible given their relatively limited resources. (I run Window exclusively on my deck as most of my games are non-steam). Thanks for the guide, an interesting bit of software. I used something similar years ago that used torrent technology to sync your chosen folders. It was a very simple windows application but can't remember it.
What a fantastic tutorial ! Thanks a ton ! I will try to sync up Diablo 2 Single Player games between my PC and steam deck (with my NAS in the middle for any-time syncing) PS: I cracked when you said "why not like that smash button" instead of "why not smash that like button" LOL
Thank you for the vid! I didn't quite get syncthing into the Gaming-Mode running. I added it the usual way but it doesnt seem to load up (it should do something similar to the desktop version right ?) Any tipps?
is there any way to run this in the background of game mode? or do I have to go to go to desktop mode on my steam deck to initiate upload of latest saves?
For me, the steam cloud thing is enough. The only game(s) where I've run into problems is the Borderlands (2 and TPS), where the Aspyr native port never got the last patches (basically from the hi-res thing and Commander Lilith patch on), making the savefiles from my roughly 3500 hours of native Linux play incompatible with the proton/windows game, forcing me to start over from scratch to get those hi-res patches (both games) and that dlc (2). So, although this is a great video, it does not help me. If someone is familiar with the savefile format enough that I can edit the version info though...😃
I use Microsoft OneDrive and an app called Onesync for android. This allows me to sync my retroarch, launchbox, saves and ROMs with every windows and android system. Syncthings might be what I was looking for to sync windows games and steamdeck
I use this with a Google drive folder (on a Google account dedicated to retro games) and it works very well. This seems to be a more ideal solution because, unless I misunderstood something, Syncthing requires both devices to be on at the same time to work.
Gardiner question for you. Couple months ago you made a video slamming Xbox Game Pass because you didn't own the game, but with steam you don't actually own the game either? You sure seem to be obsessed with Steam which at the end of the day is a DRM. I don't have any issues, Steam is great. But you really seemed to be obsessed about ownership. Just been on my mind recently. I'd love to hear your thoughts though
With Game Pass as soon as you stop paying $200 or whatever a year for the service you can't play the games you downloaded. With Steam theoretical games could go dark or Valve's servers can sink into the ocean, but it's not something I really worry about. I fully expect to be able to download all the stupid games I've ever bought during my lifetime.
The title had me thinking this was a tool to make a second deck play like a controller to join someone else in offline multiplayer games. Come to think of it, is there anything that does that?
Sadly no. The Syncthing devs have declined adding support for this due to a number of reasons (sometimes actually syncing the link itself is what you want, other times you only want to follow certain links, how deep do you want to follow links, etc., all add too complexity to path resolving). A workaround is to use something like sshfs with symlink following enabled, so you can mount /path/to/area/with/links to /path/to/use/as/sync via sshfs and sync _that_ location instead.
If you set it up as a user service with systemctl you can have it always running in the background. There's a guide on r/SteamDeck on how to set it up.
@@ApeironTsuka doesn't work for the flatpak-included binary as the flatpak system manages that, but if you're using a syncthing binary from outside the flatpak, yes
Syncthing is pretty cool. I've succesfully used it for syncing WiiU saves with my windows PC. PCSX2 saves don't play nice for whatever reason. Syncthing either doesn't see them, or not all data gets copied correctly.
Steam really needs to expand the Steam Cloud toolkit and let users set up manual syncs of saves and mods for games that don't support them natively.
My guess is that it's on the list of things to implement.
I don't, on windows and Linux I just have different Minecraft worlds.
Fun fact I discovered the hard way: a game supporting cloud saves is no guarantee for working sync between steam deck and (Windows) PC, because some games have quirks like completely different cloud saves for native Linux versions {like Shadow of the Tomb Raider), or strange uppercase / lower case path quirks (like X4).
That's just silly
Well, if you force Shadow of the Tomb Raider to run under Proton 7, it will be running the windows version, making the sync'd (windows) savefiles work on the deck.
Basically it is the same issue I have with Borderlands 2/TPS, but with the benefit that you have a possible solution.
I know my Terraria saves were probably fudged because of modding
I don't know about no shadow of the Tomb Raider but I play the game just called Tomb Raider and it did not have triangular shaped boobs this game wouldn't let me transfer my save to PC.
Also hollow knight and borderlands 2
Great video. I'd also like to add: if you're not too afraid of the terminal, you can set up syncthing to run as a service so it will even start itself up and sync in the background in game mode. I use this to synchronise my MH Rise mods between pc and deck and it's been amazing.
Care to share details?
If you go into the system settings there is a start up option where you can add it.
@@isaiahkoontz not 100% sure on that, I set it up to automatically run and my other devices don't connect in game mode. I think it has to be specifically set up as a service.
@@logicalfundy it was working for me when I used the system settings frkm desktop mode, but it didn't work if I used the "run at startup" option from within syncthing.
To be fair, it might also just be broken now. Haha Patches are coming out so fast it's hard to keep track of what still works.
Does it cause any performance issues running in the background all the time?
Syncthing is awesome tool. It also have relays for sharing synced folders with other users outside your local network (default option)
Correct me if it already exists, but could you (or someone) make a playlist of different "recommended Steam Deck setup guides"?
Theres been different videos how to setup emulators, ProtonUp-Qt and so on....
Would be nice to have them in a single playlist.
I would love to see this
Does G-man have a discord or something?
You can always do it
@@Mysko I don't have a Steam Deck yet and I don't know about the cool stuff people have done for it, which I am sure other more invested people do know about.
Thats why I am asking for a guide-playlist for us soon-to-be Deck owners and Linux-beginners.
@@kjn5991 you watched this video and the other videos you described, right? Make a playlist of them and add more to it as you find more helpful videos and make the playlist public. Then you can watch it when you get your deck and potentially help others too.
Bro you just saved me so much time having to SSH into my deck to manually move a single file or files between my Clone Hero Song Library and my Music Library which I always keep backed up.
Can I use syncthing to sync to the cloud just for backup purposes, not transferring to another PC? Thanks
3:50 no, I do not. I expected a practical example, not someone roughly telling me what to do. It's not something obvious.
this is a step by step tutorial on how to set up syncthing with the steam deck ruclips.net/video/QOgalYK83Ao/видео.htmlsi=B-CXabnE1Ar1lDjd
@@n1lknarf Exactly. The link you've pasted presents synching configuration perfectly. It also explains how to set up synching to run automatically in the background.
I think something like a save game manager can help with this.
You'll only have to sync the folder in which the saves are stored.
I'm wondering why valve didn't decide to make custom syncing solution for games based on syncthing. If proton has tweeks specific for some games it shouldn't be too hard to make a list of save locations for games and "force them" to use cloud sync.
Hey, hey! Great video. Can you do a video on how to change the boot loader animation ?
I like the saves being separate for the most part. I went through and actually turned off cloud saves on my steam deck because I wanted to keep them separate.
Still, this is good advice for people who want to have their old saves.
Worth mentioning, on Windows if you want syncthing to run when you're not logged in, install for "all users".
ON MY STEAMDECK, the folder I'm syncing with says Stopped. I'm not sure what to do
Do the steam deck video with lutris x
Thanks for making this! The more popular these syncing tools get, the better and more commonplace they’ll be.
I also have experienced building a deck in a card game and having the decks not sync to the game on from the deck to my Pop!OS and vice versa. I am imagining this could fix that too. 🤔
Good old Warhammer2 total war linux version can load sync save files, but its save files cant be loaded by the windows client...
So its a one way, I can start a champaign on windows but only bounce it between my linux instal & steamdeck
This is a very "this game" problem, and technically I could run windows version with proton with better performance in the menus but almost as good in game and have no issues, but if it has a native linux version like come on, I gotta use it!
syncthing can run in gamemode on startup with a little extra setup, I reccomend looking up how to do it, doesn't take very long
I put EVERY SINGLE SAVE FILE on my Google drive and it works even if the game already has cloud save
Amazing video by the way, but how can i sync saves when i shut down my main pc and continue the game later on my laptop?
I transfered a rom I was using in RetroArch on my PC and when I went to use it on my steam deck there was no save state (or save file if the game has saving). Would this work for that using the native Linux version of RetroArch?
Then there's X4: Foundations, which theoretically supports cloud saves, but treats Windows and Linux saves separately. Had to disable cloud saves and just use Syncthing.
Do we need a Syncthing Service ? cause I saw another video where we have to download that from his link and put it in a file.
I have a non steam game running via Proton and if i do all your steps the LocalLow folder is just empty. Any ideas?
why ? cant steam just steam line the process by just linking files?
My Steamdeck is stuck checking for available port can anyone help?
I found Syncthing fails to start on the deck after installing with an HTTP error that has a blank string.
Eyy, Syncthing is pretty cool. I prefer Resilio because it has a selective sync, but syncthing is cool too. I wish syncthing would get selective sync or Resilio would get a flatpak release (I haven't tried Resilio with distrobox or Junest, but maybe that'd be a solution for Steam Deck). And I periodically backup my saves with Ludusavi, and just sync that with Resilio. Very useful for stuff like visual novels I got outside of Steam and GOG.
What does "selective sync" means?
@@tiagotiagot Basically, the file isn't downloaded, like how OneDrive works in Windows. I'm not entirely sure how it works in Resilio PC because it's been a while since I had the trial, but on phone, it means you can browse the files on your other devices and only pull stuff as necessary. Very handy when I'm not in the office and someone wants me to send a document, or in simulating a Google Photos alternative.
@@FengLengshun Ah, so it's more like setting up a a conventional FTP server?
@@tiagotiagot I guess? I don't use ftp servers enough to be able to draw direct comparison. The best comparison I have is OneDrive/Dropbox/GDrive and Google Photos' selective sync. I guess instead of a server, it's just a peer.
I am setting this up as I watching this is awesome! Broke my screen with my Golf Club! 😉
This is cool, but having to do this on a game by game basis would be obnoxious. But cool if you only have to do it for a game or two.
Syncthing only does this one way though. How would i step it up so it goes back to my pc?
Syncthing is extremely reliable. Ive been using it on my S22 and Pixel 1 for unlimited photo storage. Works great!
why does steam only sync half my fallout 4 pc saves to my steam deck ?
I was always afraid it would overwrite my newer save hrm.
Isn't this what Andrew File System was meant to address?
How do you do this with yuzu?
Nice to see Syncthing in a video. It's by far the best self hosted sync option available, and much better than the overrated NextCloud by miles, that always seam to dominate RUclips channels.
Nextcloud and syncthing are two very different tools that serve different purposes.
I'd like to know how to get an apk on my steam deck like IPTV SMARTERS!
What sort or resources does this use on steam deck, in terms of RAM and CPU usage (compared to cloud services withs symbolic links), obviously we need our Decks to be as efficiently as possible given their relatively limited resources. (I run Window exclusively on my deck as most of my games are non-steam).
Thanks for the guide, an interesting bit of software.
I used something similar years ago that used torrent technology to sync your chosen folders. It was a very simple windows application but can't remember it.
What a fantastic tutorial ! Thanks a ton ! I will try to sync up Diablo 2 Single Player games between my PC and steam deck (with my NAS in the middle for any-time syncing)
PS: I cracked when you said "why not like that smash button" instead of "why not smash that like button" LOL
Thank you for the vid! I didn't quite get syncthing into the Gaming-Mode running. I added it the usual way but it doesnt seem to load up (it should do something similar to the desktop version right ?) Any tipps?
is there any way to run this in the background of game mode? or do I have to go to go to desktop mode on my steam deck to initiate upload of latest saves?
I used to do something similar with DropBox and symbolic links. I doubt that works with Linux though.
It's not just SteamCloud; some games use other clouds. But yeah, there are games with no cloud-saving whatsoever.
Synced BOTW
Great walkthrough. Do you have one for setting up printing? I'm not sure it even comes with CUPS.
for linux is this a easy task if you just sync the compdata folder for wine/proton games
For me, the steam cloud thing is enough. The only game(s) where I've run into problems is the Borderlands (2 and TPS), where the Aspyr native port never got the last patches (basically from the hi-res thing and Commander Lilith patch on), making the savefiles from my roughly 3500 hours of native Linux play incompatible with the proton/windows game, forcing me to start over from scratch to get those hi-res patches (both games) and that dlc (2).
So, although this is a great video, it does not help me.
If someone is familiar with the savefile format enough that I can edit the version info though...😃
I was just researching this and nearly leaned on google drive as a make shift steam cloud.
I use dropbox for syncing my save files from my phone and linux laptop
Can this also be used to sync chat history folders in a game that has a local unsaved chat history to the same game on the other machine?
ISLETS just released. Does not support cloud sync...
Brilliant option! I'll definitely like that smash button!
Does this process need to be done for every game? Seems like a lot of work.
I'm gonna do this for my epic games by running it on my portainer instance.
Good video, was looking for a simple solution and this seems to be it.
I set this up for my cellphone and retropie. Works very well.
Thanks chief. Liked that smash button in the process.
Ooh interesting, I just started using this for syncing my Soulstone Survivors saves last week. Syncthing is great!
you are too good to be true, best steamdeck channel
I use Microsoft OneDrive and an app called Onesync for android. This allows me to sync my retroarch, launchbox, saves and ROMs with every windows and android system. Syncthings might be what I was looking for to sync windows games and steamdeck
I use this with a Google drive folder (on a Google account dedicated to retro games) and it works very well. This seems to be a more ideal solution because, unless I misunderstood something, Syncthing requires both devices to be on at the same time to work.
Do you have any videos on how to use one drive for the saves and ROMs cause my emulators are on my microsd card
Syncthing is amazing, it is my favorite software ever
Gardiner question for you. Couple months ago you made a video slamming Xbox Game Pass because you didn't own the game, but with steam you don't actually own the game either? You sure seem to be obsessed with Steam which at the end of the day is a DRM. I don't have any issues, Steam is great. But you really seemed to be obsessed about ownership. Just been on my mind recently. I'd love to hear your thoughts though
With Game Pass as soon as you stop paying $200 or whatever a year for the service you can't play the games you downloaded. With Steam theoretical games could go dark or Valve's servers can sink into the ocean, but it's not something I really worry about. I fully expect to be able to download all the stupid games I've ever bought during my lifetime.
Syncthing is awesome and I'm so glad you made this video. Imma shre this around now
The title had me thinking this was a tool to make a second deck play like a controller to join someone else in offline multiplayer games. Come to think of it, is there anything that does that?
Maybe try the streem from device option?
Is it possible to get syncthing to follow symlinks? For example to use with emudeck saves folder?
Sadly no. The Syncthing devs have declined adding support for this due to a number of reasons (sometimes actually syncing the link itself is what you want, other times you only want to follow certain links, how deep do you want to follow links, etc., all add too complexity to path resolving). A workaround is to use something like sshfs with symlink following enabled, so you can mount /path/to/area/with/links to /path/to/use/as/sync via sshfs and sync _that_ location instead.
@@ApeironTsuka Great tip! And thanks for the info
hella helpful, thank u :)
7:14 cant you just tell Syncthing to start on device boot? Or does Desktop mode not even boot up if you are in game mode?
as far as i know no it doesn't start
If you set it up as a user service with systemctl you can have it always running in the background. There's a guide on r/SteamDeck on how to set it up.
@@chipgw will having it run in the background cause performance issues?
@@McVerdict it might have some effect, but nothing so egregious that I've noticed it
What’s the best way to install Syncthing on steam deck? There isn’t a flatpak as far as I know.
Download it from their website
I use the syncthing-gtk flatpak. It comes with the syncthing binary included as well as the GTK interface that you can optionally use.
GTK interface can also be optionally set up to automatically update the syncthing binary as well.
@@ApeironTsuka doesn't work for the flatpak-included binary as the flatpak system manages that, but if you're using a syncthing binary from outside the flatpak, yes
No one will do this. People are lazy too much work lol
Where there is a will, there is a way.
I do this!
No, a power user and early adaptor would never do anything that took like 6 clicks and some copy pasta to get running. 😐
syncthing was one of the first things i installed
Just here for the algorithm engagement.
Syncthing is pretty cool. I've succesfully used it for syncing WiiU saves with my windows PC. PCSX2 saves don't play nice for whatever reason. Syncthing either doesn't see them, or not all data gets copied correctly.