Valve previews SteamOS 3.9.0 with new WiFi defaults and hibernation work

Valve's SteamOS 3.9.0 preview swaps the default WiFi backend, rebases the kernel, and lays groundwork for hibernation and internal renaming from steamos- to holo-.

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Valve has put out a preview build of SteamOS 3.9.0, the next version of the Linux based operating system that runs the Steam Deck and a growing list of other handhelds. The preview notes cover a new default WiFi backend, an updated desktop environment, early hibernation support, and a quiet renaming of the system's internal tooling.

SteamOS sits on Arch Linux under the hood, with Valve's own Game Mode interface layered on top and a KDE Plasma desktop mode underneath for anyone who wants a proper Linux desktop. The 3.9.0 preview updates that Arch base and bumps Plasma from 6.4.3 to 6.7.3, which Valve links out to KDE's own release announcements rather than detailing itself.

Why the WiFi backend switch matters

The most concrete change for anyone actually using the thing is under Developer settings. New installations will now default to wpa_supplicant, a widely used piece of software that handles the handshake between a device and a wireless network, rather than iwd, the backend Valve had favoured until now. Valve says this “improves compatibility with various WiFi networks”, and has also enhanced wpa_supplicant to support fast reconnect on resume from sleep, a feature that was previously only available on iwd. Existing installations are not switched automatically. According to the notes, they will keep using iwd unless a user manually flips it in Developer Settings, which Valve flags as a known issue rather than an intended permanent split. It is not explained in the notes why Valve is walking back its own default, though the wording suggests iwd caused enough real world network problems to justify the change.

Hibernation, a kernel bump, and steamos- becomes holo-

The kernel has been rebased on Linux 7.2, and the preview adds what Valve calls “preliminary support for hibernation”, the ability to save a full system state to disk and power off completely rather than just suspending. Crucially, this is not yet exposed anywhere in the Game Mode interface, so there is no button to press even if the plumbing works. Valve also says it has improved handling for interrupted hibernate requests and fixed unspecified driver issues, without naming which drivers.

Elsewhere, various scripts and packages have been renamed from the steamos- prefix to holo-, Valve's name for the underlying OS build system, with aliases kept for the old names so existing scripts and tooling should not break. The bootloader has been updated for compatibility with certain motherboards, again unnamed, and the Desktop Mode lockscreen can now be turned on explicitly in settings, though it stays off by default. Valve has also improved support for running SteamOS as a virtual machine guest with accelerated graphics, naming virtio-gpu and venus, two technologies used to pass GPU acceleration through to virtualised systems, which points toward developers and enthusiasts testing SteamOS on PCs rather than Deck hardware.

What is still unclear

Valve's own note warns that the preview may not include every change since SteamOS 3.8 Stable, so this list is a summary rather than a full changelog. There is no timeline given for when 3.9.0 leaves preview and reaches the stable channel, nor any detail on which handhelds beyond Steam Deck get these changes first. The discussion thread on Hacker News had picked up the release at the time of writing, though early comment there focuses mostly on the WiFi backend switch rather than the hibernation or virtualisation changes.

Sources

Image: store.steampowered.com

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