Cooling the Steam Deck while Docked, tinkering with the Miyoo Mini etc

Greetings there once again, fine tinkery compatriots. This time I’ve burned some gift cards to try out some accessories for my Steam Deck and incoming Miyoo Mini.

I made a little public-facing Amazon list of nice-to-haves for the Steam Deck if someone is using it as a docked desktop machine, including a cooler that I’ve linked here. Going to take my Killswitch case off my Deck and attach that cooler now to see how it performs in a docked setup.

As you can see, it adds a bit of chonk to the back, but I can definitely still keep the deck sitting in a dock. At some point, I think I’ll put the handhelds I no longer use in a glass case a little nod to the history of handheld PC development over the years. From the VAIO UX380N, to the original GPD WM, to the Deck and beyond. Now, let’s run some benchmarks via PTS and see what the temperatures look like.

This cooler is fairly interesting! Looks to keep the temps slightly cooler when benching the system by taking my rail systems all throughout my Core Keeper server. Usually the Deck will easily be 75c+ across the board. Seems the cooler pulling more air out of the deck is also keeping the Deck’s fan RPMs low too.

I’ve also figured out how to get games on your MicroSD card recognized on the Odroid GO Ultra! Here’s the most recent Ubuntu EmulationStation image available for it. Here’s the tutorial on how to flash it. Also, here’s the Retro Game Corps video timestamp that I went to, to figure out what I needed to do in order to get the game roms to show up on the system. If only there was better upfront documentation or instructions on how to use this device…

Ah, never mind, looks like the current ES image still won’t read the rom directory structure on my unit, even though I’ve heard it’s working for others. Your mileage may vary there, so good luck!

I have a Miyoo Mini on order now, from the official KeepRetro storefront, having been scammed twice on AliExpress and no longer wishing to waste money on Chinese scam storefronts that are taken down the second they get your money. Once I get that, I’ll be checking firmware compatibility and then running through this guide to install OnionOS and check out how it runs!

Update, a few weeks later, the Miyoo Mini came in! Sadly, it is running some outdated firmware, so I’ll have to upgrade it to a version that is compatible with OnionOS soon, then I can tinker further. Once I find my 64gb Sandisk MicroSD card somewhere in my tech drawers I’ll give that shot.