Steam Machine users are reporting 'red line of death' issues, but there's now an official fix - and it's surprisingly easy | Tech Radar
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Steam Machine users are reporting 'red line of death' issues, but there's now an official fix - and it's surprisingly easy
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Some Steam Machine users are having issues (Image credit: Valve)
Valve has posted a fix for the 'red line of death' problem
There's good news if your newly purchased Steam Machine has been hit by the 'red line of death' — where the PC displays a solid red indicator light and refuses to boot up (reminiscent of the old Xbox 'red ring of death').
A couple of reports about this problem have appeared in recent days, although it's not clear exactly how widespread this issue is. If you have been hit by the frustrating bug though, Valve now has some official advice for you.
In detailed troubleshooting instructions posted to Reddit, the official Steam hardware feedback account advises affected users to work through a series of steps that include unplugging the Steam Machine and forcing a full reboot.
It's worth saying that the Redditor who originally reported the issue was able to get their Steam Machine up and running again by leaving it unplugged overnight — so an effective fix might not require all of the official instructions.
Well, the Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked from r/steammachine
If you do find the 'red line of death' appearing on your Steam Machine, these are the troubleshooting steps to follow, as per Valve:
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Unplug the Machine, then press the power button a few times. This ensures any stored energy in the PSU gets discharged. You may see the power indicator LED blip a moment.
Plug the Machine back in. Note if your power LED glows (breathing pattern) white or not. If yes, please submit a Steam Support ticket and tag me, or send me a chat request with the ID.
Hold the power button down for ~6s. You should see the power indicator LED (dot) flash momentarily. Release the power button when you do.
The power indicator LED will start to cycle some color codes. These are designed to allow you to select various options for recovery/troubleshooting purposes. When the LED turns green, short-press the power button. This should perform a full 'CMOS reset'.
On the next boot, you should see the RGB bar as blue - it may take a bit longer to boot due to a memory re-training.
So there you have it — if your Steam Machine works again, the Steam support account requests that you tag it on Reddit. If not, the next step is to create a support ticket so the issue can be investigated further.
It might be that a number of users have already experienced this problem and resolved it without turning to Reddit or social media, but it's not something you want to see after paying a top price for the gaming PC.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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