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How do I move RetroDECK to a new device

Prerequisites: Before you move

  • Make sure you are running the latest version of RetroDECK on the old device and have started it at least once.
  • If your device has a battery like a Steam Deck or Laptop, make sure it has enough charge to complete the file transfer. We recommend you are plugged in while doing this to prevent data loss
  • If your old device is broken but you still have access to the data you can skip this step.
  • If you are moving to a brand new SD Card it is always recommended to format it before using it.

Quickguides

Ultra Quickguide

  1. Just copy the ~/retrodeck folder to the new device to the location you want it.
  2. Install RetroDECK on the new device and point to it the new location of ~/retrodeck during first setup.
  3. Proceed installation as normal.

Steam Deck

  1. Put the Steam Deck into Desktop Mode Steam button > Power > Switch to Desktop.
  2. Back up existing the RetroDECK ~/retrodeck folder .
  3. On the new Steam Deck install RetroDECK on your new Steam Deck.
  4. Do not launch RetroDECK on your new device until you have copied over the backed up folders.
  5. Copy over the backup folder to the same location (or new) on the new device.
  6. Launch RetroDECK on the new device and point towards the ~/retrodeck location during installation. So if you have moved the ~/retrodeck to the SD card of the new Steam Deck choose the SD card option during initial install, if you have moved it to the internal storage (home/) choose that option or third chose the custom option.

After that you can keep following following the installation guide
Steam Deck - Installation and Updates if you are unsure on progress the installation.

Linux Desktop

  1. Back up existing the RetroDECK ~/retrodeck folder .
  2. On the new PC install RetroDECK from Flathub via your application manager.
  3. Do not launch RetroDECK on your new device until you have copied over the backed up folders.
  4. Copy over the backup folder to the same location (or new) on the new device.
  5. Launch RetroDECK on the new device and point towards the ~/retrodeck location during installation.

After that you can keep following following the installation guide
Linux Desktop - Installation and Updates if you are unsure on progress the installation.

Indepth Guide

Information on moving RetroDECK

RetroDECK contains mainly two folders:

~/retrodeck
This is the important folder, that contains all the user content like roms/bios/saves/screenshots/scraped data etc... The location of the folder is where you have chosen to install it like /home/retrodeck sd-card external drive other.

~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck
This is the location of the core flatpak, emulator files and configurations.

How to: move from a old Steam Deck to a new Steam Deck?

Note:

Depending on how comfortable you are using the Steam Deck controller to navigate the desktop environment, this may be easier to do with a connected mouse and keyboard.

What follows is a short comparison on the two ways to move RetroDECK.

Downsides:

You will lose all your custom emulator settings inside the emulators (like graphic settings or other tweaks), everything else stays intact and you will need to go through the initial setup again and point to the moved retrodeck folder.

Upsides:

You will get the benefits of a fresh install with all your content intact (saves, games, scraped data etc..) and you minimize the risks of any file conflicts.

Step 1: Back up your existing files

You will need to backup the the main ~/retrodeck folder.

  • First put the Steam Deck into Desktop Mode Steam button > Power > Switch to Desktop.
  • Main ~/retrodeck folder
    • Open the Dolphin File Manager (the folder icon in the taskbar).
    • Navigate to where you installed ~/retrodeck (this folder should contain sub-folders such as bios, roms, and saves).
    • Copy the whole folder ~/retrodeck to a device used for transfer such as a thumb drive, microSD Card, NAS, SFTP and get the files to the new Steam Deck. Or use a transfer software like warpinator to send the folder to the new Steam Deck via network.

Step 2: Install RetroDECK on your new Steam Deck

Step 3: Restore your backed up files

  • Copy over the ~/retrodeck to the new device via any of the chosen methods from step 1.
  • Launch RetroDECK on the new device and point towards the ~/retrodeck location during installation. So if you have moved the ~/retrodeck to the SD card of the new Steam Deck choose the SD card option during initial install, if you have moved it to the internal storage choose that option or third chose the custom option.
  • Keep following the Steam Deck - Installation and Updates as normal.

This is not recommended, but if you know what you are doing you could try this way.

Downsides:

You will need to reinstall things from configurator like controller profiles, must make sure you are on the same version before you update and if there are any version conflicts within ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck things could break.

Upsides:

No first install, just move and play and all custom emulator settings you have made are moved.

Step 1: Back up your existing files

You will need to backup two directories: the main ~/retrodeck folders and a hidden ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck folder.

  • First put the Steam Deck into Desktop Mode Steam button > Power > Switch to Desktop.

  • Main retrodeck folder

    • Open the Dolphin File Manager (the folder icon in the taskbar).
    • Navigate to where you installed ~/retrodeck (this folder should contain sub-folders such as bios, roms, and saves).
    • Copy the whole folder ~/retrodeck to a device used for transfer such as a thumb drive, microSD Card, NAS, SFTP and get the files to the new Steam Deck. Or use a transfer software like warpinator to send the folder to the new Steam Deck via network.
    • Put the copy in the same location as the old Steam Deck.

  • Hidden net.retrodeck.retrodeck folder

    • Return to home
    • Find the "hamburger" menu button (three horizontal lines in the top-right). Open the menu and select Show Hidden Files. If on a keyboard, you can type Ctrl+H.
    • Navigate to home/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/ and copy the whole folder it to device used for transfer such as a thumb drive, microSD Card, NAS, SFTP and get the files to the new Steam Deck. Or use a transfer software like warpinator to send the folder to the new Steam Deck via network.

Step 2: Install RetroDECK on your new Steam Deck

Step 3: Restore your backed up files

  • Move the copy of ~/retrodeck to the same location as the old Steam Deck.
  • Move the copy of ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck to ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck on the new device.
  • In both cases, you can safely overwrite all existing files.
  • You can now just launch RetroDECK if all have gone well directly from gamemode, without needing to do the initial setup.
  • Don't forget to install the official controller profile in the configurator!