http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux May 2019 LXF249 81
Steam streaming TUTORIALS
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improvestreaming.Authorise devices when
they first connect.RUNNING AUTOMATICALLY
supports Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4
controllers, as well as the Steam Controller (as long
as you’re using the wireless dongle). However, we
recommend going wired in order to cut out that tiny
amount of latency caused by wireless links. This could
be important given that you’re already going to be
dealing with around 20ms network and rendering
latency (at least on the beta we tested), and whatever
your TV’s picture processing engine puts on top –
depending on the TV, this could be anywhere from
6ms to 30ms if you’re in any “game” mode offered,
and far worse than that without.
Once that’s set up, you’re asked to perform a
network test. If you’re connected by Wi-Fi on a standard
Pi 3B, which is 2.4GHz only, this is the point where
Steam Link will shout at you. On a 3B+, you may find
that 5GHz networking is actually adequate for
streaming, but we wholeheartedly recommend hooking
up to an Ethernet connection, both on your Raspberry
Pi and the PC you’re streaming from. The latency is
lower, the speed is generally higher, and there’s far less
chance of interference causing you to drop frames.
Connect to Steam
Now it’s time to select which Steam-running PC you
want to connect to; if you’re given no options at this
stage, boot up your PC and run Steam. Note down the
PIN given to you by Steam Link, then head back to your
PC and enter it in the box that’s popped up. All being
well, your PC will jump into Steam’s Big Picture mode
and, returning to your Raspberry Pi, you’ll see its screen
duplicated, and the menu should be controllable by
whatever input device you have hooked up to the
Raspberry Pi.
Bad news if you were hoping to use your PC for
something else while others game, because that isn’t
how Steam Link works; it locks up your main machine
for the whole time you’re streaming, in the same way as
Steam’s standard In-home Streaming mode does.
Better connections
As they say, your results may vary. It’s entirely possible
that your network holds up well and your Steam Link
Setting streaming up
within the Steam client.If you’re dedicating a Raspberry Pi entirely to running Steam Link,
and you’re mostly aiming for sofa gaming, it might make sense to
remove the need to manually launch the program when the Pi powers
on; that way, you can do away with the mouse and keyboard entirely.
Raspbian Stretch has a number of methods to run apps
automatically, but editing /etc/rc.local is the simplest way to do it.
Open up a terminal and run sudo nano /etc/rc.local to begin
tweaking, then make a new line just above exit 0. Add the text sudo
-u pi /usr/bin/steamlink &. The ampersand is important, because
without it, the Pi’s boot process won’t properly complete. Then save
the file by hitting Ctrl+X followed by Y. Reboot your Pi and it should
jump straight into Steam Link. Now the only problem is shutting
down: there’s no way to do it gracefully with a joypad, and pulling the
power risks corrupting your SD card. Consider adding a Pimoroni
OnOff SHIM, which works as a safe power button when installed.experience is positive. Don’t count on it, though – these
things don’t always work as planned. There are ways to
get better results beyond using a wired connection. Dig
around your network and stop those upload-heavy
peer-to-peer connections; delve into your router’s
settings and, if possible, assign some priority to the
machines on either end of your Steam Link equation,
using QoS management tools; close whatever you can
on the PC you’re linking to, in order to give it the
maximum resources to render your stream.
This can include Nvidia hardware encoding – you
might want to turn off ShadowPlay and Gamestream in
GeForce Experience, because these can actually make
Steam’s encoding worse.Steam settings
Steam itself can be configured to make a decent
difference to streaming. Tweaking your connection’s
settings to drop a little graphical fidelity is highly
advised. On your Pi, head to the cog icon, select
‘In-Home Streaming’ and opt for ‘Fast’ or ‘Balanced’
if the Beautiful mode is glitching out. On your host PC,
select Steam > Settings > In Home Streaming >
Advanced Host Options, and try flicking some of the
switches there.
Don’t forget to set your game to the lowest
resolution you find acceptable, too. From your sofa,
720p might not seem so painful.