Typing on the steam deck, no matter what method I use, is very slow. I have a linux laptop, but I obviously can’t plug in the keyboard into the steam deck.
I was considering running KDE connect, but it gets closed in game mode. Could I run some kind of service in the background during game mode? Like is there some kind of systemd target for that?
There’s an example service file in the Plasma-systemd-integration repository.
I’d wager you might be able to just run this, but it might not work.
systemctl enable kdeconnectd
Upvote for KDEConnect. Works on my 2 Manjaro Installation and also it’s running on Mint with cinnamon without any problems.
The android app is also great for typing on the go :)
But does that work in game mode? OP already mentioned that limitation as why they are not using KDE Connect.
systemd runs in game mode, the only difference from game mode to desktop mode is the window system. I have a systemd service for running syncthing in the background to keep some of my emulated save files backed up to my NAS.
The best thing is to just get a bluetooth keyboard. A Logitech K380 runs about 30 smackaroos. If they ever could be bothered to refresh the line for BTLE, that would be nice.
I think you can use usbip to share any usb device that is connected on your linux desktop to steam deck (or any other pc) over the same network.