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Play Steam games locally on Olares ​

While Olares is typically used as a headless system, you can connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to play games directly on the device.

However, simply plugging in a monitor is not enough. Because Steam Headless is optimized for remote streaming by default, you must manually configure the audio settings to output audio locally.

Learning objectives ​

By the end of this tutorial, you will learn how to:

  • Grant the application permission to access the host sound card.
  • Modify display and audio settings for local gameplay.

Prerequisites ​

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • Olares version 1.12.3 or later.
  • Olares running on a machine equipped with an NVIDIA GPU.
  • A valid Steam account to access your games.
  • A monitor, keyboard, and mouse connected to the Olares device.

1. Install and configure Steam Headless ​

Install the app from the Olares Market and then complete the initial setup within the Steam client itself.

Install Steam Headless ​

Follow these steps to install and configure Steam Headless:

  1. Open the Market, and search for "Steam".
  2. Click Get, then Install. Install Steam Headless
  3. A prompt will appear asking you to configure environment variables. This creates your login credentials for the Sunshine Web UI:
    • SUNSHINE_USER: Set the username for Sunshine access.
    • SUNSHINE_PASS: Set the corresponding password.

      Remember your login credentials

      These are the initial login credentials for Sunshine. You will need them if you access the Sunshine dashboard later.

  4. Wait for the installation to complete.

Complete the initial Steam setup ​

Sign in to Steam to complete setup and access your game library.

Retry installation upon failures

If Steam installation or update fails due to network issues, go to the top-left menu in the Steam Headless console and navigate to Applications > Internet > Steam to restart the installation.

  1. Once installed, open Steam Headless and click Connect. Connect to Steam
  2. The Steam client will automatically install and update. This process may take several minutes. Install SteamUpdate Steam
  3. When the installation completes, the Steam login screen appears. Sign in with your Steam account. Sign in to Steam

2. Grant sound card permissions ​

To output audio to your monitor, the Steam container needs direct access to your sound card. You must edit the deployment configuration to "pass through" these hardware components.

Edit with caution

Incorrect YAML syntax or indentation may prevent the application from starting.

  • Verify changes: Double-check that your indentation matches the existing lines.
  • Revert when necessary: If the app fails to start after applying changes, check Revision records and simply delete the lines you added to restore the previous configuration. Check revision records

  1. Open Control Hub, then select the Steam project from the sidebar.

  2. Navigate to Deployments > steamheadless, and click edit_square to open the editor. Open Yaml editor

  3. Locate the volumes section and append the following entry to the list.

    yaml
     spec:
   volumes:    
 # Keep existing volumes like steam-headless-claim0
 # ...
 # Add the following entry at the end:
     - name: snd
       hostPath:
         path: /dev/snd
         type: ''

  4. Locate the volumeMounts section and append the following mounting point:

    yaml
        volumeMounts:
    # Keep existing mounts like steam-headless-claim0
    # ... 
    # Add the following entry at the end:
      - name: snd
        mountPath: /dev/snd

  5. Click Confirm to apply the changes. The container will restart with the new permissions.

3. Configure display and input ​

By default, the system is configured for streaming. You need to modify the X11 configuration to use your physical monitor and peripherals.

  1. In Control Hub, click on the running Pod to view its details. Click Pod

  2. Click the Terminal icon next to steam-headless to access the container's shell. Access container's shell

  3. Open the X configuration file:

    bash
    nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

  4. Modify the file to match the configuration below.

    a. Delete the Section "InputDevice" blocks to stop using virtual inputs.

    b. Update the Display subsection to match your monitor's resolution. For example:

    bash
    SubSection     "Display"
Virtual     1920 1080
Depth       24
Modes      "1920x1080R" "1920x1080" "1280x800" "1024x768" "1920x1080" "1600x900" "1440x900"
    Reference xorg.conf configuration
    bash
    Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier     "Default Layout"
Screen      0  "Default Screen"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Modeline "1920x1080R"  138.50  1920 1968 2000 2080  1080 1083 1088 1111 +hsync -vsync
Identifier     "Configured Monitor"
HorizSync       5.0 - 1000.0
VertRefresh     5.0 - 200.0
ModeLine       "1920x1080" 148.50 1920 2448 2492 2640 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier     "Configured Video Device"
Driver         "nvidia"
Option         "ModeValidation" "NoMaxPClkCheck, NoEdidMaxPClkCheck, NoMaxSizeCheck, NoHorizSyncCheck, NoVertRefreshCheck, NoVirtualSizeCheck, NoTotalSizeCheck, NoDualLinkDVICheck, NoDisplayPortBandwidthCheck, AllowNon3DVisionModes, AllowNonHDMI3DModes, AllowNonEdidModes, NoEdidHDMI2Check, AllowDpInterlaced"
Option         "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration"
Option         "PrimaryGPU" "yes"
Option         "AllowExternalGpus" "True"
BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier     "Default Screen"
Device         "Configured Video Device"
Monitor        "Configured Monitor"
DefaultDepth    24
Option         "ProbeAllGpus" "False"
Option         "BaseMosaic" "False"
Option         "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "True"
Option         "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
SubSection     "Display"
Virtual     1920 1080
Depth       24
Modes      "1920x1080R" "1920x1080" "1280x800" "1024x768" "1920x1080" "1600x900" "1440x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AutoAddGPU" "false"
EndSection

  5. Press Ctrl+O to save, then Ctrl+X to exit.

  6. Restart the display server to apply changes:

    bash
    supervisorctl stop xorg
supervisorctl start xorg

4. Enable audio output ​

Finally, you must manually select the correct audio output channel.

  1. Identify your sound card. Run the following command inside the container terminal:

    bash
    aplay -l

    Look for your monitor name in the output. For example:

    bash
    **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [U2790B]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

    Look for your monitor name in the output. In this example, the output corresponds to card 0, device 3.

  2. Load the audio module. Replace 0,3 with your specific card and device numbers:

    bash
    pactl load-module module-alsa-sink device=plughw:0,3 sink_name=nvhdmi

  3. Check the audio channel status (use the same card number you selected above):

    bash
    amixer -c 0 scontents

    Example output:

    bash
    Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [off]

  4. If the output contains Mono: Playback [off], it means the channel is muted. Unmute it by running:

    bash
    amixer -c 0 sset 'IEC958' on

Audio now plays directly from your monitor or speakers. You are ready to play.

Optional: Enable audio for remote streaming ​

INFO

For detailed streaming and pairing instructions, refer to Stream your games with Steam Headless.

Local play and remote streaming use exclusive audio modes.

  • Local play requires the module-alsa-sink module loaded.

  • Remote streaming requires this module unloaded so Sunshine can capture the audio.

If you decide to stream games to another device later, you must unload the local audio module to restore sound to the stream.

To enable audio for streaming:

  1. Open the container terminal via Control Hub.
  2. Unload the local audio module:
    bash
    pactl unload-module module-alsa-sink

FAQs ​

Why does my monitor show the Steam interface even when I'm not playing? ​

The Olares device usually displays a terminal prompt. However, running the Steam application activates a graphical interface that takes over the display.

To return the monitor to the standard terminal view, you must stop the Steam application via Market or Settings.