Valve Open-Sources Its Steam Machine E-Ink Display So We Can Make Our Own

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

Emails for people to purchase their Steam Machine are starting to go out, and it’s getting more and more exciting. I haven’t gotten my email yet, but I am extremely excited for it. However, there is one thing that I’ve been very curious about. In a lot of the promo videos for the device, Valve has sometimes shown off this e-ink faceplate that shows performance and hardware spec data on the screen in real time. I have been quite curious about this, and we have seen other companies, like JSAUX, discuss making one of their own. However, we can now make it for ourselves if we want to, because Valve has open-sourced the project.

It seems as though Valve has no plans to make and sell this faceplate, which they have named the Inkterface, so they have given us all the tools we need to make it for ourselves. In the GitLab page for it, they go over how to assemble it and all the details for the required hardware:

• 1 x Adafruit ESP32 Feather with 2MB PSRAM
• 1 x Adafruit eInk Breakout Friend
• 1 x Adafruit 5.83" Monochrome eInk Panel
• 13 x M2.5 x 5mm Pan Head Machine Screws
  • McMaster
  • Amazon
• 4 x 1/4" x 1/4" x 3/16" Stepped Magnet SB443-OUT

On top of that, there are parts that will need to be printed using a 3D printer. All of the parts/files are provided in a specific folder, but they will still need to be printed and used.

Based on the links they provided, it will probably come out to around $90, not counting the parts that will need to be printed. So, the total could end up over $100, but it’s still a really cool idea that is worth checking out, especially if you have a printer.

Valve even provided an instructional video to show exactly how to put it together. It is baked into the files, so we took it and uploaded it to make it easier to access:

Even if they aren’t selling it themselves, this is pretty cool to see. I’m glad that they’ve given us the ability to do it ourselves if we want to, even if it isn’t the easiest. I’m very curious. I’m gonna try it out for myself, and I plan to at some point once I finally have the Steam Machine for myself.

Source: GamingOnLinux

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!