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Category: ZenDeck

  • How to Set Up Your SD Card as a Game Cartridge

    How to Set Up Your SD Card as a Game Cartridge

    A step-by-step guide for ROG Ally, Legion Go, and other Windows handhelds

    ZenDeck treats your SD cards like Nintendo Switch cartridges — insert a card and your games appear instantly, remove it and they disappear cleanly. No manual setup every time, no leftover entries in your library.

    This guide walks you through setting up an SD card for the first time so ZenDeck can recognize it automatically from that point on.

    What You Need

    •  An SD card (any size) formatted as NTFS or exFAT

    •  ZenDeck installed and running

    •  Games installed via Steam, Xbox/Game Pass, Epic, or EA App

    💡 One-time setup per card
    You only need to follow these steps once per SD card. After that, ZenDeck recognizes the card automatically every time you insert it.

    Setting Up with Steam

    Steam requires an extra step before you can install games to an SD card: you need to register the card as a Steam Library location. This is a one-time action per card.

    Step 1 — Register the SD card in Steam

    1.  Insert your SD card

    2.  Open Steam and go to — Settings → Storage

    3.  Click Add Drive and select your SD card from the list

    4.  Steam will format and prepare the card as a library location

    Steam Settings Storage screen showing the Add Drive button and two library locations
    Go to Steam Settings → Storage and click Add Drive to register your SD card as a library location.

    Step 2 — Install or move games to the SD card

    1.  In your Steam Library, right-click a game

    2.  Select — Properties → Local Files → Move Install Folder

    3.  Choose your SD card as the destination and confirm

    Or select your SD card as the install location when installing a new game.

    Steam Move Content dialog showing a dropdown to select the target drive and a Move button
    Select your SD card from the dropdown and click Move to transfer the game to it.

    Step 3 — Scan in ZenDeck

    1.  Open ZenDeck

    2.  Go to — Settings → Library → Scan Now

    3.  ZenDeck will detect the SD card and register it automatically

    That’s it. The card is now recognized. Next time you insert it, your games will appear in the library right away.

    ⚠ Steam only works with registered drives

    If you skip Step 1, Steam won’t let you install or move games to the card, and ZenDeck won’t be able to detect those games. Always register first.

    Setting Up with Xbox / Game Pass, Epic, or EA

    These stores don’t require any extra registration step — you can install or move games directly to the SD card.

    1.  Insert your SD card

    2.  Install a game and choose the SD card as the install location,

            or move an already-installed game:

    •  Xbox / Game Pass: select the game → Manage → Move

    •  Epic Games: Library → right-click game → Move

    •  EA App: Library → right-click game → Move Game

    3.  Open ZenDeck and run a Library Scan

    Settings → Library → Scan Now

    Xbox app Choose a drive dialog showing a drive selector and a Move button to transfer a game to a different location
    Select your SD card from the list and click Move to transfer the game to it.

    ⚠ Xbox / Game Pass games are device-specific

    Game Pass licenses are tied to your device. Games moved to the SD card will only work on the same handheld they were installed on — you’ll see a warning in ZenDeck if you try to play them on a different device.

    Adding or Removing Games Later

    Any time you add or remove games from the SD card, just run another Library Scan in ZenDeck. The library will update to reflect the current contents of the card.

    •  Added a new game to the card → Scan Now

    •  Deleted or moved a game off the card → Scan Now

    •  No scan needed when simply inserting or removing the card to the device

    Using Multiple SD Cards

    Each SD card is treated as an independent cartridge with its own identity. Repeat the setup process for each card you want to use — register it (Steam only), install games, and run one scan.

    After that, ZenDeck handles everything automatically based on which card is inserted.

    💡 Label your cards

    Consider naming each card by genre or platform (e.g., “RPGs”, “Xbox Games”) so you always know which one to grab. You can also make a custom cover for your SD card case — check out Your SD Cards Are Now Game Cartridges →.

    Quick Reference

    StoreExtra step needed?Portable across devices?
    SteamYes — Add Drive in Steam Settings✅  Yes
    Xbox / Game PassNo⚠  Device-locked
    Epic GamesNo✅  Yes
    EA AppNo✅  Yes

    For Windows handhelds

    Ready to try it?

    ZenDeck turns your SD cards into instant game cartridges — insert and play, no setup every time. Built for ROG Ally, Legion Go, and Windows handhelds.

    Download ZenDeck →
  • What are Smart Profiles?

    What are Smart Profiles?

    1. The Problem

    If you’ve used a PC handheld, you already know the drill.

    You install a game… and then spend the next 20–30 minutes tweaking settings.

    Most of the time, that means:

    • Searching for “best settings” on websites or YouTube
    • Trying to copy those settings manually into the game
    • Realizing they don’t perform the same on your device

    What works on another handheld might not work for you.

    Different hardware, different performance targets, different TDP used, different expectations.

    So you tweak. Test. Adjust. Repeat.

    Every. Single. Time.

    2. The Solution

    ZenDeck introduces Smart Profiles with community sharing, bringing the idea of Steam’s controller profiles to game settings and device optimization.

    Instead of manually configuring every game, you can:

    • Apply a pre-configured profile tailored for performance or quality
    • Share your own optimized settings with others
    • Benefit from configurations tested on real devices

    The goal is simple:

    Spend less time tweaking, more time playing

    Download ZenDeck and start using Smart Profiles: https://zendeck.app

    ZenDeck Smart Profiles list showing recommended and community profiles for a game on a PC handheld
    Browse recommended and community Smart Profiles and instantly apply optimized settings for your game.

    3. AutoPilot Rating (The Key Piece)

    Sharing settings is useful.

    But knowing which settings are actually good is what really matters.

    That’s where AutoPilot Rating comes in.

    ZenDeck Smart Profile showing AutoPilot Rating 94 with FPS and stability on a PC handheld
    Example of a Smart Profile with AutoPilot Rating, showing real performance data including FPS and stability.

    What it measures

    AutoPilot Rating is based on real performance data, including:

    • Average FPS
    • Stability (%)
    • 1% low FPS

    This isn’t guesswork or opinion-based.

    It’s data-driven evaluation

    How the rating is calculated

    AutoPilot Rating combines two key factors:

    • Performance → how fast the game runs (FPS)
    • Stability → how smooth and consistent the experience feels

    Performance measures how fast the game runs, based on average FPS.
    Stability evaluates how smooth and consistent the experience feels, taking into account frame pacing, stutter, and 1% lows.

    These values are combined into a single score that represents the overall gameplay experience, where:

    • Performance defines the baseline
    • Stability adjusts the result based on how smooth the experience is

    Understanding the rating

    The final result is presented as a letter grade, making it easy to understand at a glance:

    • A → Very smooth experience
    • B → Good, with minor inconsistencies
    • C → Playable, but noticeable drops or instability
    • D → Poor performance, not recommended

    What a good score means

    A higher AutoPilot Rating generally means:

    • More stable gameplay
    • Better frame consistency
    • A smoother overall experience

    It helps you quickly understand:

    “Will this actually run well on my device?”

    Device-aware ratings

    AutoPilot Rating is not universal across all devices.

    It is calculated using performance data from devices similar to yours.

    This means:

    • A profile may have a different rating on a Steam Deck vs a ROG Ally
    • Ratings are more relevant to your specific hardware class

    You’re not seeing generic scores, you’re seeing results that actually apply to your device.

    How it helps you choose

    Instead of:

    • Guessing between multiple configs
    • Watching long comparison videos

    You can:

    • Compare profiles using real performance data
    • Pick the one that best fits your preference (performance vs quality)

    Why this matters

    This changes how optimization works.

    Instead of every user figuring things out on their own:

    Optimization becomes something shared, tested, and improved over time

    4. What a Smart Profile Includes

    Each Smart Profile can define key performance-related settings, such as:

    • In-Game Resolution
    • Upscaling (In-Game or driver-based)
    • Frame Generation (in-game or driver-based)
    • Ray Tracing (On / Off)
    • Power / GPU behavior (managed automatically by AutoPilot)

    These settings are defined when a profile is created and allow ZenDeck to automatically apply performance optimizations at both the GPU and device level.

    5. A Console-Like Experience

    The long-term vision is simple:

    No more tweaking settings every time you install a game.

    With Smart Profiles and AutoPilot Rating:

    • Install your game
    • Apply a profile
    • Start playing

    Install → Apply → Play

    Get started:

    → How to apply a Smart Profile

    Want to contribute?

    → How to share a Smart Profile

    → How to contribute performance data for a Smart Profile

    Ready to try it?
    Download ZenDeck and experience Smart Profiles and AutoPilot Rating: https://zendeck.app

    ZenDeck launcher showing console-like gaming experience with Smart Profiles on a PC handheld
    Install, apply a Smart Profile, and play, no manual tweaking required.