I've setup box86 on an ARM gaming handheld with a Qualcomm SDM845 recently and it's pretty amazing what it can do. The SDM845 has a pretty good Linux support (with postmarketOS supporting the mainline kernel [0]). The open source drivers for the Adreno GPU even support Vulkan and full desktop OpenGL
With box86/box64, I've been able to run Steam and even Wine/Proton with DXVK translating DirectX to Vulkan. I can even run older 3D Windows games like Skyrim! Though it did glitch on the infamous cart intro.
Can you share more about your setup? I also have a sdm845 gaming handheld (Ayn Odin, currently running Android), and I was contemplating installing Windows on it to get Steam, but I much prefer your way.
Do you have some clean distro that boots into something usable without mouse/keyboard? Some documentation for first stage boots? Gits?
Yes, that's the same one I have. It's the similar install to windows, running an edk2 bootloader on another partition. The developer for that has released a Debian 11 install that has working touch controls and software keyboard, though I have been using an USB-C hub with actual mouse and keyboard for setup as the UI isn't scaled well for a 5" screen.
The Ayn Odin. I'm not sure I'd recommend it with all the new upcoming x86_64 gaming handhelds coming out soon with similar pricing, better GPU drivers, and not having to deal with box86 compatibility issues.
With box86/box64, I've been able to run Steam and even Wine/Proton with DXVK translating DirectX to Vulkan. I can even run older 3D Windows games like Skyrim! Though it did glitch on the infamous cart intro.
[0] https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/SDM845_Mainlining