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Warm reboots: PS5 Bazzite Deck

What a warm reboot is and what it doesn't reset is on Warm reboots.

Warm reboots are built in and off by default. The image has no kexec-tools: a small script loads the kernel with the kexec_file_load system call and hooks into reboot.target. Source: files/ps5-kexec.

Turn it on or off​

On the PS5, in a terminal or over SSH:

ps5-warm-reboot on
ps5-warm-reboot off

ps5-warm-reboot status shows the current setting. It is kept across updates.

What reboots warm​

With warm reboots on, every restart is a warm one: Restart in Steam, in the desktop's power menu, and sudo reboot in a terminal. Power off always powers off. If the kernel on the boot partition can't be loaded, the console falls back to a normal restart through the PS5 OS; you start Linux with the loader as usual.

To go back to the PS5 OS once while warm reboots are on, run ps5-reboot-to-ps5. The next restart after that is warm again.

After an update​

A new kernel needs a cold start: starting it with a warm reboot skips the console's hardware reset, and in testing that left the console hung. So the restart right after an update goes through the PS5 OS once, by itself:

  • After sudo bootc upgrade, the next restart goes through the PS5 OS. Start with the loader as usual and you are on the new version.
  • On a Legacy install, the update command arranges the same and says so in its output.
  • After sudo bootc rollback, power off and start with the loader rather than restarting, so the loader starts the version you rolled back to.

IW620 consoles​

Because of the IW620 hazard, restarts on an IW620 console go through the PS5 OS while the Linux-only Bluetooth address is on (the default), even with ps5-warm-reboot on. ps5-report names the chip on its Wireless line.

To use warm reboots on an IW620 console, turn the address off with ps5-bt-address off. The trade-off: Linux and the PS5 OS then share the console's Bluetooth address, and pairing a DualSense on one side breaks its pairing on the other.

After a warm reboot, two services check the chip and repair it by themselves: ps5-wifi-repair reloads the Wi-Fi driver when the firmware was still running, and ps5-bt-revive restarts a Bluetooth adapter that hangs. If Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is still missing, power off and start with the loader. The MediaTek chips of the Slim and the Pro keep working through warm reboots with the address on.