PeroTuncay/DeckyHelixSRManager

A Decky Loader plugin for the Steam Deck that installs HelixSR into your games, per game, and checks that it actually runs. HelixSR runs NVIDIA's DLSS upscaling network on AMD GPUs like the Deck's. This plugin contains no HelixSR files and no NVIDIA files: it downloads the official HelixSR release from GitHub and runs HelixSR's own setup, which builds the network locally on your Deck.

HelixSR is developed by lonewolf0622. This plugin is an independent integration, not affiliated with HelixSR, NVIDIA, AMD, OptiScaler or Decky.

Download the latest release · Installation · Check that it runs · Report a problem

Tested on a Steam Deck OLED (SteamOS) and an ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme (Bazzite) with The Witcher 3 (DirectX 12) through OptiScaler.

• Any HelixSR release: pick a release from GitHub, download it (verified against GitHub's SHA256 checksum, with a notice if the author later replaces the zip) and build it with a progress bar. Several releases can sit side by side.
• Per game, two routes: in place of a game's own FSR 3.1, or through the OptiScaler the game already has (for example from Decky Framegen), keeping your current FSR 4 selectable for comparison.
• Games from other stores (opt-in): Unifideck, Heroic (GOG, Amazon, Epic), Legendary, Lutris and games added to Steam by hand, each switched on in Other Stores, plus Add game folder for anything else. Only the folders the stores name are read, so the game list stays fast.
• Safe changes: refuses while the game is running or Steam is still updating it, warns about anti-cheat (online bans) and asks you to confirm, keeps the game's original files, and puts everything back on removal. Disable keeps HelixSR's files for a quick switch back.
• Plain status per game: one line saying whether HelixSR is installed and actually upscaled in the current or last game session ("✓ Working: 853x533 → 1280x800"), or what to select in the game if not. Numbered steps (download, build, install) show what's next, with a progress bar for the download and the build.
• Did it apply? Reads HelixSR's log (network running, render and output size, whether the log is from the last game session), shows OptiScaler settings that commonly get in the way (DLSS input off, Steam Input blocked, menu key), and has a network on/off switch to prove HelixSR is doing the upscaling.
• Settings per game where the release supports them (sharpening from 1.8, network resolution up to 1.4).
• Less scrolling: HelixSR Installation, Other Stores, OptiScaler and "In place of the game's FSR 3.1" fold away (tap the header); a closed section shows a one-line summary, including warnings inside. Installation starts open.
• Plugin updates from the panel: a newer release shows up at the top with an Update button; Decky installs it after you confirm.
• Technical details on demand: logs, paths and OptiScaler settings stay behind Show technical details; rarely needed buttons (download again, delete, clean up, diagnostics, debug report) behind More options.
• Clean up (optional): remove every downloaded release and the setup's downloads in one go. Not needed for updates.

HelixSR has changed its approach a few times. Up to 1.4 and again from 1.7 (tested up to 1.9.0), it replaces FSR 3.1 (amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll): through OptiScaler for DLSS games (select DLSS in the game), or in place of a game's own FSR 3.1. 1.5 and 1.6 instead replaced DLSS (nvngx.dll) through OptiScaler and needed a Steam launch option; those releases were withdrawn upstream, but the plugin still supports a 1.5 you already downloaded.

From 1.7, HelixSR's own setup also installs its own OptiScaler into your games when run in a terminal. Up to 1.8.1 the plugin runs only the build part of that setup, so HelixSR's own game installer never starts. From 1.9 (HelixSR's setup may no longer be modified) the setup runs as published: after the build its game installer starts, gets no answer and ends without changing any game. Either way the plugin then installs per game itself, into the OptiScaler the game already has. 1.9.0's setup can also build frame generation for HelixSR Scaler (about 400 MB of NVIDIA downloads); the plugin skips that (--no-fg), since it doesn't install HelixSR Scaler. Games set up with HelixSR Desktop's HelixSR Scaler (OptiScaler with HelixSR built in) are shown with the check, but left to HelixSR Desktop. Games already set up by HelixSR's own setup are shown, but left to that setup, including 1.8.1's experimental "DLSS without OptiScaler" route (HelixSR's loader as dxgi.dll and HelixSR as nvngx.dll next to the game's exe), which the plugin doesn't offer itself. A setup whose layout the plugin doesn't recognize isn't run.

1. In Decky Loader, open Settings → General and turn on Developer mode.
2. Open Settings → Developer → Install plugin from URL and paste the link to HelixSR-Manager.zip from the latest release (on the release page: right-click or long-press the zip → copy link). Alternatively, download the zip, copy it to the Deck and use Install plugin from ZIP file.
3. Open the Quick Access menu (··· button) → Decky → HelixSR Manager.

Updating the plugin: from 0.9.2 on, the plugin checks GitHub for a newer release when you open it (at most every few hours). When there is one, a Plugin update section appears at the top: press Update to …, confirm Decky's prompt, and Decky downloads the release, checks its SHA256 and reloads the plugin. About this plugin at the bottom shows the installed version and has Check for plugin updates. Versions before 0.9.2 update once by hand: install the newer zip over the old one, as above.

The HelixSR Installation section shows three numbered steps and only the button for the next one.

1. Pick a version under Version (the newest is marked latest).
2. Press Download HelixSR …. A progress bar shows the download; the zip is checked against GitHub's SHA256 checksum before it's used.
3. Press Build HelixSR … and confirm. HelixSR's setup downloads NVIDIA's DLSS 310.7.0 DLL, a portable Python with numpy and Microsoft's shader compiler, builds HelixSR's network (into HelixSR's DLL from 1.8, as two separate files before) and deletes NVIDIA's DLL again. From 1.7 on, only the build part of HelixSR's setup runs: its own game installer never starts, and the plugin installs per game in the next step.
4. Wait for it to finish: about 7-10 minutes on a Steam Deck OLED (the first run includes the one-time downloads; later releases reuse Python and the compiler). Keep the Deck plugged in and don't let it sleep, since sleep pauses the setup. You can close the menu meanwhile; the progress bar picks up where it is when you reopen it.
5. Steps 1 and 2 show a ✓ and the version shows ✓ ready.

Updating later: pick the newer version, download and build it, then press Switch to HelixSR … in each game. It replaces the old version in that game; no cleanup is needed first.

Pick the game under Game Configuration (the list shows games with an FSR 3.1 DLL or OptiScaler; turn off the filter to see all). Games from other stores appear there once their store is switched on in Other Stores (see Games from other stores). Close the game first: the plugin refuses to change its files while it runs or while Steam is still installing or updating it. If the game ships anti-cheat (EasyAntiCheat, BattlEye, …), the plugin warns that online play could get your account banned and only installs after you turn on I understand the risk for that game.

• Game with OptiScaler (HelixSR 1.7, 1.8 or 1.4): in the OptiScaler section press Install HelixSR … via OptiScaler. Leave Keep current FSR selectable on to keep your FSR 4 available for comparison. In the game, select DLSS: it gives HelixSR the best input. XeSS or FSR also work in games without DLSS, but can shimmer more. Then open OptiScaler's menu and pick FSR HelixSR (3.1.5) under Upscalers → FFX Upscaler. OptiScaler's menu opens with Insert by default, which the Deck doesn't have: map it to a back button in the game's controller layout (the plugin shows the key the game's OptiScaler.ini uses). Dx12Upscaler is set to what the game's OptiScaler expects (fsr31 on OptiScaler 0.9.4).
• Game that ships FSR 3.1 itself (HelixSR 1.4, 1.7 or 1.8): in In place of the game's FSR 3.1 press Install HelixSR … here, then select AMD FSR as the upscaler in the game's settings. This needs no OptiScaler. A game that offers both sections works either way (HelixSR 1.8's own setup prefers this one).
• HelixSR 1.5.x (withdrawn upstream; only if you still have it): in the OptiScaler section press Install HelixSR … via OptiScaler (as DLSS), then Add launch option: it adds PROTON_FORCE_NVAPI=1 DXVK_NVAPI_GPU_ARCH=AD100 in front of the game's existing launch options (e.g. Decky Framegen's stay as they are). In the game, select DLSS.

Switching a game between releases is one button; the plugin undoes the other setup first. Under the OptiScaler section the plugin also points out settings that commonly get in the way (DLSS input off, GPU spoofing off, an overlay setting that blocks Steam Input).

After playing for a moment, press Check again in the plugin. The status line under the game's name says it in plain words:

• ✓ Working: HelixSR upscaled in the current or last game session, e.g. "853x533 → 1280x800 (Quality)".
• Installed, not used yet / waiting for the game / not used last time: HelixSR didn't upscale; the line says what to select in the game (DLSS through OptiScaler, AMD FSR for a game's own FSR 3.1).
• Installed, but HelixSR can't upscale (red, also a red frame in the game): that copy has no built network.

Show technical details adds what HelixSR logged, the log's time and session, and OptiScaler's log lines.

To prove HelixSR (and not FSR) is doing the upscaling, turn on Show technical details, then turn off DLSS network (Model E) for that game and restart it. HelixSR then falls back to a simple, blurry placeholder upscale: if the picture changes, HelixSR is the active upscaler; if it looks the same, a different upscaler is selected. Turn the network back on afterwards. The switch only takes effect when the game starts (from 1.5 on it's undocumented upstream, so treat it as experimental). For a live side-by-side comparison, switch between "FSR HelixSR (3.1.5)" and FSR 3.1.5 / FSR 4 in OptiScaler's menu (Upscalers → FFX Upscaler); an entry named just "FSR 3.1.5" is AMD's FSR 3.1, not HelixSR.

• Sharpening: Sharpening (NVIDIA's Image Sharpening or AMD's RCAS) and Sharpness. Off by default, as DLSS (1.9.0's pre-release sharpened lightly by default; the plugin reads which one a game has).
• Int8 network: only 1.9.0's pre-release had a switch (Auto, On, Off); the release picks it automatically. Up to 1.4: the release's sharpening mode and network resolution. Changes take effect after restarting the game.
• Disable switches the game back to its own FSR (or OptiScaler's previous upscaler) and keeps HelixSR's files; Enable HelixSR again switches back without downloading or building anything.
• Undo completely: Revert OptiScaler to previous upscaler or Restore the game's FSR (plus Remove HelixSR launch option for 1.5.x). The game's original files and settings come back as they were.

Steam games are always listed. Games from other stores are opt-in: open Other Stores (between HelixSR Installation and Game Configuration) and switch on the stores you use. Each toggle shows how many games it found, or "Not found on this device". A store that is off isn't read at all.

In the game list, each of these games carries its source ("· Heroic (GOG)", "· Unifideck", …). Shortcuts that start a game through a launcher can't name the game's folder; the section lists them and suggests Add game folder, which adds any game by picking its install folder (and Remove from the list takes it out again; the game's files stay).

The plugin only reads the folders the stores name; it never crawls whole drives. It only ever changes files inside a listed game's own folder: never /, your home folder, a whole drive or SD card, and nothing of a store that is off. The running-game check works for these games too (by the game's .exe inside its folder); "Steam is updating it" only applies to Steam games.

1. HelixSR release: a dropdown of every release on HelixSR's release page, read live from GitHub's API (the last list is cached for offline use), so new releases show up without a plugin update. The selected release is the one the install buttons use. Each release is downloaded to its own folder (~/HelixSR/v1.4.1, …; the base folder can be changed) and needs its one-time setup (helixsr-setup.sh --yes, about 7-10 minutes on a Steam Deck OLED; downloads NVIDIA's DLSS 310.7.0 DLL after you confirm, builds the network, deletes NVIDIA's DLL). Several releases can sit side by side; switching a game to another one is one button. Releases before 1.4.0 keep the network in helixsr_weights.bin/helixsr_kernels.pak, which are copied along with the DLL.
2. Game list: every installed Steam game from all libraries (SD card too), optionally filtered to games that ship an FSR 3.1 DLL or have OptiScaler.
3. Replace FSR 3.1 directly: renames the game's amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll (or amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll) to *.original.dll and puts HelixSR in its place, plus helixsr.ini. Same files and helixsr-install.json marker as the official helixsr-install.sh, so either tool can undo the other's install.
4. OptiScaler: creates a HelixSR folder next to OptiScaler.ini with HelixSR as both amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll and amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll, and sets in OptiScaler.ini: Dx12Upscaler (ffx on OptiScaler 0.9+, fsr31 on older versions), FfxDx12Path, FfxDx12SRPath (as Z:\… paths) and [FSR] UpscalerIndex=0. The old values are remembered and restored on revert; a full copy is kept as OptiScaler.ini.helixsr-backup. A frame generation DLL (the game's current one, else AMD's from the release) is put next to HelixSR, since HelixSR has none of its own; OptiScaler's own frame generation setting is left alone. With Keep current FSR selectable, the FSR 4 DLL OptiScaler used so far is copied in as amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.amd.dll and set as HelixSR's [Forwarding] UpscalerDll, so FSR 4 stays in OptiScaler's FFX Upscaler list for comparison. The previous amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll is copied in as amd_fidelityfx_dx12.original.dll so frame generation keeps working.
5. Setup progress: while the setup runs, a progress bar with the current step (in step 5 the compiled shaders, e.g. 41/72), the elapsed time, whether it is actually working (CPU use of its processes) and what runs right now. HelixSR's steps print nothing while they work, so the log alone can stay unchanged for minutes. The setup keeps running when the menu is closed or Decky restarts the plugin, and its exit code is recorded either way. If it fails: the error lines, Show full log, Run diagnostics (Proton, Python/numpy, free space, GitHub, …) and Save debug report (~/HelixSR/helixsr-manager-debug.txt).
6. Clean up downloads (under More options, optional): removes every downloaded release, the setup's Python, shader compiler and Wine data (~/.local/share/HelixSR) and temporary files. Games keep their installed copy. Only files recognizably HelixSR's are removed from the HelixSR folder.
7. Check: reads helixsr.log (network running / not running / loaded but idle, wave size, network resolution) and, if enabled, OptiScaler.log lines about HelixSR/FFX.
8. Settings: the DLSS network on/off test switch, NetworkResolution and sharpening per install. The NetworkResolution choices come from the installed release's own helixsr.ini, since they differ between releases (1.4.3 is HelixSR 1.3.0 again: auto/fast/full; 1.4.0-1.4.2: auto/full/QSSM/PRSM). 1.5+ has no settings file; only the experimental network switch is offered there.
9. Safety checks: no change to a game's files while it runs (detected through Steam's process environment or a Windows program inside the game folder; for games from other stores by the folder alone) or while Steam is still installing/updating it (StateFlags, download folder). Games with anti-cheat files (EasyAntiCheat, BattlEye, …) need an explicit "I understand the risk" before installing; removing is always allowed.
10. Disable / Enable: a direct install parks HelixSR's DLL as *.helixsr-disabled.dll and puts the game's file back; an OptiScaler install restores the previous OptiScaler.ini values and keeps the HelixSR folder. Enable switches back without downloading or building anything.
11. Other stores (opt-in): reads the install lists of Unifideck, Heroic, Legendary and Lutris and Steam's shortcuts.vdf (each file size-capped, the Lutris database read-only), plus folders added by hand. Each listed game's folder becomes the only place the plugin may change files for that game.

npm install
npm run package     # -> out/HelixSR-Manager.zip
npm test            # unit tests (Python's unittest, no extra packages)

• Runs as the deck user (no root).
• Setup time: about 7-10 minutes on a Steam Deck OLED (HelixSR quotes 4-5 minutes for a desktop CPU). Don't let the Deck sleep during the setup (sleep pauses it).
• If the setup fails in Gaming Mode, run it once from Konsole in Desktop Mode, e.g. ~/HelixSR/v1.4.1/helixsr-setup.sh; the plugin picks up the built DLL afterwards.
• Direct3D 12 only. Vulkan games aren't supported by HelixSR.
• Close the game before installing or reverting.
• Where other stores keep their install lists (and their formats) was learned from HelixSR-Decky (MIT) and from Unifideck's source; the code here is our own.

These are fixes outside the plugin: it doesn't change game files beyond installing HelixSR. Apply them at your own risk and only for offline play.

HelixSR only works in DirectX 12 games. The plugin reads the game's .exe (its imports, including delay-loaded ones), and when it looks DirectX 11 only it shows "Not supported" instead of an install button. If a game has a DirectX 12 mode, switch to it (often a launch option or a setting) and press Check again. The check can be wrong; if you're sure the game runs on DirectX 12, use Install anyway.

The game (5.0, DirectX 12) refuses DLSS when it detects Wine: it looks for wine_get_version and then never starts NVIDIA Streamline. OptiScaler's GPU spoofing doesn't help. Without DLSS, select XeSS or FSR in the game; HelixSR works through those too, but they can shimmer more.

The fix renames that text in witcher3.exe (source). With the game closed, in Desktop Mode (Konsole):

cd "$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/The Witcher 3/bin/x64_dx12"   # or the game's folder on another drive
grep -a -c wine_get_version witcher3.exe                       # 2 = needs the fix, 0 = already patched
cp -p witcher3.exe witcher3.exe.orig                           # backup
sed -i 's/wine_get_version/frog_get_version/' witcher3.exe
cmp -l witcher3.exe.orig witcher3.exe | wc -l                  # must print 8; otherwise restore the backup

Then select DLSS in the game and HelixSR 3.1.5 in OptiScaler's menu (FSR 3.X/4). A game update or Steam's "Verify integrity of game files" restores the original exe, so repeat it after either. To undo: mv witcher3.exe.orig witcher3.exe.

With Wine hidden, the game also changes how it uses DirectX 12, so it depends on the device and Proton version:

If the game doesn't start after the fix, restore the original exe and try another Proton version. proton-cachyos "Wineland" 11.0-20260930 or newer hides Wine for this game by itself, without changing the exe.

Public domain (The Unlicense): copy, change and use it however you like. The install logic follows HelixSR's Apache-2.0 installer script (up to 1.8.1). HelixSR itself isn't included: the plugin downloads official releases unmodified, and from 1.9 (HelixSR Freeware License) runs HelixSR's setup exactly as published. See LICENSE for the notes on HelixSR and NVIDIA's files.