One of the details that got gamers excited around the time Valve announced the Steam Machine was the inclusion of an e-ink panel that was shown off in the console's announcement video, which we later discovered would not be commercially available. Following the e-ink panel hype and the official launch of the Steam Machine, NaKyle Write, a Valve contractor, has officially published a GitLab page detailing a DIY Inkterface panel, which gives gamers the ability to build the e-ink panel as long as they have access to parts and a soldering iron, and the ability to combine the two. The GitLab post lists all the necessary parts, but it requires some knowledge of the Linux AppImage packaging format and building and flashing firmware for the e-ink panel.

Valve says that it has In total, the BOM cost comes out to around $88.15 using the sources Valve lists in the GitLab instructions, although it's likely that the parts or 1:1 alternatives could be acquired more affordably on sites like AliExpress. The most expensive component is the 5.83-inch e-ink display, at $49.95. The Steam Machine Inkterface panel is technically an independent peripheral in that it does not need the Steam Machine to display an image. As such, it connects to the Steam Machine with a BLE connection, and it is controlled by the Steam Machine using an app, which currently needs to be compiled as an AppImage but will later be shipped on Steam. The Inkterface panel can display a number of system stats or custom layouts and images created in Lunacy, an open-source Figma alternative.