Linux @lemmy.ml Critical_Insight @feddit.uk 10 mo. ago

Steam not launching games - no idea what to do [Solved]

This may not be a Linux specific problem as I had the exact same issue earlier with Windows 7 and it's one of the reasons I installed Linux in the first place.

The specific game I'm trying to play is DayZ but it may not be issue specific to this game. It worked flawlessly untill this point. I had made no changes to anything. Basically when I try to launch the game it starts loading up normally and then just apparently quits and the "Play" button goes back green. No error, no black screen, no freezing or anything. It just stops launching the game.

I've tried checking the integrity of files, deleting downloads catche, disabling steam cloud, removing launch options.. nothing. Almost like it gets blocked by firewall or something. However I feel like it may be an issue with steam itself or then it's a hardware issue (I've got really old PC)

Few things I've noticed that may or may not be related:

When opening up steam it almost always used to download some updates first and check the integrity of them or something. Now it doesn't. It just opens up Steam. When I click "check for updates" it says everything is up to date.
The firmware updater shows available updates for my SSD and HDD but no option to update. I also tried with sudo fwupdmgr get-devices but it says "UEFI firmware can not be updated in legacy BIOS mode See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:legacy-bios for more information."

In the privacy settings it says "checks failed" and gives me this message:

I've tried reinstalling Proton BattlEye Runtime but it wont let me uninstall it and says "missing shared content"

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71 comments

I don't have any idea about your hardware issues. They're likely unrelated if the game has already been played without issue.

For the steam diagnosing, start with running steam from your terminal, by running steam. You may get lucky and the error is clearly identified in the console.

If that fails, backup $HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/221100 - the 221100 is the app ID of of DayZ on the steam store. After backing it up, delete the original 221100 directory and re-launch the game. This doesn't delete the game, but rather deletes the Proton prefix for the game.

If the game launches, copy any save files (if any) you may have in the backed-up 221100 directory over to the new one.

The above worked for me when I had similar issues when playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.

To be thorough, have you tried any other games to rule out your hardware being an issue?
- I installed DayZ Experimental and I have the same issue with that. I haven't tried with other games as I have none installed.
  
  Trying to run steam via terminal gives me this wall of text:
  
  (process:18363): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_settings_schema_source_lookup: assertion `source != NULL' failed XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf6b24370 XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf6b22cc0 steamwebhelper.sh[18409]: Runtime for steamwebhelper: defaulting to /home/pokko/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-heavy /home/pokko/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper.sh: line 53: /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone: Permission denied /home/pokko/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper.sh: line 60: /proc/sys/user/max_user_namespaces: Permission denied steamwebhelper.sh[18409]: glibc >= 2.34, partially disabling sandbox until CEF supports clone3() steamwebhelper.sh[18409]: CEF sandbox already disabled flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 44 milliseconds to initialize Steam Runtime Launch Service: starting steam-runtime-launcher-service Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service is running pid 18505 bus_name=com.steampowered.PressureVessel.LaunchAlongsideSteam flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices failed, unable to init and enumerate GPUs with Vulkan. BInit - Unable to initialize Vulkan! BRefreshApplicationsInLibrary 1: 0ms (steam:18363): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_settings_schema_source_lookup: assertion `source != NULL' failed flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 183 apps RegisterForAppOverview 1: 18ms RegisterForAppOverview 2: 18ms (steam:18363): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_settings_schema_source_lookup: assertion `source != NULL' failed
  
  Oh damn, you're using the snap version of Steam, this is unfortunately outside of my area of experience :(
  
  Some key error messages I see are:
  
  /home/pokko/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper.sh: line 53: /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone: Permission denied /home/pokko/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper.sh: line 60: /proc/sys/user/max_user_namespaces: Permission denied
  
  and
  
  flock /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LOCK_SH failed. errno = 13vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices failed, unable to init and enumerate GPUs with Vulkan. BInit - Unable to initialize Vulkan!
  
  You've got permission errors and a GPU driver issue somewhere, likely related to the permission errors. The flock errors stand out to me also, as they are fonts. Maybe required fonts for the game to run?
  
  I've been using Linux for only a couple of weeks and all this is complete hebrew to me. I have no clue what is snap version of steam.
  
  I'm not trying to steal hollyberry's job here but here is my understanding of snaps (and why they aren't good).
  
  Snaps were created by Canonical (The company behind Ubuntu) to fix the issue of inconsistent dependencies. The problem with the format is that the market is proprietary and they just aren't very good. Also they perform somewhat worse than Appimages and Flatpak.
  
  Personally I reccomend you look into Flatpak, as it's a better sandboxing format than snap is.
  
  Also the reason you ended up with the SNAP version of steam is because Ubuntu prioritizes the snap version over the native version when using
  
  apt install steam
  
  ~~the last part is not true, apt installs things natively. Ubuntu software (the graphical app store) uses snap, however~~
  
  I stand corrected. The apt packages on Ubuntu sometimes just install snaps under the hood. really strange move by Canonical
  
  Yeah I installed Steam using the Ubuntu app store. Now I'm trying to uninstall it but it's been going on for an hour and doesn't seem to be progressing anywhere.
  
  I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience. It should be as simple as uninstalling in the Ubuntu store, and then reinstalling either using apt or flatpak. Is the uninstall not working?
  
  I need no try again. The uninstall failed the first time. It got stuck at 80% or so. I've had so much issues with Linux from the start that I'm getting suspicious about wether it's a hardware issue.
  
  The uninstalling issue almost certainly isn't hardware related, Ubuntu's app store is just a pile of hot garbage. Stuff like that happens all the time, or at least that was my experience years ago when I used Ubuntu, one of the (many) reasons I no longer recommend Ubuntu to new users.
  
  As for the Steam issues, it's probably a mix of software and hardware issues. It seems there are some permissions issues (likely caused by snap), but it also seems like there are GPU driver issues. What GPU do you have? If you have an Nvidia card, have you installed their drivers? There is also a very real possibility that your card is so old that DayZ is no longer compatible with it (which may be the case given that it wasn't working in Windows, but to be fair Windows 7 is incredibly out of date and doesn't receive updates so it could have also been a software/driver issue there).
  
  My GPU is just a few years old GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER and I just updated the drivers from 535 to 545 but no difference. However I've gotten a prompt saying that Steam needs nvidia-driver-libs:i386 so I'm not sure if I should install that instead or in addition to the ones I already have.
  
  I still haven't been able to uninstall steam snap(?) either. I'd like to try the non-snap version using terminal but I don't know how to proceed. I'm sorry I'm such a novice with Linux. I'm feeling like my replies are really unhelpful.
  
  EDIT: No luck trying to install the other drivers. All I got is this:
  
  Permanently Deleted
  
  How would I go about checking which version mine is? Atleast it isn't in the snap folder.
  
  Permanently Deleted
  
  Isn't apt install firefox meant to install the snap version?
  
  that would be really weird. snap install firefox or clicking "Install" in Ubuntu Software installs the snap, apt install firefox installs from the apt repositories
  
  I think I first read about it from here: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/04/how-to-install-firefox-deb-apt-ubuntu-22-04
  
  I've never tested it, but some of my friends mentioned snaps getting installed via 'apt'
  
  huh, after some more research it seems you're right. that seems... scummy
  
  Thankfully someone stepped in about snap... I don't like it and would have gone on a rant without circling back to the issue on hand lmao
  
  As recommended somewhere up the chain, try a different version of Proton. Support for your hardware may have been deprecated.
  
  From here, I'm out of my element. Best of luck, sorry I couldn't have been of more help!
- Interestingly that file doesn't seem to be located in the location you mentioned but rather: home/snap/steam/common/.steam/steamapps/steam/comptdata
  
  There is no steam folder at "share"
  
  I'll try deleting that anyways. I'll report back in a moment
  
  EDIT: Nope, nothing.
  
  The logs say error on Vulkan, make sure your GPU is running with the correct drivers. If it's a Vulkan thing old native games that use OpenGL should work, I think Team Fortress 2 is OpenGL but I'm not entirely sure.
  
  I'm sorry I just don't know how to check any of that. These are the GPU drivers I'm using (I think) The game worked just fine for several weeks with these drivers.
  
  You can install vulkan-tools (ubuntu package name - not sure if it's the same for your distro) and running vkcube. It's a simple vulkan app that will display a rotating cube using vulkan. It will also spit out the GPU that it's running on.
  
  If it reports your nvidia card and the cube looks good then your drivers may be fine and the issue is with Steam and/or this application specifically. If not then there's an issue with your drivers.
  
  Occasionally when I've had a kernel update or something the nvidia drivers have gotten borked. Removing, re-installing, and rebooting has helped. Something like this:
  
  apt purge nvidia-driver-* apt install nvidia-driver-535 reboot

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