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-devicesbut 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"
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- the221100is the app ID of of DayZ on the steam store. After backing it up, delete the original221100directory 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
221100directory 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:
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:
and
You've got permission errors and a GPU driver issue somewhere, likely related to the permission errors. The
flockerrors 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
the last part is not true, apt installs things natively. Ubuntu software (the graphical app store) uses snap, howeverI 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:
If you were to open the Software & Updates app and go to Additional Drivers, does the driver package you tested say it comes from Nvidia and it is "(proprietary, tested)"? If so, then your drivers should be fine.
nvidia-driver-libs:i386is 32-bit, so I don't know why you would need that installed unless DayZ is only compatible with 32-bit drivers for some reason. I have Steam installed on my Fedora install, and I don't have any 32-bit Nvidia drivers installed but everything works perfectly. That's a separate issue altogether, and I don't recommend running 32-bit drivers unless your system is 32-bit. Can you copy the "System Details" window in the About tab of the Settings app? It should have Hardware and Software information like the CPU, GPU, windowing system, etc. There are a few things that could cause issues that I might be able to glean from that.I'm on Fedora, but since it's running Gnome it should theoretically look the same. You access the system details here:
Here's what mine looks like for reference:
System Details Report
Report details
Hardware Information:
Software Information:
Firmware Version: FX516PM.329
OS Name: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
OS Build: (null)
OS Type: 64-bit
GNOME Version: 45.2
Windowing System: X11
Kernel Version: Linux 6.6.9-200.fc39.x86_64
To uninstall the steam snap, you should be able to open up a terminal and type the following:
And assuming that works, to install the native version of Steam (which should be what's installed anyway, but Canonical is pushing their proprietary snap BS that has never worked well), this should apparently work (I don't have an Ubuntu install to test on though):
If it prompts you for anything, you can just confirm by typing "y". I'd recommend you check that it isn't installing the snap version, but I don't know how to guide you to do that, really. I haven't used a distro with the Aptitude package manager in over 5 years.
Of course, it probably isn't helpful, but I'd recommend avoiding vanilla Ubuntu if you aren't already too deeply invested. Linux Mint seems to be a common recommendation for new users and it's based off Ubuntu, but in all honesty I'd probably recommend Nobara (gaming focused and more user friendly version of Fedora). That way you don't get snaps shoved down your throat by Canonical, which break things constantly. Up to you if you want to install another OS though; in theory you shouldn't need to, and there should be a way to resolve these issues with your current install.
By the way, if you still have issues after the native Steam install and it gives you the same 32-bit driver warning, you should be able to resolve it with the following:
That is of course assuming that the error message you pasted in another thread gave the correct package name, which is not a guarantee. It should have automatically been installed as a dependency to Steam if it was installed through apt though, so I don't feel like that will necessarily be a solution.
Isn't
apt install firefoxmeant to install the snap version?that would be really weird.
snap install firefoxor clicking "Install" in Ubuntu Software installs the snap,apt install firefoxinstalls from the apt repositoriesI 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
How would I go about checking which version mine is? Atleast it isn't in the snap folder.
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 runningvkcube. 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:
Usually I start debugging this type of thing by killing all instances of steam and then launching it from command line. Steam logs a bunch of good stuff and putting it in context of your interactions helps. That said, based on what you've described, I would try older versions of proton, targeting releases back when games were launching. Proton/wine versions don't always work for all games and sometimes you'll need to launch particular titles with specific versions. Proton has been absolutely revolutionary, but these issues still pop up. ProtonDB might have reports on specific versions for specific games/titles.
It looks like dayz is gold, rather than platinum, meaning it will take a little tinkering. https://www.protondb.com/app/221100
You can also try starting a Linux game, if you have any, just to figure out if Proton is the issue.
Yeah I followed the instructions there and it worked without an issue for several weeks and then just stopped working.
But what's strange is that it worked with proton experimental untill this point and that I had this exact same issue earlier on Windows 7 aswell on this same PC. I however did try using proton 8 but that made no difference. I need to try those other versions too
Proton experimental moves quite a lot. Maybe they moved to a new version of something that broke your install for a reason or another.
Try to open the game manually. IIRC protontricks can be used to open the executable with the correct proton instance. Would probably be my go-to first ste4 to start tinkering
There seems to be something wrong trying to install it. I get message saying:
The message seems to give you at least what it thinks the solution to the problem is:
apt install nvidia-driver-libs:i386
Have you tried updating and rebooting your system? I have had this happen a few times and almost always that is what fixes it for me (more so the rebooting but it is generally good to have your system up to date). Other times it is typically something missing on your host system (like properly installed drivers), though if the game was running before then this is less likely to be the issue and a reboot is typically enough - so start with that.
I have checked all drivers, atleast I think I have, and have rebooted the system many times. Even took off the power cord for a minute
I had an issue like this once, it turned out something with openGL had gotten messed up in my last system update, so although I thought I hadn't changed anything, not even Linux native games would launch correctly. the solution that worked for me was just using my distros update tool to make sure everything was up to date, and that found and updated the broken package and since then everything's worked for me
I'm starting to think it has something to do with my GPU/drivers aswell. Earlier when I ran the software updater it found an update for steam but while installing I got this message and I have no idea what it mean and how to sort it out
It quite literally just tells you to install those graphics drivers, and you should.
How?
I don't know what distro you're using but you should just search the package name plus your distro name on the web to see what's actually up.
I know that it's called nvidia-driver-libs-i386 on Debian.
I'm on ubuntu
That really sucks lol, I was hoping you'd be on Mint or something. Did you install using Ubuntu's app store thing that uses the awful snaps?
I'm guessing the normal Steam package installs the drivers for you seeing as I can't find a guide that shows you how to install them on the same page as installing Steam.
Yeah Ubuntu App Center. I managed to uninstall it now and installed one using terminal. I'm re-downloading the game now so we'll see how it goes..
I'm not sure how you can get that package on Ubuntu, but for what it's worth Ive had a much better time ever since I switched from Ubuntu to Nobara. it really has everything I need for gaming out of the box and everything just works. I'm sure a full reinstall is way more of a hassle than you'd want to deal with rn, but if you get to that point I'd highly suggest nobara
I might treat my PC with a new motherboard, CPU and RAM in the near future so switching distros is not totally out of the question. This rig is almost exclusively for playing DayZ tho, so this issue is particularly irritating.
Definitely use a generic distro like Mint next time!
Just to clarify, the error you are seeing in the firmware updater and privacy settings are because your motherboard does not support UEFI, and instead uses legacy BIOS. There is no way to fix that without upgrading your hardware, and it shouldn't be related to your issue, but it may be an issue for anticheat in certain games.
On an unrelated note, you should really upgrade your motherboard and CPU if you have the chance, as those will be massive bottlenecks to performance. Your GPU is way overpowered for those components, so you aren't getting the most out of it. But that likely isn't related to the issue you are currently facing, I just wanted to mention it if you have grievances with the performance of your current computer.
Yeah upgrading the motherboard, cpu and ram is ahead at some point. I don't really game that much so haven't wanted to invest much into that thing. I almost exlusively play DayZ which it barely runs. With the new GPU and by optimizing the settings I get decent visuals with 35 to 60 fps but there's a ton of room for improvement. I've been upgrading it piece by piece starting with an SSD and the new GPU.
Game runs now by the way. I'm not exactly sure what finally did it but I'm suspecting the new steam version and reinstalling the game itself. Huge thanks for the help. Without this community I'd be at a complete loss with this stuff.
Yeah, snap packages have a tendency to break everything, so avoid them like the plague. You should be able to choose what repo you install from in the Ubuntu app store by clicking the dropdown in the top right of the app's page (which defaults to snap if one is available), and selecting something else. I can't remember what the options are, but for a native install you're looking for something like ".deb", or "Ubuntu repository", or "apt", something of the like. You could also install flatpak and set up flathub so you can get apps packaged as flatpaks (which are kind of like snaps, except they actually function and generally work well for most applications). Not sure if you can get flatpak working with the Ubuntu app store, but it works with Gnome software stores for any other distro out of the box (like Fedora and Nobara). Ubuntu is owned by Canonical, who manages snaps, so they have financial motivation to shove them down their user's throats (which has been met with much dismay by the Linux community).
Snaps and flatpaks are essentially meant to be portable formats that are packaged with all of their dependencies inside their own sandbox so that they function the exact same when installed on different distros. This has great applications for compatibility (you can install the same package on any distro instead of compiling your package for multiple package managers and distros), and security (the sandboxing serves as a layer of isolation from other apps. Flatpak does this pretty well, but snap has tons of problems.
If you're ever at the point where you want/need to install a new OS, I'd recommend switching away from Ubuntu to avoid the headaches. Linux Mint is a common recommendation if you want to stick to a system that's similar to Ubuntu (it's based on Ubuntu), but my personal recommendation is something Fedora-based like Fedora Workstation or Nobara. You can find tons of info in this community on what different distros are like, and you'll see that there is no one "best" distro.
If you ever run into any other problems though, this is a great place to ask for help. One of the many great things about Linux is that much of the community is very knowledgeable about how to do/fix practically anything; and many of those people are just happy to help someone so they can enjoy their switch to Linux. There's also AskUbuntu, the Arch Wiki, Fedora forums, etc. that are available for whichever distro they are tailored to.
Maybe a change in thr game patches or steam updates altered Proton behaviour, have you tried a different Proton version?
Yeah I tried proton 8 and 7 too and no difference. I had this exact same issue in win7 too before I switced to Linux so I don't think it's an issue with proton.
You press play and it goes off after a while, you have problems with vulkan, you have an old PC.
I had this exact issue before, try tuning an older version of proton, as newer versions require more recent vulkan versions, which your PC most likely doesn't support.
steam auto updates to the latest proton version usually, that's probably why.
I did get the "Processing vulcan shaders" pop-up sometimes when I opened the game (back when it was still working) So I should not be using the Proton experimental? It worked just fine untill now. That's what's so strange about it. I do have an old PC but my GPU is brand new though.
I'm trying to re-install steam right now but it's been uninstalling it for about an hour and doesn't seem to be progressing anywhere..
1 - Proton experimental is a moving target and is rapidly evolving.
2 - What exactly is your GPU, and maybe tell us your pc specs (even if it's just through the info tab in the settings menu) (also put it in your post for others)
3 - that sometimes happens to me when using gnome-software (which Ubuntu uses? or something really similar?), I usually just surrender and use the terminal, not like I install more than 1 thing in a normal month anyway.
4 - if the issue is with proton, then other games wouldn't work. (try running a very light, single player game to test proton, many F2P games under 20 mbs exist on Steam)
First - post upvoted because of the detailled report. Helpful. Thanks!
I've had the same problem a longer while ago.
Do you really have this few games in your library? I haven't used the normal Steam mode for a while, but on your game list is a small Penguin. I believe that's due to the filter "show Linux native only".
If you forgot to activate Proton, go into the Steam settings, gameplay and hit the checkbox "Compatibility for other games". Use that all the time, even for Linux native games. They are usually way buggier than the Windows version, and Proton works great today.
Second, if you are already using Proton and my first guess is wrong, use another Proton version. Either the most recent one (proton-experimental), an older one or the "proton-GE" versions.
What distro are you using?
Did you try using Flatpak instead of the native package? Maybe, there's something missing in the native app.
Oh, and I also wouldn't worry much about the firmware errors and such. This panel is very new and some things are basically impossible to archive. But don't trust my statement, maybe I'm wrong.
Yes. I don't play anything else except DayZ currently.
Yeah I had all this enabled. The game worked perfectly before and then just all of a sudden stopped launching. I tired Proton 8 and 7 aswell but no difference.
Ubuntu
I was using the snap version of Steam that I had installed from Ubuntu App Store. I uninstalled it and installed the native version using terminal. Obviously I had to re-download and re-install the game aswell and it started working again after that. I'm not entirely sure what was causing the issue in the first place but I'm suspecting it was an issue in the steam app itself. What is curious though is that the exactly same issue occured to me previously with Windows 7 aswell and judging by the reports online, I'm not the only one.
The problem is however solved - atleast for now, and that's the most important thing. Thanks for the help though! The assistance I got from this community is invaluable. I'd be completely stuck with this on my own.
Sorry! Just in case this came out rude or judgy. It's just a bit rare that ones' library is so empty. It was just a thought because mine looks similar when I don't activate Proton.
Aaah, yes. Just what I've thought. There are reasons why Snaps are hated this much in the Linux community.
I personally recommend Flatpaks for everything, especially proprietary software like Steam. With the permission management, it has way less access to your device.
Also, they usually "just work" better, because they provide themselves with all they need and can be improved by everyone, not just the devs of Ubuntu.
With native apps you can get a few problems. In the best case, they're just not as spread and bugs may occour more often. Flatpaks are more reproducible and bugs are fixed universally, no matter what distro.
They're more up to date too.
And, they don't come with dependencies. There was this one case, when a popular YouTuber accidentally deleted his whole user interface because he tried to uninstall Steam. That won't happen with Flatpaks.
Of course, you're welcome! Glad to help!
I think it's something of a generational contract. I got help a few years ago, when I was a noob, and now I'm more experienced and try to help as many newcomers as I can. And you will do the same in 3 years hopefully! 😁
No worries. I feel the same way when I see someone have a huge list of games on Steam. I don't understand how they have time to learn and play all those games. For me it's always been that I find one game I like and then only play that for several years.
Ironically Arma 2 is my first ever game downloaded on Steam as DayZ used to be mod for that one before the standalone version came out and I'm still playing it over 10 years later. Applies to Age of Empires 2 that's on the list too. I've been playing it since 1999 and I still do every now and then. Whose got time for new games when old ones still keeps on giving haha
I didn’t see this mentioned yet in the comments - have you tried going to developer settings and deleting proton files for the game?
I'm not sure what you mean. Uninstall them from here?
Also why is there three different Linux Runtimes?
On the dayz game page where you would click play, click the settings cog on the right. Choose developer, then delete proton files.
There is no such option available in the drop down menu or when I open properties
My bad. I’m on steam deck and have that option.