Flatpak Steam crashes on startup

Since some time now the Steam Flatpak cannot start up and I have no idea why this happens.

Web research leads to basically nothing that is related to what I experience so I assume it has something to do with my system. Other Flatpaks start up normally and I can use them.

When resetting everything related to the Steam Flatpak and reinstalling it from Flathub it loads and installs the Flatpak and then installs all necessary stuff

[various update-related stuff]
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 32-bit libcurl.so.4
setup.sh[4598]: Found newer runtime version for 32-bit libSDL2-2.0.so.0. Host: 0.2400.0 Runtime: 0.2600.5
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 32-bit libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
setup.sh[4598]: Found newer runtime version for 32-bit libvulkan.so.1. Host: 1.3.224 Runtime: 1.3.239
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 32-bit libdbusmenu-glib.so.4
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 32-bit libcurl-gnutls.so.4
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 32-bit libdbusmenu-gtk.so.4
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 64-bit libcurl.so.4
setup.sh[4598]: Found newer runtime version for 64-bit libSDL2-2.0.so.0. Host: 0.2400.0 Runtime: 0.2600.5
setup.sh[4598]: Found newer runtime version for 64-bit libvulkan.so.1. Host: 1.3.224 Runtime: 1.3.239
setup.sh[4598]: Forced use of runtime version for 64-bit libcurl-gnutls.so.4
steam.sh[2]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied

So everything looks good up to this point. The small Steam update windows poppend up several times indicating the running installation/update. The output then continues:

[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Startup - updater built Jul 28 2023 18:44:09
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-no-cef-sandbox'
08/17 22:47:50 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1690583737)/tid(5467)
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Failed to load cached hosts file (File 'update_hosts_cached.vdf' not found), using defaults
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] 1. https://cdn.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Verifying installation...
[2023-08-17 22:47:50] Verification complete
XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf0d328f0
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf0d311c0
GetWin32Stats: display was not open yet, good
GetWin32Stats: display was not open yet, good

(The last line gets printed twice, yes.)

The first startup process then hangs there for a few seconds and continues with this.

steamwebhelper.sh[5473]: Running under Flatpak, disabling sandbox
steamwebhelper.sh[5473]: CEF sandbox already disabled
CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 0 milliseconds to initialize
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (540) : Failed creating offscreen shared JS context
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (540) : Fatal assert; application exiting
08/17 22:48:39 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1690583737)/tid(5467)
assert_20230817224839_27.dmp[5771]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20230817224839_27.dmp
dirk ~ $

After the command prompt is shown agein, this gets printed:

assert_20230817224839_27.dmp[5771]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20230817224839_27.dmp[5771]: response: CrashID=bp-f62fb7e8-d024-452e-a937-9c6672230817
assert_20230817224839_27.dmp[5771]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20230817224839_27.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-f62fb7e8-d024-452e-a937-9c6672230817''

At the given location there is no dump file.

Do you guys have any Idea why this happens and how I can fix it?

Involved software:

$ flatpak --version
Flatpak 1.15.4

$ flatpak remotes
Name    Optionen
flathub system

$ flatpak info com.valvesoftware.Steam | grep Version | awk '{print $2}'
1.0.0.78

$ uname -rms
Linux 6.4.10-arch1-1 x86_64

$ openbox --version | head -n1
Openbox 3.6.1

$ pacman -Qi xorg-server | grep Version | awk '{print $3}'
21.1.8-2

18 comments

Did you also delete the steam user data when reinstalling it? Regardless, I found a Github issue that looks very similar to yours. Apparently this was caused by a beta update? But this was about 4 months ago? Weird.

Anyway, the suggested fix was to first reset steam with flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam --reset And then opt out of any potential beta: com.valvesoftware.Steam -clearbeta

Not sure if this really is the same issue, but it's definitely worth a try.

Edit: Seems like on some systems, removing the package xdg-desktop-portal-gnome also fixed it. Don't know if it also applies to the flatpak, but just try it. Just remember to install the package again if it doesn't fix it. It may be needed for some other things.
- Did you also delete the steam user data when reinstalling it?
  
  On one page I found a set of rm commands for resetting Steam issues and adapted it to the Flatpak version.
  
  rm -r ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ rm -r ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steam/ rm ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steampath rm ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steampid rm -r ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.cache/nvidia/GLCache/
  
  flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam --reset
  
  Resetting it like this seems to work a bit. The Steam interface started up one time and after logging in and restarting it, it now does the same thing as before.
  
  Seems like on some systems, removing the package xdg-desktop-portal-gnome also fixed it.
  
  It is not installed.
  
  $ pacman -Ss xdg-desktop | grep installed extra/xdg-desktop-portal 1.16.0-3 [installed] extra/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk 1.14.1-1 [installed]
  
  I can’t remove those because botha are directly and/or indirectlz dependencies for Flatpak.
  
  Okay, well then we'll need to investigate further.
  
  On one page I found a set of rm commands for resetting Steam issues and adapted it to the Flatpak version.
  
  While these commands will delete most of the steam stuff, just in case you didn't know, for any flatpak you can run flatpak uninstall --delete-data to delete all user data for uninstalled apps. Or, if you don't want to uninstall the app first, just deleting ~/.var/app/the app you want to delete the data of will also do the trick. That, just as a small side note.
  
  Resetting it like this seems to work a bit. The Steam interface started up one time and after logging in and restarting it, it now does the same thing as before.
  
  That's something at least. Why don't we try something? Maybe the beta version will fix it? When you have the steam client open, try switching to the beta version of it. You can do that by opening the steam settings, go to interface and select the beta. If that also doesn't work, try launching it with -no-cef-sandbox, as that also fixed it for some people.
I also have an issue when starting up Flatpak Steam on Nobara. Steam started suddenly "bootlooping". It appears in the background tasks of GNOME and disappeara after a few seconds.

I found a workaround, however; Start by closing it in the backround apps, right-clicking Steam on the dock and selecting any page to open to, like friends or store

Hey @DeeBeeDouble@lemmy.ml remember the Steam issue you helped me with some time ago? I just felt I’ll let you know 🙂

Here’s fun little update on this …

No relevant software was changed, but with the latest system update the Steam Flatpak runs all the udpates as it did before, but now this is logged (all the update and initial installation/setup stuff was done at this point):

INFO:root:https://github.com/flathub/com.valvesoftware.Steam/wiki
INFO:root:Will set XDG dirs prefix to /home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam
DEBUG:root:Checking input devices permissions
WARNING:root:Missing permissions for input devices
INFO:root:Overriding TZ to Europe/Berlin
steam.sh[2]: Running Steam on org.freedesktop.platform 23.08 64-bit
steam.sh[2]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[74]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[2]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Startup - updater built Sep 11 2023 20:48:54
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-no-cef-sandbox'
09/22 21:54:27 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1694466342)/tid(137)
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] 1. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1000, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] 2. https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] 3. https://cdn.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Verifying installation...
[2023-09-22 21:54:27] Verification complete

Steam logging initialized: directory: /home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/logs

XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf044a8f0
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf04491c0
steamwebhelper.sh[143]: Runtime for steamwebhelper: defaulting to /home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-heavy
steamwebhelper.sh[143]: Running under Flatpak, disabling sandbox
steamwebhelper.sh[143]: CEF sandbox already disabled
CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 35 milliseconds to initialize
Steam Runtime Launch Service: starting steam-runtime-launcher-service
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service is running pid 222
steam-runtime-launcher-service[222]: E: Unable to acquire bus name "com.steampowered.PressureVessel.LaunchAlongsideSteam"
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service pid 222 exited
Steam Runtime Launch Service: starting steam-runtime-launcher-service
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service is running pid 250
steam-runtime-launcher-service[250]: E: Unable to acquire bus name "com.steampowered.PressureVessel.LaunchAlongsideSteam"
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service pid 250 exited
Steam Runtime Launch Service: starting steam-runtime-launcher-service
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service is running pid 259
steam-runtime-launcher-service[259]: E: Unable to acquire bus name "com.steampowered.PressureVessel.LaunchAlongsideSteam"
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service pid 259 exited
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service keeps crashing on startup, disabling
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (543) : Failed creating offscreen shared JS context
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (543) : Failed creating offscreen shared JS context
09/22 21:55:16 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1694466342)/tid(137)
assert_20230922215516_28.dmp[266]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20230922215516_28.dmp
assert_20230922215516_28.dmp[266]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20230922215516_28.dmp[266]: response: CrashID=bp-0f81ef33-d093-4fd1-b98c-8bd202230922
assert_20230922215516_28.dmp[266]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20230922215516_28.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-0f81ef33-d093-4fd1-b98c-8bd202230922''
steamwebhelper.sh[278]: Runtime for steamwebhelper: defaulting to /home/dirk/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-heavy
steamwebhelper.sh[278]: Running under Flatpak, disabling sandbox
steamwebhelper.sh[278]: CEF sandbox already disabled

During this log output this message pops up at some point:

But no matter what I select except Restart steamwebhelper the Flatpak quits and nothing more happens. When Restart steamwebhelper is selected sometimes the steam UI shows up but I cannot select anything from any dropdowns and cannot change most of the settings sliders. But most of the time this is logged and nothing happens:

[2023-09-22 21:56:53] Background update loop checking for update. . .
[2023-09-22 21:56:53] Checking for available updates...
[2023-09-22 21:56:53] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12?t=3700310497
[2023-09-22 21:56:53] Manifest download: send request
[2023-09-22 21:56:53] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2023-09-22 21:56:54] Manifest download: finished
[2023-09-22 21:56:54] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12?t=3700310497 version 1694466342, installed version 1694466342, existing pending version 0
[2023-09-22 21:56:54] Nothing to do

So we’re a bit further with this now. I now get an error message most of the time and occasionally can see the steam UI with partial access 🤣

So, who knows … maybe 2-3 more months and I can use Steam again like before …

18 comments