Steam fails to launch from the menu after update to 21.2 [Solved]

[Pimple]

I'm a relatively new user of Mint Cinnamon and by no means a Linux veteran. This didn't follow me tinkering with anything, but happened when I updated to 21.2.

I was playing on Steam when I noticed the 21.2 update had become available, so I shut down my programs, updated from 21.1 to 21.2 and rebooted. Otherwise looking good, but now when I launch Steam from the menu nothing comes up. I see the process is open, and when I kill it I can launch Steam from the terminal and play games just as before.

When I looked at the package in SoftWare manager the uninstall button was unavailable and I got an error (now gone because of the following). So I uninstalled the steam package with apt and installed again from Software Manager. No luck. I uninstalled again and got the .deb file from steampowered.com.

Same thing: I can run it from the terminal but when I run it from the menu I get this, and the process remains open in the background:

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steam.sh[86783]: Running Steam on linuxmint 21.2 64-bit
steam.sh[86783]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[86904]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[86783]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Startup - updater built Jul 10 2023 23:58:24
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam'
07/18 23:05:04 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1689034492)/tid(86998)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] 1. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1000, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] 2. https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] 3. http://media.steampowered.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Checking for update on startup
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Checking for available updates...
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Manifest download: send request
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Manifest download: finished
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1689034492, installed version 1689034492, existing pending version 0
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Nothing to do
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Verifying installation...
[2023-07-18 23:05:04] Performing checksum verification of executable files
[2023-07-18 23:05:05] Verification complete
Loaded SDL version 3.0.0-1782-g214d5daa3
/usr/share/themes/Mint-Y-Dark-Aqua/gtk-2.0/main.rc:1053: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf063b9c0
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf063a1f0

When I open a terminal and run it, I get this and Steam runs and works as expected:

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username@localhost:~$ steam
steam.sh[90405]: Running Steam on linuxmint 21.2 64-bit
steam.sh[90405]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[90524]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[90405]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Startup - updater built Jul 10 2023 23:58:24
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam'
07/18 23:30:48 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1689034492)/tid(90621)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] 1. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1000, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] 2. https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] 3. http://media.steampowered.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Checking for update on startup
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Checking for available updates...
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2023-07-18 23:30:48] Manifest download: send request
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Manifest download: finished
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1689034492, installed version 1689034492, existing pending version 0
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Nothing to do
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Verifying installation...
[2023-07-18 23:30:49] Performing checksum verification of executable files
[2023-07-18 23:30:50] Verification complete
Loaded SDL version 3.0.0-1782-g214d5daa3
/usr/share/themes/Mint-Y-Dark-Aqua/gtk-2.0/main.rc:1053: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf07159c0
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf07141f0
GetWin32Stats: display was not open yet, good
ComputeStartupMode: found registry default startup mode: 0
Switching to desktopui, since -vgui was not specified
GetWin32Stats: display was not open yet, good
steamwebhelper.sh[90634]: Runtime for steamwebhelper: defaulting to /home/username/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-heavy
steamwebhelper.sh[90634]: glibc >= 2.34, partially disabling sandbox until CEF supports clone3()
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 56 milliseconds to initialize
Failed to init SteamVR because it isn't installed
local (potentially out of sync) copy of roaming config loaded - 1829 bytes.
BRefreshApplicationsInLibrary 1: 1ms
roaming config store loaded successfully - 1829 bytes.
migrating temporary roaming config store
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
Could not connect to X session manager: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
System startup time: 3.93 seconds
BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 322 apps
RegisterForAppOverview 1: 19ms
RegisterForAppOverview 2: 20ms
ExecCommandLine: "'/home/username/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam'"
Fossilize INFO: Setting autogroup scheduling.
Fossilize INFO: Setting autogroup scheduling.
Fossilize INFO: Setting autogroup scheduling.
[2023-07-18 23:32:50] Background update loop checking for update. . .
[2023-07-18 23:32:50] Checking for available updates...
[2023-07-18 23:32:50] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12?t=2267544836
[2023-07-18 23:32:51] Manifest download: send request
[2023-07-18 23:32:51] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2023-07-18 23:32:51] Manifest download: finished
[2023-07-18 23:32:51] Download skipped by HTTP 304 Not Modified
[2023-07-18 23:32:51] Nothing to do

It might seem like a trifle to have to run it in the terminal, but I'd rather it just worked from the menu. And there's something odd going on, because I made sure it's the exact same command it runs, "steam" just like that. So why is there any difference?

My system info is here. If anyone has any questions or ideas about what's going on, I would appreciate it a lot!

[MiZoG]

You can always re-install steam. My preferred way is installing the debian package from store.steampowered.com (steam_latest.deb).
It will find and reload you steam profile and library.

The actual command that my menu entry of Steam in a freshly installed Mint 21.2 executes is: Exec=sh -c 'STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1 steam %U'.
I'm not sure what it means. It calls shell and commands that Steam will be minimized to system tray? Anyway, it is somewhat different.

[Pimple]

When I looked at the package in Software manager the uninstall button was unavailable and I got an error (now gone because of the following). So I uninstalled the steam package with apt and installed again from Software Manager. No luck. I uninstalled again and got the .deb file from steampowered.com.

I have; reinstalling the program itself doesn't seem to make a difference. Neither does using that command, but thanks for posting it.

[josephkoen]

This might not be much help, but I have been having the same issue when upgrading to 21.2. If I uninstall steam and delete the .steam files and launcher files. Then reinstall steam through the package manager, I can usually get it to start one time. I can login and access my games, but as soon as I exit out of steam, it will not restart.

It works great on 21.1 (Thank you Timeshift). For right now I will probably be sticking to 21.1 until it gets worked out.

[mnw]

now when I launch Steam from the menu nothing comes up. I see the process is open, and when I kill it I can launch Steam from the terminal and play games just as before.

I'm having the same problem. My logs don't look exactly the same as yours — and in my case, Steam (as launched from the menu) seems to be repeatedly trying (and failing) to open windows, which momentarily steal focus from whatever else I'm doing before disappearing — but the bottom line is Steam won't launch from the menu shortcut.

reinstalling the program itself doesn't seem to make a difference.

If I uninstall steam and delete the .steam files and launcher files. Then reinstall steam through the package manager, I can usually get it to start one time. I can login and access my games, but as soon as I exit out of steam, it will not restart.

Thank you for trying this. You've at least saved me the time I'd have spent reinstalling Steam myself.

I did try renaming ~/.steam and letting Steam create a new one, but I got the same results. As I mentioned in another thread, I also tried modifying the Steam shortcut to use Terminal=true (because I had noticed that Steam actually does work when I manually run it from a terminal), but that didn't help either.

It works great on 21.1 (Thank you Timeshift). For right now I will probably be sticking to 21.1 until it gets worked out.

Sadly I will probably do the same. I don't see this issue getting a whole lot of attention — if there are any bug reports outside of this forum, I don't see them — but I suppose I can at least check back on these threads in a while to see if there is any progress. I could also submit a bug report myself, but I'm not sure where it should go. The README on the Linux Mint issue tracker specifically says it's for "general issues in the Linux Mint system itself (not Cinnamon, Xapps, or any projects which have their own repository)", but I have no idea how to figure out whether this bug is more related to Cinnamon, etc., than to Linux Mint itself. Yes, the issue began with upgrading to Linux Mint 21.2, but I assume that also came with upgrades to Cinnamon and other components with their own repositories...

[DenisZ]

I am having the same issue, but i should say, that is not a linux Mint issue, because i had same problem on Fedora 38. Seems that this is problem of the steam itself after last update

[mnw]

I am having the same issue, but i should say, that is not a linux Mint issue, because i had same problem on Fedora 38. Seems that this is problem of the steam itself after last update

I hadn't used Steam for a few days prior to upgrading to Mint 21.2 and seeing that Steam didn't work, so it's possible that a Steam update caused this. However, searching for Steam issues on the Mint forums, I've seen reports of this issue only from people who upgraded to 21.2. Plus there's this post:

works great on 21.1

I guess I'll find out if that's accurate when I roll back to 21.1 later today. If that fixes it, then the problem is Mint 21.2 itself or some component that was upgraded between 21.1 and 21.2.

[mnw]

I used Timeshift to revert from Mint 21.2 back to Mint 21.1, and then installed some package updates that got undone (because my last 21.1 snapshot was about a week ago), and now launching Steam from the menu shortcut works again. I've checked for updates within the Steam client to confirm that it's up to date, and (perhaps less importantly) the Steam package version reported by APT is also the same; on both versions of Mint, running apt list steam prints the following:

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Listing...
steam/jammy,now 1:1.0.0.74-1ubuntu2 i386 [installed]

So I don't think the bug is caused solely by an update to the Steam client itself. As far as Linux Mint is concerned, it looks like the problem was indeed introduced with version 21.2.

[MurphCID]

It is also not working on POP!_OS, which leads me to believe it is an issue in the Steam App in both the repo and flatpak versions. This is not something that should be happening in 2023.

[DenisZ]

It seems that the problem is with hardware acceleration that was introduced in last Steam update. One can open file

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/usr/share/applications/steam.desktop

and see the line

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PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true

I changed it to

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PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false

and now all works perfectly

[Bartosz82]

Same thing on my PC, when, on my laptop with intgrated GPU, everything works fine.

It's a bug - steam UI does not open if run with DRI_PRIME=1

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam- ... ssues/9383

[mnw]

It's a bug - steam UI does not open if run with DRI_PRIME=1

see the line

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PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true

I changed it to

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PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false

and now all works perfectly

Is there a known reason that this would affect Mint 21.2 and not affect Mint 21.1? Does Mint 21.1 not support the PrefersNonDefaultGPU flag in desktop entries?

I was reluctant to believe that the problem was a Steam client update, given that rolling back to Mint 21.1 (and still using an up-to-date Steam client) fixed the problem for me, but if that's just because Mint 21.1 doesn't respect the shortcut's PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true in the first place, then all of this makes perfect sense.

[mnw]

I just re-upgraded to Mint 21.2 and flipped that PrefersNonDefaultGPU switch:

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cp /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/steam.desktop
sed s/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false/ -i ~/.local/share/applications/steam.desktop

Opening Steam from the menu works now.

[Pimple]

That seems to have done it! At first I didn't think so but now it works. Thanks for the replies, I'll mark the thread as solved.

[josephkoen]

Way to go mnw! Thanks a million this worked for me as well. Apparently this is a steam issues in dealing with multiple GPUs.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam- ... ssues/7089

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cp /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/steam.desktop
sed s/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false/ -i ~/.local/share/applications/steam.desktop

[Turtlesmile]

Hi there,

Not sure if this will help - but I had the same issues replicate on my Linux Mint 21.2 install. Steam would only launch once, and then wouldn't launch again unless I reinstalled and or time-shifted.

I found that launching steam from within the "Software Manager" worked everytime.

Thanks,
Turtlesmile

[seaweed420]

Just wanted to say, I had the same issue today trying to run Steam from the stat menu installed from the Software Manager on my second PC. I had Steam on it for about a year but only ran it today. 21.2, latest, latest Steam update.
Works just fine on my primary PC running the same Mint, but not this one.
The "PrefersNonDefaultGPU" config variable was set to true, setting it to false fixed it.

It's just shameful that an issue plauging users for 5 months has not been fixed so far. Not everyone who want to play games know how to go through forums and edit config files and they chose Mint over Arch for reason.