Steam keeps forgetting 2nd HDD

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Timmy Aug 28, 2014 @ 3:36pm

I have an SSD as a main drive and an HDD that i use as storage and for large games.

About once per week, my steam will randomly remove the E drive(HDD) from my library list and i end up needing to make a whole new folder, add it as a library, and cut/paste my games over there and let steam "reinstall them" by detecting the files.

It was okay when it happened once, but this is the 5th time and i need help. I've tried going to my power management settings and telling my HDD to never turn off, i've added libraries and restarted or fully powered off/on and the libraries would stay, i would reboot steam and it would stay, as far as i can observe it is totally random. I have no malware on my PC, i've ran malwarebytes, avast, comodo and CCleaner.

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Showing 1-15 of 23 comments

✪ Thunderking ✪ Aug 28, 2014 @ 5:51pm

Same for me, after the last update that i just got about 10 min ago steam don't show the games i got installed on my 2th hdd as installed at all, only the primary one.

Rick's Pickle Dick Aug 28, 2014 @ 6:24pm

Same here, except I have 2 extra HDD's (long story). Every time I restart my computer, steam forgets my HDDs. I am getting VERY annoyed.

TirithRR Aug 28, 2014 @ 6:28pm

Check out a few things here:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

To ensure that you do not encounter this issue, always allow Steam to close properly when shutting down your computer. Allowing Windows to force Steam to close when it is writing to a hard drive may cause Steam library and installation information to become corrupted.

Additionally, third party applications can prevent Steam from writing essential information. Ensure that none of your installed applications are interfering with Steam:

Something going wrong with the update could cause it as well, I'd imagine.

Edit:
My bad, screwed up those quotes.

Last edited by TirithRR; Aug 28, 2014 @ 6:39pm

Timmy Aug 28, 2014 @ 6:36pm

That seems like a reasonable theory, It seems like a bit of a pain to manually do it every time. However, i dont see why it would remove the HDD when i dont have downloads going during that process. I will take that into account but I'll leave this up incase anyone else has input

Last edited by Timmy; Aug 28, 2014 @ 11:25pm

boolean Nov 8, 2014 @ 4:06am

This is happening to me EVERY TIME I REBOOT and I always exit steam beforehand. On top of that, every time it says my library folder has to be empty so I have to make a new folder, name it after my steam library, change my steam library folder's name to something else, go into the steam GUI, select the empty folder, exit steam, delete the empty folder, rename my library folder once again to its original name, then finally restart steam and be able to play my games.

Could a valve employee or knowledgeable person here at least give me a command for steam in a bash command line that adds a library folder? That way I could write myself an autorun script and automate the process every boot as a workaround. If any system info is necessary, I am on Linux Mint 17 with an AMD processor and nVidia graphics card.

Timmy Nov 9, 2014 @ 5:04pm

Yeah, i still get this issue constantly so if you do happen to get information on how to create that script that would be wonderful.

boolean Nov 9, 2014 @ 7:00pm

Originally posted by M.Timmons:
Yeah, i still get this issue constantly so if you do happen to get information on how to create that script that would be wonderful.

Are you on Linux too? You'd probably need to be on a debian based distro (Ubuntu, Linux mint, etc. basically not arch, gentoo or a BSD derivative) for my script to work when I get info for it, but I'll post a link to a guide ITT when I figure it out.

Godspeed Jan 3, 2015 @ 6:26am

I am currently having this problem with Ubuntu. Hopefully it gets fixed soon.

ReBoot Jan 3, 2015 @ 6:28am

Just move your whole Steam folder to where you want your games. Problem solved.

Godspeed Jan 3, 2015 @ 6:47am

Update: I must open a folder in or click on SSD#2 then Steam will recognize it. Problem is now I must do this everytime I want it to work.

Last edited by Godspeed; Jan 3, 2015 @ 8:06am

#10

KolorowyMiś Jan 3, 2015 @ 6:54am

lol

#11

Timmy Jan 3, 2015 @ 3:43pm

Originally posted by ReBoot:
Just move your whole Steam folder to where you want your games. Problem solved.

I would love for this to be a solution. However, I only have a 250gb SSD(not enough money) and i have 1tb of games. To utilize the SSD the games must be divided.

Last edited by Timmy; Jan 3, 2015 @ 3:44pm

#12

ack0329 Sep 25, 2016 @ 11:58am

Ok Partial or Total Solution, and it seems it is NOT Steam fault for a change! WooHoo.

Ubuntu/Linux (Ubuntu-Gnome here - AWESOME) does not auto mount HDDs or SSDs unless checked off to do so In Disks or GParted, Easy-Peasy.

Reply if it fixed your issue too.