New Steam Client Won't Open (Linux) (SOLVED)

[Noborus]

The new Steam client doesn't open most of the time I run Steam. I have to kill the process and run it several times before it finally opens.
I tried `steam://flushconfig` which worked the first time I did it, but it hasn't worked since.
I also tried deleting Steam's files, keeping only `userdata`, `steamapps` and `compatibilitytools.d` (my custom proton builds), and that only worked the first time I ran Steam again.
At first, I thought it might be an issue with the "Enable Steam Play for all other titles" setting, as it seemed that the client wouldn't open after enabling it, but now the client doesn't open even with that setting disabled.
Running Steam gives me a normal output as far as I can tell (the only errors I see are some GTK errors, but those are expected), the only problem is that the Steam client never appears. I tried letting the process run for over an hour before killing it, so I don't think waiting any longer would change anything.
I believe the issue might be the latest stable NVIDIA drivers (535.54.03), but I have yet to test different drivers.

steam -vgui

(the old client UI) works for me, so I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the new client.

Distribution: Artix Linux
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
Drivers: 535.54.03
Kernels tested: 6.3.8 custom build, 6.3.6.artix1-1
Display Server: X11
Window Manager (in case it matters): dwm


Any help is appreciated.

Solution[github.com]

[2 gurls 1 mixtape]

I posted the fix here https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3811782223863572109/ for manjaro

[LPChip]

I'm on windows, and my steam won't open at all either. It spawns just one process steam.exe and crashes without even generating a dump. I tried anything to get it to work, but even starting it multiple times won't work. Neither using -vgui does, and steam://flushconfig does not seem to do anything either.

I've opened a support ticket with Steam.

[Noborus]

Originally posted by 2 gurls 1 mixtape:

I posted the fix here https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3811782223863572109/ for manjaro

Originally posted by 2 gurls 1 mixtape:

The fix for me was removing a package with this command then restarting the computer

(For Manjaro Users) sudo pacman -R xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

I don't have that package as I don't use GNOME, but I tried removing the counterpart:

xdg-desktop-portal 1.16.0-3
xdg-desktop-portal-gtk 1.14.1-1

And that didn't fix it for me. But thank you anyways.

[2 gurls 1 mixtape]

I don't have that package as I don't use GNOME

Im not using the gnome enviorment either im using xfce but it was still installed for my enviorment. What linux distro are you using maybe you can cross reference that.

[Noborus]

Originally posted by 2 gurls 1 mixtape:

What linux distro are you using maybe you can cross reference that.

Ah, I forgot to mention my distro. I feel silly.
I use Artix Linux (basically Arch without systemd). I'll edit the original post to include that, thank you lol.

[f.society]

Originally posted by LPChip:

I'm on windows, and my steam won't open at all either. It spawns just one process steam.exe and crashes without even generating a dump. I tried anything to get it to work, but even starting it multiple times won't work. Neither using -vgui does, and steam://flushconfig does not seem to do anything either.

I've opened a support ticket with Steam.

I have the same problem with my new Windows installation. Just a steam.exe process but mine doesnt crash and I cant even force kill the process.

[BossOfTheGame]

I have this issue on Ubuntu 22.04. I can start steam fine on a fresh reboot, but if it closes in any way (manual close or a crash), opening the second time does not work. Running the command `steam` on the CLI just results in:

```
(pyenv3.11.2) joncrall@toothbrush:~$ steam
steam.sh[3254714]: Running Steam on ubuntu 22.04 64-bit
steam.sh[3254714]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[3254784]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[3254714]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
tid(3254872) burning pthread_key_t == 0 so we never use it
(pyenv3.11.2) joncrall@toothbrush:~$
```

The error code is 0.

No steam process appears to be running:
```
(pyenv3.11.2) joncrall@toothbrush:~$ ps -a
PID TTY TIME CMD
2582 tty2 04:00:27 Xorg
2601 tty2 00:00:00 gnome-session-b
2321661 pts/12 00:00:00 prepare_system.
2322218 pts/12 00:11:21 python
2356185 pts/14 00:04:42 ipython
2406016 pts/19 5-17:10:02 python
2407355 pts/20 00:27:21 nvtop
2751880 pts/18 00:00:00 tmux: client
2802126 pts/13 00:00:34 ipython
2825344 pts/25 00:00:01 docker
3160991 pts/6 00:03:50 python
3161852 pts/4 00:00:00 tmux: client
3201819 pts/10 00:00:04 ipython
3237149 pts/34 00:00:00 prepare_system.
3237697 pts/34 00:00:52 python
3253343 pts/2 00:00:00 tmux: client
3254471 pts/35 00:00:00 tmux: client
3254613 pts/19 00:00:05 python <defunct>
3255120 pts/1 00:00:00 ps
```

Well... that seems to be a lie. If I look at htop I see a zombie steam process and a non-zombie `bash /home/joncrall/.steam/debian-instillation/steam.sh --nominidumps --nobreakpad`


I killed the bash process, but that doesn't change the behavior of running `steam` or `steam -vgui`

Would love a fix for this. I use my second GPU for long-running experiments, so if I want to play a game on my first GPU, I have to restart my system when this issue happens, and that disrupts my experiments.

[Slendog]

For me (Ubuntu 22.04 KDE) the fix seems to run from terminal manually

steam &

If I use the menu shortcut it doesn't work no matter what

[LaSpookyEXE]

I’m on arch this what worked for me I was getting an error where steam said fail to load Novea idk how spell it (error [laspooky@navi ~]$ steam
steam. sh[37641: Running Steam on arch rolling 64-bit steam.sh[3764]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically setup.sh[3820]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date! steam.sh[3764]: Log already open steam.sh[3764]: Using supervisor /home/laspooky/. local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/and64/ us/bin/steam-runtime-supervisor
steam.sh[3764]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
ProcessEnvironmentManager is ready, 6 preallocated environment variables.
[2025-03-13 21:26:34] Startup - updater built Mar 11 2025 20:39:15
[2025-03-13 21:26:34] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/laspooky/.local/share/Steam/ubun tu12_32/steam" '-srt-logger-opened'
03/13 21:26:34 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
03/13 21:26:34 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version (1741737356)/tid
(3886)
glx: failed to create dris screen failed to load driyer; failed to load driyer; nouveau )nouveau drivers but I don’t use those any so I followed this steps
1 sudo pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils
2 sudo reboot
3 nvidia-smi
4 sudo modprobe nvidia
5 echo 'export __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
6 source /etc/environment
7 steam
8 sudo pacman -Rns steam steam-native-runtime
sudo pacman -S steam
9 steam > ~/steam_log.txt 2>&1
10 less ~/steam_log.txt

Hope this helps got this error just today march 14