Steam client will not open no matter what I do

[robo]

Last month after I came back from a cruise ship holiday, I discovered that Steam would not open. It was working fine before, infact I checked into my computer from the ship during the cruise and it was fine.
I did nothing to cause the issue. Basically Steam is refusing to even open. It just opens and suddently closes without warnings. Sometimes I would see "extracting update" popup for a second then nothing. It did download some update but it is refusing to even install it. One time I managed to get it open and into Halo 3 then the steam client shuted off crashing Halo 3.

I have reinstalled Windows but unfornately steam still refuses to open. It does install but it won't run into the client.

I have tried removing every drive except the windows SSD and a new hard drive, still refusing to open. I do have a hard drive with full of steam games I even unplugged that still won't open up. I'm at a wits end and sitting bored trying to play some games! The computer seems fine because I can play videos and non-steam games fine.

What can I do to get Steam to actually open so I can play games I paid for!

[robo]

This is the log. I have tried EVERYTHING. but no matter what Steam is refusing to finish "Extracting package...". it just closes every time I try to start Steam.



[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Startup - updater built Sep 29 2023 10:42:34
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Startup - Steam Client launched with: "D:\steam\Steam.exe" -noverifyfiles
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Loading cached metrics from disk (D:\steam\package\steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] 1. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1000, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] 2. https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] 3. https://cdn.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Checking for update on startup
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Checking for available updates...
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam_client_win32
[2023-12-17 00:03:39] Manifest download: send request
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Manifest download: finished
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Downloaded new manifest: /steam_client_win32 version 1702079146, installed version 0, existing pending version 0
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Download complete.
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] uninstalled manifest found in D:\steam\package\steam_client_win32 (1).
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Found pending update
[2023-12-17 00:03:40] Installing update...
[2023-12-17 00:03:41] Extracting package...


I have steam on my surface pro and it loads fine. I tried copying it's files over to the desktop but it still tries to extract package.

[GareBear]

Ever get this resolved? Having the same issue rn.

[robo]

I am still having this issue but found it is not only steam but also some other programs as well. And the system has been BSODing. I am leaning towards bad RAM. The system is running okay just random rare BSODs. I'll leave it to some other time as I am busy with other things. I'll buy a new system when I can.

[Aigis]

Originally posted by GareBear:

Ever get this resolved? Having the same issue rn.

not fix yet?

[Aigis]

Originally posted by robo:

I am still having this issue but found it is not only steam but also some other programs as well. And the system has been BSODing. I am leaning towards bad RAM. The system is running okay just random rare BSODs. I'll leave it to some other time as I am busy with other things. I'll buy a new system when I can.

so no way of fix it?

[coleer]

Im having the same issue. Nothing running in task manager. Steam (32 bit ) flashes then ends. Steamrerroreporter.exe (32 bit) stays for about 5-10 seconds then ends.
1. Rebooted
2. Reinstalled Steam
3. Tried run--steam://flushconfig

[DarqFlare]

I'm experiencing the same issues as of today.

[Aigis]

Originally posted by coleer:

Im having the same issue. Nothing running in task manager. Steam (32 bit ) flashes then ends. Steamrerroreporter.exe (32 bit) stays for about 5-10 seconds then ends.
1. Rebooted
2. Reinstalled Steam
3. Tried run--steam://flushconfig

yep literally the same issue as mine, i even did a system recovery and nothing

[Alejo74Gp]

Same issue

[Uthus]

Originally posted by coleer:

Im having the same issue. Nothing running in task manager. Steam (32 bit ) flashes then ends. Steamrerroreporter.exe (32 bit) stays for about 5-10 seconds then ends.
1. Rebooted
2. Reinstalled Steam
3. Tried run--steam://flushconfig

Exactly what's happening to me as of about an hour ago.

[Outrage]

Currently having the same issue, hope it gets resolved soon, I’ve seen some people saying the latest update is bugged

[Void Jevil]

Same issue started a few hours ago

[TheDanglingOne]

Yeahhh i cant boot steam as of a few hours ago. I launch it. The little "updating steam" pop up pops up and then goes away within a second and then nothing.

[Loreilei]

Same issue, started about 2 and a half hours ago for me and I've tried all the usual fixes. The one thing that I have tried that stands out to me, is that steam *did work* when I booted into safe mode with networking and I was able to sign into it, but I'm not sure how that helps us narrow down what the exact problem is.

[Loreilei]

I've found a little more information on this. Inside of your steam's installation folder, there's a folder called dumps. Inside of it are a number of .dmp files which should correlate to when you are trying to launch steam.

A few bits from my machine's log:

EXCEPTION_RECORD: (.exr -1)
ExceptionAddress: 7b94a750 (SDL3!SDL_wcstol+0x0005ae80)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 00000000
Parameter[1]: 00000000
Attempt to read from address 00000000

PROCESS_NAME: steam.exe

READ_ADDRESS: 00000000

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at 0x%p referenced memory at 0x%p. The memory could not be %s.

EXCEPTION_CODE_STR: c0000005

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER1: 00000000

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER2: 00000000

SYMBOL_NAME: SDL3!SDL_wcstol+5ae80

MODULE_NAME: SDL3

IMAGE_NAME: SDL3.dll

STACK_COMMAND: ~0s ; .ecxr ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: NULL_POINTER_READ_c0000005_SDL3.dll!SDL_wcstol

OS_VERSION: 10.0.19041.1

BUILDLAB_STR: vb_release

OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x86

OSNAME: Windows 10

FAILURE_ID_HASH: {e21d11e4-d3c7-9b54-035c-597af1011772}

---

Seems like there's a reference in SDL3.dll that is pointing at something that does not exist? I do not know if I understand how it still works in safe mode though.