100% Disk usage after a game is downloaded

[Tharon]

ISSUE

After the download of the game, Steam now verifies the files using 100% of the hard disk, largely increasing the download time, freezing the system (if the library is on the same drive of the system) or disrupting running games until the verification phase is completed,
With large games and slower disks (like mechanical disks) the verification can take quite some time, even 15/20 minutes for a game of 50 gigabytes.

This kind of behaviour is new, and proably it's a not well conceived new feature that produces more problems than it theoretically should solve.

OS
Windows 7

EXPECTED
The game should be available the moment is downloaded, without having to verify the files. Or at least, there should be an option to disable the verification.

[InnCognito]

I am having this issue in Windows 10 and I appreciate the post. Thank you!

[Elucidator]

I tested it on my own OS, windows 8.1
Total disk usage averagely didn't go above 50% disk usage, though there were some peaks to the 70, but it turns out that windows defender is also running a scan.
Is this a Windows 7 bug?

[InnCognito]

for me its windows 10. :(

[Tharon]

If total disk usage is at 50% then you have a different bottleneck, maybe the CPU.
Anyway, if on your system Steam is using only 50% of the disk this means the verify process is 50% slower and will take double the time.

Either way, it's an issue. You should be able to play after the download and not wait twenty minutes. Verification should be enabled on request.

[InnCognito]

What I am seeing is the moment that steam has a download going to it. It instantly jumps up to 100% DISC usage during the download. But my other games do not do this. Just steam stuff.

[Elucidator]

Originally posted by Tharon:

If total disk usage is at 50% then you have a different bottleneck, maybe the CPU.

Such nonsense, these assumptions all of the sudden.

I tested it again. There is only one peak during the entire download process and this peak is indeed at the end. It's a beak that starts at minimum, takes one second to rise and immediately lowers with one second to minimum again. This peak reaches 68% disk usage. Since Windows Defender wasn't scanning, the rest of the download process (what I assume is actually downloading / writing to disk) was averaging out at around 5%? something like that.

Conclusion, at the end of the download it does something yeah, but its quick about it.

The game I downloaded was 500MB, you'd say that would take a while to scan on a 8 year old standard HDD.

No, nothing else happens. Everything remains rediculously low in usage. There is no bottlenecking from my processor (1% usage), no RAM obstruction, etc.

The only way I can get 100% disk usage from steam is if I manually click "Validate all files", which I also tested, and which with this same game indeed takes a moment. Not sure how long but its several notticable seconds at least, way more than that peak that only lasted a fraction split over 2 seconds peak.


It's not that I don't believe you,
but you don't believe me and claim my comment is invalid using some weird assumption.



Edit: I noticed with a 300MB game validation takes about 7 seconds. I think it really depends on the game too (its file structure, the amount of files, etc).
Yes it also went to 100% but again this only happened after I clicked "validate all files"

I suppose I should test it on a very large game, but I don't have any I am interested in right now.
Still you can make a quick calculation from this, if 300MB takes 7 seconds, then ... oh hey you're right, 50GB would take 20 minutes. xD
Yet still, that Validation doesn't seem to happen for me at the end of a download, at least so far I can tell. e.e;

[Tharon]

Download a 50 gb game, then we cant talk about it :)

Anyway, where i've said your comment is invalid ? I didn't such a thing.
I've only said that if Steam verify your files using only 50% of the hard disk speed, then there is a bottleneck somewhere else preventing it to read at full speed. It's logic.
But if you have a fast drive and the game is small, it's possible to have Steam finishing the verify task BEFORE topping the full speed.

Again try to download a large game, then we can better check our results. With small games even a slow mechanical disk can be quick.

[Elucidator]

I see.
It maybe better to ask someone else to test this because, my games turn out to be relatively small (most are under 5GB)

I was looking at the logs, there is one file that can give hints:
content_log.txt

When you download a game: the first thing it does is.

APP ID [appid] State Changed: Update Required.

It then follows along a path of putting it in a waiting line, then immediately executing the connection handshake process and such.
there is one entry that is interesting there:

Update auto validation: enabled for all clients

you can actually see its pauzing the download to validate something (I assume the connection, since it happens in the same second) and then continues on.

Something happens near

removed from schedule

and

current download rate 0.00Mbps

It seems that, what caused the small peak is "closing connection" with Steam Cache
there is no Validating Files happening after the download though.

I was wondering if you noticed anything odd in content_log.txt there, maybe...

(It's basically confirming what I thought before, that it didn't even try to validate everything it downloaded only after completing it.)

Note; According to full game validation, which logs also in there it seems, it indeed took 7 seconds. I was eyeball guessing that before. xd
Interesting at least.


Edit: I was reading this thread earlier https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/3124928618242332873/

Is this something that only happens when a game gets an update maybe?

[Tharon]

reading the log, i've found something :

[2021-10-29 19:00:45] Update auto validation (208651): clean bytes tally of 6132861736 bytes is > threshold of 2048 MB, but we rolled a perfect 10 so validating anyway

Apparently Steam will verify all installs/update under 2 gb, but throw a dice on larger downloads. It's like a lottery, and if you "win" the lottery (1 possibility on 10) you are rewarded with a complete verification.

So yesterday i win the lottery and i got a free 55 gigabyte verification without a reson. What a luck.
I don't get the meaning of doing such a thing .......