Steam client no longer loads after latest update

[ThreeSon]

Windows 10 LTSC 21H2

After applying the latest big update that dropped today, now my Steam client won't start and no game can be played. Trying to launch a game directly from a desktop shortcut doesn't work either. The Steam client window appears, but is all black and gives a (not responding) error in the title bar.

I tried "resetting" the Steam installation by deleting everything in the Steam directory except steam.exe and the steamapps folder. After that, the Steam client will load once, on the next attempt. However after exiting Steam, it will not boot again.

EDIT: Although the client will load on the first attempt after clearing out the Steam directory, the Library window can't be used - nothing in the window is clickable.

[TS2]

Originalmente postado por UN0W3N:

When will this get fixed? Deleting the appcache folder didn't help one bit, not even restarting. I can no longer use the Steam client. First time this happens to me in 8 years of Steam membership.

How long can it take for Valve to realize they screwed up the update from last night, bleeding February and rollback the previous version or whatever?

According to another user that encountered this problem, the backend is slowly but surely coming back online. It may vary by user or region, but it is sometimes working.

For now, attempt to resolve it by manually specifying a download region or something the Steam Client Settings, Downloads page and see if that does anything.

[UN0W3N]

The Steam Client literally won't load. I can't change any settings to it. "Not Responding".
Big Picture Mode is also unresponsive.

EDIT: Managed to get the Steam Client up and running after I deleted everything in the Steam install directory EXCEPT steamapps, userdata and steam.exe.

EDIT 2: The REALLY bad news is that until a permanent, official fix is implemented, I have to delete 90% of the Steam install directory every single time I boot the PC and want to play something on Steam. A pain in the hind and one helluva way to start 2023...

[Francisco]

do the steam department devs even read these

[TS2]

Originalmente postado por ThreeSon:

Windows 10 LTSC 21H2

After applying the latest big update that dropped today, now my Steam client won't start and no game can be played. Trying to launch a game directly from a desktop shortcut doesn't work either. The Steam client window appears, but is all black and gives a (not responding) error in the title bar.

I tried "resetting" the Steam installation by deleting everything in the Steam directory except steam.exe and the steamapps folder. After that, the Steam client will load once, on the next attempt. However after exiting Steam, it will not boot again.

EDIT: Although the client will load on the first attempt after clearing out the Steam directory, the Library window can't be used - nothing in the window is clickable.

Originalmente postado por ProXicT.:

Same issue here. I'm on linux, launching Steam via wine and the problem seems to be that Steam switched to SDL3 from SDL2, but gldriverquery.exe still tries to load SDL2.dll, which is no longer shipped with Steam.

Originalmente postado por bSun Frozen Gyarados:

I have the same issue only difference is that any library page (home, collection, download) will show up and "shifts" off the screen and can not be interacted with. going into big picture makes the main menu do the same. every other page works just fine. Windows 10

EDIT: after try to interact with my runaway library i figured out a few things. first off it only moves to the bottom of the screen as long as my mouse is over it. next off i can interact with it. i was able to click on a update for a game. not i still cant play anything due to the fact the screen moves way to fast to even have a chance to hit play.

Originalmente postado por PhrostB:

same here. steam dead yo..

Originalmente postado por Captain Arctica:

+1

Originalmente postado por Captain Arctica:

deleted appcache folder
restarted the computer
everything worked

Originalmente postado por luckz:

Sounds a lot like https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3710433479212267804/ and/or https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/3710433479209089860/ from the end of last year.
(Coincidentally my friend also has a broken hardware survey on this new version.)

Originalmente postado por ThreeSon:

Originalmente postado por Captain Arctica:

deleted appcache folder
restarted the computer
everything worked

This seemed to work for me for a couple of attempts, but then on the third try launching the Steam client, I ran into the same problem - all black client window and it just hangs there. After that I have to repeat the whole process to get Steam to launch again.

Originalmente postado por Seb:

Same issue

Greetings, all of you. This is a mitigative fix in the form of uploading the supposedly problem SDL files that are working on my Steam client version to Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BxVeRLqXSFNYfT-6KwB_qLqk1SvZUSRl?usp=share_link

Exit the Steam client, copy the files in this folder, and paste them to your Steam folder directory, and to the Steam\bin\cef\cef.win7.x64. Reopen the Steam client to see if it helps.

If all else fails, set your Downloads server location to US-New York or something and clear download cache. Not all Steam backend datacenters are operating smoothly, but that one seems to be one of the more stable ones as of now.

[proxict]

DISCLAIMER: Never ever download and use random DLL files from unknown sources!

@TS2, where did you get these DLLs? I've tried copying SDL2 DLLs from other games that use SDL2 and Steam still failed to start.

I've tried these SDL2 DLLs, all unsuccessfully (sha1sum):
89650d6e8dec08d86333244debc098e06bfcda8c
723e4280959558b537af79da071b075de571fb40
66407472724c6d1b360123094adda95a6a7f332b
50336aa60132cb965335d88a329c234e7bbfe973

I've also tried completely removing the Steam directory from Program Files and removed the Steam directory from AppData/Local. Then, per your suggestion, I changed my location to NY, US and tried installing Steam again using SteamSetup.exe and it still yields the same problem.

Don't get me wrong, TS2, I appreciate your effort with the DLLs, but I'm not a big fan of running random binaries on my system. I believe your intentions are not malicious, but I'm not willing to take the risk.

[TS2]

Originalmente postado por ProXicT.:

DISCLAIMER: Never ever download and use random DLL files from unknown sources!

@TS2, where did you get these DLLs? I've tried copying SDL2 DLLs from other games that use SDL2 and Steam still failed to start.

I've tried these SDL2 DLLs, all unsuccessfully (sha1sum):
89650d6e8dec08d86333244debc098e06bfcda8c
723e4280959558b537af79da071b075de571fb40
66407472724c6d1b360123094adda95a6a7f332b
50336aa60132cb965335d88a329c234e7bbfe973

I've also tried completely removing the Steam directory from Program Files and removed the Steam directory from AppData/Local. Then, per your suggestion, I changed my location to NY, US and tried installing Steam again using SteamSetup.exe and it still yields the same problem.

Don't get me wrong, TS2, I appreciate your effort with the DLLs, but I'm not a big fan of running random binaries on my system. I believe your intentions are not malicious, but I'm not willing to take the risk.

These were taken from my own local installation of the Steam client. These were only posted since a number of users seemed to point to those shipped dependencies as being a source of client instability/system crashing with the current Stable release. If the build was corrupted or not completely shipped during the datacenter backend breakdown that occurred this morning, the thought was that these could be of help. Note that versions of SDL that ship with games using them will be older and tailored to them; not quite the same version as the one the Steam client is supposed to ship with as part of its assets.

Otherwise, swap between the Steam Beta update version and Stable version again to see if that corrects things.

[dwight schrute]

Same issue here.

[Wild Irish Rose☘🌹🦄😻]

I tried a number of things today, before someone reminded me to come here or report it.

I logged in and out of Steam 3 times...didn't work.
I rebooted the PC...didn't work.
After a post to my friends in activity feed about the issue and to see if there was any suggestions from anyone or if they were experiencing this game screen not loading and disappearing beneath the downloads manager in a game of peek-a-boo I uninstalled Steam and installed it again. (which of course uninstalled all my games as well...)...this didn't work either.
I checked my post and had one like but no response and then not long after one friend did suggest making a report or coming here.
I reported the issue with an attachment and am awaiting a response.

Meanwhile through all of this I found I can access my library through going to small picture mode. It gives just a list and is frustrating and I would have to go to all of them to see which ones I was working on progress with, but I have of course removed all downloads and files now...so I will just wait for them to fix their broken update...sigh...

I just thought it would be helpful for those trying to access library to know that since we cannot go see anything through ANY tabs offered, try small picture mode you will at least be able to see your games list.

I am not as advanced as some of you appearing here to be going into my files and deleting things, although I have learned quite a lot in the computer components in the last few years, I am only maybe a tech level one when it comes to the software issues. (I formerly worked in the auto industry and have worked on vehicles a lot of my life so I go by mechanics rules and you fix or work on the cheapest/easiest thing first...so I did as much trouble shooting as I am going to today....I hope they figure out a fix for this soon...)

[shockedfrog]

I think there's (at least) two separate issues here being combined into the same topic which is confusing things - the OP (and most of the people replying) are users with large libraries, and the beta has suffered from freezing on startup since early December, seemingly as an unfortunate effect of an update which was supposed to improve load times for large libraries. This seems unlikely to be related to the Linux/SDL issues and it might be better to move those to a specific thread where they'll get better attention.

For those with the large library issues, try deleting the appinfo.vdf file found at Steam/appcache/appinfo.vdf - Steam will remake this file the next time you start the client and with any luck it should work for that whole session, though you may then need to repeat the process every time you want to start the client until a proper fix is in place.

[luckz]

Originalmente postado por ProXicT.:

DISCLAIMER: Never ever download and use random DLL files from unknown sources!

@TS2, where did you get these DLLs? I've tried copying SDL2 DLLs from other games that use SDL2 and Steam still failed to start.

The CRC32 matches Valve's end of 2022 SDL2 DLLs. In other words, these aren't vile & evil files. However, Valve actually ship (at least in the client I see here) different SDL2 in the base Steam folder vs in the CEF folder. https://i.imgur.com/VHe2fma.png

To get Valve's DLLs, peruse:
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_win32.zip.afbe8612dfe857ae3e8ba69d1013386f47a5b0c0
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_webhelpers_win32_win10-64.zip.42464337ec9bcad255e9f5026987d839b2cea16f
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_misc_win32.zip.495f560691a969371f6f81dc8f3aba73c51906cf
or the corresponding files for your platform
(links posted by DemonAk in https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/3710433479207750727/#c3763355849151540150 )

Originalmente postado por shockedfrog:

the OP (and most of the people replying) are users with large libraries, and the beta has suffered from freezing on startup since early December
This seems unlikely to be related to the Linux/SDL issues

And I can report that adding the various SDL2 files next to the existing SDL3 files has no beneficial effect in the case of:
- Windows
- very many owned games

In situations where Steam does start, but library/downloads are just a black screen, the same still happens.
In situations where Steam fails to start entirely, the same still happens.

[TS2]

Originalmente postado por luckz:

Originalmente postado por ProXicT.:

DISCLAIMER: Never ever download and use random DLL files from unknown sources!

@TS2, where did you get these DLLs? I've tried copying SDL2 DLLs from other games that use SDL2 and Steam still failed to start.

The CRC32 matches Valve's end of 2022 SDL2 DLLs. In other words, these aren't vile & evil files. However, Valve actually ship (at least in the client I see here) different SDL2 in the base Steam folder vs in the CEF folder. https://i.imgur.com/VHe2fma.png

To get Valve's DLLs, peruse:
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_win32.zip.afbe8612dfe857ae3e8ba69d1013386f47a5b0c0
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_webhelpers_win32_win10-64.zip.42464337ec9bcad255e9f5026987d839b2cea16f
http://media2.steampowered.com/client/bins_misc_win32.zip.495f560691a969371f6f81dc8f3aba73c51906cf
or the corresponding files for your platform
(links posted by DemonAk in https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/3710433479207750727/#c3763355849151540150 )

Originalmente postado por shockedfrog:

the OP (and most of the people replying) are users with large libraries, and the beta has suffered from freezing on startup since early December
This seems unlikely to be related to the Linux/SDL issues

And I can report that adding the various SDL2 files next to the existing SDL3 files has no beneficial effect in the case of:
- Windows
- very many owned games

In situations where Steam does start, but library/downloads are just a black screen, the same still happens.
In situations where Steam fails to start entirely, the same still happens.

Huh. Alright then, that is sensible.

If all else fails, just reinstall the Steam client on top of itself with https://store.steampowered.com/about and see if that helps.
(Remember to Exit the Steam client before running SteamSetup, though.)

[Captain Arctica]

Unfortunately the situation with "Malevich's square" in steam still not fixed. This bug concerns basically accounts with 10 thousands or more games in library. But you can use this guide as temporary solution:
1. You need the folder "appcache" in this folder you must delete three files with extension vdf.
2. After this try to load steam client again.
3. Steam client will be updating and after this update you can entering as usually.
4. But remember if you even just close steam client you will have to repeat steps 1, 2, 3 again and again.
Let's hope that this problem will be solved very soon.

[proxict]

Originalmente postado por shockedfrog:

I think there's (at least) two separate issues here being combined into the same topic which is confusing things - the OP (and most of the people replying) are users with large libraries, and the beta has suffered from freezing on startup since early December, seemingly as an unfortunate effect of an update which was supposed to improve load times for large libraries. This seems unlikely to be related to the Linux/SDL issues and it might be better to move those to a specific thread where they'll get better attention.

For those with the large library issues, try deleting the appinfo.vdf file found at Steam/appcache/appinfo.vdf - Steam will remake this file the next time you start the client and with any luck it should work for that whole session, though you may then need to repeat the process every time you want to start the client until a proper fix is in place.

Just to eliminate any confusion to me saying I'm on Linux, but still running the Windows version of Steam - I'm running Steam in Wine, so it's not the Linux native client. For me, Steam needs to run in the background because of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007) [CoD4X]. I usually run steam.exe with `-silent` argument, so I don't even need to see the GUI.

The problem is that I can't start Steam at all, it just crashes during startup: https://imgur.com/a/m3z7hgr. I've of course tried reinstalling Steam, even while being connected to different geo-locations via VPN. Nothing I've tried so far did the trick.
I've tried deleting the whole Steam directory in Program Files as well as in AppData with the hope of that opting out of beta, but I guess that also didn't work.

It's ridiculous that this hasn't yet been fixed after 3 days.

[Seb]

"If your client ain't laggin you ain't swaggin"

[ThreeSon]

Originalmente postado por shockedfrog:

For those with the large library issues, try deleting the appinfo.vdf file found at Steam/appcache/appinfo.vdf - Steam will remake this file the next time you start the client and with any luck it should work for that whole session, though you may then need to repeat the process every time you want to start the client until a proper fix is in place.

I've found this to be the least painful workaround, for now.

Although this comes with a big asterisk in that when the Steam client window appears, the Library page is still loading in the background and is unusable until that loading is complete.

In my case, this background loading takes every bit of 15 minutes, and eats up a lot of CPU cycles during that time period.