Unable to sync to cloud

[SFM]

ISSUE
Steam cloud is unable to sync for all games that support Steam Cloud and occurs on my two windows devices and the steamdeck

OS
Windows 11 Pro on both devices
SteamOS

Steps
Launch Game

Results
Popup saying "Unable to Sync: Warning - Steam was unable to sync your saves with the Steam Cloud."

Expected
The game to launch

Troubleshooting steps taken:
I created two tickets with Steam Support:
HT-PVTD-H5FF-NMRC Ticket 1
HT-3Q83-C34Q-3CKY Ticket 2

reinstalling the steam client fixed the issue temporarily for about 24-48 hours and than the issue happens again,

Restarting the computer doesnt help

Switched to Steam Client Beta Version 173584214 from unknown Steam Client version (was up to date though)

Steam cloud logs are available for my two devices here: https://github.com/DamBer00593/Steam-Error-log

[JaCZkill]

Oh man! i would never believe seeing someone having exactly the same issue as I do would make me so happy! it looks like there are two of us now :D i am convinced i know what is causing the issue, but steam support refuses to believe me.
i am 99,9% positive that the sync error is caused, in your case by those two files:
Download I/O Operation Failed for file 209452479/config/configset_FC6192227Q.vdf
Download I/O Operation Failed for file 209452479/config/preferences_FC6192227Q.vdf
Do note the weird character before the Q at the end.
if you check your steam cloud storage, you will see the same files there also with this weird character.
I suspect that for some reason, the files on steam cloud got corrupted and windows is now having issues writing the files because of the corrupt filename.
The solution imho should be deleting the files from steam cloud but that is something the user cannot do and steam support is not willing to.
there is one difference between your and my case though - I am only getting the error on my windows PC. Not on my steam deck.
Let me guess - saves are actually synchronising just nicely despite the error message, right?

[JaCZkill]

adding a link to my post - see if you recognise some of the things i described there
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/595137339313892421/

[JaCZkill]

sorry for the spam but one question popped on my mind: do you happen to have the steam controller? if so, please do me a favor - check the serial number of yours (its under the plastic back plate) and see if it matches the filenames i mentioned in my first reply to your post. in my case, it matches perfectly so I suspect, and this is going to sound crazy, you have to have a steam deck, steam controller and a PC to experience this error :) That would explain why there are so few reports.

[SFM]

I do have a steam controller and will be able to confirm the serial number in a few days as it’s not with me, but your symptoms are exactly the same as mine from what I can tell! I asked steam support if they would be able to purge my cloud data but they said it would be impossible because steam wasn’t setup that way. It does seem to me that it is at least a corrupt file with the steam controller configuration not 100% sure if it’s because I have a steamdeck too but it’s definitely a possibility. Thank you so much for reaching out and helping with this! It was so annoying to keep clicking play anyway and supports last resort for me was creating a bug report!

[SFM]

I believe your onto something JaCZKill so i went ahead and replied to my support ticket to see if they would be able to rename the file or delete it, Its because the box(called null character sometimes created when holding control and clicking backspace) is not a valid character to windows when you try to create a file with the box in it windows errors because its not a valid filename which is why i assume it fails to download in the steam cloud log!

You mentioned that windows treats the box as a _ but when i copy and paste the name into a file it does show up as a space to me when you look up the box its ISO 2047 00 otherwise known as NULL from my brief research they say that the null character is sometimes misrepresented as a space character as a bad form of error correction (which would explain why even though it looks like a space i wasnt able to save the file with it in the name

Hopefully steam support gets back to me with something a little bit better than create a bug report this time!

[Debooster]

There may also be a problem with the games not starting due to a synchronization error.
For example, when launching Deep Rock Galactic, the launcher does not open. The game is launched in Steam and does not crash, but nothing happens.
I solved this problem:
Steam -> settings -> Downloads -> Allow downloads during gameplay-> off

[JaCZkill]

Początkowo opublikowane przez SFM:

I believe your onto something JaCZKill so i went ahead and replied to my support ticket to see if they would be able to rename the file or delete it, Its because the box(called null character sometimes created when holding control and clicking backspace) is not a valid character to windows when you try to create a file with the box in it windows errors because its not a valid filename which is why i assume it fails to download in the steam cloud log!

You mentioned that windows treats the box as a _ but when i copy and paste the name into a file it does show up as a space to me when you look up the box its ISO 2047 00 otherwise known as NULL from my brief research they say that the null character is sometimes misrepresented as a space character as a bad form of error correction (which would explain why even though it looks like a space i wasnt able to save the file with it in the name

Hopefully steam support gets back to me with something a little bit better than create a bug report this time!

I hope steam support will be friendlier to you than they were to me. They went like "yeah we don't have a solution. go take a hike. we're closing the ticket. bye"

But guess what?!?! I DUCKING FIXED IT EVEN WITHOUT THEIR HELP! Took me literally a few hours of trial&error but I no longer have the issue!!!

I was trying to make something out of the cloud_log file and based on the timestamps I got the feeling that when you launch a game the synchronisation goes server->device, and when you close a game it goes the other way around device->server.

So this is what i did:
Took my steam deck (in BETA) because as I already suspected Linux seems to be slightly less allergic to that weird null/square character or whatever that is and was actually syncing the weird files on cloud storage to the local storage.
I started a random game (Streets of Rage 4 if that helps :D) in windowed mode.
While the game was still running, i used dolphin to navigate to the directory where the files are normally saved and deleted them all. Then i switched back to the game and exited normally. The files disappeared from the cloud storage too! Well, not all at once to be honest, as i had to repeat the process like 2-3 times, but eventually i got them all eradicated.
Full of excitement i opened my windows steam client and launched a random game and tadaaaa no more annoying popup warning me about sync issues!

[SFM]

Steam support removed the controller configuration with the file name and it appears to be fixed,

if it happens again ill keep your solution in mind.

thanks so much for all your help JaCZkill.

[JaCZkill]

Początkowo opublikowane przez SFM:

Steam support removed the controller configuration with the file name and it appears to be fixed,

if it happens again ill keep your solution in mind.

thanks so much for all your help JaCZkill.

Whaaaa? They did? Damn man, is Lord Gaben your neighbor? Hahaha anyways, happy you got it solved too man!
Take care!