Steam windows won't open with __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1

[Freddycat]

Your system information

• Client version: Most recent 2 betas (Startup - updater built May 29 2024 07:43:31)
• Distribution Ubuntu 24.04 X11
• Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
• Have you checked for system updates?: Yes
• Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz
• GPU: Nvidia

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

After a recent update, steam opens with no visible steam GUI except the tray icon, and maybe the update downloader. Then, any windows that are opened, either the automatic startup windows or ones opened from the tray, never open properly, and just make white squares that continuously close and open again in place of where the windows would be, therefore making steam settings and anything else inaccessible.

Also getting these two things of interest when opened via terminal, could be nothing:

this one seems to be caused any "legacy" theme set by gnome tweaks:

/usr/share/themes/Yaru-red-dark/gtk-2.0/main.rc:775: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
/usr/share/themes/Yaru-red-dark/gtk-2.0/hacks.rc:28: error: invalid string constant "normal_entry", expected valid string constant

This happens every time a window attempts to open:

BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 305 apps
RegisterForAppOverview 1: 11ms
RegisterForAppOverview 2: 11ms
BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 312 apps
RegisterForAppOverview 1: 6ms
RegisterForAppOverview 2: 6ms
BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 312 apps
RegisterForAppOverview 1: 6ms
RegisterForAppOverview 2: 6ms

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Open steam
2. Open any window or observe default library/store windows opening
3. Windows will not open, only white squares in their place that crash on a loop.

[kisak-valve]

Hello @Freddycat, if you completely close Steam, then run steam from a terminal, does that have an effect on the Steam client's behavior?

[Freddycat]

Hi @kisak-valve , it does not seem to affect it, I still get white windows, also I noticed a crash on closing.

[Freddycat]

I seem to be able to sort of fix it with a strange workaround, but on rebooting steam it needs to be fixed again. Basically I switch to big picture mode, which still has white boxes, then switch back. Now nothing is happening but after about 5 minutes, friends and library window will pop up like normal and act normally till steam is closed again.

EDIT: Actually, so far I've only been able to make it work once, it seems to hang up on switching off of big picture mode.

EDIT: Another edit, I ran with -clearbeta and now it works properly without the beta update. Oh well, I'll just opt out of the beta for now until I know that there's maybe a fix.

[jimmon89]

Desktop Environment: KDE Distribution: CachyOS(X11) x86_64 GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB VRAM GPU Driver Version: 555.42.02 Kernel: linux-cachyos-lto Kernel Version 6.9.3-2 CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G with Radeon Vega Graphics RAM: 32GB RAM

Client version: at least the most recent "Steam Families Beta" Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes Have you checked for system updates?: Yes Steam Logs With Beta: logs.tar.gz Steam Logs Without Beta: nonbeta-logs.tar.gz

i'm having the same problem, and had to opt out of the beta. this is far less than ideal as because of this i completely lose access to my games from my family members

[gowachin]

I had a variety of issues on ubuntu, with no steam windows openning since mid may, the -clearbeta fixed most of it. Still have a steamwebhelper window openning, but at least I can play my games. A big thx to @Freddycat

[jimmon89]

I had a variety of issues on ubuntu, with no steam windows openning since mid may, the -clearbeta fixed most of it. Still have a steamwebhelper window openning, but at least I can play my games. A big thx to @Freddycat @gowachin

for the sake of tracking down the root cause, could i ask you to please add some info on your PC namely your distro, whether you're using X11 or wayland, and your GPU(like AMD, Nvidia, or Intel), and upload your steam client logs from when you are trying to run the latest beta also make sure your distro is up to date and if so add that too and if you're feeling extra like me, you can add more info like your kernel, your GPU model, your GPU driver version, your desktop environment, and possibly just for completeness the logs from steam without the beta after successfully running steam thank you in advance, cheers!

[jimmon89]

i was able to get steam to launch and work with the Steam Families Beta 1) launch steam into big picture mode with -tenfoot as a launch option, but -gamepadui does the same thing 2) when it launches in big picture mode, go into the menu and exit to normal steam(not completely exiting steam, mind you)

it runs fine until you close steam completely, at which point you go back to 1)

[Freddycat]

Wow incredible, valve rolled out the update today for the non-beta version of steam that includes this broken BS. Now we have to open a new ticket.

[Freddycat]

Here is my current workaround for anyone having the issue:

Open steam

Go big picture mode anytime steam is attempting to open a window (it won't work otherwise so wait for a white window)

Now in big picture mode do exit big picture mode to go back to normal steam, but this time do the reverse and wait for the big picture window to open as a white box, and then close itself again, then click exit big picture before it opens the window again. (Otherwise steam will just crash, if you attempt this while a window is open)

Now back in normal mode nothing happens, just wait about 5 mins and the steam library window will pop up as normal. (you should be able to open games at least from the dock icon while you wait)

Don't exit steam! That's it

[Trosling]

I can confirm that launching in big picture mode via -gamepadui and then exiting to normal Steam solved the issue for me, but what a pain.

For reference, this is happening for me on Arch 64 with proprietary Nvidia drivers (latest). It started this morning.

[retroDEG]

i have a very similar issue, running kubuntu 24.04. If i try to launch through a shortcut or the application menu it will log in, then blank windows pop up only to immediately close. the only way I can run steam is by running steam in the Konsole. I have to keep the konsole window open for steam to function normally. it would be great if i could actually pin a shortcut of steam and have it work lol.

[retroDEG]

i have a very similar issue, running kubuntu 24.04. If i try to launch through a shortcut or the application menu it will log in, then blank windows pop up only to immediately close. the only way I can run steam is by running steam in the Konsole. I have to keep the konsole window open for steam to function normally. it would be great if i could actually pin a shortcut of steam and have it work lol.

also i believe this has been going on for quite a while. it was happening to me when i was running 23.10 as well. I am just now starting to see more people mention it happening though. also going to attach some hopefully helpful info

[quylaa]

This is affecting me as well. I was on Fedora 39 a few weeks ago and switched to the Families Beta, which caused this bug to occur. For various reasons I switched to Pop_OS, and as of the Steam update a couple days ago this is now happening all the time. Launching from console via steam -gamepadui and exiting to desktop does work, but it's a workaround and should not be necessary for basic functionality.

Operating System: Pop!_OS 22.04 KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.7 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.92.0 Qt Version: 5.15.3 Kernel Version: 6.8.0-76060800daily20240311-generic (64-bit) Graphics Platform: X11 Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor Memory: 31.3 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti/PCIe/SSE2

[Freddycat]

I figured it out, at least for me, steam won't open correctly with __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1 as an environment variable, and mine was globally set in /etc/environment. without it set steam works perfectly launching it without gamepadui.

[eric-void]

I can confirm that removing GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1, or launching with "GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=0 steam" solves the issue for me too.

[sakralbar]

I have a similar problem on ubuntu 24.04 (wayland). When starting Steam from the menu, no windows appear. When you try to open a section by clicking on the tray icon, too. But if I run the steam command in the terminal, then everything works and opens.