Shader cache not getting compiled

[Revival8697]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1729917543

• Distribution: CachyOS Handheld

• Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes, Steam Deck Beta

• Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

• Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz

• GPU: AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

I expected Steam to download shader cache and compile them. Steam downloaded shader cache but did not compile them.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Download a game with large amount of shader cache (Counter-Strike 2); or force shader cache to be re-downloaded by disable then enable Enable Shader Pre-Caching.
2. Play the game, Steam does not compile shader cache (launch straight into the game).
3. Steam does not compile shader cache in the background with Allow background processing of Vulkan shaders enabled in desktop mode (verify by monitoring fossilize processes).

[TTimo]

Hello,

It's not clear from your logs that there is any problem with shader compiling. There are several entries in shader_log.txt indicating the start of shader compiling for one game or another (Starting processing job for app). The last time you had one for CS2 (730) was on [2024-10-26 09:44:21] Starting processing job for app 730!

You may want to move your current Steam Library aside (rename ~/.local/share/Steam), start from an empty one and install + launch just CS2. See if shaders get processed or not.

I also notice that CachyOS tries to pretend this is a Steam Deck via launch command line options, without being on actual Deck hardware. That may be what's breaking things there but I haven't been able to reproduce.

[Revival8697]

It's not clear from your logs that there is any problem with shader compiling. There are several entries in shader_log.txt indicating the start of shader compiling for one game or another (Starting processing job for app). The last time you had one for CS2 (730) was on [2024-10-26 09:44:21] Starting processing job for app 730!

I thought that shader cache compilation consistently use a lot of CPU for an extended period. However, I didn't see any change in CPU usage, and from the logs, it took seconds (took hours on my laptop). Am I under the wrong impression?

You may want to move your current Steam Library aside (rename ~/.local/share/Steam), start from an empty one and install + launch just CS2. See if shaders get processed or not.

I tried this and it does, that is weird.