Steam games not starting anymore from library in /usr/games/

[graham2071]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date):

  Steam Beta Branch:  Stable Client
  Steam Version:  1730853027
  Steam Client Build Date:  Tue, Nov 5 10:33 PM UTC +01:00
  Steam Web Build Date:  Wed, Nov 6 1:21 AM UTC +01:00
  Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu):

  Command: cat /etc/os-release
  NAME="Linux Mint"
  VERSION="21.3 (Virginia)"
  ID=linuxmint
  ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian"
  PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 21.3"
  VERSION_ID="21.3"
  HOME_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
  SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.linuxmint.com/"
  BUG_REPORT_URL="http://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/"
  PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
  VERSION_CODENAME=virginia
  UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Have you checked for system updates?: Yes
• Steam Logs: see below
• GPU: Intel

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

All games fail to start ! Running steam from terminal, there are warnings

pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/718670" with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_INSTALL_PATH="/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Cultist Simulator" with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_LIBRARY_PATHS="...:/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps:..." with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_MOUNTS="...:/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/SteamLinuxRuntime:..." with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_MOUNTS="...:/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/SteamLinuxRuntime_soldier:..." with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Not sharing path STEAM_COMPAT_SHADER_PATH="/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/shadercache/718670" with container because "/usr" is reserved by the container framework
pressure-vessel-wrap[15267]: W: Unable to share "/usr/games/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Cultist Simulator" with container: Path "/usr" is reserved by the container framework

Here is the workaround:

1. From Steam Settings / Storage: removed steamlibrary (in '/')
2. moved SteamLibrary to /opt with sudo mv /usr/games/SteamLibrary /opt
3. From Steam Settings / Storage: added SteamLibrary located in /opt/SteamLibrary

Now everything works again.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Start steam
2. "Play" any game installed in /usr/games/SteamLibrary

[kisak-valve]

Hello @graham2071, this is an expected side effect of Native titles will execute in 'Steam for Linux runtime 1.0 (scout)' by default, instead of the legacy runtime environment. in the 2024-11-05 Steam client update leading to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime/blob/master/doc/steamlinuxruntime-known-issues.md#usrlocal.

Having user-controlled Steam library folders under /usr isn't something that can be supported sanely in that runtime environment and this is unlikely to change in the near future. Closing as won't fix.

[graham2071]

Thanks for letting me know. I could find this info with google. Since it took me a bit of time to find what was going wrong, I've posted here hoping it can help others with the same issue.