To ensure games run well on Linux either via Native Linux builds or Windows games with Proton, part of the magic is in the Steam Linux Runtime. A new version of it, the Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 was recently put up with some pretty big changes.
What’s the point of it? It ensures Steam and games run through Steam on Linux work properly across all the many different Linux distributions. Another secret Valve sauce for Linux. Well, not secret at all but you get my meaning I’m sure.
please god let the client have a 64 bit wayland edition coming
They have to do it for steamos ig
The version of Wayland I’m running on bazzite right now is 32-bit? No wonder I’m having issues with 2 4K monitors lol
the steam client doesn’t use wayland and is 32-bit, don’t think that has anything to do with your monitors though
Proton-GE has had the Wow64 feature for a while now that can play older 32-bit titles under 64-bit, so it shouldn’t be long before a truly 64-bit steam experience is available.
As of Proton-GE 9-22 I still cannot run Diablo II without all the 32 bit dependencies. I hear from people that Wow64 works, but I have never managed to get it to work pure 64-bit.
I think GE is on like 10-25 now or somewhere around there.
Thanks for the heads up. 10-25 worked with the variable PROTON_USE_WOW64=“1”
That’s a good sign, that Valve is moving at least the runtimes to 64bit only. Maybe that means the client is under similar scrutiny internally. Recently when Fedora was discussing dropping more 32bit libraries Steam came up as a big issue.
Yeah, 32bit is why I removed Steam from my Debian desktop daily driver again. I got conflicting 32bit and 64bit versions of some libraries that broke my system. I’m going to try a gaming focussed distro like Bazzite next time.
I just run Steam as a flatpak. Works fine.
Not sure why the downvotes. Flatpak is a great thing.
Unless you muck around in bottles a lot of things break.
What does “muck around in bottles” mean?
Bottles is an app that people who use hyperland also use, but I don’t know what it does.
Flatpacks have permission issues due to the way they are structurally designed. Applications like Flatseal and Bottles allow you to remove those limitations, but it’s a lot easier to just install the client outside of Flatpack.
I’ve only had to use Flatseal a couple times to fix wonky permissions for Flatpaks, and I’m not even sure what Bottles has to do with them since Wine has nothing to do with Flatpak to the best of my knowledge
Been using flatpak Steam for years without any issues specifically related flatpak. 👍👍 Highly recommend!
Bottles is pretty much worse Lutris
It doesn’t work fine out of the box. I tried it on Opensuse MicroOS a year and a bit ago and had to search 3-5 pretty undocumented solutions to big problems before being able to play the same games that non-flatpak could.
Out of the box, proton didn’t work at all.
???
Debian separates out stuff with :[arch] suffixes, and is really flexible in the sense that it even lets you install stuff from completely different architectures for, for example, use with qemu userspace. An i386 package is going to only request i386 dependencies, unless it explicitly specifies an architecture, and vice versa. Arch Linux uses the “lib32-” prefix and I don’t really remember how it worked on Fedora but I would imagine something similar. All “gaming focused distros” are merely just their mainstream counterparts with an extra repo for a few packages, it’s not going to change fundamentals.
OpenSUSE is the same, the 32-bit stuff is completely separate from the 64-bit stuff, so you won’t get conflicts between them.
Give Steam Flatpak a try on Debian instead.
I’ve been using LMDE for the past couple years and I do all my non-switch gaming on it.
i recommend LXQT over LXDE cause its like the spiritual succesor,i think lighter and it has Wayland
but you can use whatever you likeI’m not using either of those. I’m using the LMDE default, Cinnamon.
sure
Your better off using cachy if you want a gaming focused distro that doesn’t break. Unless you use mostly flatpaks. Then bazzite is good
Didn’t they already announce they’re going to drop 32 bit?
Hey mild necro after a week, but it seems to be happening already. The new beta is 64bit! https://lemmy.ca/post/55858408
does it say which team fortress 2 class it’s named after?
From the gitlab repositories it kind of looks like they are dropping that naming scheme wit v4. It was kind of cute, but also confusing if you have no idea about TF2 and use Steam.
Steam Linux Runtime 4 (Saxton Hale)
/s
Funny this shows up when all of a sudden Steam won’t launch anymore on my Arch install. It’s installed via flatpak.
How do I even check which version of the Steam runtime I am running? The flatpak version of Steam is just 1.0.something.other.
The runtime is not Steam itself. That’s more or less independent from the runtime. The runtimes are a collection of libraries that developers can develop against without having to include them themselves.
Kind of similar to the Visual C++ Runtime on Windows.
So you can use those to develop on a platform and be sure that it work on the other too? Is this runtime steam-indipendent?
Yes. Exactly.
Older stuff here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime
Newer stuff here: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt
The dev guide within that gitlab repo confirms that it can be used sans Steam: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/steam-runtime-tools/-/blob/main/docs/slr-for-game-developers.md
This applies to the new runtime as well: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/steamrt4/platform
idk about that, but it’s called the Steam Runtime because it’s the library files for running Steam. so I’m not sure what context you would use it in that didn’t include Steam, since it’s used for everything Steam does from connecting you to your friends in multiplayer games, to notifying Steam users that it’s their turn in asynchronous games.
if the game wasn’t run from Steam, it probably wouldn’t need or want to use the Steam Runtime.
No, it’s for running games on Linux. Steam will probably use the libs as well for its own functionality. But the main use is for game developers to target specific libraries so that they are independent of the user’s distribution.
And they can indeed be used outside of Steam as well. I sometimes use it to link in specific libraries for other games. @Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
I stand corrected then
I know what a runtime is, but I’d like to check which version of it I’m running. 🙂 Wouldn’t be very difficult but I’m this instance I don’t know how.
The runtime is for launching games, not Steam itself. You can check the runtime selection in Compatibility tab of Steam and of each game. If your Steam Flatpak install doesn’t work, the issue is likely somewhere else.
I’d suggest trying to launch the flatpak from the terminal and seeing if there’s any strange logging.
The runtime is for launching games, not Steam itself. You can check the runtime selection in Compatibility tab of Steam and of each game. If your Steam Flatpak install doesn’t work, the issue is likely somewhere else.
Hold up, are you talking about the compatibility layer, “Proton”? I’m not sure that’s what we’re talking about here. Proton is up to version 9 and 10, not 4.0.
You can select Steam Runtime Versions in the Compatibility tab too, separate from Proton versions
Oh okay, I guess that’s in the main Steam settings, not per game as the other person suggested.
No, it is a per game setting. When your game is a native Linux game it will use one of the Steam runtimes. If you had a Linux native game and selected Proton instead of a Steam Linux runtime Steam would download the Windows version of the game.
With Linux native games you usually don’t have to touch this setting.
the flatpak version is unsupported by Valve for a reason. there’s been a ton of problems over the lifespan of the flatpak. it’s usually highly recommended everywhere not to use that version.
I’ve been using Steam in a flatpak for a couple years now, I think. What ton of problems are you referring to?
I don’t have a reference, but I’ve been seeing random individuals asking for help and finally saying they fixed their issue by switching away from flatpak, so… You, I guess? Your.problem might be a perfect example of one of the many problems that keep popping up, that seem to only happen on the flatpak version.
You, I guess?
You’re saying that I am the ton of problems they were referring to? That’s either nonsensical or very rude.
Your.problem might be a perfect example of one of the many problems that keep popping up, that seem to only happen on the flatpak version.
What are you talking about? Running Steam in a flatpak works for me.
Ah, sorry, I confused you for the original commenter. The first sentence is a bit nonsensical, it is a bit rude and snarky, but I meant it as a joke, since I had the wrong impression the person having issues with flatpak steam is asking about issues with flatpak steam.
Thanks for clarifying. :)
Usually when steam refuses to launch, it’s because there’s some Steam process that’s borked but still running. Most of the time, a simple
pkill steamfixes it (yes, that includes for flstpak`).As mentioned down thread, the runtime isn’t your problem. The runtime is what’s needed for native Linux games and I think is also used by proton (not used by Steam itself), so it’s kind of like proton for native games. Steam doesn’t use the runtime at all to launch.
If killing Steam doesn’t work, try rebooting. If that doesn’t work, try updating the flatpak. If that doesn’t work, I suppose reinstall Steam.
Why would you use flatpack for stuff natively available on pacman? Search no further, flatpack is a good way to introduce problems where there are none
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Steam#Flatpak
🤷♂️ Seemed like a good way to install it. I had used the native package before but I think I tried flatpak because of some issue or another with the native version.
It’s been working great for years now so, no issues until now.
I usually install big corporate software with flatpak if I can help it, to keep them as isolated as possible. Slack, Discord, Steam, etc. Stuff like that. 👍
From that article:
Installing Steam from Flathub/Flatpak will fix many of the issues faced on the client but will require alternative, less documented forms of troubleshooting on the long run.
You hit the “long run” after years 😉
I don’t think so, seems like it was just a denial of service type issue. I changed nothing, not even a reboot, and it just works now. 👍😉 Flatpak ftw.
Any news about an aarch64 version?
The new VR headset runs ARM, so presumably it’ll launch with that.
