Yeah I'm also seeing this issue

System Information (please complete the following information):

Distribution: Ubuntu 22.04
SteamVR version: 1.26.6
Steam client version: 1689034492
Opted into Steam client beta?: No
Graphics driver version: Mesa 22.2.5-0ubuntu0.1~22.04.3
Gist for SteamVR System Information: https://gist.github.com/crocycroc/608a39756fd6d5c21fb61f196c81b783

Yeah I'm also seeing this issue

System Information (please complete the following information):

Distribution: Ubuntu 22.04
SteamVR version: 1.26.6
Steam client version: 1689034492
Opted into Steam client beta?: No
Graphics driver version: Mesa 22.2.5-0ubuntu0.1~22.04.3
Gist for SteamVR System Information: https://gist.github.com/crocycroc/608a39756fd6d5c21fb61f196c81b783

Sorry being late, I do not understand, I did?

Confirming that I have the same issue.

Me too

Same issue around here!

Beta 1.27.2 fixed this for me on Pop OS 22.04.

@jarettmillard Can you test it a few times to see if it's pernament? In my case after using beta settings worked once and still don't have settings and have blank windows.

EDIT1:
I will try on KDE plasma:

EDIT2: I test it on (Ubuntu 23.04) KDE Plasma and there it works. On Gnome 44 still are plane windows

@NintyS It works consistently. I'm using Gnome on X. I still get the extra uncloseable zombie window on every SteamVR launch, but it's an overall improvement.

I'm on Fedora 38, using Gnome 44.3, SteamVR 1.27.2.

I also have the ghost window both on Xorg and Wayland. The settings window works on Wayland but not on Xorg for me.

Same problem here on Gentoo Linux

Same issue with Gnome 42.5 (Gnome Shell) on X11 and SteamVR 1.26.7.

When starting SteamVR, a usable SteamVR Settings dialog, a blank one which is at least closable and another one which is blank and without title. The latter one is not closable but apparently just a zombie. Pressing Alt+F2 and then r to reload Gnome Shell gets rid of the zombie window.

FWIW, I tried to completely delete the .steam folder and set up Steam from scratch, but the issue persisted. So it's not related to any old artifacts.

Also just wondering, might this be a duplicate of #577?

This reddit post fixed the issue for me on Ubuntu!

1. Make sure SteamVR isn't running
2. Go to your Steam > Config folder, and find the steamvr.vrsettings file
3. Delete this file (make a copy first if you want, as this contains settings for things like play area colours and chaperone)
4. Once you have deleted the file, launch SteamVR, and the file should be recreated with default settings Desktop View should now be functional

The problem

I also have this problem on arch for a while now, but I managed to get to a workaround

I'm using i3 as my window manager and when I tried opening the steamvr settings it would show up as a blank screen, duplicating whatever was behind it when it first spawned, and if I drag it around, it keeps the same content it had before, kinda hard to explain, but the screenshot below shows it better:

The workaround I found

I noticed that when I installed KDE Plasma and ran SteamVR, I could reliably open the settings page, so I could do what I needed to do there, and then log out and log back in the i3 session, which would then keep the same configuration.

This is annoying to do and I would prefer that it just worked on i3 as well, but at least I can get it to a working state if I need to (and hopefully I don't need to go there that often)

My system specs:

SteamVR version: 2.2.3 (stable version, not the beta)
OS: EndeavourOS Linux (arch)
Window Manager: i3 (X11)
KERNEL: 6.6.7-arch1-1
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 545.29.06
RAM: 32 GB

same problem
archlinux, KDE plasma, x11, nvidia GPU

Ubuntu 24.04 (X11), SteamVR works, but settings window and other windows are transparent or blank.

Same issue. Looking for a workaround. Have not tried Wayland.

• 6.9.8-arch1-1
• Openbox
• AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (24) @ 3.700GHz
• AMD ATI Radeon RX 7900 XT/7900 XT
• Memory: 32017MiB

I also have his bug on Garuda linux so I am not sure what is up.

Same with Ubuntu 24.04 & ALVR

I've got this problem too - Ubuntu 22.04, ALVR X11 with WindowMaker. That said - I can access the Steam VR settings window from within VR itself.

SteamVR says 2.8.8
Steam client 1.0.0.81-2

I'm using Artix with LXDE/Openbox

Likewise, steam settings is bugged for me, but I can access most of the controls from within VR.

I just built a new PC with a powerful Nvidia graphics card and bought a Valve Index to experiment with VR. I installed Ubuntu 24.10, Steam from the official sources, and SteamVR via Steam, and now I keep running into weird bugs, even though SteamVR is now a decade old. Besides the horrible stuttering, this is the second bug that is completely incomprehensible to me.

Can someone from the Steam developers please briefly document under which windowing system (X11 or Wayland) and with which desktop environment (GNOME, KDE, ...) SteamVR works even rudimentarily? By "rudimentarily" I mean, for example, that the preferences window is visible and no zombie windows remain on the desktop?

I love Valve for everything they've done for Wine and Linux so far, and I just can't believe that the situation with SteamVR seems to be so completely broken...

after some... massive reinstalls, it seems like it now has parts working. I had to switch out which cef I was using so that might be a starting point.

The reinstalls were triggered while trying to get my controllers to pair to steamvr (which doesn't work on linux). Managed, I think to get the store working, but the SteamVR problems have not been fixed.

@ronnystandtke doesn't exist. It 'used' to work allegedly but it's been broken for quite a while. I use artix w/Openbox and SteamVR doesn't leave zombie processes it's just extremely resistant to closing (as is the steam app itself) and will reopen itself, there are some processes that will zombify, but these are cleared up when it's owning process is resolved. Zombies are usually triggered by me killing sister processes (when trying to kill steam over all).

Preferences window won't open, but you can still access the relevant settings from within SteamVR. If you're having trouble making the app open something try Ctrl+Click for some reason the focus goes askew with the desktop steam client.

Stuttering is new. I use CoreCtrl to turn my CPU and GPU to performance mode and I don't seem to get as many 'lagging' issues any more, you may also have to turn down your resolution appropriately. Your global resolution should be set to 100% then each application needs to be configured according to how much gpu process it's using (this can be found via the SteamVR dashboard or in app, has be below a certain ms, ideally below 11ms, but my system is not great and I aim for <18ms or so, this give me a fair framerate/resolution without it rerendering stuff all the time).

The stuttering is probably Nvidias fault, I just found this bug report:
https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/enabling-gsp-makes-steamvr-unplayable-on-rtx-3090ti/298694

This still seems to be an issue...

using arch and hyprland (wayland) on an nvidia gpu.