protonscr

Debian stable: "Error: You are missing the following 32-bit libraries, and Steam may not run: libGL.so.1"

steamopen Distro Family: Debian
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#10385 · opened 2024-01-15 by AxelDuerrbaum · updated 2025-10-24 · 3 comments · github
AAxelDuerrbaum 2024-01-15 github

After a system update both installation methods of Steam fail due to an obolete i386 library version:

Installed: libglapi-mesa:i386 = 23.3.2-2
Required: libglapi-mesa:i386 = 23.2.1-1 -> downgrade breaks Debian/X11/Mesa installation

Installation methods

  1. debian-installer: 20230607+deb12u4
  2. steam_latest.deb from https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/

Your system information

  • OS: Debian stable = "trixie" amd64
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: No
  • Have you checked for system updates?: Yes
  • Steam Logs: appended
  • GPU: Nvidia GTX 970

With installation method 1: Debian

apt update

apt install steam-installer 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libglx0:i386 : Depends: libglx-mesa0:i386 but it is not installable
 steam-libs:i386 : Depends: libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 but it is not installable
                   Recommends: libasound2-plugins:i386 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
apt policy steam-installer libglx0:i386 libglx-mesa0:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 steam-libs:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 
steam-installer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1:1.0.0.78~ds-4
  Version table:
     1:1.0.0.78~ds-4 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/contrib amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libglx0:i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.7.0-1
  Version table:
     1.7.0-1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main i386 Packages
libglx-mesa0:i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 23.2.1-1
  Version table:
     23.2.1-1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main i386 Packages
libgl1-mesa-dri:i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 23.2.1-1
  Version table:
     23.3.2-2 -1
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     23.2.1-1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main i386 Packages
steam-libs:i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1:1.0.0.78~ds-4
  Version table:
     1:1.0.0.78~ds-4 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main i386 Packages
libglapi-mesa:i386:
  Installed: 23.3.2-2
  Candidate: 23.3.2-2
  Version table:
 *** 23.3.2-2 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     23.2.1-1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main i386 Packages

With installation method 2: Steam

wget https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/archive/stable/steam_latest.deb
dpkg -i team_latest.deb

Selecting previously unselected package steam-launcher.
(Reading database ... 1041372 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack /tmp/steam_latest.deb ...
Unpacking steam-launcher (1:1.0.0.78) ...
Setting up steam-launcher (1:1.0.0.78) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.12.0-1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for mate-menus (1.26.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.27-1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1.1) ...
Processing triggers for mailcap (3.70+nmu1) ...

steam 
~/Steam/steam.sh: line 124: VERSION_ID: unbound variable
These packages are not available:

- steam-libs-amd64:amd64

Steam needs to install these additional packages:
libc6:amd64 libc6:i386 libegl1:amd64 libegl1:i386 libgbm1:amd64 libgbm1:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1:amd64 libgl1:i386 nvidia-driver-libs:i386 steam-libs-i386:i386

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press return to proceed with the installation: 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
libc6 is already the newest version (2.37-13).
libc6:i386 is already the newest version (2.37-13).
libc6:i386 set to manually installed.
libegl1 is already the newest version (1.7.0-1).
libegl1:i386 is already the newest version (1.7.0-1).
libgbm1 is already the newest version (23.3.2-2).
libgbm1:i386 is already the newest version (23.3.2-2).
libgl1-mesa-dri is already the newest version (23.3.2-2).
libgl1 is already the newest version (1.7.0-1).
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libgl1-mesa-dri : Breaks: libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 (!= 23.3.2-2) but 23.2.1-1 is to be installed
 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 : Depends: libglapi-mesa:i386 (= 23.2.1-1) but 23.3.2-2 is to be installed
                        Breaks: libgl1-mesa-dri (!= 23.2.1-1) but 23.3.2-2 is to be installed
 libglx0:i386 : Depends: libglx-mesa0:i386 but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

rm: cannot remove '/home/duerrbaum/.steam/bin': Is a directory
/scratch/duerrbaum/Steam/steam.sh: line 124: VERSION_ID: unbound variable
steam.sh[890541]: Running Steam on debian  64-bit
/scratch/duerrbaum/Steam/steam.sh: line 124: VERSION_ID: unbound variable
steam.sh[890541]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[891317]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[890541]: Error: You are missing the following 32-bit libraries, and Steam may not run:
libGL.so.1
steam.sh[890541]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
tid(891406) burning pthread_key_t == 0 so we never use it
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Startup - updater built Jan 13 2024 00:51:43
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/scratch/duerrbaum/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam'
01/15 09:32:08 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1705108172)/tid(891406)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Loading cached metrics from disk (/scratch/duerrbaum/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Failed to load cached hosts file (File 'update_hosts_cached.vdf' not found), using defaults
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] 1. https://cdn.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Checking for update on startup
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Suche nach verfügbaren Updates …
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Downloading manifest: https://cdn.steamstatic.com/client/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Manifest download: send request
[2024-01-15 09:32:08] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Manifest download: finished
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Download skipped: /client/steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1705108172, installed version 1705108172, existing pending version 0
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Nothing to do
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Installation wird überprüft …
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Performing checksum verification of executable files
[2024-01-15 09:32:09] Verification complete
dlmopen steamui.so failed: libGL.so.1: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
Failed to load steamui.so - dlerror(): (null)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error: You are missing the following 32-bit libraries, and Steam may not run:
libGL.so.1

Fatal Error: Failed to load steamui.so

Thanks,
Axel Dürrbaum

Ssmcv 2024-01-15 github

Based on discussion on the Debian bug tracking system, this is a problem with an incomplete downgrade from the Debian unstable rolling release to the slightly older 'testing' rolling release, and there is nothing that can be done to solve it from Steam's side.

Debian unstable is used to develop the next Debian stable release. It's as unstable as its name indicates, and not all packages will be installable all of the time; this is not a bug.

Debian testing is also used to develop the next Debian stable release, and is also a constantly moving target. It aims to be internally-consistent at all times, but you'll continue to have installability problems after downgrading from unstable to testing, for as long as you have packages from unstable that are strictly newer than the version in testing.

This will resolve itself automatically after a while: specifically, next time the Mesa packages in Debian testing (trixie) get updated, they will be in sync at version 23.3.3-1 or later.

OS: Debian stable = "trixie" amd64

This is not Debian stable. The current stable Debian release is Debian 12 (bookworm).

The current status of trixie is that it is the testing branch. It is expected to become stable in mid 2025, as Debian 13.

Hhifron 2024-01-18 github

There is option to have unstable repo with higher priority than testing, but that is problem with incompatibility with compiled packages and libs with different versions and expectations and crashes will occur. But possible. But another problem is then when testing will be staged into freeze into next cycle, it could take that state a long time and during that time unstable packages could not be existent and in testing it will be as next stable versions, which is huge headache. But this is the Debian Way of Thinking.

Hhifron 2025-10-07 github

Wait for next Proton(WoW64, backends), it is more 32bits unfriendly... on unstable branch... and finding libs like gles, egl should make it libs supportive somehow installable...

Nothing extracted yet.