Steam background recording produces no recording, despite claiming to be recording.
Additional info: it appears that the .m4s part files are created in the correct folder. Whether the content of those is valid I do not know. Next time it happens I will create a copy of the contents for later analysis if required/helpful. In the meantime Ill delete the contents of the folder to ensure a clean slate.
i see this problem in one specific game (Stormworks), other games like Team Fortress 2 seem to record just fine, i haven't tried No Man's Sky
At this time it only appears to be affecting Helldivers 2, at least for me. HD2 also has some other strange interactions with systems outside the game itself, so I am wondering if there is something wrong with HD2 itself. I have indeed verified the files as well as forcing a clean install.
For me it does not work for Space Engine :/
I've also the same issue with several games, Sonic Racing Crossworlds being the most recent example. Unfortunately, i have not been able to pinpoint any common threads between the affected games. Only solution i've found is setting it to record all system audio, rather than just the game which is less than ideal
I have the same issue playing ARC Raiders (Proton), but Counter Strike works (native). Furthermore, in a gamescope session (Steam Big Picture), the background recording works for both games.
Can confirm this occurs on The Finals (similar game to ARC Raiders). Previously a workaround was to edit some settings in the EAC config.json but now that doesn't work anymore.
It seems to be an issue with detection of the window that should be recorded
For me this also happens with RetroArch. I assume it uses two windows: first is the RetroArch menu (opens by pressing F1 while running any game) and second is the game screen itself. Noticed this in OBS.
Hello, I had a similar issue: only Helldivers 2 would not record.
Judging from your screenshot, it looks like it might be the same symptom as mine, although in my case, recording completely stopped working after a specific date — around August 2025. Also, I was on Windows 11.
However, I managed to fix it by changing the Steam Game Recording save path!
At first, I also thought this could not possibly be the solution, because every other game was recording just fine. But that was not the case.
After changing the save path, recording started working perfectly.
For example, I changed the path like this:
Before: I:\Video_Project
- Only Helldivers 2 would not record.
After: I:\Video\
- All games, including Helldivers 2, record properly.
To be clear, I am not saying that you need to rename your existing recording folder to “Video” in the Steam recording settings. I simply mean that changing the save path to any different folder may fix the issue.
This post is already two years old, so this may no longer be useful to the original poster, but I am leaving this here in case it helps anyone else who runs into a similar issue later.
I have the exact same issue, I'm on CachyOS. probing this page for additional info, i tried to enable / disable hardware acceleration and recording directory without any success.
Thank you for creating this excellent post, hope some valuable info drops here that can solve the issue we experience!
Operativsystem: CachyOS Linux
Version av KDE Plasma: 6.6.5
Version av KDE Ramverk: 6.26.0
Qt-version: 6.11.1
Kärnans version: 7.0.8-1-cachyos (64-bitar)
Grafikplattform: Wayland
Processorer: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics
Minne: 32 Gibyte minne (31,2 Gibyte användbart)
Grafikprocessor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
Tillverkare: MEDION
Produktnamn: BEAST X25
Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1778803745
Steam Client Build Date: Fri, May 15, 2026 01:18 UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Fri, May 15, 2026 00:08 UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient023
Command: cat /etc/os-release
NAME="CachyOS Linux"
PRETTY_NAME="CachyOS"
ID=cachyos
ID_LIKE=arch
BUILD_ID=rolling
ANSI_COLOR="38;2;23;147;209"
HOME_URL="https://cachyos.org/"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://wiki.cachyos.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://discuss.cachyos.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/cachyos"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/privacy-policy/"
LOGO=cachyos
Command: lspci -tv
-[0000:00]-+-00.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne Root Complex
+-00.2 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne IOMMU
+-01.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
+-01.1-[01]--+-00.0 NVIDIA Corporation GA104M [GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile / Max-Q]
| -00.1 NVIDIA Corporation GA104 High Definition Audio Controller
+-01.2-[02]----00.0 Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller
+-02.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
+-02.1-[03]----00.0 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller SM961/PM961/SM963
+-02.2-[04]----00.0 Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX200
+-02.4-[05]----00.0 Phison Electronics Corporation E12 NVMe Controller
+-08.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
+-08.1-[06]--+-00.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Zeppelin/Raven/Raven2 PCIe Dummy Function
| +-00.2 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir/Cezanne Platform Security Processor
| +-00.3 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne USB 3.1
| +-00.4 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne USB 3.1
| +-00.5 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Audio Coprocessor
| -00.6 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Ryzen HD Audio Controller
+-14.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller
+-14.3 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge
+-18.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 0
+-18.1 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 1
+-18.2 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 2
+-18.3 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 3
+-18.4 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 4
+-18.5 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 5
+-18.6 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 6
-18.7 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 7
Command: lsusb -t
/: Bus 001.Port 001: Dev 001, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 480M
|__ Port 002: Dev 003, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/2p, 480M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 0, Class=Communications, Driver=cdc_acm, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 1, Class=CDC Data, Driver=cdc_acm, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 2, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 3, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 4, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 5, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 009, If 6, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 002: Dev 006, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 002: Dev 006, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 004: Dev 004, If 0, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
|__ Port 004: Dev 004, If 1, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
|__ Port 004: Dev 004, If 2, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
|__ Port 004: Dev 004, If 3, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
/: Bus 002.Port 001: Dev 001, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 10000M
|__ Port 001: Dev 003, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 5000M
|__ Port 002: Dev 002, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/2p, 5000M
/: Bus 003.Port 001: Dev 001, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 480M
|__ Port 002: Dev 002, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/3p, 480M
|__ Port 001: Dev 004, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 003: Dev 003, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
|__ Port 001: Dev 006, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=[none], 12M
|__ Port 001: Dev 006, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 003: Dev 007, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=[none], 12M
|__ Port 003: Dev 007, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 004: Dev 005, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
|__ Port 004: Dev 005, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
/: Bus 004.Port 001: Dev 001, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 10000M
|__ Port 001: Dev 002, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M
Command: coredumpctl -r --since -10d
TIME PID UID GID SIG COREFILE EXE SIZE
Sat 2026-05-16 20:17:26 CEST 10921 1000 1000 SIGSEGV present /home/d689b/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper 14.2M
Sat 2026-05-16 20:12:20 CEST 9019 1000 1000 SIGSEGV present /home/d689b/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper 27.1M
Sat 2026-05-16 19:50:51 CEST 4657 1000 1000 SIGSEGV present /home/d689b/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamwebhelper 15.7M
Thu 2026-05-14 17:38:45 CEST 13393 1000 1000 SIGABRT present /usr/bin/gamescope 4.7M
Thu 2026-05-14 16:41:48 CEST 6870 1000 1000 SIGABRT present /usr/bin/kernelshark 85.8M
Command: wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, cookie:1875078304]
└─ Clients:
32. kwin_wayland [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1179]
33. WirePlumber [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1226]
41. WirePlumber [export] [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1226]
54. wpctl [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:14449]
66. pipewire [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1424]
67. libcanberra [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1306]
68. plasmashell [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1332]
69. libcanberra [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1332]
70. [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1306]
71. [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1332]
72. xdg-desktop-portal [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1186]
77. Steam Voice Settings [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:13025]
78. [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:1306]
87. Steam [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:13025]
89. Chromium input [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:14350]
95. Brave input [1.6.5, d689b@cachyos-x8664, pid:10273]
Audio
├─ Devices:
│ 42. GA104 High Definition Audio Controller [alsa]
│ 43. Ryzen HD Audio Controller [alsa]
│
├─ Sinks:
│ * 55. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Analog stereo [vol: 0.55]
│
├─ Sources:
│
├─ Filters:
│
└─ Streams:
Video
├─ Devices:
│ 50. HD Webcam [v4l2]
│ 51. HD Webcam [v4l2]
│ 52. HD Webcam [v4l2]
│ 53. HD Webcam [v4l2]
│
├─ Sinks:
│
├─ Sources:
│ * 62. HD Webcam (V4L2)
│ 64. HD Webcam (V4L2)
│
├─ Filters:
│
└─ Streams:
Settings
└─ Default Configured Devices:
1. Audio/Source alsa_input.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo
After a lot of tinkering around i got it somewhat to function, now i'm not sure if it had anything to do with me enabling disabling steam overlay and toggling various other settings, i also disabled steam big picture full screen
What i did find is that whenever you start a game and you hold down the recording buttons immediately after the game boots then for whatever reason recording is triggered and captures the game play.
What is interesting is that you basically get two files from the recording in the directory one doesn't work and the other do work, so i believe there must be some hook failure that happens later on when you try to press recording.
The other one says, background recording which is the one not working and the black one is the one that do work as a record.
I've got a similar issue with Dead by Daylight, on any version of proton, where the background recording just doesnt start with game launch. I'm on Bazzite. Not sure what's needed to help with trouble shooting
I believe it's because the steam client itself is running on x11 through xwayland and is there for not natively ran through wayland and is therefor not able to capture the game. Just me guessing though and i don't know how one would fix this without being able to run steam through gamescope on CachyOS or any other none SteamOS.
Just thought id pop in here to say that the solution by adsfzxcv (changing the recording folder) worked, however it seems that it has to be in the same folder as the steam-made gamerecordings folder. Still a very strange issue that should be fixed imo.
I am also encountering this issue and it seems to happen after steamwebhelper crashes and the Steam client UI restarts.
I can usually trigger this by starting recording, opening the overlay and checking the recording status, viewing some clips, etc. and then going back to the game. Some random time later, steamwebhelper crashes. After it crashes, the first recording will say Failed to start recording due to some error and I'll see this in the logs
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: Manual recording for game 4162040, no retention interval
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: >>> Audio deltas: first audio frame 97231.293027s, first video frame 97047.561979s, first video PTS 0.133333s. Resulting first audio sample is 8819090 (183.731042s)
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: Dash Segment Writer: Received audio packet that would create a segment gap: [current_pts=183731042][current_segment=0][packet_segment=62]
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: >>> Failed to add 1024 audio samples
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: Failed to add audio sample
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: Game Recording - Recording Stopped [recording=fg_4162040_20260809_231805]
Aug 09 18:18:05 arch-desktop steam[63799]: Encoding complete
Any recordings after that will appear to work, but then show up as zero second black screen files with no content at all.
Nothing extracted yet.
Your system information
appinfo_log.previous.txt console-linux.txt remote_connections.txt streaming_log.txt vrclient_vrstartup.previous.txt vrmonitor.txt appinfo_log.txt console_log.previous.txt shader_log.previous.txt systemaudiomanager.txt vrclient_vrstartup.txt vrroomsetup-linux.txt basestation_wireless.txt console_log.txt shader_log.txt systemdisplaymanager.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_keyboard.txt vrserver.previous.txt bootstrap_log.txt content_log.previous.txt sitelicense_log.previous.txt systemdockmanager.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_main.previous.txt vrserver.txt cef_log.previous.txt content_log.txt sitelicense_log.txt systemmanager.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_main.txt vrsharedresourcemanager.txt cef_log.txt controller.txt stats_log.previous.txt systemperfmanager.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_pairing.txt vrstartup-linux.txt client_networkmanager.txt controller_ui.previous.txt stats_log.txt text_filter_log.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_settings_desktop.txt vrstartup.txt cloud_log.previous.txt controller_ui.txt steamui_audio.previous.txt timedtrial_log.txt vrclient_vrwebhelper_systemui.txt vrwebhelper_keyboard.txt cloud_log.txt firmware_update.txt steamui_audio.txt transport_client.txt vrclient_wine64-preloader.previous.txt vrwebhelper_main.txt compat_log.previous.txt gameoverlayui.log steamui_html.previous.txt transport_steamui.txt vrclient_wine64-preloader.txt vrwebhelper_pairing.txt compat_log.txt gameoverlayui.log.last steamui_html.txt vrclient_steam.previous.txt vrclient_wine-preloader.txt vrwebhelper_settings_desktop.txt configstore_log.previous.txt index.bbc4c84095aab4716968c37372313339.vrstats steamui_login.txt vrclient_steamtours.txt vrcompositor-linux.txt vrwebhelper_systemui.txt configstore_log.txt index.f56a92bcff04df1efcc70dfe7804c042.vrstats steamui_system.txt vrclient_steam.txt vrcompositor.previous.txt webhelper-linux.txt connection_log_0.txt inventory_service_log.txt steamui.txt vrclient_vrcompositor.previous.txt vrcompositor.txt webhelper.previous.txt connection_log_27015.txt librarysharing_log.txt steamui_update.txt vrclient_vrcompositor.txt vrdashboard.txt webhelper.txt connection_log_27017.txt parental_log.txt SteamVRLauncherSetup.log vrclient_vrdashboard.txt vrhw_steamvr.vdf workshop_log.previous.txt connection_log.previous.txt pepper_log.txt steamwebhelper.log vrclient_vrmonitor.previous.txt vrhw_usb.vdf workshop_log.txt connection_log.txt properties.json streaming_log.previous.txt vrclient_vrmonitor.txt vrmonitor.previous.txt yad-zombies.logPlease describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
Describe what you expected should happen and what did happen. Please link any large code pastes as a Github Gist
Steam background recording will, seemingly randomly, not record anything. It claims to be recording and does not report an error, but if I hover over the timeline it says no recording available. Attempting to export a clip from that blank section will error. A recording is not produced when the game closes. Im not sure if it is relevant, but I play in "borderless fullscreen" most of the time.
This is unique from other reports/issues I found online because nothing is recorded and no file is available; other reports discuss a video file with a black screen.
What I expect to happen is that the background recording records the game window, as well as the audio, allowing me to review and save it at a later time.
Steps for reproducing this issue: