protonscr

SteamWebHelper crashes, no work around. Debian Stable (12)

steamopen appid 12Distro Family: DebianWeb Component
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#11326 · opened 2024-10-07 by SZUPEK · updated 2024-10-17 · 7 comments · github · game page · search this game
SSZUPEK 2024-10-07 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date):
    Startup - updater built Sep 17 2024 20:02:19 (version 1726604483)
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu):
    Debian Stable (12) (main, contrib, non-free, non-free-firmware)
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No]
    Yes
  • Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No]
    Yes
  • Steam Logs: [generate by running this command in a terminal tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-logs.tar.gz ~/.steam/steam/logs]
    steam-logs.tar.gz
    Attached
  • GPU: Nvidia/Intel/AMD
    Asus ProArt StudioBook 16" w/ the following
lspci -nn | grep -i vga
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q] [10de:2520] (rev a1)
06:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] [1002:1638] (rev c4)

Please 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

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Update OS to the latest stable Debian 12 repository (x64)
  2. restart machine
  3. launch steam

Steam Client hangs, cant bypass, no gui. Debian (stable)
The error message "steamwebhelper, a critcal Steam component, is not responding. The SteamUI will not be usable"

It was working yesterday and after apt update/upgrade it stopped working.
Things I've tried to resolve the problem:

  • Delete the Steam Folder contents (keeping steamapps) and reinstalling latest available client from steam website.

  • renaming/removing steamwebhelper

  • launching on discrete gpu

  • launching on dedicate gpu

  • check for newer updates (non exist) via apt update/upgrade

  • restarting and trying all these over again

Frustrating since I just bought 2 games. Any recommendations here?
for reference

$uname -a
Linux 6.1.0-26-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.112-1 (2024-09-30) x86_64 GNU/Linux

The console log:

# steam
find: ‘/proc/33887/fd’: Permission denied
steam.sh[64051]: Running Steam on debian 12 64-bit
steam.sh[64051]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[64177]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[64051]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Startup - updater built Sep 17 2024 20:02:19
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Startup - Steam Client launched with: ['/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam'](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2F%27%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Fubuntu12_32%2Fsteam%27) '-srt-logger-opened'
10/06 20:15:33 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
10/06 20:15:33 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1726604483)/tid(64266)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Loading cached metrics from disk [(/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2F%28%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Fpackage%2Fsteam_client_metrics.bin%29)
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Failed to load cached hosts file (File 'update_hosts_cached.vdf' not found), using defaults
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] 1. https://client-update.steamstatic.com/, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Checking for update on startup
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Checking for available updates...
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Manifest download: send request
[2024-10-06 20:15:33] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2024-10-06 20:15:34] Manifest download: finished
[2024-10-06 20:15:34] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1726604483, installed version 1726604483, existing pending version 0
[2024-10-06 20:15:34] Nothing to do
[2024-10-06 20:15:34] Verifying installation...
[2024-10-06 20:15:34] Performing checksum verification of executable files
[2024-10-06 20:15:37] Verification complete
UpdateUI: skip show logo
Steam logging initialized: directory: [/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/logs](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Flogs)

XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xe7d05780
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xe7d04050
/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/main.rc:733: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/hacks.rc:28: error: invalid string constant "normal_entry", expected valid string constant
steamwebhelper.sh[64324]: Using supervisor [/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/bin/steam-runtime-supervisor](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Fubuntu12_32%2Fsteam-runtime%2Famd64%2Fusr%2Fbin%2Fsteam-runtime-supervisor)
steamwebhelper.sh[64324]: Starting steamwebhelper under bootstrap sniper steam runtime via [/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-sniper.sh](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Fubuntu12_64%2Fsteam-runtime-sniper.sh)
steamwebhelper.sh[64324]: Using CEF sandbox \(try with -no-cef-sandbox if this fails\)
steamwebhelper.sh[64324]: Starting steamwebhelper with Sniper steam runtime at [/home/C14G.NET/scott/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steam-runtime-sniper/_v2-entry-point](https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhome%2FC14G.NET%2Fscott%2F.local%2Fshare%2FSteam%2Fubuntu12_64%2Fsteam-runtime-sniper%2F_v2-entry-point)
Steam Runtime Launch Service: starting steam-runtime-launcher-service
Steam Runtime Launch Service: steam-runtime-launcher-service is running pid 64408
bus_name=com.steampowered.PressureVessel.LaunchAlongsideSteam
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (653) : Failed creating offscreen shared JS context
src/steamUI/steamuisharedjscontroller.cpp (653) : Failed creating offscreen shared JS context
10/06 20:16:04 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1726604483)/tid(64266)
assert_20241006201604_32.dmp[64568]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20241006201604_32.dmp
assert_20241006201604_32.dmp[64568]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20241006201604_32.dmp[64568]: response: CrashID=bp-c1d3a0c6-eb2f-4b7e-85fa-10fd72241006
assert_20241006201604_32.dmp[64568]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20241006201604_32.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-c1d3a0c6-eb2f-4b7e-85fa-10fd72241006''

Thank you.

SSZUPEK 2024-10-07 github

In case you don't see it in the attached console logs, this may be the problem (Gnome 3) though this is outside of steam (Adwaita is a theme for gdm3/gnome)

/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/main.rc:733: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/hacks.rc:28: error: invalid string constant "normal_entry", expected valid string constant
EE-D-W-I-N 2024-10-07 github

Possible duplicate
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11312

Looks like this is probably triggered by the updated version of CEF (Chromium) in the steamwebhelper.
I suggest you to opt-out from beta by launching steam with clearbeta flag - steam -clearbeta

SSZUPEK 2024-10-07 github

Thank you for the reply. I did see that other issue but thought they may be different as mine doesn't complain about libcef.so in the console message. That being said, it could be buried in the logs (which I am not reading beyond the console log).

I did try the -clearbeta flag and it made no difference, for the record. I then did some research on the internet that said its --clearbeta (double dash). I tried both, same result. Attaching logs after trying both.
steam-logs2.tar.gz

SSZUPEK 2024-10-08 github

Today I was able to update debian via main, contrib, non-free, non-free-firmware and the following packages were updated

  • apache2-bin
  • opera-stable
  • xpra-html5

When I run steam (as beta client, I get the same error message listed above). However I was able to use --clearbeta (note double dash, not single dash) and it was successful in not crashing steamwebhelper. However, I was not able to "sign in" because it couldn't connect to steam servers. I then closed and reopend with the --clearbeta flag and it happened again (steamwebhelper not responding).

I tried it again after steamwebhelper crashing, same result. No luck.

SSZUPEK 2024-10-16 github

I ran apt update/apt dist-upgrade today and when I launched steam (with beta client option enabled) it said that steamwebhelper crashed again. I chose RESTART STEAM (not steamwebhelper) and it opened successfully (again with beta disabled option). However, when I go to see if I am in CLIENT BETA PARTICIPATION I am NOT, so I guess it's defaulted to non-beta after one of my --no-beta flags previously used to launch from the CLI

For reference, here are the packages that were updated.
The following packages will be upgraded: chromium chromium-common chromium-sandbox firefox-esr firefox-esr-l10n-ar firefox-esr-l10n-ast firefox-esr-l10n-be firefox-esr-l10n-bg firefox-esr-l10n-bn firefox-esr-l10n-bs firefox-esr-l10n-ca firefox-esr-l10n-cs firefox-esr-l10n-cy firefox-esr-l10n-da firefox-esr-l10n-de firefox-esr-l10n-el firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb firefox-esr-l10n-eo firefox-esr-l10n-es-ar firefox-esr-l10n-es-cl firefox-esr-l10n-es-es firefox-esr-l10n-es-mx firefox-esr-l10n-et firefox-esr-l10n-eu firefox-esr-l10n-fa firefox-esr-l10n-fi firefox-esr-l10n-fr firefox-esr-l10n-ga-ie firefox-esr-l10n-gl firefox-esr-l10n-gu-in firefox-esr-l10n-he firefox-esr-l10n-hi-in firefox-esr-l10n-hr firefox-esr-l10n-hu firefox-esr-l10n-id firefox-esr-l10n-is firefox-esr-l10n-it firefox-esr-l10n-ja firefox-esr-l10n-kk firefox-esr-l10n-km firefox-esr-l10n-kn firefox-esr-l10n-ko firefox-esr-l10n-lt firefox-esr-l10n-lv firefox-esr-l10n-mk firefox-esr-l10n-mr firefox-esr-l10n-nb-no firefox-esr-l10n-ne-np firefox-esr-l10n-nl firefox-esr-l10n-nn-no firefox-esr-l10n-pa-in firefox-esr-l10n-pl firefox-esr-l10n-pt-br firefox-esr-l10n-pt-pt firefox-esr-l10n-ro firefox-esr-l10n-ru firefox-esr-l10n-si firefox-esr-l10n-sk firefox-esr-l10n-sl firefox-esr-l10n-sq firefox-esr-l10n-sr firefox-esr-l10n-sv-se firefox-esr-l10n-ta firefox-esr-l10n-te firefox-esr-l10n-th firefox-esr-l10n-tr firefox-esr-l10n-uk firefox-esr-l10n-vi firefox-esr-l10n-zh-cn firefox-esr-l10n-zh-tw gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0 gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.1 gir1.2-webkit2-4.0 gir1.2-webkit2-4.1 libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18 libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0 libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0-1 libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37 libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 libwebkitgtk-6.0-4 opera-stable python3-renderpm python3-reportlab python3-reportlab-accel teams-for-linux thunderbird thunderbird-l10n-ja xpra xpra-client xpra-client-gtk3 xpra-codecs xpra-codecs-extras xpra-common xpra-server

Ssmcv 2024-10-17 github

Possible duplicate [of] #11312

I don't think this is the same as #11312. #11312 has a distinctive error message which is not present in the logs in this case.

Instead, I think this is the same superficial symptom but for a different reason. Unfortunately, I don't see any distinctive error messages in webhelper-linux.txt or webhelper.txt that would help to characterize this particular issue and separate it from other causes of similar symptoms.

I looked at this issue in case it was a problem with the Steam Runtime, but it looks as though the container runtime environment to run the steamwebhelper is working correctly (the steamwebhelper starts up and logs its startup messages like Crash reporting enabled for process: browser), so that rules out another category of crashes that would have the same symptom. Unfortunately this also means I can't help you further.

/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/main.rc:733: error: unexpected identifier 'direction', expected character '}'
/usr/share/themes/Adwaita/gtk-2.0/hacks.rc:28: error: invalid string constant "normal_entry", expected valid string constant

These messages often appear on working systems, and seem to be mostly harmless. You can ignore them.

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q] [10de:2520] (rev a1)
06:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] [1002:1638] (rev c4)

The fact that you have two dissimilar GPUs is maybe a relevant factor? Splitting rendering between two GPUs tends to be generally problematic. But that might not be relevant at all (I am not a steamwebhelper developer and I don't have any special insights into it).

Ssmcv 2024-10-17 github

when I launched steam (with beta client option enabled) it said that steamwebhelper crashed again. I chose RESTART STEAM (not steamwebhelper) and it opened successfully (again with beta disabled option). However, when I go to see if I am in CLIENT BETA PARTICIPATION I am NOT, so I guess it's defaulted to non-beta after one of my --no-beta flags previously used to launch from the CLI

It sounds as though the stable/general availability client is working correctly on your system, but the beta client is not (which would mean that this issue is a new regression in the beta). I think @E-D-W-I-N is correct to think that this is probably triggered by the updated version of CEF (Chromium) used by steamwebhelper in the beta branch.

A way to leave the beta is:

  • completely exit from Steam
  • run steam -clearbeta, or delete the file ~/.steam/root/package/beta

If the file ~/.steam/root/package/beta exists, then Steam will try to install a beta branch named in that file during startup. Typically its contents would be publicbeta for beta users. If that file doesn't exist, then Steam will try to install the stable/general-availability version instead.

The log file console-linux.txt will tell you whether you are using the stable/general-availability version or the beta.

Upstream links