[SOLVED] [Steam Client] Crashing at startup - Segmentation fault, line 756

[SOLVED] [Steam Client] Crashing at startup - Segmentation fault, line 756 - Arch Linux

steamclosed reviewed

ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#4340 · opened 2016-02-28 by SALVOuankeBALDO · updated 2022-07-19 · 14 comments · github

SSALVOuankeBALDO 2016-02-28 github

Hello all.
Recently, after days of not booting steam (several system upgrades were done in the meantime), I've encountered problems in starting the client. With or without STEAM_RUNTIME=0, I run in the following error after starting from terminal:


/home/MYNAME/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh: line 161: VERSION_ID: unbound variable

/home/MYNAME/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh: line 161: VERSION_ID: unbound variable

Running Steam on arch  64-bit

/home/MYNAME/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh: line 161: VERSION_ID: unbound variable

STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically

/home/MYNAME/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh: line 756: 11626 Segmentation fault      (core dumped) $STEAM_DEBUGGER "$STEAMROOT/$STEAMEXEPATH" "$@"

I've googled for the errors, and it looks like the segmentation fault at line 756 is a common issue, but there are various solutions, and I've tried several, with no luck.
I've tried

Removing the nvidia driver of my card, going back to nouveau (all the following actions were made with nouveau), reinstalling steam;
Installing steam-libs and trying to run with STEAM_RUNTIME=0 (never neeeded it);
Copiyng the libraries as suggested in Arch Wiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Steam#Native_runtime:_steam.sh_line_756_Segmentation_fault);
Removing mesa and reinstalling it, with all dependencies (whew!)

Nothing worked, so I'm looking for help.

Thanks in advance.

SSALVOuankeBALDO 2016-03-04 github

I've solved the problem. I removed the folder /home/USER/.local/share/Steam, uninstalled steam (I do not think it is necessary, but I did it anyway) and reinstalled it. It asked me to reinstall that folder, and updated. Now it's working. I'm marking it as solved.

EDIT: I removed my local games, so this solution could not be optimal, as I have to donwload everything again. It is not an issue for me, but it would be nice to know exactly what to erase next time this issue happens.

Lljrk0 2016-03-31 github

Remove everything except ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps

BBfgeshka 2016-04-16 github

There's no need to remove everything, config/config.vdf is enough.
And ever more, seems like if you'll remove flag for remembering password at login screen steam wouldn't segfault anymore. At least works for me.

SSALVOuankeBALDO 2016-04-16 github

Thank you for your suggestions. Removing the "Remember password" flag should not help while the bug is happening, as I wasn't even able to reach the login screen. Steam crashed just after typing "steam" in the console. Now it's working fine, but next time I'll try your methods to solve it.

Tthe-moose-machine 2016-11-05 github

There's no need to remove everything, config/config.vdf is enough.

This was perfect. This is how i solved it on my 64-bit Arch Linux set-up:

First:
$rm ~/.local/share/Steam/config/config.vdf

Second: Reinstall steam using pacman
If you get the following prompt: select 'Y'
:: lib32-libudev0-shim and lib32-libudev0 are in conflict. Remove lib32-libudev0? [y/N] y

Third:
$steam-native

CC0rn3j 2016-11-06 github

In response to the command above - you need to install steam-native-runtime, not reinstall steam, as that doesn't help.

Bbkdwt 2019-12-08 github

There's no need to remove everything, config/config.vdf is enough.
And ever more, seems like if you'll remove flag for remembering password at login screen steam wouldn't segfault anymore. At least works for me.

Thank you very much! This works for me on Gentoo. Unfortunately having to enter the password every time you start the app is uncomfortable, but that's the way.

Kkiprasmel 2020-02-24 github

For anyone else coming up here - my issue was solved here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/6399#issuecomment-512867551

I needed to

sudo pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils

since I didn't have'em. Leggo!

Hhkay-dev 2020-03-23 github

For anyone else coming up here - my issue was solved here: [#6399 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/6399#issuecomment-512867551)

I needed to
sudo pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils
since I didn't have'em. Leggo!

This worked for me (as the other stuff about the config.vdf didn't seem to apply to me because this file wasn't present on my system). I just wanted to chime in here since this is currently the top result on Google if you search for "steam.sh segmentation fault". Installing these utils is what worked.

Info about my setup:

Fully up to date ArchLinux 64-bit as of today
Kernel: 5.5.10-zen1-1-zen #1 ZEN SMP PREEMPT
GPU: NVidia GTX 1080Ti

I did not install any "native runtime". I'm using just the standard steam package.

Rrobin-thoni 2021-06-12 github

Removing the ConnectCache entry in config/config.vdf is enough, although it's just a WAR...

Ppueppiblue 2021-07-10 github

Removing the ConnectCache entry in config/config.vdf is enough, although it's just a WAR...

Had the same problem on Ubuntu focal, after a steam update. Removing ConnectCache entry worked for me as well.

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2021-07-16 github

Hello @robin-thoni, @pueppiblue, the issue you've described is being tracked at #6101 instead of this issue report.

Mme4real 2021-07-29 github

Thank you for your suggestions. Removing the "Remember password" flag should not help while the bug is happening, as I wasn't even able to reach the login screen. Steam crashed just after typing "steam" in the console. Now it's working fine, but next time I'll try your methods to solve it.

Bro I'm having this issue. How did you solve it then?

GGaussianWonder 2022-07-19 github

This is an old git-issue post, probably nowadays some other problems can cause this behavior.

After a fresh linux reinstall of linux I started ricing my setup. In the process i had steam download some games I usually play. It worked, and it successfully launched games too. However, after a few more days of messing around with my setup, Steam was segfaulting at startup immediately after checksum validations. Whether or not this was a similar case to you, the following still applies:

In my specific scenario I messed up some cursor and font packages. After installing lib32-libxcursor lib32-fontconfig (arch) the issue was solved. I doubt this will specifically solve your problem, but you can check for such errors via coredumpctl gdb steam.

Other posts regarding this issue suggest

Reinstalling the gpu driver
Reinstalling lib32 packages
Trying steam-native
Specifically reinstalling lib32-nvidia-libgl lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-libgl (if nvidia gpu is installed)

Upstream links

ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/6399x2 2020-03