This is still a problem. Steam is unusable, as is any content purchased.

Still an issue with 1580500660

steam[107113]: Attempting HID Open HMD: 
steam[107113]: LHR-2E71FFFF: Attached device ID not set.  No controller input available.
steam[107113]: Lighthouse HMD HID opened
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
steam[107113]: Unable to turn on polling for HMD Hid device
steam[107113]: Attempting HID Open IMU: LHR-2E71FFFF
steam[107113]: Lighthouse IMU HID opened
steam[107113]: LHR-2E71FFFF: ERROR: could not query version from watchman board.
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
steam[107113]: LHR-2E71FFFF: WARNING: Unable to set sync detect mode 0
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
steam[107113]: LHR-2E71FFFF: Triggered keepalive (failed)
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
steam[107113]: Attempting HID Open Optical: LHR-2E71FFFF
steam[107113]: LHR-2E71FFFF: Unable to request config start from device
steam[107113]: Lighthouse Optical HID opened
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
ioctl (SFEATURE): Connection timed out
[2020-02-10 23:25:26] Startup - updater built Feb 10 2020 22:30:30
[2020-02-10 23:25:26] Opted in to client beta 'publicbeta' via beta file
You are in the 'publicbeta' client beta.
[2020-02-10 23:25:26] Verifying installation...
[2020-02-10 23:25:26] Verification complete
../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Assertion Failed: fatal stalled cross-thread pipe
../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Assertion Failed: fatal stalled cross-thread pipe
../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Fatal assert failed: ../common/pipes.cpp, line 770.  Application exiting.

../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Fatal assert failed: ../common/pipes.cpp, line 770.  Application exiting.

Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1581380190)
No minidump written, nothing to upload.
_ExitOnFatalAssert

Why is VR hanging the steam client...

I've also had this issue for a while on ArchLinux. Steam was working fine and then one day it just stopped starting and was crashing exactly like this.

[2020-08-02 04:41:56] Verifying installation...
[2020-08-02 04:41:56] Performing checksum verification of executable files
[2020-08-02 04:41:59] Verification complete
Loaded SDL version 2.0.13-5893924
STEAM_RUNTIME_HEAVY: 0
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
[0802/044200.273995:INFO:crash_reporting.cc(247)] Crash reporting enabled for process: browser
[0802/044200.303987:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: UserID with value: 0
[0802/044200.304056:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: BuildID with value: 1596186727
[0802/044200.304061:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: SteamUniverse with value: Public
[0802/044200.304065:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: Vendor with value: Valve
[0802/044200.354186:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: UserID with value: 0
[0802/044200.354261:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: BuildID with value: 1596186727
[0802/044200.354266:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: SteamUniverse with value: Public
[0802/044200.354270:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: Vendor with value: Valve
[0802/044200.354866:INFO:crash_reporting.cc(247)] Crash reporting enabled for process: gpu-process
[0802/044200.470966:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: UserID with value: 0
[0802/044200.471058:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: BuildID with value: 1596186727
[0802/044200.471065:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: SteamUniverse with value: Public
[0802/044200.471072:WARNING:crash_reporting.cc(286)] Failed to set crash key: Vendor with value: Valve
[0802/044200.471974:INFO:crash_reporting.cc(247)] Crash reporting enabled for process: utility
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Warning: failed to set thread priority: set failed for 8: -1: setpriority() failed
Warning: failed to set thread priority: set failed for priority 8
Warning: support for elevated priorities is most likely unavailable, suppressing future warnings
Warning: failed to set thread priority: set failed for 8: -1: setpriority() failed
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 393 milliseconds to initialize
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)

/data/src/common/pipes.cpp (770) : Assertion Failed: fatal stalled cross-thread pipe
/data/src/common/pipes.cpp (770) : Assertion Failed: fatal stalled cross-thread pipe
/data/src/common/pipes.cpp (770) : Fatal assert failed: /data/src/common/pipes.cpp, line 770.  Application exiting.

/data/src/common/pipes.cpp (770) : Fatal assert failed: /data/src/common/pipes.cpp, line 770.  Application exiting.

Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1596217132)
assert_20200802044501_20.dmp[230837]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20200802044501_20.dmp
_ExitOnFatalAssert
assert_20200802044501_20.dmp[230837]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20200802044501_20.dmp[230837]: response: CrashID=bp-31d65b52-dc6d-489d-a033-a52362200801
assert_20200802044501_20.dmp[230837]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20200802044501_20.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-31d65b52-dc6d-489d-a033-a52362200801''

Nothing that useful in log. In #5899 someone wrote to try set PULSE_SERVER=/dev/null but that didn't change anything. Anyway I managed to narrow it down. If I delete ~/.local/share/Steam then steam redownloads everything and works fine. So clearly there's some file that causes this crash and with some trial and error I found it :partying_face:

Remove BaseInstallFolder_1 line from ~/.local/share/Steam/config/config.vdf (or just delete file) and "1" line from ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/libraryfolders.vdf (you need to remove from these both files as otherwise Steam will add them again)

So for me this how it looked like when Steam was crashing
config.vdf

"InstallConfigStore"
{
        "Software"
        {
                "Valve"
                {
                        "Steam"
                        {
                                [...]
                                "BaseInstallFolder_1"           "/mnt/игры/Steam"
                        }
                }
        }
        [..]
}

libraryfolders.vdf

"LibraryFolders"
{
        "TimeNextStatsReport"           "1596445714"
        "ContentStatsID"                "3742678903240012345"
        "1"             "/mnt/игры/Steam"
}

Removing these it works fine now :tada:

Monster Train would not launch with this same error message on the console. I removed ~/.steam/steam/linux64 and the problem went away.

I found in ~/.steam/error.log a message that the directory ~/.steam/Bin could not be deleted because it was a directory
I manually deleted that directory, exited Steam, restarted it, and Steam completed an update.
My games then worked again.