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I have never used Ubuntu or any other Linux OS before last Friday. For all I know, I might have installed Ubuntu wrong and be missing a component. I would prefer if you use simplest terminology possible, but I'm OK with doing a bit of googling if need be. I just installed Steam for Ubuntu 16.04 but it won't open when I click on it in the launcher. The icon flashes for a few seconds, stops and then nothing happens. I looked in the system monitor and steam shows up there but ending the process and trying again does nothing. I heard trying to open apps that aren't working through the terminal tells you what the error is so I tried that and I got this:

Running Steam on ubuntu 16.04 64-bit
STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(0)
libGL error: unable to load driver: radeonsi_dri.so
libGL error: driver pointer missing
libGL error: failed to load driver: radeonsi
libGL error: unable to load driver: swrast_dri.so
libGL error: failed to load driver: swrast

Please help I just want to play CS:GO again.

David Foerster
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Never2MuchPizza
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11 Answers11

157

This problem is only present at Ubuntu 16.04. In ubuntu 16.10 install steam:i386 package from Ubuntu's multiverse repository (the repository is enabled by default) and most problems have been fixed. To fix on Ubuntu 16.04:

  1. Recommended solution:

    If you just installed Steam then make sure steam is closed and go to ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/ and delete the link libstdc++.so.6.

    rm ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6

    That's it now it should start without problem. Let it do the update. After the update, if the message is the same (the file will be recreated after first update)then make sure steam is closed and do the same. Also if you have 64bits system go to ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ and delete libstdc++.so.6.

    rm ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
rm ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6

  2. In some systems libstdc++.so.6 keeps getting recreated. If that's your case, then create the script steam.sh with executable permissions:

    #!/bin/bash
export LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6'
export DISPLAY=:0
steam

    Then change at the steam desktop entry the Exec= line at the absolute path of the steam.sh script. Every time you want to play a game, open first steam with the modified desktop entry and then run the game from inside steam. Source: https://wirejungle.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/how-to-fix-broken-steam-linux-client-with-radeon-graphics-driver-workaround/

Thanos Apostolou
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42

I installed steam with the package in the Ubuntu repositories not the .deb file from steam. Apparently the Ubuntu provided package is modified to work on Ubuntu.

  1. Remove the Valve package:

    sudo apt purge steam-launcher

  2. Delete the repository if it hasn't been removed with the package:

    sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list

  3. Reload the sources list:

    sudo apt update

  4. Install Steam from the repos:

    sudo apt install steam

For more details see: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/57clur/cant_run_steam_on_ubuntu_1610/

d a i s y
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zorkerz
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26

Try this :

cd $HOME/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu
mv libstdc++.so.6 libstdc++.so.6.bak
cd $HOME/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
mv libstdc++.so.6 libstdc++.so.6.bak
Igor V.
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shanto islam
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9

Something that worked for me was to add this environment variable in front of the executable steam:

env LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6' steam

Try to run it in console, see if it works.

If yes, you can edit your Steam desktop shortcut to have this command:

env LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6' /usr/bin/steam %U

instead of the old value:

/usr/bin/steam %U

Likewise, you can update your CS:GO desktop shortcut to have this command:

env LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6' steam steam://rungameid/730

I don't have any idea of what it is doing, but it seems to work for me...

Hope it helps, and I hope that Valve will fix it soon!!

Samuel Phan
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3

2019

Steam binary is 32 bits. Recent versions of Nvidia drivers dropped support for 32 bits applications. To fix this on Ubuntu 18.04:

  1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
  2. Run nvidia-settings and check your Nvidia driver major version. Mine, for instance, is: NVIDIA Driver Version: 430.26 (so, 430)
  3. sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-{{MAJOR VERSION NUMBER}}:i386

For instance, being my Nvidia driver major version 430, my command ended up being sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-430:i386

But Steam, seriously, 32 bits....??

Lucas Bustamante
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2

Log posted indicates graphic driver is not installed correctly.

I had a similar problem with fresh install of 16.04 I have reinstalled the graphics driver

first answer on link below Graphics issues after installing Ubuntu 16.04 with NVIDIA graphics

nkvnkv
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0

Installing the Solus version of Steam instead of the official (.deb) version fixed this for me.

First, remove the official version:

sudo apt purge steam-launcher

Then install the Solus version:

sudo snap install --edge solus-runtime-gaming
sudo snap install --devmode --edge linux-steam-integration

Now start Steam from the dash.

jobukkit
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0

For Gentoo users who have arrived here and want a crude solution, this is what I did.

Step 1

Removed the offenders:

rm -i $(find ~/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/installed \
    -iname 'libstdc++*' -or -iname 'libgcc_s*')

Step 2

Create a launcher script:

#!/bin/sh
export LD_PRELOAD=$(echo /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/8.2.0/{,32/}{libstdc++.so.6,libgcc_s.so.1})
export DISPLAY=:0
/usr/bin/steam

It produces a lot of errors warning about about "wrong ELF class" but I ignore them. Also, change the path per the version of gcc you've installed. Feel free to improve (use gcc-config -L, etc.)

Daniel Santos
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0

Do you think you might be lacking the graphics drivers required to start Steam? If so, and you are using an Nvidia graphics card, this solution might help you.

If you don't have ubuntu-drivers, then install it with:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install ubuntu-drivers

Then check what your device requirements are:

ubuntu-drivers devices

You will see a number of drivers listed. Choose the recommended driver e.g. driver : nvidia-driver-460 - distro non-free recommended

Check to see if you have any older Nvidia drivers:

apt list -i | grep nvidia

E.g. if you're seeing Nvidia 450 drivers, remove with:

sudo apt purge nvidia-*-450

Now you should be ready to install the new drivers:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-460

If you have any problems, such as a dependency, just add it in the install line e.g.

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-460 nvidia-kernel-source-460

Once complete, reboot:

sudo reboot
Jonathan
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0

It's solution similar to @Thanos Apostolou, courtesy of ArchLinux wiki:

LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6 /usr/$LIB/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/$LIB/libxcb.so.1 /usr/$LIB/libgpg-error.so' /usr/bin/steam

Original solution: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Steam/Troubleshooting#Dynamic_linker

przemo_li
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-1

Ubuntu 18.04: Once you successfully uninstalled your current Steam (all directory related to steam) please open a terminal and type the following in order to have a fresh and clean installation:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse

Once you're right the output should be:

'multiverse' distribution component enabled for all sources

Then install steam (using the terminal this is important in order to see potential error messages)

sudo apt install steam
sudo apt update

Once the installation is successfull, just type steam

steam

Here either it works and then have fun ! Or you have the following error message:

tar: This does not look like a tar archive
xz: (stdin): File format not recognized
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
find: ‘/home/$USERNAME/.steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime’: No such file or directory

If you do have this message, don't give up and run:

mkdir "/home/$USERNAME/.steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime"

It should now works !

Ced
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