fedora-asahi / steam

#20 Steam does not launch on Fedora 43
Closed by jannau. Opened by lelahx.

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It had been a while since I hadn't launched Steam, and I had upgraded to F43 in the meantime. Steam now crashes when trying to launch it, here's the error message:

lelahx@lelmaclinux ~> steam
No IPv6 nameserver available for NDP/DHCPv6
QSettings::value: Empty key passed
Using default interface naming scheme 'v258'.
steam.sh[232]: Running Steam on fedora-asahi-remix 43 64-bit
steam.sh[232]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[282]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[232]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
CProcessEnvironmentManager is ready, 6 preallocated environment variables.
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] Startup - updater built Nov 22 2025 07:00:25
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/lelahx/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-srt-logger-opened' '-cef-force-occlusion'
11/23 20:28:40 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
11/23 20:28:40 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1763795278)/tid(336)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/lelahx/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] 1. https://client-update.fastly.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 900, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] 2. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 400, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2025-11-23 20:28:40] 3. https://client-update.steamstatic.com, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Checking for update on startup
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Checking for available updates...
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.fastly.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Manifest download: send request
CProcessEnvironmentManager is ready, 6 preallocated environment variables.
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Process started with command-line: '/home/lelahx/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-child-update-ui' '-child-update-ui-socket' '14' '-srt-logger-opened' '-cef-force-occlusion'
11/23 20:28:41 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Using update UI: console
11/23 20:28:41 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(0)/tid(337)
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Create window
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Set percent complete: 0
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Set status message: Checking for available updates...
[  0%] Checking for available updates...
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Set percent complete: -1
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Manifest download: finished
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1763795278, installed version 1763795278, existing pending version 0
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Nothing to do
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Verifying installation...
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Verifying all executable checksums
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Set percent complete: -1
[2025-11-23 20:28:41] Set status message: Verifying installation...
[----] Verifying installation...
[2025-11-23 20:28:42] Verification complete
UpdateUI: skip show logo
[2025-11-23 20:28:42] Destroy window
Steam logging initialized: directory: /home/lelahx/.local/share/Steam/logs
[2025-11-23 20:28:42] ProcessNextMessage: socket disconnected
[2025-11-23 20:28:42] No more messages are expected - exiting
pcilib: Cannot open /proc/bus/pci
lspci: Cannot find any working access method.
XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf4b47f90
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf4b46670
glx: failed to create dri3 screen
failed to load driver: asahi
11/23 20:28:44 Failed writing minidump, nothing to upload.
/home/lelahx/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh: line 928:   336 Segmentation fault      "$STEAMROOT/$STEAMEXEPATH" "$@"
Steam quit
Aborting
Qt says we're gone, aborting=True

I tried to track down the problem, and I was unable to fix it but I think the problem is related to recent-ish FEX RootFS changes.

One thing that caught my attention in particular is the fact that the asahi kernel module is unable to be loaded by the microVM. This would need, in my understanding, the compiled kernel module files for the specific 4K kernel build of the VM to be present on my machine, which they aren't. Wasn't able to track them down myself and I'm not sure the problem even comes from there so I resorted to opening this issue.

Let me know if you want me to try other things!

This looks more like an issue with mixing different mesa versions. I don't think you'll have much luck before there is a Fedora 43 version of the fex-emu-rootfs-fedora package (it currently does not build due to what looks to be a Fedora infrastructure issue). This one of the few remaining tasks before Fedora-Asahi-Remix 43 can be officially announced.

The virt kernel is not expected to use the asahi kernel driver. It uses DRM_VIRTIO_GPU.

That said Fedora-FEX-RootFS-43-20251122.0.x86_64.erofs.xz from https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org/packages/Fedora-FEX-RootFS/43/20251122.0/images/ as /usr/share/fex-emu/RootFS/default.erofs it should work. You probably have to remove mesa-fex-emu-overlay-i386 and mesa-fex-emu-overlay-x86_64 as well. An asahi-platform-metapackage update will take care of that in the next few days automatically.
Edited by jannau

Metadata Update from @jannau:
- Issue status updated to: Closed (was: Open)

Ooh, I hadn't noticed that the fex-emu-rootfs-fedora hadn't been built since July. I assumed that a new version had gone out since I saw more recent commits haha.
Also, not sure what did it already but mesa-fex-emu-overlays are already gone from my system.

I have tried using this new build of the rootfs, and it does allow Steam to launch once more! Thanks a lot for that :)

However, I now get a few graphical glitches in the Steam client, such as purple flashes and weird outlines on some elements. No show-stoppers yet, fortunately.
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