Steam Issues

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I'm trying to install Steam on my desktop. I am running Ubuntu 15.04 now. It keeps messing up my video card. Radeon 7850. Will an NVIDIA card solve all this shat?

 

I'll add some stuff later of the errors I'm having,

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I download the steam app from steampowered, loaded it to Ubuntu Software Center.

 

I load up steam, it asks me that Agreement thing.

 

Then I click the box to agree, OK.

 

Then it brings up:

You are missing the following 32-bit libraries, and Steam may not run:
libc.so.6

and also a terminal window pops up, asking me:

Steam needs to install these additional packages: 
	libgl1-mesa-dri:i386, libgl1-mesa-glx:i386, libc6:i386

After I install that, Steam doesn't want to start after clicking the icon, so I load it up in terminal:

david@david-desktop:~$ steam
Running Steam on ubuntu 15.04 64-bit
STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(0_client)
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

[dlf]

I'm getting a similar issue, Steam just will not start on 15.04. Icon is on my desktop, I presume it's fully installed, it simply will not start.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Should I go back to 14.10, then?

[Unobscured Vision]

Driver issue, according to the text output. Did you install the proprietary drivers?

 

If you have and rebooted afterwards (which you have likely done), and the issue still occurs, then perhaps you'll need to revert to 14.10.

 

So far this release of Ubuntu has turned into a train wreck for a lot of people. Issues galore all over the place.

[Eric Veteran]

I think you should be able to install the 32-bit libc by just appending ":i386" to the package name

"apt-get install libc:i386"

As for the radeon errors, are you using the open source or restricted drivers?

EDIT: Bleh! https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime/issues/13

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

If I install the proprietary drivers, my video goes loopy after reset. I can't even get into the desktop, even with nomodset...

[Unobscured Vision]

Ouch. Yeah, that could complicate things.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

When I tried this on my Laptop, using Intel 4000 video, it went OK. lil bumpy with lgbl6 stuff, but i got past that, to the Steam login thing.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

So, would an earlier version, say 14.10, help me?

 

Or would say like a 750Ti help me?

 

(or combination of the 2? )

 

I have all my stuff backed up, so I can easily switch to different OS's

[Eric Veteran]

It seems to be something in the newer MESA drivers conflicting with the libraries included with Steam from what I can see in the issue reports.

You could try the suggestion on this comment: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3273#issuecomment-70364817

It only involves a symlink so it couldn't hurt to try it.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

OK, oddly, this WORKED!

 

Odd thing, people, I had to run that symlink command once before it downloads steam and after it.

 

Once that happens, it works like a champ! TYVM, Eric!

[Unobscured Vision]

Nice going, Eric!

 

Steam and Mesa clashing ... who would have thought it could happen. Wow.

 

And a symlink change fixed it. Awesome!

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I have a question about the proprietary drivers, though. Why do they break my system?

[Unobscured Vision]

They shouldn't be causing that problem. Do they exhibit the same behavior on 14.10?

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

That I am not sure of. I can try putting that on a spare SSD, and see. Proprietary drives, in Ubunrtu was always a bad thing. But in Debian, it works like a charm...

[Unobscured Vision]

Hmm. You could try using the Xorg-Edgers PPA. They usually have updated drivers for every Chipset and Video Card. My 750ti won't work with Mint 17.01 (which uses an Ubuntu 14.04 base) until I install the proprietary driver from there -- maybe it will solve your problem. I suggest making a backup beforehand, just in case it doesn't work or you run into the same problem as before.

 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update

 

At which point the driver list in the Driver Manager should also have the latest driver from the PPA as well as the stock Ubuntu ones.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Ok, I installed this on my spare SSD. After a restart, I am now using

 

X.Org X server -AMD/ATI display driver wrapper from xserver-xorg-video-ati (open source, tested)

 

I'll see if the proprietary drivers work this time round.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

OK, I'm back on my initial SSD. All I see once i enable proprietary drivers and restart,  All I see are the 5 bubbles under ubuntu.. Sometimes, I restarted many times, it gives me this:

starting version 219

[Unobscured Vision]

Okay, I stand corrected. Xorg-Edgers are not the ones working on AMD drivers. They have older packages that have already been merged into the main Ubuntu repos (which explains why they are the same versions). I had to look at the package lists themselves to see why they weren't newer.

 

*sigh*

 

I'll be back when I find the proper stuff for you. Sorry about that.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Would all this, you know, dissapear if i get an NVIDIA card? Do they have better drivers? Possibly proprietary ones that don't break your system?

[Unobscured Vision]

AMD Linux Driver Page is about the best I can come up with. And yes, it's the Omega driver. It's not the 14.3 driver that comes with 15.04, either. The specifications say it should work on 14.10, but I doubt it has even been tested on 15.04.

 

The open-source driver is likely not an option.

 

Sorry I wasn't more useful than that. 

 

[EDIT] Yes, all of this disappears with Nvidia cards. The drivers are excellent, the support is first-class, and the tools are easy to use. Install the driver, restart, and away you go.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Just a question for you, Betaguy... Will I have to do anything special when I install the new NVIDIA card? Like is there certain software/drivers I need? Or will Ubuntu have everything I want?

 

750Ti I will switch to later this week, if anyone else wants to chirp in.

[Unobscured Vision]

Uninstall the ATI/AMD Driver beforehand to be safe. I would switch to the Open-Source AMD/ATI Driver by manually selecting it in the Driver Manager (and reboot once) before powering down to install the new card. Once you have the new card installed, the system should automatically have the Nouveau driver activated for you when you log in.

 

It is then an easy matter of going to the Driver Manager and installing the Nvidia Binary Driver (it's a good idea to use the recommended one). Let it install. One reboot later you should be all set. Yes, Plymouth (the boot screen that once has the nice Ubuntu logo) will look low-res. That's normal and a caveat of using Nvidia on Linux, but I don't miss it at all really. 5-10 seconds isn't that big of an issue.

 

The Nvidia Settings Application will be in Administration -> Nvidia X Server Settings. It's very easy to use, but you should have your native monitor resolution and refresh rate already without needing to use it.

 

You'll like the 750Ti. Only thing I don't like is we can't SLI it. 

[Unobscured Vision]

Oh, and make sure you don't crowd the 750Ti inside the case. It needs space to breathe. I've overheated my Ti by crowding it ... so, yeah. Give it room.