BEE2.4 on Linux

Support for BEE2.4 on Linux is currently experimental, so we do not yet provide downloads for it alongside the main releases. Linux builds of BEE2.4 can be obtained either from GitHub Actions (requires an account) or by building from source yourself.

Note that Wine/Proton cannot currently be used to run the Windows version of BEE2.4. This is caused by an incompatibility with a core library we use and not fixable by us. As a result, you must use the native Linux version of Portal 2, and not the Proton version. To check or modify the version used, open the game's properties in Steam and go to the compatibility tab. The compatibility tool to use should be set to "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0".

Current known issues

• The Puzzlemaker is entirely broken on Linux by default - see below for a workaround
• Some assets fail to be packed due to case-sensitivity issues Fixed in latest srctools, but might still be present in CI builds
• Various UI bugs, especially when running under XWayland:
  • Subpanes won't move until they've been dragged once, and might jump around when doing certain actions
  • Certain dialogs appear unusably small by default
  • Tooltips are buggy, they might appear in the top-left corner of the screen, or repeatedly appear/disappear on top of the hovered option instead of next to it.

Fixing the Puzzlemaker

Valve broke the Puzzlemaker on Linux in a 2023 Portal 2 update, and has yet to fix it as of November 2026. You will need to downgrade filesystem_stdio.so to a working version in order to get it functional again. The easiest and safest way to do this is through the Steam console. Paste the following URL into your browser, and click OK if a dialog appears:

steam://open/console

In the Steam console window that opens, run the following command:

download_depot 620 661 2854055004190207766

Wait a bit for the download to finish, which will be indicated with the message Depot download complete. Once it's done, copy the file from the location specified in the message to the bin/ folder of your Portal 2 install. Assuming you have the game installed to the root drive, this can be done with the following command in your regular terminal:

cp "$HOME/.steam/steam/steamrt64/steamapps/content/app_620/depot_661/bin/linux32/filesystem_stdio.so" \
   "$HOME/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Portal 2/bin/linux32/filesystem_stdio.so"

Note

It's possible that the file may have been downloaded to a different location, particularly if you're running an older version of the Steam client. Check the download location specified in the Steam console output if the copy command fails.

Lastly, if you think it's dumb that you had to do this in the first place, go leave a comment on the issue and contact Steam Support to let Valve know that you want this fixed.