h264 decoder does not automatically unlock to watch streams

[Weirdo1312]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date): Dec 19 2019
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Arch Linux
• Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] Yes
• Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

can't watch streams in steam chat and gives this error
YOUR WEB BROWSER DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MINIMUM SET OF FEATURES REQUIRED TO WATCH THIS BROADCAST

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Open steam chat and click on an stream
2. YOUR WEB BROWSER DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MINIMUM SET OF FEATURES REQUIRED TO WATCH THIS BROADCAST

[nightsky30]

I know this is specifically for the Steam client and chat, but I wanted to mention the same error occurs outside of Steam with the latest Opera release, but not Chrome. Chrome works fine. Strange. As from my understanding Opera, Chrome, and Steam client all use a modified version of chromium, yes? What feature would the latest Chrome have that Opera and Steam lack?

Also, I'm running Xubuntu 19.10.

[Weirdo1312]

I know this is specifically for the Steam client and chat, but I wanted to mention the same error occurs outside of Steam with the latest Opera release, but not Chrome. Chrome works fine. Strange. As from my understanding Opera, Chrome, and Steam client all use a modified version of chromium, yes? What feature would the latest Chrome have that Opera and Steam lack?

Also, I'm running Xubuntu 19.10.

it also works fine on firefox 71
maybe steam browser should switch to firefox :D

[ablackbu]

Same issue Pop OS 19.10. It's actually been there for awhile. Would love to help with this. I would imagine it's just checking user agent strings. Could confirm by replacing the strings and seeing it it starts working.

[kisak-valve]

Hello, as a repeat of #7066 (comment), please go to Steam -> Settings -> Interface and check that Enable hardware video decoding, if supported is enabled. Also, please copy your system information from Steam (Steam -> Help -> System Information) and put it in a gist, then include a link to the gist in this issue report.

[adrianlshaw]

please go to Steam -> Settings -> Interface and check that Enable hardware video decoding, if supported is enabled

It's enabled but still has the same error. Here is the gist .

[kisak-valve]

Thanks @adrianlshaw, as a guess, can you check if you have the vdpau-va-driver package installed with something like apt policy vdpau-va-driver vdpau-va-driver:i386? If it isn't, please add vdpau-va-driver (the 64 bit variant) first, retest, then the 32 bit variant and retest again.

The idea here is that we know libcef currently isn't providing a software fallback for video decoding, and the nVidia driver doesn't directly provide a libva2 decode path. Libcef is 64 bit, so it's likely only the 64 bit package matters here for working around the main part of this issue.

[adrianlshaw]

Hi @kisak-valve. Thanks for the info. I didn't have it installed, so I installed the 64-bit variant and restarted steam. Didn't change anything. I then installed the 32-bit variant and restarted steam. Didn't change anything either.

[adrianlshaw]

@kisak-valve i went to Community -> Broadcasts. The page said "updating Steam" and afterwards I was able to watch broadcasts and the error message no longer appeared.

So it now works for me! Thank you!

[sysms]

Interesting. I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw in the first place.

Video decoding by hardware is enabled, but I was not able to watch the streams on the main page ("YOUR WEB BROWSER DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MINIMUM SET OF FEATURES REQUIRED TO WATCH THIS BROADCAST").

Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for ~3 Mins., but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

Link to my system info: https://gist.github.com/sysms/dc39ebb413c6e3023882d9e6346b0206

[Weirdo1312]

Hello, as a repeat of #7066 (comment), please go to Steam -> Settings -> Interface and check that Enable hardware video decoding, if supported is enabled. Also, please copy your system information from Steam (Steam -> Help -> System Information) and put it in a gist, then include a link to the gist in this issue report.

I enabled it and nothing changed
and here is my gist that I didn't provide at the time however I use manjaro now which is not very different
https://gist.github.com/barfin/11b540be5f075270e3566f6e3da63b38
i tried both steam runtime and native runtimes results were the same

vdpau packages are installed both 32bit and 64bit libraries
➜ ~ pacman -Q | grep vdpau
lib32-libva-vdpau-driver 0.7.4-6
lib32-libvdpau 1.3-1
lib32-mesa-vdpau 20.0.5-1
libva-vdpau-driver 0.7.4-4
libvdpau 1.3-1
libvdpau-va-gl 0.4.2-2
mesa-vdpau 20.0.5-1
vdpauinfo 1.3-1

[felmur]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

[deathxxx123]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

This is working with my system(noting installed):
https://gist.github.com/deathxxx123/d147364fba85975599751ba71ec32263
I don't even have the "vdpau-va-driver" package in Ubuntu 20.04, but "mesa-va-drivers"
I have "Steam -> Settings -> Interface -> Enable hardware video decoding, if supported" already checked.
I do exactly that in quote reply.
Now all broatcasting live videos are working!
I use Ubuntu Budgie 20.04

[skelhammer]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

This is the fix for me too. Go to Community > Broadcasts > Click on any broadcast. Steam will display "Updating Steam", leave it for a few minutes and then refresh. All broadcasts work after this.

Before, all broadcasts on the individual Store pages displayed: "YOUR WEB BROWSER DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MINIMUM SET OF FEATURES REQUIRED TO WATCH THIS BROADCAST"

Linux Mint 19.3. Steam Beta Build June 15.

[ArekPiekarz]

I had the same problem on Manjaro, fixed by the same steps as in #6780 (comment)

Details:
Manjaro 20.0.3
KDE Plasma 5.18.5
Nvidia drivers 440.82
Steam build Jun 4 2020 (no beta)

[fonikz]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

This is the fix for me too. Go to Community > Broadcasts > Click on any broadcast. Steam will display "Updating Steam", leave it for a few minutes and then refresh. All broadcasts work after this.

Before, all broadcasts on the individual Store pages displayed: "YOUR WEB BROWSER DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MINIMUM SET OF FEATURES REQUIRED TO WATCH THIS BROADCAST"

Linux Mint 19.3. Steam Beta Build June 15.

This worked for me as well, Ubuntu 20.04LTS.

[HonoluluHenk]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

Same here, Ubuntu 20

[skadlig]

Hello, I've experienced the same trouble as @adrianlshaw and @sysms. Going to Community -> Broadcasts, the message "Updating Steam" appeared, I waited for 1-2 mins, but it never finished. I clicked on the "back" button in the Steam client - and after that I was able to watch the streams.

Worked for me as well with Pop OS 20.04 and AMD. I don't have vdpau-va-driver installed and didn't need it to get it to install.

[luni3359]

I experienced the exact same problem with the broadcasts on the front page and the same weird solution mentioned here fixed it. Here's the gist for my system. Hardware video decoding is enabled.

[el1-x]

Unfortunately I am in the same boat as @BarFin.
The community > broadcasts 'trick' doesn't appear to work from me as there is no "Updating Steam" displayed anywhere.

Manjaro 20.1.1
Linux 5.8.11
Plasma 5.19.5
Steam Client Oct-7-2020

lib32-libva-vdpau-driver 0.7.4-6
lib32-libvdpau 1.4-1
lib32-mesa-vdpau 20.1.8-1
libva-vdpau-driver 0.7.4-4
libvdpau 1.4-1
mesa-vdpau 20.1.8-1

[luni3359]

Same here. I made a clean system reinstallation a few days ago and I can't get broadcasts to work anymore.

[wolfmanx]

Same thing. Did a steam refresh and now broadcasting does not work anymore. The updating trick does no longer work.

[ryester19]

If the previous "Updating Steam" trick isn't working for you anymore: Try starting a broadcast with Big Picture mode. For me, it started fine in Big Picture mode, and then broadcasts load fine in the main interface again.

[lorenzremy]

If the previous "Updating Steam" trick isn't working for you anymore: Try starting a broadcast with Big Picture mode. For me, it started fine in Big Picture mode, and then broadcasts load fine in the main interface again.

Can confirm that this worked for me to solve the issue on Manjaro.

Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime_0.20201005.0
Kernel Version: 5.8.16-2-MANJARO
OS Type: 64-bit
Processors: 8 × AMD Ryzen 5 2400G with Radeon Vega Graphics
Graphics Processor: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2

[el1-x]

Confirming that the solution of viewing a broadcast in Big Picture mode, mentioned by @ryester27, works for me also.

[ettolrach]

Indeed, @ryester27's solution works well for me too. Hopefully, this can help fix the issue in the first place.

[askme23]

@ryester27 thank you. Your solution works for me perfectly ))

[trburch]

Another thanks to @ryester27. Your solution solved the problem immediately

OS: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
KERNEL: 5.4.0-53-generic
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 450.80.02RAM: 32 GB

[Kiggles]

If the previous "Updating Steam" trick isn't working for you anymore: Try starting a broadcast with Big Picture mode. For me, it started fine in Big Picture mode, and then broadcasts load fine in the main interface again.

Also confirming this worked.

Had the "Your web browser does not support the minimum set of features required to watch this broadcast" issue even in Firefox, and this workaround addressed the problem there.
(Watching broadcasts did and still do work in Chromium browsers on my configuration)

Issue present on multiple distros: Ubuntu (20.04.1 LTS), pop!os 20.10, KDE neon (20.04 LTS), Kubuntu (20.10), Solus 4.1.
Issue present out-of-the-box on all of the above distros. From OS install -> Steam install -> broken broadcasts. Little to nothing else was changed.
All of the above installed as sole operating system - no dual boots, etc

Quoted solution tested on pop!os 20.10.

Hardware to be exhaustive
CPU: AMD R9 3900x
Asus Crosshair VI hero x370 platform FW: 7901
MEM: 16gb (8x2)
GPU: AMD rx480
Samsung 960 pro NVME - OS system and steam install drive.
5x SATA storage devices of varying capacities

Can NOT presently confirm the quoted Big Picture option works for this hardware configuration on any other distros. Suspect the issue in largely distro independent.

[xksteven]

If the previous "Updating Steam" trick isn't working for you anymore: Try starting a broadcast with Big Picture mode. For me, it started fine in Big Picture mode, and then broadcasts load fine in the main interface again.

This worked for me on Ubuntu 20.04 Gnome DE version 3.36.8

Hardware:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700x
GPU: AMD® Radeon rx 5700 xt

[gcj9exvx]

Instead of opening the broadcasts page, you can direct Steam to unlock h264 support by going to the steam-URL steam://unlockh264 (this is exactly what's triggered on the Broadcasts page when first visiting there - but not in other parts of the Steam client).

Restart the Steam client afterwards.

I'm guessing Valve chose to implement this unlocking step to avoid MPEG-LA fees on every client that's downloaded? Very strange.

[xoxloviwan]

#6780 (comment)

Instead of opening the broadcasts page, you can direct Steam to unlock h264 support by going to the steam-URL steam://unlockh264 (this is exactly what's triggered on the Broadcasts page when first visiting there - but not in other parts of the Steam client).

Restart the Steam client afterwards.

KDE Neon 5.24
It works for me

[fungos]

Broken on SteamDeck, broadcast trick didn't work

[audoh]

Instead of opening the broadcasts page, you can direct Steam to unlock h264 support by going to the steam-URL steam://unlockh264 (this is exactly what's triggered on the Broadcasts page when first visiting there - but not in other parts of the Steam client).

Nothing else worked but this
xdg-open steam://unlockh264

[Baduk]

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop

line 30 : Exec=xdg-open steam://unlockh264

and steam work perfectly now

Ubuntu Budgie 22.04

[TylerADavis]

I know this repo is for the Linux Client, but I'm experiencing this same issue on Mac. Is there somewhere else I should report this? This has been an issue on Mac for at least a year, and I had originally believed it was due to an outdated version of CEF or something.

The solution in #6780 (comment) worked for me.

I originally tried fixing this by toggling hardware support as described in #7066 (comment), but it had no effect.

[WebsiteDeveloper]

Editing the .desktop file
With Exec=xdg-open steam://unlockh264 also worked for me. On Ubuntu 22.10

[ziw-liu]

Editing steam.desktop line 30 with:

Exec=xdg-open steam://unlockh264

Will throw a KIO error on KDE plasma 5.26.5, archlinux 6.1.11. However this worked:

Exec=steam steam://unlockh264

[mishaguyas]

@kisak-valve redirected me here, but it looks like this discussion is about videos in chat, and broadcasts which is not my issue.

I'm trying to watch movies in my steam collection, like "Half-Life - The Freeman Chronicles" and films I purchased (Dead Space: Downfall & Aftermath) and keep getting the error "You must update your steam client to watch this video." The videos all open in my browser (Firefox) with that error, but other videos (examples: Kung Fury, Mortal Combat Legacy 2) open (also in Firefox) without any error. My steam client is up to date. I'm trying to find out what's wrong, so I can watch videos again... especially the ones I purchased.

I use both Mint 21.3 and Ubuntu 22.04, and have the same problem on both systems.

I don't like Chrome, don't have it installed, and won't install it, just to watch a few videos that worked just fine in Firefox just a few months ago.

Here's my gist, I hope: https://gist.github.com/mishaguyas/6315a74ff017aecdabe194ea2e54b1c3

[guerryer]

@mishaguyas I was able to fix the issue by changing my user agent to the steam user agent.

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; Valve Steam Client [Steam Beta Update]/0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/109.0.5414.120 Safari/537.36