Launching Steam from menu with `PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true` causes crash

[Xeronel]

• Cinnamon version: Cinnamon 5.2.7
• Distribution: Arch Linux (Zen Kernel, 5.16.12-zen1-1-zen)
• Graphics hardware: Nvidia GTX 970
• 32 or 64 bit: 64-bit

xsession-errors.txt
syslog.txt

Issue
When steam is launched through the menu with ``PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true` the process goes defunct.

ripster   136217  0.0  0.0   8228  4140 tty2     S+   15:56   0:00 bash /home/ripster/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh
ripster   137375  0.2  0.0      0     0 tty2     Zl+  15:56   0:00 [steam] <defunct>

Steps to reproduce
Launch steam from menu with PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true.

Expected behaviour
Steam to launch successfully.

[rafalh]

I am experiencing the same issue on Linux Mint 20.3 (Cinnamon 5.2.7 as well). When I launch Steam from the menu the screen goes black and after a moment I see the login screen.
GPU driver: NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-510.54.run
I am pretty sure it worked some time ago (not sure when exactly). I found some discussions suggesting that it's Linux Mint 20.3 regression: https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comments/ry0ajt/steam_crashing_linux_mint_upon_launch_after/
Workarounds that worked for me:

• launching from terminal (steam)
• commenting out PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true in /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop
• changing initial Steam page to Library
  I have only one GPU (GTX 1650)

[mtwebster]

I made a fix a couple of weeks ago, but it hasn't made it into a release yet. The original issue sounds like it may be the same, though I was never able to reproduce it.

9f63f52

[thelabcat]

Same is true for me with NVidia GeForce 2060 RTX SUPER and proprietary drivers 510, running Blender or Steam.

I use arch linux "5.17.8-zen1-1-zen" btw and I am having the same problem. Please fix it. Running steam from the menu launches steam sucessfully but running steam from the desktop icon logs me out to my login manager ( lightdm ) . 😢
I use GTX 1650
Intel i3-9100F
Corsair 12 GB RAM
This is a very serious issue please fix it.

[thelabcat]

You can, of course, remove that line, and the application should run correctly.

[mtwebster]

If you're on Mint 20 or lmde5 and are comfortable with package management, you can try the packages here:
https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/releases/tag/master.mint20

Don't install the cinnamon-dbg package unless you've previously installed it.

Other distros there are plenty of guides out there to build from source.

You can, of course, remove that line, and the application should run correctly.

How to do that ? Can u explain it to me ? 😅 I am a arch newbie btw and my first linux distro is arch. lol

[Xeronel]

On arch if you've installed the package steam or steam-native the .desktop files are:

/usr/share/applications/steam.desktop
/usr/share/applications/steam-native.desktop

All you have to do is edit the files with the text editor of your choosing and either change the line PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true to PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false or delete it entirely.

It may be best to copy the files to ~/.local/share/applications/ so they don't get overwritten with a package update.

Here's a quick command you can run in terminal that'll take care of it for you.

cp /usr/share/applications/steam*.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/ && \
sed -i 's/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true/PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false/g' ~/.local/share/applications/steam*.desktop

when will it get fixed btw ?