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This latest Steam Client Beta will likely be rather nice for some of you, as it fixes an issue I've seen repeatedly complained about.

The Linux-specific bug where Steam wouldn't create desktop shortcuts and application menu shortcuts has been fixed. While I don't use either, it's nice to see little nuisances like that fixed for those that do use them. That bug has been open on their GitHub since June, so people have been waiting a while on it.

They've also now implemented support for automatically downloading pre-compiled GPU shaders for Vulkan games and applications on Steam. This can help first-load times and stuttering, so hopefully this is another step that can help Linux game performance in future.

There's also a bunch of changes to Steam Input which includes: a section to easily see exported gamepad configurations from your friends, they've added support for "several dozen Xbox controllers" using data from users which should enable them to work better on Linux & Mac, support for more PS4 gamepads and more.

One bug I hope they sort sooner rather than later, is the broken Steam Screenshot tool. Sometimes it works, sometimes it completely fails. This bug has been around since at least April on their GitHub and it's really quite annoying.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Beta, Steam
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Faalagorn Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: CAPTNCAPSCan we have them fix Steam cancelling System shutdown?
Super annoying to have to click shutdown twice, because clicking the first time only closes Steam >_>
And I was wondering what was wrong with my wife's OS that we had to click the XFCE's shutdown button twice to shut the system down while I didn't had this issue (I'm typing "shutdown now" to close or "reboot" to reboot the system, as Pependos does. Thanks for letting us know the culprit!

Now, one can probably only dream about a 64-bit client as well, I guess? Today steam-native stopped working for my wife after update due to lack of another 32-bit library (lib32-libvdpau) missing – I guess the package wouldn't be needed if the client were 64-bit as it wasn't installed lol. That and obvious other 64-bit advantages such as not needing multilib for non-wine users and some potential performance benefits.

Also, it would be nice if they finally change the skinning engine to use native skin – while acceptable for normal desktop environment, on my i3 tiling manager, Steam is the only application that still have the minimize/maximize/close buttons that are out of reach if Steam screen is only taking half the space and it doesn't have a keybinding to close either, making me need to maximize it before closing lol.


Last edited by Faalagorn on 8 November 2017 at 3:26 pm UTC
Toric Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: Pependos
QuoteCan we have them fix Steam cancelling System shudown?
Super annoying to have to click shutdown twice, beause clicking the first time only closes Steam >_>

Yeah, that's really annoying. To avoid it I often use "shutdown" command in Konsole.

I dont think ive ever used anything but... shift+alt+t shutdown now is so much quicker than finding the button...
TheRiddick Nov 8, 2017
Hehe, didn't know about the steam shutdown twice issue. I knew it was a problem for me but didn't realize steam was at fault. Nice to know.
Aimela Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: meggerman
Quoting: mahagrfull screen videos only taking 1/4 of the screen space.

i was told that was only my setup in the steam forums ( not surprising lol ).

That's pretty much because the issue doesn't affect everyone, and seems to vary by DE; I encountered the issue while using Cinnamon(and judging by other comments, this will also occur with GNOME), but everything is fine in KDE Plasma. Regardless, I'm pretty sure this is something that Valve needs to fix.


Last edited by Aimela on 8 November 2017 at 4:52 pm UTC
ikey Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: CreakFix fullscreen video? It absolutely does not work here, I got the video in 720p in the corner of the screen and the rest is memory garbage.

Use your distribution SDL2 with the client to resolve the issue (LSI does this automatically.)
You can copy the file over, abuse LD_PRELOAD/LD_LIBRARY_PATH to do this manually. You'll need a very recent
SDL for this to work properly.
Creak Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: AimelaThat's pretty much because the issue doesn't affect everyone, and seems to vary by DE; I encountered the issue while using Cinnamon(and judging by other comments, this will also occur with GNOME), but everything is fine in KDE Plasma. Regardless, I'm pretty sure this is something that Valve needs to fix.
If it's a bug for GNOME and every GNOME related DE, that's pretty much the majority I think.
There's around 50/50 GNOME vs KDE, and the others DEs are mostly derived from GNOME/GTK.

Edit: you can look at the GoL statistics: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/users/statistics


Last edited by Creak on 8 November 2017 at 5:59 pm UTC
linuxjacques Nov 8, 2017
Have the fixed the "remember password" bug yet?

It's been like six months and I've stopped checking.
Cybolic Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: loggeThe most annoying thing I find is that you cannot start a "user defined" steam app via command line. I use "roommates" and kicked the bin out, and a link to kodi in... so I am playing "roommates" thousands of hours a year.

By user defined, I mean the "Add program to library" click.

Doesn't "ADD A GAME..."->"Add a Non-Steam Game" do exactly what you want?
cprn Nov 8, 2017
Quoting: Cybolic
Quoting: loggeThe most annoying thing I find is that you cannot start a "user defined" steam app via command line. I use "roommates" and kicked the bin out, and a link to kodi in... so I am playing "roommates" thousands of hours a year.

By user defined, I mean the "Add program to library" click.

Doesn't "ADD A GAME..."->"Add a Non-Steam Game" do exactly what you want?

It adds the game but there's no command line to tell Steam client to run it. You need GUI.
cprn Nov 8, 2017
Personally I always run Steam in Big Picture, therefore avoid all the fuzz with lack of scaling, but I have to run it in window mode - otherwise it stays on top and full screen games start in the background. I don't run any DE, though, just i3wm.


Last edited by cprn on 8 November 2017 at 8:25 pm UTC
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