lyrathorpe/nixfiles
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 6 Pull Requests 2 Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

docs(console): separate the two Steam picker faults

Browse Source 
The library-folder picker does open and Steam does create the directory
structure; the library simply never appears in the Storage UI. That rules
out the portal FileChooser for this symptom and points at the
write-and-execute probe Steam runs before recording the folder in
libraryfolders.vdf (ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#8450). Document how to
reproduce that probe inside Steam's FHS sandbox with steam-run, and keep
library_folder_add as the route that reports a reason.

The Add a Non-Steam Game dialog is a separate symptom and keeps the
portal explanation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Emma Thorpe
2026-09-01 10:32:24 +01:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 46c03df06d
commit 3311f64c6a
1 changed files with 59 additions and 22 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files
docs/hosts/console.md
+56 -19
View File
@@ -150,13 +150,12 @@ Steam titles. Added as Steam shortcuts they appear in Big Picture and inherit
Steam Input, so the controller works in them without further configuration.
Steam's own **Games → Add a Non-Steam Game** is the documented route and is also
the one that tends not to work. Both that dialog's **Browse** button and the
library-folder picker below go through the XDG desktop portal `FileChooser`
interface; when the portal is unreachable the client silently falls back to a
legacy chooser that is blank or inert — Valve
[#9447](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/9447) and
[#10415](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/10415), neither
fixed. Check the portal side before blaming the client:
the one that does not work here: the dialog never appears at all. That dialog's
file browsing goes through the XDG desktop portal `FileChooser` interface, and
when the portal is unreachable the client falls back to a legacy chooser that is
blank or inert — Valve
[#9447](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/9447), not fixed.
Check the portal side before blaming the client:
```sh
busctl --user introspect org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop \
@@ -297,21 +296,55 @@ RetroArch is pointed at these paths declaratively. The other two have to be told
once, in their own UIs:
- **Steam** — Settings → Storage → the `+` control → add `/srv/games/steam` as a
library folder. Games installed there survive a reinstall of the OS. That
picker is the broken one described under
[Adding non-Steam titles to Big Picture](#adding-non-steam-titles-to-big-picture);
when it comes up blank, use Steam's own console instead — open Steam with
`steam -console`, pick the **CONSOLE** tab and run:
library folder. Games installed there survive a reinstall of the OS. See
[When Steam will not register the library folder](#when-steam-will-not-register-the-library-folder)
below; it does not currently take.
- **Clone Hero** — set the song library path to `/srv/games/clonehero/songs` from
its settings screen. Clone Hero keeps its own config in `~/.clonehero`.
### When Steam will not register the library folder
Current behaviour on this host: the file picker opens, Steam creates the
directory structure at `/srv/games/steam`, and the library then never appears in
the Storage UI. So this is not the portal problem the non-Steam-game dialog has
— the picker works and Steam can write. The failure is in the validation Steam
runs before it records the folder in `libraryfolders.vdf`.
That validation is a write-and-execute probe: Steam drops a
`.steam_exec_test.sh` in the candidate folder, marks it executable and runs it.
If either step fails the folder is silently dropped, which is
[#8450](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/8450) and is
usually a `noexec` mount or an ownership problem — neither of which is obviously
true here, since `/srv` is on the ext4 root and the tree is
`lyrathorpe:users` 2775.
Reproduce the probe **inside Steam's FHS sandbox**, which is where the client
actually runs it — `steam-run` is installed by the steam module for exactly this
kind of thing:
```sh
steam-run sh -c '
printf "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n" > /srv/games/steam/.steam_exec_test.sh &&
chmod +x /srv/games/steam/.steam_exec_test.sh &&
/srv/games/steam/.steam_exec_test.sh &&
echo "probe ok"
'
rm -f /srv/games/steam/.steam_exec_test.sh
```
Then ask the client directly. Steam's console reports a reason where the UI
says nothing — open Steam with `steam -console`, pick the **CONSOLE** tab and
run:
```
library_folder_add /srv/games/steam
```
The directory must already exist and be writable by the user Steam runs as,
which `systemd.tmpfiles` guarantees. The command does not create it.
- **Clone Hero** — set the song library path to `/srv/games/clonehero/songs` from
its settings screen. Clone Hero keeps its own config in `~/.clonehero`.
which `systemd.tmpfiles` guarantees; the command does not create it. Whatever it
prints, plus `~/.steam/steam/logs/content_log.txt`, is the evidence to work
from.
## Steam and Proton
@@ -407,9 +440,13 @@ The machine is installed and Sway works. Still outstanding:
and `__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia`, the standard fix, but the combination
has a history of needing more. Read `journalctl -b -t steam-session` first —
see [When the television lands on ReGreet instead of Steam](#when-the-television-lands-on-regreet-instead-of-steam).
- **Steam's file pickers do not open** — both the non-Steam-game **Browse**
dialog and the library-folder picker. Upstream client bugs with usable
workarounds; see the two sections above.
- **Steam will not register `/srv/games/steam` as a library folder.** The picker
opens and the directory structure gets created; the library never appears in
the Storage UI. Not the portal — see
[When Steam will not register the library folder](#when-steam-will-not-register-the-library-folder).
- **Steam's Add a Non-Steam Game dialog never appears.** Separate symptom,
probably the portal `FileChooser`; `steamtinkerlaunch` writes the shortcuts
without it in the meantime.
- **Boot into Big Picture has not been exercised**, since autologin has not run.
- **Television resolution and refresh.** gamescope takes the output's native
mode by default. Add `gamescopeSession.args = [ "-W" "3840" "-H" "2160" "-r"