This may not be a Linux specific problem as I had the exact same issue earlier with Windows 7 and it’s one of the reasons I installed Linux in the first place.

The specific game I’m trying to play is DayZ but it may not be issue specific to this game. It worked flawlessly untill this point. I had made no changes to anything. Basically when I try to launch the game it starts loading up normally and then just apparently quits and the “Play” button goes back green. No error, no black screen, no freezing or anything. It just stops launching the game.

I’ve tried checking the integrity of files, deleting downloads catche, disabling steam cloud, removing launch options… nothing. Almost like it gets blocked by firewall or something. However I feel like it may be an issue with steam itself or then it’s a hardware issue (I’ve got really old PC)

Few things I’ve noticed that may or may not be related:

  • When opening up steam it almost always used to download some updates first and check the integrity of them or something. Now it doesn’t. It just opens up Steam. When I click “check for updates” it says everything is up to date.

  • The firmware updater shows available updates for my SSD and HDD but no option to update. I also tried with sudo fwupdmgr get-devices but it says “UEFI firmware can not be updated in legacy BIOS mode See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:legacy-bios for more information.”

  • In the privacy settings it says “checks failed” and gives me this message:

  • I’ve tried reinstalling Proton BattlEye Runtime but it wont let me uninstall it and says “missing shared content”
  • @[email protected]OP
    1•11 months ago

    Do you really have this few games in your library?

    Yes. I don’t play anything else except DayZ currently.

    Second, if you are already using Proton and my first guess is wrong, use another Proton version.

    Yeah I had all this enabled. The game worked perfectly before and then just all of a sudden stopped launching. I tired Proton 8 and 7 aswell but no difference.

    What distro are you using?

    Ubuntu

    Did you try using Flatpak instead of the native package?

    I was using the snap version of Steam that I had installed from Ubuntu App Store. I uninstalled it and installed the native version using terminal. Obviously I had to re-download and re-install the game aswell and it started working again after that. I’m not entirely sure what was causing the issue in the first place but I’m suspecting it was an issue in the steam app itself. What is curious though is that the exactly same issue occured to me previously with Windows 7 aswell and judging by the reports online, I’m not the only one.

    The problem is however solved - atleast for now, and that’s the most important thing. Thanks for the help though! The assistance I got from this community is invaluable. I’d be completely stuck with this on my own.

    • @[email protected]
      1•11 months ago

      Yes. I don’t play anything else except DayZ currently.

      Sorry! Just in case this came out rude or judgy. It’s just a bit rare that ones’ library is so empty. It was just a thought because mine looks similar when I don’t activate Proton.

      I was using the snap version of Steam that I had installed from Ubuntu App Store.

      Aaah, yes. Just what I’ve thought. There are reasons why Snaps are hated this much in the Linux community.

      I personally recommend Flatpaks for everything, especially proprietary software like Steam. With the permission management, it has way less access to your device.
      Also, they usually “just work” better, because they provide themselves with all they need and can be improved by everyone, not just the devs of Ubuntu.

      With native apps you can get a few problems. In the best case, they’re just not as spread and bugs may occour more often. Flatpaks are more reproducible and bugs are fixed universally, no matter what distro.
      They’re more up to date too.
      And, they don’t come with dependencies. There was this one case, when a popular YouTuber accidentally deleted his whole user interface because he tried to uninstall Steam. That won’t happen with Flatpaks.

      Thanks for the help though! The assistance I got from this community is invaluable. I’d be completely stuck with this on my own.

      Of course, you’re welcome! Glad to help!

      I think it’s something of a generational contract. I got help a few years ago, when I was a noob, and now I’m more experienced and try to help as many newcomers as I can. And you will do the same in 3 years hopefully! 😁

      • @[email protected]OP
        1•11 months ago

        Sorry! Just in case this came out rude or judgy. It’s just a bit rare that ones’ library is so empty. It was just a thought because mine looks similar when I don’t activate Proton.

        No worries. I feel the same way when I see someone have a huge list of games on Steam. I don’t understand how they have time to learn and play all those games. For me it’s always been that I find one game I like and then only play that for several years.

        Ironically Arma 2 is my first ever game downloaded on Steam as DayZ used to be mod for that one before the standalone version came out and I’m still playing it over 10 years later. Applies to Age of Empires 2 that’s on the list too. I’ve been playing it since 1999 and I still do every now and then. Whose got time for new games when old ones still keeps on giving haha