>[!NOTE] > I haven't had any issues with [[Steam]] (except [[SteamVR]]) in over a year. Preserved here for posterity. # Steam Fatal Error ***Last Updated: May 2025*** > Fatal Error: Failed to load steamui.so This can happen due to a variety of very silly reasons. Steam may sometimes report this error when it is *not* the direct problem. While this document was written with [[Solus]] in mind most of this is useful to any [[Linux]] user. ## Troubleshooting Run `steam` from the command line to see the detailed error message. For some reason they don't print the full error in the message box. This will likely show an issue with a missing library or object file. Then you may just need to install that library. If that doesn't fix it, read on! ## Drivers If your video drivers have been updated recently, you might just need to reboot. ## Misplaced Files Sometimes it really just as simple as Steam looking in the wrong folder for things and you can shuffle things around to make it happy. First uninstall Steam and reinstall it to make sure something didn't get deleted by accident. If Steam honestly can't find `steamui.so` you could link the misplaced file so it can be used in multiple locations: ```sh cd ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_64 ln -s ~/.steam/steam/ubuntu12_32/steamui.so ``` Some people have reported success by just blowing away the whole `~/.steam` and `~/.local/steam` directory, but I would save that as a last resort. See also this discussion: https://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/0/882966056522497778/?ctp=7 ## Missing libSDL3 Newer versions of Steam rely on `libsdl3` which was not common in many package managers until 2024. Solus now has this in the package repo, so if this issue comes up you can install it. ```sh sudo eopkg install sdl3 ``` See also: - https://www.reddit.com/r/SolusProject/comments/10pygzz/steam_doesnt_start/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/SolusProject/comments/12t2746/steam_not_working/ ## Linux Steam Integration This application is in the Solus package repo but has not been updated in several years. It is likely best to open it up to *disable* all features if you have it installed.