ValveSoftware
Source 1 Games freeze computer and crashes Steam on laptop running SteamOS
I don't know if this is an issue with SteamOS or with Team Fortress 2, but what I can confirm is that this only happens with Team Fortress 2 on my laptop. Other games do not have this issue, but what I can also confirm is that it doesn't happen on other computers with Team Fortress 2. It only happens with Team Fortress 2 specifically on this laptop with SteamOS. It also doesn't happen on my Steam Deck running SteamOS. It's something specific to this laptop combined with Team Fortress 2.
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
When I launch TF2, then my whole system completely freezes for like 1min and then Steam crashes, and after that my system isn't frozen anymore.
Your system information
Computer Information:
Manufacturer: Standard
Model: Standard
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected
Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPU Brand: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics
CPU Family: 0x19
CPU Model: 0x75
CPU Stepping: 0x2
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 5137 MHz
16 logical processors
8 physical processors
Hyper-threading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Supported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
AVX2: Supported
AVX512F: Supported
AVX512PF: Unsupported
AVX512ER: Unsupported
AVX512CD: Supported
AVX512VNNI: Supported
SHA: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported
BMI1: Supported
BMI2: Supported
F16C: Supported
FMA: Supported
Operating System Version:
"SteamOS Holo" (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 6.15.11-valve1-1-neptune-615-gf96afaca3ab2
X Server Vendor: The X.Org Foundation
X Server Release: 12101018
X Window Manager: KWin
Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime_1.0.20250616.139563
Client Information:
Version: 1756242410
Browser GPU Acceleration Status: Enabled
Browser Canvas: Enabled
Browser Canvas out-of-process rasterization: Enabled
Browser Direct Rendering Display Compositor: Disabled
Browser Compositing: Enabled
Browser Multiple Raster Threads: Enabled
Browser OpenGL: Enabled
Browser Rasterization: Enabled
Browser Raw Draw: Disabled
Browser Skia Graphite: Disabled
Browser Video Decode: Enabled
Browser Video Encode: Disabled
Browser Vulkan: Disabled
Browser WebGL: Enabled
Browser WebGL2: Enabled
Browser WebGPU: Disabled
Browser WebNN: Disabled
Video Card:
Driver: AMD AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, phoenix, LLVM 20.1.8, DRM 3.63, 6.15.11-valve1-1-neptune-615-gf96afaca3ab2)
Driver Version: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 25.2.0 (git-dce58d5bd5)
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 240 Hz
VendorID: 0x1002
DeviceID: 0x1900
Revision Not Detected
Number of Monitors: 6
Number of Logical Video Cards: 2
Primary Display Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Desktop Resolution: 8320 x 2160
Primary Display Size: 13.58" x 8.46" (15.98" diag), 34.5cm x 21.5cm (40.6cm diag)
Primary VRAM: 512 MB
Sound card:
Audio device: USB Mixer
Memory:
RAM: 63564 Mb
VR Hardware:
VR Headset: None detected
Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 1936323 MB
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 1557689 MB
Storage:
Number of SSDs: 2
SSD sizes: 2048G,32G
Number of HDDs: 0
Number of removable drives: 0
{
"applicationSourceName": {
"data": {
"value": "packagekit-backend"
},
"description": "The source for applications",
"telemetryMode": "DetailedUsageStatistics"
},
"applicationVersion": {
"data": {
"value": "6.4.3"
},
"description": "The version of the application.",
"telemetryMode": "BasicSystemInformation"
},
"locale": {
"data": {
"language": "English",
"region": "United States"
},
"description": "The current region and language settings.",
"telemetryMode": "DetailedSystemInformation"
},
"opengl": {
"data": {
"glslVersion": "4.60",
"profile": "compat",
"renderer": "AMD Radeon Graphics",
"type": "GL",
"vendor": "AMD",
"vendorVersion": "Compatibility Profile) Mesa 25.2.0 (git-dce58d5bd5",
"version": "4.6"
},
"description": "Information about type, version and vendor of the OpenGL stack.",
"telemetryMode": "DetailedSystemInformation"
},
"platform": {
"data": {
"os": "linux",
"version": "steamos-3.8"
},
"description": "Type and version of the operating system.",
"telemetryMode": "BasicSystemInformation"
},
"qtVersion": {
"data": {
"value": "6.9.1"
},
"description": "The Qt version used by this application.",
"telemetryMode": "BasicSystemInformation"
},
"screens": {
"data": [
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 189,
"height": 1600,
"width": 2560
},
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 82,
"height": 1080,
"width": 1920
},
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 82,
"height": 1080,
"width": 1920
},
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 93,
"height": 1080,
"width": 1920
},
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 93,
"height": 1080,
"width": 1920
},
{
"devicePixelRatio": 1,
"dpi": 93,
"height": 1080,
"width": 1920
}
],
"description": "Size and resolution of all connected screens.",
"telemetryMode": "DetailedSystemInformation"
},
"startCount": {
"data": {
"value": 14
},
"description": "How often the application has been started.",
"telemetryMode": "BasicUsageStatistics"
},
"usageTime": {
"data": {
"value": 4737
},
"description": "The total amount of time the application has been used.",
"telemetryMode": "BasicUsageStatistics"
}
}
I tried again today.
This time:
-
Computer froze for around 2min
-
Then Game crashed
-
Steam didn't crash, but was unresponsive for around another 2min
-
Then got this popup
-
The popup is unresponsive though.
I just tested it with the Flatpak Steam and it also doesn't work there.
New Info after testing it a bit more.
- Works in Gaming Mode
- Doesn't work with normal Steam in Desktop Mode
- Doesn't work with Flatpak Steam in Desktop Mode
So it's something specifically with Desktop Mode that is causing it to not work in SteamOS since it works perfectly in Gaming Mode.
Turns out it's not just TF2. The same happens with Day of Defeat: Source and CS: Source also.
@kisak-valve Can you update the labels please to include the other two games?
I get this on SteamDeck’s desktop mode, too. A way I found to circumvent the freezing issues is to launch the game in Legacy OpenGL mode.
Try disabling OpenGL and using Vulkan instead.
But that is what is causing the issue of this ticket in the first place. I get this freezing crash when launching with Vulkan, with OpenGL everything works fine.
Try disabling OpenGL and using Vulkan instead.
But that is what is causing the issue of this ticket in the first place. I get this freezing crash when launching with Vulkan, with OpenGL everything works fine.
Then you should use OpenGL.