Desktop Mode "Add to Steam" Context Menu Option Broken for `.sh` and `.exe` Files

[ThisNekoGuy]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1709168962
• SteamOS version: 3.5.17 (20240228.2)
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: No
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

I have several games from JAST that are DRM free and none of them launch in Steam on the Steam Deck when added as non-Steam games, even after setting their compatibility tooling to Proton.

Even for native Linux games, and checking that they run with the Steam Linux runtime (for python based visual novels), they still won't run in Handheld Mode.

None of these games have redist prerequisites to run their installers, so I don't understand why all of the JAST installers (or in some cases standalone executables) fail to even render a window. I even tried running them directly from Desktop mode via Steam.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Purchase JAST DRM-free games
2. Download relevant installers
3. Add them as non-Steam executables
4. Run them via Steam in either Handheld or Desktop mode

[ThisNekoGuy]

I discovered that the actual cause of the issue is that using the desktop mode's "Add to Steam" right-click context menu is somehow what causes the issue.

Using the desktop mode Steam client's "Add non-steam game" button does not replicate the issue, so something odd about what the context menu doing, integrated with Steam, is what's causing this.

[bertogg]

~~This is probably the same problem as https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1019, it will be fixed in SteamOS 3.6~~.

Oops, I think I was too fast, this might be a different issue.

[ThisNekoGuy]

This remains an issue on both Steam Deck Beta and Client Beta. :/ I still can't launch any of the "Add to Steam" menu game entries I made when this issue began a month ago.

[bertogg]

I'm trying to reproduce this problem using a very basic test case. I'm using SteamOS 3.6.3 beta (build id: 20240516.100).

• Create a hello-world.sh script with these contents:

#!/bin/sh

zenity --info --text="Hello World"

• Make it executable (chmod 755 hello-world.sh)
• Open the file browser in desktop mode -> right click -> Add to Steam

Does this cause problems for you?

What happens if you go to Steam, select any of the games that you added using this method and check the properties? In particular "Target", "Start in" and "Launch options".