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Getting "content unavailable" on Linux client only, with unpack errors in the log

Open XANi opened this issue 7 months ago • 7 comments

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): 2025-05-15, tried both stable and beta branch

  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Debian

  • Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No]: Tried both

  • Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No]: ues

  • Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz

  • GPU: Nvidia/Intel/AMD

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Some apps update fine, other get

Image

I have tried downloading same game on windows and it works fine. I've noticed a lot of "unpack failed" in logs

[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "d50539250cfb608e092c3f09293fac1ca7c57c98" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/d50539250cfb608e092c3f09293fac1ca7c57c98" (Unpack failed (c:893280,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "421d8c109707c434c0d0d7ab8b33ec705caa15f6" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/421d8c109707c434c0d0d7ab8b33ec705caa15f6" (Unpack failed (c:800400,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "d63963e35bfea4115cda0e55b8ffaecaab816f58" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/d63963e35bfea4115cda0e55b8ffaecaab816f58" (Unpack failed (c:771200,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "4feb27c26683a057c51a16244fa196151132a209" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/4feb27c26683a057c51a16244fa196151132a209" (Unpack failed (c:760320,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "d1bed645964aba38fa50aac7fe046962b5652979" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/d1bed645964aba38fa50aac7fe046962b5652979" (Unpack failed (c:855504,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "007241ee9d6b887e5abc125b9561777566b93c3d" from "cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/007241ee9d6b887e5abc125b9561777566b93c3d" (Unpack failed (c:881680,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "0fa45da15c1d6533ba25ad7daac7e0c5443259ed" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/0fa45da15c1d6533ba25ad7daac7e0c5443259ed" (Unpack failed (c:898208,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "59fb1fd9a39b63c87308c381267fd830be82db50" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/59fb1fd9a39b63c87308c381267fd830be82db50" (Unpack failed (c:802592,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "b51bd52ae23ec08fdbe326aceb93e4e4115752fe" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/b51bd52ae23ec08fdbe326aceb93e4e4115752fe" (Unpack failed (c:787776,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "246c91654bb96895cb2d54a3b1adcfc77b50af6a" from "cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/246c91654bb96895cb2d54a3b1adcfc77b50af6a" (Unpack failed (c:874624,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Marking bad download source cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:34] Failed unpacking chunk "d10842a4d500e5604fe8ef76a37500e6500a64f8" from "cache14-waw1.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/d10842a4d500e5604fe8ef76a37500e6500a64f8" (Unpack failed (c:866688,u:0,r:1209727,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:35] Marking bad download source cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com, 1 jobs
[2025-05-15 21:49:35] Failed unpacking chunk "976ea50298d4c9b71a49ce11e73ba7bc39bc2041" from "cache3-sto2.steamcontent.com/depot/2939641/chunk/976ea50298d4c9b71a49ce11e73ba7bc39bc2041" (Unpack failed (c:718672,u:0,r:806485,b:0))
[2025-05-15 21:49:35] Downloading 642 chunks from depot 2939641

Steps for reproducing this issue:

Hard to tell, started happening randomly with game I bought recently.

I've tried downgrading from beta to stable and clearing download cache to no effect

XANi avatar May 15 '25 19:05 XANi

Got it on another game, in meantime I had some games (recent being Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon) that install just fine

Image

and again, using windows (with same download location selected) works just fine

XANi avatar May 24 '25 19:05 XANi

Same again with undermine 2 demo

Image

Maybe that's related to rumors about changing compression to zstd ?

XANi avatar May 30 '25 15:05 XANi

I had the same issue this week installing Palia and Proton 10.0-1 (beta), while several other titles installed/updated fine.

I was able to work around it by:

  1. Backing up my ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps folder
  2. Uninstalling steam using sudo dnf remove steam (I'm on Fedora, not Debian)
  3. Manually delete ~/.local/share/Steam, since dnf didn't remove it
  4. Reinstall Steam using dnf
  5. Restoring the ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps backup

Then the same depots installed just fine.

raethkcj avatar May 30 '25 15:05 raethkcj

@raethkcj That did fix it (clean re-install + re-adding 2 lib dirs), thanks

I'm gonna guess here upgrade process didn't remove some old lib responsible for decompressing chunks or something and that messed it up

XANi avatar May 30 '25 18:05 XANi

I'm having the same problem today installing Guilty as Sock!. Really annoying as I had to disappoint my nieces who wanted to play online.

My system has ECC memory and I'm using btrfs - no checksum issues. This leads me to see if I can do the workaround.

zatricky avatar Jun 09 '25 18:06 zatricky

For the next person to face this issue, I first started by deleting files and folders in ~/.local/share/Steam that I figured should automatically get recreated by the steam installer. I was mistaken. Steam's shell wrapper script seems to checks for one or two files/folders and then just assume everything else is fine, which leads to lots of errors about missing libraries.

After that, I deleted everything in the above folder except the logs, steamapps, and config folders. This resolved the issue for me.

Likely the compatibilitytools.d folder could also have been left alone as this contains mostly just the "custom" Proton versions.

zatricky avatar Jun 09 '25 22:06 zatricky

Yeah it reinforces my guess it's just some old steam install files that didn't get removed on upgrade that mess something up.

I suspect Steam added new compression but some old lib gets loaded that doesn't support it

XANi avatar Jun 10 '25 08:06 XANi

I just wanted to add some more details in this (Arch zen kernel, AMD GPU):

I thought it was just my DNS setup, as I made some changes on my network, but then my Windows Gaming VM and Steam Deck were able to download games just fine.

As per @zatricky 's suggestion:

For the next person to face this issue, I first started by deleting files and folders in ~/.local/share/Steam that I figured should automatically get recreated by the steam installer. I was mistaken. Steam's shell wrapper script seems to checks for one or two files/folders and then just assume everything else is fine, which leads to lots of errors about missing libraries.

After that, I deleted everything in the above folder except the logs, steamapps, and config folders. This resolved the issue for me.

Likely the compatibilitytools.d folder could also have been left alone as this contains mostly just the "custom" Proton versions.

Deleting those files and folders was able to get my Steam to be working normally again. I did notice the following:

  1. I had to relogin
  2. Steam was stuck on obtaining user data after logging in. However when I closed Steam and relaunched it, it opened normally.

I did do a Steam reinstall a few days ago, however that didn't solve it until I stumbled open this.

akmijares avatar Jun 22 '25 17:06 akmijares

Steam re-downloads games after permission fixes on shared Btrfs library

Problem Description

When using a shared Btrfs Steam library between Windows (with WinBtrfs) and Linux, there's a permission loop that forces Steam to re-download games repeatedly:

  1. Install game on Linux → works perfectly
  2. Boot into Windows → Steam shows game as installed but cannot update/verify
  3. Boot back into Linux → "Missing file privileges" error
  4. Run chown -R $USER:$USER in Linux → game works again
  5. Boot into Windows → Steam starts re-downloading the entire game

The Core Issue

This creates an infinite loop:

  • Windows creates files with wrong permissions → Linux can't access
  • Fix permissions in Linux → Windows doesn't recognize the files anymore
  • Windows re-downloads → permissions get broken again

Expected Behavior

Steam should:

  • Recognize existing game files regardless of permission/owner changes
  • Not trigger complete re-download when files are intact but permissions differ
  • Maintain library consistency across Windows/Linux dual-boot setups

Technical Details

  • Files are physically intact - no corruption
  • ACF manifests are readable - Steam can see the installation records
  • Problem: Steam invalidates installation when owner ≠ expected user
  • Files created in Windows get UID 65534 (nobody) in Linux
  • After chown in Linux, Windows Steam treats files as "new" and starts fresh download

Workarounds Tried (None Sustainable)

  • chown -R $USER:$USER in Linux → breaks Windows recognition
  • Registry SID/UID mappings in WinBtrfs → partial success, but Steam still confused
  • Manual permission reset after each OS switch → not practical

This is a Steam Logic Issue

While WinBtrfs has permission mapping challenges, the root cause is Steam's overly strict validation that:

  • Doesn't handle permission changes gracefully
  • Prefers complete re-download over file verification
  • Lacks proper cross-platform library sharing logic

System: Arch Linux + Windows 11 WinBtrfs: v1.9 Steam: Latest stable on both platforms Filesystem: Btrfs on SSD

Brensom avatar Nov 19 '25 08:11 Brensom

Hello @Brensom, noted at https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/blob/master/RelNotes.md#installation, sharing a Steam library folder between OSes is not supported and undefined behavior might occur.

kisak-valve avatar Nov 19 '25 13:11 kisak-valve