steam-for-linux
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ValveSoftware
Unable to remove second Steam library on the same secondary partition
Your system information
- Steam client version (build number or date): Windows: 1642211727, Linux 1642451672
- Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Windows10|Ubuntu18.04
- Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No]
- Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No]
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
I have a dual boot system (Linux and Windows), and some Steam changes have broken my Windows steam library.
On linux, I have mounted the NVME NTFS drive (V:\Linux, V:\Windows) < due to it's size and performance, it has both my windows and linux steam library. (on linux of course /mnt/games-nvme -> V:\Linux
When I open steam library folders, Steam keeps auto-adding/detecting the WINDOWS path of games - but i DO NOT want it to - because it breaks/conflicts when I boot into windows.
Even when I go to the "..." "Remove Drive", it is removed, but as soon as I re-open steam, it is there again!
AGAIN, there are bugs if Steam is going to auto-detect a steam folder that the user doesn't want it to. It (on Linux) is auto-adding the windows steam library, and when it updates the games (trying to run on proton?) ... it corrupts the Windows client when I boot into Windows the game is busted and needs to be re-downloaded. (The PARTICULAR game that breaks is Hunt Showdown - if Linux detects and tries to update it, next time I'm on Windows it is corrupted and the entire 32GB needs to be redownloaded)
Please fix this -- so that if the user "removes drive" from the steam library folder, it is NOT auto-readded.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
- have a dual boot system (Windows 10, Ubuntu 18.04)
- steam on both
- one drive is NTFS formatted, and accessible by both Windows, and Linux (ntfs-3g)
- directory structure of that drive is:
<LETTER>:\Games\Windows&<LETTER>:\Games\Linux - steam folders for both
- install Hunt showdown on windows
- boot into Linux, install/configure some games
- on Linux steam will force the detection of the WINDOWS path of that folder, and try to proton/update Hunt?
- boot into Windows, it will force redownload of Hunt 32GB
^ even after removing that drive, next time I open steam on Linux, it's back :(
Hello @fermulator, noted at https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/blob/master/RelNotes.md#installation, sharing Steam Library folders between the Steam for Linux and Steam for Windows client (run in wine or otherwise) is not supported and may have unexpected behavior.
From a support perspective, the cross-OS corruption is not interesting, but we can use this issue report to focus on the extra game library which added itself.
THank you @kisak-valve - I agree that supporting shared folder libraries across both OSes is not reasonable to expect. We should focus on this to ensure folder libraries are NOT auto-added.
I have the same issue. Every time I open Steam on Linux, it adds the NTFS folder to the library and attempts to re-download the games inside it. In addition, I have also observed that if Steam on Linux is downloading updates to games installed in the Linux partition and I remove the NTFS folder from the Linux Steam client, I do not even need to restart Steam on Linux for Steam to re-add the NTFS folder and queue the games for download. It seems to do this automatically after some time passes. On my system, this started occurring after I manually added the NTFS partition to the Steam client on Linux. A workaround is to rename the Steam folder on the NTFS partition (say from "Windows Games" to "Windows Games2" and re-add it to the Steam client in Windows. This will prevent the Steam client in Linux from seeing the partition unless it is manually added again.
This is really annoying. I have fixed this for myself by renaming the mounting point.. this is no viable solution. CC @kisak-valve
Valve, please fix.
I have this issue too. I accidentally added my NTFS library (which is on a fully separate hard drive), and no matter how many times I remove it, Steam finds it again and starts writing to my Windows library
How do we get attention on this? It's dumb. 6 months. (bug probably existed longer this is just since I reported it ...)
One problem with this is, that it sometimes writes data to the disk that can not be handled by Windows and forces chkdsk on boot and that there is unclear behavior if I have installed a game on my Linux library and on the Windows one. Running Proton on NTFS is a bad idea, if you don't use symbolic links from a Linux compatible FS. It corrupts the NTFS partition.
I have this same issue. Does reinstalling steam fix the issue? If you have tested it, please give us some feedback here.
I have this same issue. Does reinstalling steam fix the issue? If you have tested it, please give us some feedback here.
I tried to reinstall steam and it didn't fix the issue.
^ even after removing that drive, next time I open steam on Linux, it's back :(
Open the following file with text editor:
- ~/.steam/debian-installation/config/libraryfolders.vdf
- ~/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/libraryfolders.vdf
Then you will find all steam library folder in these files, delete what you want to remove and save changes.
Thanks @imcloudfloating. This worked for me on Arch; the folders were under ~/.steam/root/
This seems to imply that Steam just needs to properly manipulate those files when users edit library folders in settings.
Prior to the fix for me, Steam would just randomly redetect the removed folders, even without restarting Steam.
I am running into this issue as well. I have two Steam Libraries, one on my root partition and a second one on another drive. I tried removing the second library from the Storage tab in settings but it always reappears whenever I restart Steam.
ifyun's workaround seems to work though.
I have the same issue. Every time I open Steam on Linux, it adds the NTFS folder to the library and attempts to re-download the games inside it. In addition, I have also observed that if Steam on Linux is downloading updates to games installed in the Linux partition and I remove the NTFS folder from the Linux Steam client, I do not even need to restart Steam on Linux for Steam to re-add the NTFS folder and queue the games for download. It seems to do this automatically after some time passes. On my system, this started occurring after I manually added the NTFS partition to the Steam client on Linux. A workaround is to rename the Steam folder on the NTFS partition (say from "Windows Games" to "Windows Games2" and re-add it to the Steam client in Windows. This will prevent the Steam client in Linux from seeing the partition unless it is manually added again.
Clever fix, thank you.
