Steam is stuck in infinite loading screen after login

[CO-Lukas]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date): 19. 10. 2022
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Happens on Ubuntu 22.04 and 16.04
• Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No
• Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

What did happen: The Steam client is stuck in an infinite loading screen after entering the login information.

What I expected to happen: The Steam client opens and lets me launch games after logging in.

Things that we have tried to far that did not fix the issue:

• Reinstalling the Steam client
• Two different computers with different Ubuntu versions (16.04, 22.04)
• Installing different versions of NVidia graphics card drivers (after reading that there may be issues with the newest one, although we also tried the newest one)
• Two different Steam accounts

Logging in on steampowered.com from a browser does not work either when using the same machine and causes the same issue. The issue does not happen when using a windows computer on the same network.

Terminal log: Link Graphics card used: GeForce GTX 970

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Launch the Steam client on Ubuntu 22.04
2. Enter username, password and 2FA code
3. Notice that the client is stuck forever in the loading animation

[maxpain]

The same problem on Ubuntu 23.04 in a Docker container with RTX4090 + Nvidia 535 series driver

[EvgenyKV]

At the moment I can only run Steam with my internet completely disconnected

[AvoCado412]

Same problem. I have Kubuntu 22.04. GPU - 1050TI Nothing works

[AvoCado412]

@CO-Lukas Have you solved it 1 year ago?

[Hasshu]

See also #10297.

[Ducky229]

Same issue. my pc specs is Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS 64-bit with NVIDIA RTX 4050. Gnome 42.9, windowing system x11, steam 11.01 2024, kernel 6.6.6

[lna1989]

Same issue. Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS 64-bit with GeForce GT 710 and Intel® Core™ i5-8400

[413x1nkp]

Same issue. Trying to launch steam with internet connection leads to an indefinite loading screen. Launching without internet connection and then trying to connect yields no results sadly.

Kernel: 6.7.9-arch1-1 Downloaded steam from Pacman package (also tried the steam-native-runtime AUR package on yay, didn't work either)

Someone recommended trying BigPicture mode, didn't work for me either. It logged in successfully (The account pfp and username does display properly) but still would take me back to a login screen.

On ArchLinux forum people suggested to try a VPN but i haven't yet, perhaps this could be useful to someone: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=291127

People also suggested it's a regional block and only appears to occur with people from uhh "problematic" countries, like Russia (exactly where i am from).

EDIT: Just tested with the most basic wireguard setup ever, steam has launched no problems. Not sure how i feel about that. After disabling the VPN it all started to work without it! What the hell, Valve?

TL;DR - Launch with a wireguard with any VPN server (as long as it isn't in your country) and launch steam, after it logs in and pages load - exit steam and then disable the wireguard. It will work then. How that works? Why that works? Beats me; at least steam didn't rm -rf / my machine, i guess it's a plus.

EDIT 2: Well, turns out you're better off making your own steam launching script that turns on vpn for like 10 seconds and then turns it off automatically, if you manually launch steam with vpn enabled you can then disable it and relaunching steam seemed to work, an hour later i tried re-launching steam and... still the same problem. I guess the solution "Just login with vpn once and then it'll be okay without a vpn" is only temporary.

EDIT 3: The issue appears to be closely connected to a firewall setup. I've disabled mine and steam launched just perfectly! Although I have no idea how to make steam behave with a firewall on, here are some links me and my pals stumbled upon: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8571-GLVN-8711 The ArchWiki states to configure port forwarding, I'm not really knowledgeable in the connection/firewall stuff so here's the link to the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Steam/Troubleshooting (the tip about forwarding is at the very top)

TL;DR2 - Try disabling firewall entirely to see if the issue is gone; that helped in my case, not sure if it'll help you though. If the issue is gone after disabling firewall - welp, you gotta somehow forward or allow ports for steam.

[zmeyka3310]

this issue happens to me only when i launch steam from my home wifi, im from russia too. my internet provider is domru, and if i launch while my pc is connected to my phone, where the provider is megafon, it launches without issues

[kisak-valve]

Hello @zmeyka3310, #10297 is more relevant to you than this issue report.

[413x1nkp]

Hello @zmeyka3310, #10297 is more relevant to you than this issue report.

Huh, didn't know the issue was so specific...

Launching steam with -tcp as suggested by a user in #10297 indeed worked for me.