No sound in only Steam - Zorin OS 18 Pro

piedownjoe · December 29, 2025, 1:50am

Hi, there. I have a bit of a unique issue that I haven't been able to find in a search. Running Zorin OS 18 Pro. Basically my audio works everywhere except for Steam games. Audio works for Spotify, web browsers, and system sounds, but Steam games want nothing to do with it. I should note that I have had this same issue with other Linux distributions too, namely Nobara.

Anybody know what could cause this and how I can get sound pumped back into my games?

I have an Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI (PHN16S-71-98RF) - Intel Core 9 275HX with a RTX 5070ti

Forpli · December 29, 2025, 5:52am

Is steam installed as flatpak? If yes, you could try the Zorin package instead (search for steam-installer):

or download the .deb package of steam

Maybe also this can help:

github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton

All Proton games have no sound after GPU driver and kernel update

opened 03:09PM - 02 Feb 25 UTC

closed 11:15PM - 06 Feb 25 UTC

BlindMuadDib

This happens with Proton versions Hotfix, Experimental, 9, and 8 on Assassin's C…reed, Borderlands 1&2 (running Linux native version of 2 works, but Proton was a better solution before the update), CIV 3&5. I am assuming it is all Proton games and versions. The games worked fine the night before the update. To replicate: Run Gentoo amd64 multilib systemd pulse-audio portage-maintained Steam, update GPU (1080TI) to nvidia driver x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-550.144.03:0/550::gentoo and kernel to 6.6.74-gentoo-dist. Attempt to open any Proton game. Some (like Assassin's Creed) will create a popup stating the sound card is being used by other applications, even after the minimum requirement popup stated there was an available sound card. Other games load with no warnings, but have no sound. Games that run natively on Linux, like L4D2, have no issues. I ensured pulse-audio and alsa-plugins have the 32 bit libraries. Uninstalled and reinstalled all steam files including portage steam-launcher. Proton is not registering with pulseaudio. Including the log file from attempting to run Assassin's Creed. [steam-15100.log](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/18632750/steam-15100.log)

Ponce-De-Leon · December 29, 2025, 1:52pm

Welcome to the Forum!

Beneath @Forpli's Points: Could You post the Output of the Terminal Command sudo lshw -C multimedia please?

StarTreker · December 30, 2025, 5:04am

Launch Pulse Audio Volume Control. While in game, hold down CTRL and ESC to quickly pop out of the game. Click the Playback tab in Pulse Audio, look for activity from Steam.

If you see activity, make sure the channel is not muted, and that the volume is turned up. Also, make sure that your computer is outputting to the right method you are using. For example, I don't use analog output, I use USB sound output, because I am using an S.M.S.L M200 DAC, that processes the sound.

Also, you might want to look into Flatseal, to see if its a permissions issue with Flatpak Steam. I personally never needed Flatseal for sound, I only needed it to give permissions to use external drives. But alas, I am on Zorin OS 16, so for all I know, Gnome's BS may have made changes in OS 18.