Steam games crashes, but not all of them - Zorin OS 18 core

Gaming
1

Hello !

I am very sorry in advance, because I am a huge noob on Zorin (and computers), and even with extensive readings on the internet about this issue I am still stuck at the same point. Sorry too if my English is rusty !
I don't know what kind of information I need to give you, so feel free to ask for complementary ones.

The issue :

I want to play some Steam games, but they are crashing at the very start. Some of them work perfectly well ("Darkest Dungeon", "The Bridge" and "Papers, Please"). The ones I tested that crashed are "Disco Elysium" and "Ultrakill". I didn't bother to try any other ones of my library for now.

A list of all of what I tried (and didn't change anything) :

  • Uninstalling Steam and reinstalling, from the Steam homepage, in flatpack, and reinstalling from Zorin library
  • Installing ProtonUp-QT and trying to force Proton GE on Ultrakill : both from ProtonUp and from the Steam Library
  • Deleting all of the Steam packages and residues with Synaptics and reinstalling
  • Uninstalling and reinstalling all of the games
  • Shut down my computer (and turn it on back)

I probably need to say Steam with the Zorin package is the one functionning best for now, since some icons bugs I had don't occur with it.

Info about my system :

  • Processor : AMD Ryzen™ 5 3500U with Radeon™ Vega Mobile Gfx Ă— 8
  • Graphic card : AMD Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics
  • Zorin OS 18 Core

Do you have any ideas on what I could do?
I feel very stuck, and I really don't understand what is happening, but I am sure I am not seeing an obvious fix.

Thank you in advance for your time and patience ! :slight_smile:

2

Compatibility of Disco Elysium and ULTRAKILL on Steam Linux

Disco Elysium

  • Launch Issues: Disco Elysium may not launch on older hardware when using Proton, which is the compatibility layer for running Windows games on Linux. Users have reported encountering an "EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION" error.
  • System Requirements: The game requires a minimum of OpenGL 3 support, which can be a limitation for older systems. Higher hardware requirements are often needed on Linux compared to Windows.

ULTRAKILL

  • Linux Support: ULTRAKILL can run on Linux, but users may need to follow specific steps to set it up correctly. This includes using a porting script that allows the game to run without requiring 32-bit libraries.
  • Performance: Some users have reported improved performance and functionality when using the porting script, which allows for direct launching of the game without the Steam client.
Game Linux Compatibility Issues/Notes
Disco Elysium Limited May not launch on older hardware; requires OpenGL 3 support.
ULTRAKILL Supported Requires setup with a porting script for optimal performance.

Both games have varying levels of support on Linux, with Disco Elysium facing more challenges on older systems.

3

Please indicate any parts of your posts that were generated using AI.

2 Likes
4

Thank you for your answer.
I see what you mean about compatibility issues, but the two of them face the exact same problem at launch, so I suppose it's on the Steam part that I maybe missed a step or anything.
Because Ultrakill and Disco Elysium seem to have kind of different problems when it comes to playing.
As I said, I didn't try all of my library, but I suppose other games might face the same problem, thus I am trying to find the "root" (in the metaphorical way) issue or fix.

If you have any idea I am very willing to try.

Edit : I might need to add I searched for those games in ProtonDB, and didn't find anyone with a Zorin OS in the comments, but they seem to work (Ultrakill having a platinum grade) usually, hence my confusion

5

responce was double checked i did have to assume he was using 4 GB of ram

6

Sorry I didn't thought of including RAM info. I have 8GB

7

np is you vid card on the cpu or seperate?

8

I have no idea and I don't know how to see that. I am on a laptop if it says anything about it.

9

ah ok then its the built in one on the cpu so do you know how much memory is assigned to it?

10

I searched in parameters and ran this terminal command :

inxi -G

but I don't see any number associated with the graphic card info

11

Update : I spent some more time looking, and I succeeded to run the two games with this command in the launch options :

PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%

Ultrakill is slooow and Disco Elysium don't get past the loading screen, and I need to manually shut down my computer to exit...but that's an improvment! I hope this update can help you help me.

I am wondering : I assume it """works""" (at least launch) because it goes through Wine?
If so, how does Proton don't launch the game ? Am I missing something there ? Because I feel that's the only thing I didn't try yet : having an actually working Proton. On other threads, about this particular point they mostly circle about reinstalling Steam, but when I did it didn't work more than before the Wine launch command.

12

Mine has also similar issues with Steam ever since updating the OS yesterday. It used to run my games mostly smooth and now they either crash or have severely lagged. Nothing about my computer changed until that recent software update.

PC specs for detail:

System Details Report

Report details

  • Date generated: 2026-03-07 00:13:58

Hardware Information:

  • Hardware Model: ASRock Z270 Killer SLI
  • Memory: 16.0 GiB
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7700K Ă— 8
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
  • Disk Capacity: 1.0 TB

Software Information:

  • Firmware Version: P1.50
  • OS Name: Zorin OS 18 Core
  • OS Build: (null)
  • OS Type: 64-bit
  • Windowing System: X11
  • Kernel Version: Linux 6.17.0-14-generic

Follow-up after looking through the Software app
I finally saw an update for the Steam app and NOW a couple of games I tested so far are operational. It definitely felt like a "duh" moment that I didn't look through the first app earlier.

1 Like
13

Thank you for sharing, and happy for you that it works :slight_smile:
I did not see any update for Steam on my side, even after doing the Zorin update! I'm stuck with the same problem(s) here (not launching, lagging and freezing).

14

Gaming on Linux can be hit or miss. A lot depends on the computer, the OS, the Games themselves & updates to them for which break them, Steam, Proton, and individual resource packages, etc.

I have a family member, for which are using my old Acer computer from 2012. It used to play several games, including Subnautica. (although at terrible FPS requiring Legacy mode, which they since got rid of in favor of only 2.0, which is not playable on that machine) The computer is running a version of POP OS from 2021, which shares a lot in common with Zorin OS, both Ubuntu, both Gnome.

That computer is no longer launching any game except Half Life 2 now. No matter how hard I try, I can't find the reason why, so I gave up. Thankfully, they got 2800 hours into Subnautica, so its been played to death, not a huge issue, and Half Half 2 and its episodes, are hugely enjoyable.

I honestly think its just time to burry the computer, play some TAPS in its honor, an get them a new computer or Steam machine when its ready. Due to new chip shortages brought on due to the AI take over, there is noting available in a reasonable price range, and Steam machine can't be completed without the obvious necessary components.

I will admit, Linux is not helping issues with launching games, but I will never surrender my soul and data to an evil corporation, just to use Windows, so I can play games. My family member decided to just give up on playing any game other then HL2. And they do not see any end in site, for which they can get a new machine, cause things are so freaking bad right now. AKA no hope.

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