Steam drops external drive connection on startup

Issues & Assistance Games & Emulators
1

Good morning,

I am still learning Linux after moving over from Windows (mostly by trial and error and lots of Google searches.) I have searched the Garuda discussion groups and the Steam community forum without success.

When running Steam in Windows 10, Steam remembers that there are library files on external drives. However, when running Steam on Linux (Garuda specifically), I am having issues with Steam where I have to direct it to the external drive every time I start it up. The external drive has been given the permissions needed for Steam to see it and read/write files. It is also formatted to btrfs. I am wondering if this is more of a Linux issue than a Steam issue, particularly since it works fine under Windows. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

System:
  Kernel: 6.10.6-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1 clocksource: tsc
    avail: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=4534d447-e253-4141-a80a-1d43fadde2bc rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.2.9 tk: GTK v: 3.24.43 wm: Muffin v: 6.2.0 tools:
    avail: cinnamon-screensaver,xautolock vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: PRO B550M-VC WIFI (MS-7C95) v: 3.0
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: H.B0
    date: 03/14/2024
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 gen: 4
    level: v3 note: check built: 2021-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x50 (80)
    stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA50000F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache: L1: 512 KiB
    desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1503 high: 4641 min/max: 400/4673 scaling: driver: amd-pstate-epp
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400 5: 3698 6: 400 7: 400 8: 3892 9: 400
    10: 3712 11: 4641 12: 400 13: 400 14: 400 15: 400 16: 3709 bogomips: 121372
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 23 [Radeon RX 6600/6600 XT/6600M] vendor: Gigabyte driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: RDNA-2 code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 ports: active: HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 empty: DP-1,DP-2,Writeback-1 bus-ID: 29:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:73ff class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: modesetting,radeon alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2720x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 719x203mm (28.31x7.99") s-diag: 747mm (29.41")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: primary,left model: LG (GoldStar) W1953
    serial: <filter> built: 2009 res: 1360x768 hz: 60 dpi: 85 gamma: 1.2
    size: 406x229mm (15.98x9.02") diag: 466mm (18.4") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1360x768 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-A-1 pos: right model: LG (GoldStar) W1953 serial: <filter>
    built: 2009 res: 1360x768 hz: 60 dpi: 85 gamma: 1.2 size: 406x229mm (15.98x9.02")
    diag: 466mm (18.4") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1360x768 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi device: 1 drv: swrast
    gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.1.6-arch1.1 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6600 (radeonsi navi23 LLVM 18.1.8 DRM 3.57
    6.10.6-zen1-1-zen) device-ID: 1002:73ff memory: 7.81 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 9 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD Radeon RX 6600
    driver: amd v: 2024.Q3.1 (LLPC) device-ID: 1002:73ff surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 29:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 30:00.1
    chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 30:00.6
    chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.10.6-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  
Device-1: MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter driver: mt7921e v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 2a:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0616 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp42s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 2b:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp43s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-9:5 chip-ID: 0e8d:0616 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.2 lmp-v: 11 status:
    discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.4 TiB used: 1.43 TiB (42.2%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: PNY model: CS1311 240GB SSD size: 223.57 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1122
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: PNY model: CS900 500GB SSD size: 465.76 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 06J5
    scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-75M2NA0 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: PNY model: CS900 2TB SSD size: 1.82 TiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0600
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 465.46 GiB size: 465.46 GiB (100.00%) used: 35.53 GiB (7.6%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%) used: 584 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 465.46 GiB size: 465.46 GiB (100.00%) used: 35.53 GiB (7.6%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 465.46 GiB size: 465.46 GiB (100.00%) used: 35.53 GiB (7.6%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 465.46 GiB size: 465.46 GiB (100.00%) used: 35.53 GiB (7.6%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.24 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100 comp: zstd
    avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 16 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 33.5 C mobo: 28.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 32.0 C mem: 26.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.24 GiB used: 3.49 GiB (11.2%)
  Processes: 405 Power: uptime: 1h 53m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep avail: s2idle
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 12.48 GiB
    services: csd-power,upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1579 libs: 499 tools: gnome-software, octopi, pamac, paru Compilers:
    gcc: 14.2.1 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.32-release inxi: 3.3.35
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
  System install date:     2024-08-20
  Last full system update: 2024-08-22 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Failed units:
2

it is best to always run Steam runtime, for both Linux and window games. The only time Steam may drop my gaming disk, is when my computer freezes playing a game from that disk, or when i load Steam within 60 seconds after boot up.

And if you use another drive than your OS disk for gaming, did you make sure Garuda mounts this drive when you boot up your computer? You can do this in settings Disks & Cameras, device Auto-Mount.

Cheers.

3

Thank you. I have been running the Native Steam app, so I will give the Runtime version a try. As to the drive, yes. It is set to auto-mount when the PC boots up.

4

@Falstaff Also it seems like you are using the Flatpak version of Steam, having to give drive permissions, i use the conventional one, then you have no trouble with drives, no permission troubles selecting them, apart of the times i mentioned before.

5

Thank you. I will see about switching it over.