Steam freezes and won't boot up again. Have to restart

Issues & Assistance Games & Emulators
1

I’ve been running into a problem these past couple of months with Steam. The games would freeze (and occasionally hop back to a past frame) and Steam would be unusable. I can’t load up any games from my library or update anything. If the Steam app is closed at the time of the freeze, then it won’t open back up, no matter how many times I click to launch it or pull it back up from the background. I’ve tried switching proton versions, but that doesn’t work. The only way the issue is solved is if I restart my laptop, but I have noticed an error message that will ONLY pop up after Steam freezes:

Broadcast message from profile@computer (date and time)
The system will reboot now!
[ 635.285889] watchdog: watchdog did not stop!
[ 635.395387] watchdog: watchdog did not stop!
[ 635.669165] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Unable to change power state from D3hot to D0, device inaccessible

inxi below!! vvvvvv

System:
Kernel: 6.14.4-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=1bdb9a2d-f13f-41cb-a2da-3c8c53d35c80 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.13.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Predator PH16-71 v: V1.16
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: RPL model: Discovery_RTX v: V1.16 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: 0000000000000000 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: INSYDE v: 1.16
date: 11/02/2023
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 75.8 Wh (100.0%) condition: 75.8/90.1 Wh (84.2%)
volts: 17.3 min: 15.4 model: PANASONIC AP21A5T type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
status: full cycles: 233
CPU:
Info: model: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
arch: Raptor Lake gen: core 13 level: v3 note: check built: 2022+
process: Intel 7 (10nm) family: 6 model-id: 0xBF (191) stepping: 2
microcode: 0x38
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 10 cores: 16 threads: 24 mt: 8 tpc: 2
st: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 1.4 MiB desc: d-8x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-8x32
KiB, 8x64 KiB L2: 14 MiB desc: 8x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 30 MiB
desc: 1x30 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1091 min/max: 800/4800:5000:3700 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 1091 2: 1091 3: 1091
4: 1091 5: 1091 6: 1091 7: 1091 8: 1091 9: 1091 10: 1091 11: 1091 12: 1091
13: 1091 14: 1091 15: 1091 16: 1091 17: 1091 18: 1091 19: 1091 20: 1091
21: 1091 22: 1091 23: 1091 24: 1091 bogomips: 110592
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-HX GT1 [UHD Graphics 770]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe
process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21 ports: active: eDP-2 empty: none
bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:4688 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA AD107M [GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q / Mobile]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 570.144
alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-570.xx+
status: current (as of 2025-04) arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx
process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ ports: active: none empty: DP-1,
DP-2, HDMI-A-1, eDP-1 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:28e0
class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Chicony ACER FHD User Facing driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-6:2 chip-ID: 04f2:b799
class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
unloaded: nouveau alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: eDP-2 model: BOE Display 0x0a2c built: 2022 res:
mode: 2560x1600 hz: 165 scale: 150% (1.5) to: 1707x1067 dpi: 188 gamma: 1.2
size: 345x215mm (13.58x8.46") diag: 407mm (16") ratio: 16:10
modes: 2560x1600
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia nouveau drv: nvidia
platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 1 drv: iris device: 2 drv: nouveau
device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland:
drv: iris x11: drv: iris
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.0.4-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (ADL-S GT1)
device-ID: 8086:4688 memory: 7.49 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 10 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
name: Intel UHD Graphics (ADL-S GT1) driver: mesa intel v: 25.0.4-arch1.1
device-ID: 8086:4688 surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 1
type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU driver: nvidia
v: 570.144 device-ID: 10de:28e0 surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 2
type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe
v: 25.0.4-arch1.1 (LLVM 19.1.7) device-ID: 10005:0000
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake High Definition Audio
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl
alternate: snd_hda_intel, snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl
bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a50 class-ID: 0401
Device-2: NVIDIA AD107 High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:22be
class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.14.4-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 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: Intel Raptor Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi vendor: Rivet Networks
driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a70
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek Killer E2600 GbE vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus-ID: 0000:6d:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:2600
class-ID: 0200
IF: enp109s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-14:5 chip-ID: 8087:0033
class-ID: e001
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3
lmp-v: 12 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c010c
RAID:
Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 208.54 GiB (21.9%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
model: MZVL21T0HCLR-00B07 size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
fw-rev: GXA7402Q temp: 51.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 208.48 GiB (30.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%)
used: 56.4 MiB (22.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 208.48 GiB (30.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 208.48 GiB (30.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 208.48 GiB (30.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.35 GiB used: 3.75 GiB (24.5%)
priority: 100 comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842
max-streams: 24 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 80.0 C mobo: 66.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 2539 fan-2: 2542
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.35 GiB used: 9.48 GiB (61.7%)
Processes: 476 Power: uptime: 15m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.07 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1504 libs: 487 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: fish v: 4.0.2 running-in: konsole
inxi: 3.3.38
Garuda (2.7.2-1):
System install date:     2025-01-18
Last full system update: 2025-04-29
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:
2

Watchdog is not your problem. It´s trigger “only” the hardware to reboot if something going wrong with the default reboot. (systemd, filesystem, acpi, etc)
Reason could be that´s watchdog must trigger, a too long delay from a service. In your case is it the sound system.

  • your igpu +dgpu

Do you have all correct installed and checked for the igpu (intel) + dgpu (nvidia) stuff ?
Are you shure that´s your nvidia gpu is active if you start the game ?
Do you have test this to see what´s going with the relevant tools if you start a game ? (htop/btop+ / nvidia-smi). Do you use nvidia-prime ?
Inside the forum, you can read so much about this stuff. (example topic from pergamin,
there: problem kernel driver + userspace + prefix)
To look inside /var/log/Xorg.0.log can also be helpful for you.

1 Like
3

The sound system is causing steam to crash???

I’m still not familiar with a ton of things, so bare with me, please. I don’t really know what to look at in that xorg file to know what’s wrong. If it helps anything, I did just recently update my system and all the packages, so I think I should be good on having all the nvidia files.

4

I mean not

I mean your system have not the correct settings.
You should read inside the forum or over the great www the right settings for dual gpus.

One way to become more knowledge and to control the own system

  • Install btop over console : sudo pacman -S btop (for me better then htop)
    (perhaps you need to change the default settings, nvidia gpu is default)
  • start steam → launch the game → switch to Konsole (alt-Tab) → run btop → and ?
    You see usage memory from your system special for the gpu (and more)
  • the same for nvidia-smi → then you see your nvidia gpu info (if active,memory usage,etc)
    To be shure that’s your dgpu is running if you playing a game you should use nvidia-prime

Install (over konsole): sudo pacman -S garuda-nvidia-prime-config → run the script → and ?