How to fix Steam games not working with Nvidia on Ubuntu Linux

The error that some Steam games do not work with Nvidia graphics cards on Ubuntu Linux occurs if the computer's operating system does not have 32-bit graphics libraries. What is the reason? Even if the Steam application is a 64-bit version, many games on this online game distribution store do not run on 64-bit systems. Instead, they will rely heavily on 32-bit graphics libraries to function correctly.

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Method 1 - Install 32-bit libraries for the graphics card

To make Steam games run on Linux is in most cases as easy as installing the many 32-bit libraries available in the distribution's software repository.

- You need to open a Terminal window to start the 32-bit library installation process. To do that, press Ctrl + Shift + T or Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard.

- In the newly opened Terminal window , follow the command line instructions listed below based on the Linux distribution currently in use.

Note: Installing these 32-bit libraries means you will need to be using the latest version of the GPU's graphics driver. Remember that these are proprietary graphics drivers. The problem may occur if you use open source GPU drivers because 32-bit libraries are usually installed immediately.

1. Ubuntu

Ubuntu Linux is probably one of the only Linux distributions where you don't need Nvidia 32-bit libraries to play Steam games, as long as you have installed proprietary drivers. Therefore, if you cannot open Steam, you probably just need to update the NVIDIA driver .

The best way to update the latest Nvidia driver version on Ubuntu is to use an external PPA (Personal Package Archives) software repository. Once you've enabled the PPA, you'll get newer Nvidia driver releases that Ubuntu doesn't have by default, which should resolve the issues you're having with Steam.

- To enable PPA, open a Terminal window with the key combination Ctrl + Shift + T or Ctrl + Alt + T . There, you paste the following 2 commands in the command line window.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

sudo apt update

- After the software repository has been installed, press Alt + F2 to open the command dialog box. Next, paste the code below to open the Software & Updates window .

software-properties-gtk

- Find Additional Drivers and switch from the Nvidia driver you are currently using to the newer updated driver in the list. Finally, reboot and try opening Steam again.

2. Debian

Installing the Ndivia driver on Debian Linux does not always ensure that the 32-bit libraries are installed. This can cause problems when playing Steam games. The way to solve this problem for Nvidia GPU driver is just to install the 32-bit package. To start, you access the root shell with the su command . Or if you have already created and set sudo permissions , then use it.

- su -

or

- sudo -s

- With root, you use the apt-get package management tool to install the necessary 32-bit packages, and play Steam games with Nvidia GPU.

apt-get install libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386 -y

- After installing this library, reopen Steam and everything will work normally.

3. Arch Linux

The Arch Linux community has done a great job of providing users with convenient tools to install 32-bit graphics libraries to make Steam work at its best. To get started, you install the Nvidia proprietary driver on your Arch Linux system using the Pacman package manager (if you don't already have one).

sudo pacman -S nvidia-driver

Then, pay attention to all the different Nvidia 32-bit libraries using Pacman.

sudo pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils

If the problem persists, you may need to install another Nvidia GPU driver.

4. Fedora

On Fedora Linux, there are different ways to get access to the necessary libraries, to solve problems with Steam games. To start, you need to understand that Fedore does not include access to Nvidia drivers. Instead, you must enable RPM Fusion and do the following:

sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia akmod-nvidia nvidia-driver

Next, set up the 32-bit libraries by installing the xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686 package.

xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686

5. OpenSUSE

If you have installed Nvidia drivers on OpenSUSE Linux from the official software repository, you are ready to run the latest 32-bit libraries and thus play Steam games because they are set up automatically. If you still encounter the error, consider uninstalling the driver, restarting and then reinstalling. Or try installing newer versions directly from Nvidia as they also include 32-bit libraries compatible with Steam and other 32-bit Linux dependencies.

Method 2 - Install the Flatpak version of Steam

In case installing the Nvidia graphics libraries as method 1 does not solve the Steam error for you, another method to fix this problem is to switch to the Flatpak version of Steam. Why? Because when Steam is installed from Flatpak, all Nvidia libraries are also automatically installed through the Flatpak system. That ensures all games run perfectly.

Note : To install the Steam version of Flatpak, you must first run the Flatpak runtime .

Install the Steam Flatpak application along with the necessary Nvidia GPU libraries to run it with the commands below:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam

After the installation process is completed, you open Steam and play the game without any problems on your Nvidia GPU system.

Lesley Montoya

Update 16 June 2024