Steam Proton - problem running non steam game

General system Gaming, sound and video
1

I have Steam Proton working with Steam games (on XPS 15 9530/Nvidia)

I have an abandonware simulator that I use on windows and am having issues getting it installed. (I have the USB dongle from my original purchase)
I added the installer in Steam and was able to get that to run and install the sim. (I can see where it installed the files)
If I tell the installer to run the sim after complete, it starts up just fine.
I try to replace setup by selecting the .exe for the sim and it tries to start but then looks like it dies.
Iā€™ve also tried to add the sim exe file as a new game, that also fails.

Tried different versions of Proton - Hotfix ran the the setup)

I tried turning on logging for that app in properties, but no logs are dropped anywhere I can find. (PROTON_LOG=1 %command%)

Here is the app Iā€™m trying to get running (installation DVD is here): https://www.rc-thoughts.com/phoenix-sim/

Iā€™m new to EndeavorOS and first time with Proton but long time linux/*IX user. Was considering trying it under Lutris but based on searches, this method should work.

Any ideas as to how I can find out what is causing the issue?

Thanks in advance

2

Iā€™m not certain if youā€™re able to use it through Steam, but I think you should try installing it through Lutris.

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3

I guess the issue is related to the dongle which isnā€™t accessible for the environment / proton runtime. And this may also not work with lutris. Iā€™ld try it in complete virtual machine session via VMware for example.

4

Itā€™s not a dongle issue, it runs from the installer fine - it complains about the dongle I donā€™t have installed, but one step at a time

Iā€™ve read a lot of people are installing other non steam stand alone apps this way, so I figured this would be the easiest.

I could at least do some debugging if I could get anu logs, which is driving me nuts

5

Gave it quick whirl. After installation do a

find ~.local/share/Steam -name "Simulator.exe

You will get something like

/home/me/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2640130032/pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/PhoenixRC/Simulator.exe

That gives you the full path to the installed exe. In the Steam setting for the game copy that into the Target field, and the directory without the exe into Start In. Wrap the string in quoation marks! So it should look something like:

ā€œ/home/me/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2640130032/pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/PhoenixRC/Simulator.exeā€

and

ā€œ/home/me/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2640130032/pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/PhoenixRC/ā€

6

Yeah, I was using that path(s), but of course it had to be something stupid like missing the ā€œā€, didnā€™t even consider needing thoseā€¦

Thanks for that!

Now at least I have a log that I can work with!

Looks like it is a vilkan issue

71691.836:0190:0194:err:vulkan:wine_vk_instance_init_physical_devices Failed to enumerate physical devices, res=-3
71691.836:0190:0194:err:vulkan:wine_vkCreateInstance Failed to load physical devices, res=-3
71691.846:0190:0194:trace:loaddll:free_modref Unloaded module L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winevulkan.dll" : builtin
err:   DxvkInstance::createInstance: Failed to create Vulkan 1.1 instance
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7

Does that game even support vulkan? If not try using PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 instead?

8

Yeah, itā€™s stupid that steam doesnā€™t add them automatically. :person_shrugging:

I get until this window where I can pan around with the mouse:

Screenshot_20250511_190947
Screenshot_20250511_1909471638Ɨ1151 417 KB

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9

That is it! (There is also a shim on that site you can run that simulates the dongle - I believe it only looks for a specific USB ID - and can use a regular controller - the radio itself acts like a joystick as far as the OS thinks)

So you ran the setup and then replaced the command and starting directory with Simulator.exe and where it is located?

That is what Iā€™m doing and it still crashes with that vulkan issue - seems like DXVK isnā€™t installed correctly for some reason - missing some lib. Not sure if Proton would do that or if I should have added that separately?!

82567.919:0128:012c:err:vulkan:wine_vk_instance_init_physical_devices Failed to enumerate physical devices, res=-3
82567.919:0128:012c:err:vulkan:wine_vkCreateInstance Failed to load physical devices, res=-3
82567.919:0128:012c:trace:loaddll:free_modref Unloaded module L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winevulkan.dll" : builtin
err:   DxvkInstance::createInstance: Failed to create Vulkan 1.1 instance
82567.923:0128:012c:info:nvapi:Creating DXGI Factory (IDXGIFactory1) failed, please ensure that DXVK's dxgi.dll is present
82567.923:0128:012c:info:nvapi:<-NvAPI_Initialize: NVIDIA or other suitable device not found or initialization failed

What also strikes me as odd, is that if I have the setup program launch the sim after it completes, it worksā€¦ But it wonā€™t run for me outrightā€¦

10

Yes.

I selected Proton 9 because letā€™s pick the latest stable, did the install, changed out the paths and everything still just workedā€‹:trade_mark:. Intel Arc GPU here.

The error seems something isnā€™t working properly with the Nvidia card, but Iā€™m totally clueless when it comes to setting up anything Nvidia. Maybe someone else knows.

Yeah, thatā€™s odd.

1 Like
11

I installed ā€˜nvidia-openā€™, I think it has something to do with that. I see the dllā€™s in the system folders but wonder if the right version is not getting pulled in or it is a 32 bit vs 64 bit issue as this is a 32bit app.

I think nvidia-open is the right one now - maybe someone with nvidia gpu can chime in.

Will continue scouring the net for ideas

12

Looks like I needed to use nvidia instead of nvidia-open for some reason.

Thx for the help