[SOLVED] Steam can't download games

[Stefano Crocco]

Since some time, I am unable to download games using Steam because every time I try, I get the message

Code: Select all

An error occurred while updating [game name] (content servers unreachable)

I'm not sure when this started: I found out about this issue on Friday when I bought a new game; the last time I bought a game before that was on December the 27th and I installed it without any problem. I think this issue is more recent, however: it also happens while updating already installed games and I'm almost sure some of the games installed on my system have been updated this January.

This seems somehow to be caused by having opted in the Steam Beta: while investigating the issue, I tried a fresh install of Steam on my laptop (connected to the same network as my main PC) and found out that games downloaded correctly. As soon as I opted in the Beta, they stopped downloading. I then tried opting out from the Beta on my PC and the issue disappeared.

Has anyone some advice on this issue? I tried searching Google, but found nothing useful. I also looked for tools allowing to inspect my networks, but it seems that my network knowledge is too small to understand their results.

Thanks in advance

Stefano

[sao98021]

open /.steam/root/config/config.vdf

look for

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> "InstallConfigStore"
> {
>   "Software"
>   {
>     "Valve"
>     {
>       "Steam"
>        {

(if in gedit ctrl+f and type "Steam" it should be the first result, now underneath the { enter the line

Code: Select all

 "CS" "valve511.steamcontent.com;valve501.steamcontent.com;valve517.steamcontent.com;valve557.steamcontent.com;\
valve513.steamcontent.com;valve535.steamcontent.com;valve546.steamcontent.com;valve538.steamcontent.com;valve536.steamcontent.com;valve530.steamcontent.com;valve559.steamcontent.com;valve545.steamcontent.com;\
valve518.steamcontent.com;valve548.steamcontent.com;valve555.steamcontent.com;valve556.steamcontent.com;valve506.steamcontent.com;valve544.steamcontent.com;valve525.steamcontent.com;valve567.steamcontent.com;\
valve521.steamcontent.com;valve510.steamcontent.com;valve542.steamcontent.com;valve519.steamcontent.com;valve526.steamcontent.com;valve504.steamcontent.com;valve500.steamcontent.com;valve554.steamcontent.com;\
valve562.steamcontent.com;valve524.steamcontent.com;valve502.steamcontent.com; \\valve505.steamcontent.com;valve547.steamcontent.com;valve560.steamcontent.com;valve503.steamcontent.com;valve507.steamcontent.com;\
valve553.steamcontent.com;valve520.steamcontent.com;valve550.steamcontent.com;valve531.steamcontent.com;valve558.steamcontent.com;valve552.steamcontent.com;valve563.steamcontent.com;valve540.steamcontent.com;\
valve541.steamcontent.com;valve537.steamcontent.com;valve528.steamcontent.com;valve523.steamcontent.com;valve512.steamcontent.com;valve532.steamcontent.com;valve561.steamcontent.com;valve549.steamcontent.com;\
valve522.steamcontent.com;valve514.steamcontent.com;valve551.steamcontent.com;valve564.steamcontent.com;valve543.steamcontent.com;valve565.steamcontent.com;valve529.steamcontent.com;valve539.steamcontent.com;\
valve566.steamcontent.com;valve165.steamcontent.com;valve959.steamcontent.com;valve164.steamcontent.com;valve1611.steamcontent.com;valve1601.steamcontent.com;valve1617.steamcontent.com;valve1603.steamcontent.com;\
valve1602.steamcontent.com;valve1610.steamcontent.com;valve1615.steamcontent.com;valve909.steamcontent.com;valve900.steamcontent.com;valve905.steamcontent.com;valve954.steamcontent.com;valve955.steamcontent.com;\
valve1612.steamcontent.com;valve1607.steamcontent.com;valve1608.steamcontent.com;valve1618.steamcontent.com;valve1619.steamcontent.com;valve1606.steamcontent.com;valve1605.steamcontent.com;\
valve1609.steamcontent.com;valve907.steamcontent.com;valve901.steamcontent.com;valve902.steamcontent.com;valve1604.steamcontent.com;valve908.steamcontent.com;valve950.steamcontent.com;\
valve957.steamcontent.com;valve903.steamcontent.com;valve1614.steamcontent.com;valve904.steamcontent.com;valve952.steamcontent.com;valve1616.steamcontent.com;valve1613.steamcontent.com;valve958.steamcontent.com;\
valve956.steamcontent.com;valve906.steamcontent.com"

and yea, the whole thing

Long line wrapped by NeddySeagoon

[sao98021]

blah, i've destroyed the page, shouldve used a pastebin for that ;(

also make a backup or just delete the entry if it doesn't work, but its reported as a work around for people getting the same msg. also the "CS" is lined up with the whole line, not above it. everything else leave as is

[Hu]

blah, i've destroyed the page, shouldve used a pastebin for that ;(

You can edit your posts to fix the layout, if no one has quoted your long line. The issue is code tags without embedded whitespace. Where the file format supports it, or you can reasonably explain how to undo it, you can add internal whitespace to encourage good wrapping. If all else fails, you could use base64 to encode your blob, since that produces line-wrapped content and running base64 -d will recover the original content, complete with its absence of whitespace.

Moderators usually try to clean up the more severe cases, but if you need urgent service or if we didn't do enough (and someone else has quoted your post, so you can't fix it on your own), you can Report your own post to request intervention. Describe what you want and, if it's reasonable, we'll try to do it.

[Stefano Crocco]

sao98021, thanks for your answer. I tried it but unfortunately it didn't work.

Just to be sure I ddn't misunderstand, the beginning of the edited config.vdf (with most of the content replaced by ellipsis) is:

"InstallConfigStore"
{
"Software"
{
"Valve"
{
"Steam"
{
"CS" "valve511.steamcontent.com;valve501.steamcontent.com;...;valve956.steamcontent.com;valve906.steamcontent.com"
"AutoUpdateWindowEnabled" "0"
"ShaderCacheManager"

Is this correct? If so, I fear my issue has a different cause, even if I can't imagine what could be. Since opting out from Steam Beta resolved the issue, I hope whatever change they did to cause this issue doesn't end up in the non Beta version.

[sao98021]

sao98021, thanks for your answer. I tried it but unfortunately it didn't work.

Just to be sure I ddn't misunderstand, the beginning of the edited config.vdf (with most of the content replaced by ellipsis) is:

"InstallConfigStore"
{
"Software"
{
"Valve"
{
"Steam"
{
"CS" "valve511.steamcontent.com;valve501.steamcontent.com;...;valve956.steamcontent.com;valve906.steamcontent.com"
"AutoUpdateWindowEnabled" "0"
"ShaderCacheManager"

Is this correct? If so, I fear my issue has a different cause, even if I can't imagine what could be. Since opting out from Steam Beta resolved the issue, I hope whatever change they did to cause this issue doesn't end up in the non Beta version.

yeah, you added in it properly. Its odd that it has something to do with beta client... i've used beta since they rolled out the steam-proton stuff, havent had that issue.

just curious, what sources did you build from..? i use the steam-overlay

and thanks for the fix Hu, also thanks for explaining because i wondered why my edit button went poof. i knew mods would get to it eventually when they saw it, but i remembered i had HexChat installed on this chromebook so i tried getting someones attention in gentoo-forums channel lol.

[Stefano Crocco]

I use the steam overlay too, and I've been using the beta client for a very long time, so long that I don't even remember why, and always without a problem.

Thanks again

Stefano

[Hu]

and thanks for the fix Hu, also thanks for explaining because i wondered why my edit button went poof.

Neddy fixed it before I got to it. The edit button was probably present but so far off to the side that you need to scroll out to see it.

[Stefano Crocco]

Found out the issue. When I first noticed the issue, thinking it was related to a single game I contacted Steam Support. Seeing that I'm not using a supported distribution, they redirected me to https://github.com/ValveSoftware, where I found this issue: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam- ... ssues/6028. It seems that the since one of the latest betas, Steam requires ipv6 support in the kernel (either built-in or as a module) to download games. It isn't clear from the discussion whether or not it's a bug (I hope it is). I tried enabling ipv6 in my kernel, opted again in the beta and games started being downloaded again.

Stefano

[Hu]

I would consider that a bug. There are still ISPs that do not have working IPv6 transport, so even if you enable IPv6 in the kernel, you may not be able to download the games over IPv6. Worse, if you enable IPv6 in the kernel, even if Steam does not actually use IPv6 for its transport, other programs might notice IPv6 support and try to use it. If you have a working IPv6-aware ISP, that's fine. If you don't, those other things break until you disable IPv6, which then kills Steam again.

[Juippisi]

I was hit by that same error. Googled and tried many of the tips I found there, but ultimately it was solved by deleting my local .steam directory. I still don't have IPV6 enabled in my kernel, and I use "-ipv6" globally in make.conf.

Had to put settings again in order, but so far games have downloaded. Had to enable proton beta again, and I hope updates will continue to download after without having to purge my .steam directory. I do have games installed on separate SSD, so didn't have to re-download them, luckily. Just lost steam settings.