Steam link update no longer works

MarbleXylophone

Hello,

After the latest update to steam link installed it appears to have broken the app. Upon starting the stream in steam link the screen goes black and stops responding. No inputs are going through to the host pc at this point, although it does go into big picture and say that it is streaming.

The only other mention of this I have seen has been on the official steam forums ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/353380/discussions/6/4197887985817102874/?ctp=2 ). It seems that the retropie version of steam link needs an update/fix. This is my first post here, so apologies if this is formatted incorrectly/poorly.

Thanks in advance for any help

mitu

@marblexylophone said in Steam link update no longer works:

The only other mention of this I have seen has been on the official steam forums ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/353380/discussions/6/4197887985817102874/?ctp=2 ). It seems that the retropie version of steam link needs an update/fix. This is my first post here, so apologies if this is formatted incorrectly/poorly.

There is no 'retropie' version of SteamLink - RetroPie uses the same package distributed through the Raspberry Pi OS repositories. I've looked at the forum post and there's a suggestion that the RetroPie script used to launch steamlink might be at fault, but the script just opens up a desktop session and launches steamlink without any arguments.

Can you add more info about your setup, as detailed in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first ?

WODAK

Pi Model or other hardware: 4B+
Power Supply used: Official RP power supply
RetroPie Version Used : v4.7.6
Built From: Raspberry Pi Imager
USB Devices connected: Keyboard and mouse
Controller used: Logitech F710
Error messages received: /
Verbose log (if relevant): NA
Guide used: NA
File: NA
Emulator: SteamLink 1.1.72

Last week I didn't have any problems with version 1.1.69. Now today when I tried it to run the steam got updated to 1.1.72. Now I just get a dark screen. Here is my log from runcommand.sh (the same log is in /tmp/streaming_client.log)

pi@retropie:~ $ tail -f -n 1000 /dev/shm/runcommand.log
Parameters:
Executing: xinit /dev/shm/retropie_xinitrc -- vt1 -keeptty


X.Org X Server 1.20.4
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 5.4.0-54-generic armv8l Raspbian
Current Operating System: Linux retropie 5.4.83-v7l+ #1379 SMP Mon Dec 14 13:11:54 GMT 2020 armv7l
Kernel command line: coherent_pool=1M 8250.nr_uarts=0 snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=0 snd_bcm2835.enable_hdmi=1 video=HDMI-A-1:1920x1080M@60 smsc95xx.macaddr=DC:A6:32:46:A5:78 vc_mem.mem_base=0x3ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x40000000  console=ttyS0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p15 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait quiet loglevel=3 consoleblank=0 plymouth.enable=0 quiet
Build Date: 01 December 2020  05:59:57PM
xorg-server 2:1.20.4-1+rpt2+deb10u2 (https://www.debian.org/support)
Current version of pixman: 0.36.0
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/home/pi/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu Feb 18 11:27:26 2021
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(II) modeset(0): Initializing kms color map for depth 24, 8 bpc.
Set mode 1920x1080@60Hz on HDMI-1

Executing (via xinit): /opt/retropie/ports/steamlink/steamlink_xinit.sh

Added controller with mapping 030000006d0400001fc2000005036800,*,a:b0,b:b1,back:b4,dpdown:b12,dpleft:b13,dpright:b14,dpup:b11,guide:b5,leftshoulder:b9,leftstick:b7,lefttrigger:a4,leftx:a0,lefty:a1,rightshoulder:b10,rightstick:b8,righttrigger:a5,rightx:a2,righty:a3,start:b6,x:b2,y:b3,
INFO: Connected to Remote Client service with session 8350681324904769630
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
INFO: Starting Streaming
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
INFO: Received authorization proof request, responding with encrypted challenge
INFO: Received start streaming response k_ERemoteDeviceStreamingInProgress
INFO: Received start streaming response k_ERemoteDeviceStreamingSuccess
INFO: Initializing player
INFO: Refresh rate: 60.00
INFO: Effective rate: 59.75
INFO: Video rect: 0x0 at 0,0
INFO: Texture rect: 1920x1080 at 0,0
INFO: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080, overlay size: 1280x256
INFO: Video rect: 1920x1080 at 0,0
INFO: Texture rect: 1920x1080 at 0,0
INFO: Video rect: 1920x1080 at 0,0
INFO: Texture rect: 1920x1080 at 0,0
INFO: Hardware: ARMv7 Processor rev 3 (v7l)
INFO: Initialized player
INFO: Web request https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/480/header.jpg failed, CURL error code 22, HTTP error code 404

Seem like a problem with getting some images from web. I got my pi connected to the ethernet and the internet is working fine.

mitu

I updated Steamlink also (to version 1.1.72.177) and the interface starts ok - but I don't have a Steam client connected (I don't have one at the moment), so it just shows the startup screen, listing the controller connected.

Does the black screen happens with or without any Steam client connected from your desktop/pc ? Or does it black out when starting a game ?

Can you check the exact version you have installed (in /home/pi/.local/share/SteamLink/version.txt) ?

WODAK

@mitu

@mitu said in Steam link update no longer works:

I updated Steamlink also (to version 1.1.72.177) and the interface starts ok - but I don't have a Steam client connected (I don't have one at the moment), so it just shows the startup screen, listing the controller connected.

Does the black screen happens with or without any Steam client connected from your desktop/pc ? Or does it black out when starting a game ?

Can you check the exact version you have installed (in /home/pi/.local/share/SteamLink/version.txt) ?

The steamlink applications runs fine. The RP4b is the only client on the Steam running on my computer. The black screen shows after I click "Start playing".
When I press the esc button on the keyboard the screen closes and shows again the first screen of the steamlink application

WODAK

@wodak said in Steam link update no longer works:

/home/pi/.local/share/SteamLink/version.txt

pi@retropie:~/.local/share/SteamLink $ cat /home/pi/.local/share/SteamLink/version.txt
1.1.72.177

WODAK

Anyone know how to revert steam link back to version 1.1.68.170?
I found some threads SteamLink for Raspberry Pi Released but I dont know where to edit those texts from Swampy:

STEAMLINK_DATA_HOME="${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}"/SteamLink
echo "file://$STEAMLINK_DATA_HOME" >"$STEAMLINK_DATA_HOME/update_url"
echo "http://media.steampowered.com/steamlink/rpi/steamlink-rpi3-1.1.68.170.tar.gz" >"$STEAMLINK_DATA_HOME/public_build.txt"

I checked the files in .local/share/SteamLink/steamlink.sh but there are no similar texts as described above...

WODAK

I just reverted to the older version and everything works fine....

here are the steps.

#go to folder
cd .local/share/
#remove the folder SteamLink
rm -rf SteamLink
#grab the version steamlink-rpi4-1.1.68.170.tar.gz
wget http://media.steampowered.com/steamlink/rpi/steamlink-rpi3-1.1.68.170.tar.gz
#extract it
tar -xvf steamlink-rpi3-1.1.68.170.tar.gz
# rename the folder
mv -i steamlink SteamLink
#remove the downloaded tar
rm -rf steamlink-rpi3-1.1.68.170.tar.gz

now to edit steamlink run command to skip the update after the next run

sudo nano /opt/retropie/ports/steamlink/steamlink_xinit.sh

and replace the following file content with this content

#!/bin/bash
xset -dpms s off s noblank
matchbox-window-manager &
/usr/bin/steamlink --skip-update

and save the file with ctrl + x

Now steamlink works as a charm (again) :)

P.S. you can check the stemlink versions on this link

mitu

@WODAK thanks for testing.

I managed to test with a Steam install and reproduced the issue. It doesn't matter if steamlink is started from the desktop or directly from EmulationStation, the blank screen is always shown when you press 'Start Playing'. I wonder when exactly this broke, since there are 2 others versions between 1.1.68.170 and the current one.

mitu

Looks like the first non-working version is 1.1.71.175. Not sure what changed between versions, besides the bugfix mention in 1.1.72 release notes.

Johan_Liebert511

@wodak Thank you very much!

WODAK

@mitu said in Steam link update no longer works:

Looks like the first non-working version is 1.1.71.175. Not sure what changed between versions, besides the bugfix mention in 1.1.72 release notes.

Yep...very strange...some people claim they got it working over Raspbian (maybe the OP meant Raspberry Pi OS)....personally I didn't try it....so I can't confirm that....

@Johan_Liebert511
Glad to help...It was the least I could do

P.S. I think the last good working version (without bugs) was 1.1.68.170 because the version 1.1.70.173 had a bug "crash when opening "More" streaming settings".

MarbleXylophone

@wodak this worked for me as well, thanks for figuring this out!

Swampy

It will be fixed in the next build.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/353380/discussions/6/4197887985817102874/?ctp=2

mitu

Looks like they released a new version, which fixes the streaming black screen problem - https://steamcommunity.com/app/353380/discussions/6/3108017414035874068/.

Since steamlink updates automatically (unless you modified the start-up script and added --skip-update), the new version will be installed when you start steamlink.

Johan_Liebert511

@mitu
So can I just delete the skip update line and it will update itself?

mitu

@johan_liebert511 Yes, on the next run.

CrazyWind

I ran into this issue and have been bouncing between posts and this thread over and over.

For me the fix was bypassing the runcommand.sh and going straight to steamlink_xinit.sh

This worked for me after reading through each .sh file and getting an understanding of how emulation station adds things to ports.

the problem I faced was that each time I ran steamlink from emulation station on my pi 3b the screen would go blank and after about minute return to emulation station.

the bypass was to comment out the runcommand.sh line and add steamlink_xinit.sh

File to modify:
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ports/Steam Link.sh

#!/bin/bash
#"/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh" 0 _PORT_ "steamlink" ""
"/opt/retropie/ports/steamlink/steamlink_xinit.sh"

No restart needed, you can test it right after you save.

Not sure what's going on with the runcommand, i'm guessing there is something is messed up in a preference file but this workaround, well is working.

More information that helped me:

aodigital

I know this is an old thread, but its one of the many I have been over while trying to find a solution to this problem.

Mind you I'm running Steamlink as a port from RetroPie on a Pi4B 8GB.

Heres what I had to do to resolve the issue for myself.

In the Rapberry Pi Config file;

Disable Underscan
Disable Screen Blanking

Make sure Steamlink and other packages on your device are up to date.
Make sure that your Pi is outputting the same resolution or lower to your TV or monitor as the PC that the games are actually running on are outputting to its monitor. Eg. If your PC is running the games on a 1080p monitor, you likely wont be able to steam link from the Pi on a 4K TV @ 2160p without the black screen issue. I just set the display output in both my pi config and retro pie to 1080p to match my PC monitor and now Im playing without issue.

Hope this helps anyone whos still stuck with this issue.