Other Private Division Launcher no longer functioning on Valve Proton (Linux-Issue)

[Ruedii]

The latest version of the launcher shipped by Private division crashes on Linux Steam under proton.  This is a BLOCKER for being listed as supporting Steam Deck for KSP2 and all Private Division Titles relying on Proton to run on Steam Deck. 

It also is a blocker for many other issues.  Here is an upload of my crash logs so far.
https://gist.github.com/Ruedii/84ffdc5e26ade36207ddac433c79b6e7

Edited June 2, 2023 by Anth12

[Ruedii]

As a note, I noticed that the launcher is running swiftshader for EGL and Vulkan function.  This should be entirely unnecessary.   Nearly all modern GPU drivers provide EGL and Vulkan support.   This is possibly causing problems when launching, and likely reducing the performance and bloat of the launcher.

 

[dr.phees]

Launchers really are a cancer to games. I struggle to understand the reasoning behind these pieces of junk software.

[Ruedii]

On 5/1/2023 at 2:54 PM, dr.phees said:

Launchers really are a cancer to games. I struggle to understand the reasoning behind these pieces of junk software.

I know.

Anyhow, I manually downloaded the files it was failing to unpack and here are updated debug logs.
https://gist.github.com/Ruedii/4bd8c48d6a983c1d0c09274aabc0a76f

I will fetch and give full data on my system and formal bug report information in a bit.  (Sorry for not doing this earlier.  A little mentally exhausted from trying to sort out the issue myself and find a workaround that did not involve skipping the launcher.) 

I will also add a Proton debug log then, but I need to adjust the debug log settings so it is not full of log spam. 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Ruedii

[Ruedii]

Full bug report (sorry it took so long, I was slowly exhausting various methods of trying to get it to work every few days.)

• KSP Version: KSP2 0.1.2
• Operating System and version  (Windows 10, Windows 11): Kubuntu Linux 21.04
• CPU and GPU models, any other system information which could be relevant: Ryzen 5 1500X, AMD RX 5500XT, GPU Driver Mesa 22.2.5.  All major Proton versions tested.
• Description of the bug.  
  • Expected Behavior Be able to play game from launcher
  • Observed Behavior Launcher displays a busy spinner than crash
• Steps to Replicate: Launch game on any Linux system via Proton.
• Fixes / Workarounds (if known..):  Configure system to skip launcher via replacing the launcher binary with a link to game executable.
• A list of ALL mods.  If the list is long, please consider using a spoiler window.
• Other Notes / Screenshots / Log Files (if possible..)

[Davidian1024]

I first started running into this when Valve released Proton 8.0.

The solution below isn't a true fix but it allows me to run the game.  It actually amounts to the game starting quicker because the launcher is skipped

There's a number of other solutions on the KSP 2 and Proton thread if this doesn't work for you.

Add the following to the game's launch options:

eval $( echo "%command%" | sed "s/PDLauncher\/LauncherPatcher.exe'.*/KSP2_x64.exe'/" )

[Dakota]

This is a bug report specifically for the Private Division launcher and should be directed to Private Division Customer Support.

I will also add that Linux / running the game through translation layers is not officially supported by our development team. Will move this to Technical Support so discussion can continue if needed.

[dr.phees]

> I will also add that Linux / running the game through translation layers is not officially supported by our development team. Will move this to Technical Support so discussion can continue if needed.

It would be nice if some day we not only get a disclaimer but some human thing like "but they really want it to run" or similar. Well, we can always hope

[Dakota]

20 hours ago, dr.phees said:

> I will also add that Linux / running the game through translation layers is not officially supported by our development team. Will move this to Technical Support so discussion can continue if needed.

It would be nice if some day we not only get a disclaimer but some human thing like "but they really want it to run" or similar. Well, we can always hope

We hope to get the game officially supported on Linux someday, but it's pretty far down our priority list. Translation layers are definitely helping, especially with the work that Valve is doing on Proton and Apple is doing with their own project - but we know it's still not ideal. Trust me, I too want to play KSP2 on my Steamdeck one day!

[dr.phees]

The big question still is why these launchers are being made and why those tend not to run under linux while the game does.

[Ruedii]

BTW, if I bypass the launcher by launching the KSP2 binary as a non-steam game, the game runs quite well.

 

[Ruedii]

As a note, the exact module acting up seems to be CEF.  (Chromium embedded framework). 

While there is a minor issue loading the WMF (Window Media Framework) embed for CEF, this doesn't seem to be the issue.  That should just stub out safely.  It looks like there is a crash on the attempt to access the SSL/TLS Keystore, however I'm relying on rather unclear debug logs so I don't know for sure.  All I know is that CEF is failing and then there are a series of segfaults.