Do your own research, use at your own risk. It worked for me, maybe not for you. The how-to is formatted in markdown. 
I like to use dillinger.io for easy reading. (see the screenshot for an example)My HOWTO
Code: Select all
# Fix Steam Install — MX Linux 23.6 AHS
## Eliminate **glXChooseVisual failed** / **llvmpipe** and confirm you are on NVIDIA’s proprietary driver
---
### 1 Quick Driver Check (are you on non‑free or nouveau?)
```bash
# 1. Renderer string — Gallium ⇒ nouveau / llvmpipe ; NVIDIA ⇒ proprietary
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
# 2. Proprietary modules present? (empty = nouveau)
lsmod | grep nvidia
```
**Expected proprietary output**
```
OpenGL renderer string: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060/PCIe/SSE2
nvidia … nvidia_uvm … nvidia_modeset …
```
If you instead see *Gallium … NVxxx* or nothing from `lsmod`, you are on the open‑source driver.
---
### 2 Symptoms when 32‑bit stack is missing
* Steam fails with
```
CVulkanTopology: failed create vulkan instance
glXChooseVisual failed
```
* `vulkaninfo` (run **without sudo**) shows **llvmpipe** instead of your GPU.
---
### 3 Root Cause
Steam needs both 64‑ & 32‑bit NVIDIA GL **and** Vulkan ICD libraries. Without them the Vulkan loader falls back to Mesa software (`llvmpipe`).
---
### 4 Remediation
```bash
# A. One‑time: enable i386 architecture
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update
# B. Install complete 32‑bit GL stack
sudo apt install \
nvidia-driver-libs:i386 \
libgl1-nvidia-glvnd-glx:i386 \
libnvidia-glcore:i386 \
libnvidia-eglcore:i386 \
libegl-nvidia0:i386
# C. Install Vulkan ICDs (64‑ & 32‑bit)
sudo apt install nvidia-vulkan-icd nvidia-vulkan-icd:i386
# D. Confirm ICD JSONs exist
ls /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d | grep nvidia # expect nvidia_icd.json & nvidia_icd.i686.json
# E. Reload NVIDIA modules (no full reboot needed)
sudo systemctl isolate multi-user.target # drop to TTY
sudo systemctl isolate graphical.target # back to GUI
# F. Validation — must show your GPU twice
nvidia-smi | head -n3
vulkaninfo | grep "deviceName = NVIDIA" | head -1
# G. Launch Steam
steam # Proton games will now pick NVIDIA
```
---
### 5 Important Notes
* **Never run `sudo vulkaninfo`**: it loses `DISPLAY`/`XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` and always reports llvmpipe.
* Use **Debian/MX repo Steam**, not Flatpak (sandbox blocks driver path).
* Secure Boot must be disabled or NVIDIA modules signed.
* DKMS auto‑rebuilds after kernel upgrades; no need to reinstall these libs.
* Optional cleanup:
```bash
sudo apt autoremove
```
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System:
Kernel: 6.1.0-35-amd64 [6.1.137-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-35-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.6.1_KDE_x64 Libretto
May 18 2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: Pro B550M-C v: Rev X.0x serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2806 date: 10/27/2022
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 gen: 4 level: v3 note: check
built: 2021-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x50 (80) stepping: 0
microcode: 0xA50000D
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB
desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1470 high: 1700 min/max: 1400/3600 boost: enabled scaling:
driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1400 2: 1486 3: 1700 4: 1400 5: 1400 6: 1564
7: 1696 8: 1400 9: 1400 10: 1400 11: 1400 12: 1400 bogomips: 86239
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET, no microcode
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: always-on; RSB
filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060 Lite Hash Rate] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
v: 535.247.01 non-free: 530.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4
speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2504 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Microdia USB Live camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-1.4:4
chip-ID: 0c45:6536 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa alternate: nv gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 81 s-size: 1204x343mm (47.40x13.50")
s-diag: 1252mm (49.29")
Monitor-1: DP-5 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 82 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23")
diag: 686mm (27.01") modes: N/A
Monitor-2: HDMI-0 pos: right res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 82 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23")
diag: 686mm (27.01") modes: N/A
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.247.01 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060/PCIe/SSE2
direct-render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
bus-ID: 3-1.4:4 v: kernel pcie: chip-ID: 0c45:6536 gen: 3 class-ID: 0102 speed: 8 GT/s
serial: <filter> lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228e
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 3b:00.1
chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403
Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h/1ah HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK PRIME B450M-A driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 3b:00.6
chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
Device-4: Microdia USB Live camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-35-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H
driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 39:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: br-d68853aad16e state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-2: br-e79f2e60439e state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-3: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 5-1:2 chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
sub-v: 22bb hci-v: 4.0 rev: 22bb
Info: acl-mtu: 310:10 sco-mtu: 64:8 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
telephony
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB used: 751.18 GiB (26.9%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P2SSD8 size: 931.51 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
rev: P2CR033 temp: 33.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000BX500SSD1 size: 931.51 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 054
scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000BX500SSD1 size: 931.51 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 054
scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 931.26 GiB size: 915.57 GiB (98.31%) used: 47.36 GiB (5.2%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sdd2 maj-min: 8:50
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 275 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/sdd1 maj-min: 8:49
ID-3: /opt raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 915.82 GiB (98.31%) used: 703.81 GiB (76.9%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 7 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
Packages: 2907 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2891 libs: 1634 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0
pm: flatpak pkgs: 16
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian bookworm stable
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
1: deb http://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
2: deb http://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mxtemp.list
1: deb http://linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources
1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
Info:
Processes: 327 Uptime: 57m wakeups: 0 Memory: 46.84 GiB used: 5.3 GiB (11.3%) Init: systemd
v: 252 target: graphical (5) default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI
