cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42040123

OS: NixOS config Compositor: Niri 25.11 (Nixpkgs)

Problem: Steam opens normally when no recent clipboard activity. After copying text from any app (Firefox, terminal, etc.), Steam hangs silently and won’t launch until:

1. I run wl-copy --clear, or
2. Close the app that owns the clipboard

Logs: This is the logs of launching steam after i have copied some text from any app.

steam
steam.sh[13923]: Running Steam on nixos 25.11 64-bit
steam.sh[13923]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
setup.sh[13979]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
steam.sh[13923]: Log already open
steam.sh[13923]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
CProcessEnvironmentManager is ready, 6 preallocated environment variables.
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Startup - updater built Jan 21 2026 17:12:15
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/yashraj/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-srt-logger-opened'
01/23 17:24:09 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
01/23 17:24:09 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1769025840)/tid(14021)
Looks like steam didn't shutdown cleanly, scheduling immediate update check
CProcessEnvironmentManager is ready, 6 preallocated environment variables.
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Process started with command-line: '/home/yashraj/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam' '-child-update-ui' '-child-update-ui-socket' '8' '-srt-logger-opened'
01/23 17:24:09 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Using update UI: xwin
01/23 17:24:09 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(0)/tid(14022)
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Create window
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/yashraj/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] 1. https://client-update.fastly.steamstatic.com/, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 900, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] 2. https://client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com/, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 400, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] 3. https://client-update.steamstatic.com/, /, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Checking for update on startup
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Checking for available updates...
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Downloading manifest: https://client-update.fastly.steamstatic.com/steam_client_ubuntu12
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Manifest download: send request
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Set percent complete: 0
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Set status message: Checking for available updates...
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Set percent complete: -1
[2026-01-23 17:24:09] Manifest download: waiting for download to finish
[2026-01-23 17:24:11] Show window
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Manifest download: finished
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Download skipped: /steam_client_ubuntu12 version 1769025840, installed version 1769025840, existing pending version 0
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Nothing to do
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Verifying installation...
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Verifying all executable checksums
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Set percent complete: -1
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Set status message: Verifying installation...
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Verification complete
UpdateUI: skip show logo
[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Destroy window

Steam logging initialized: directory: /home/yashraj/.local/share/Steam/logs

[2026-01-23 17:24:14] Shutdown
XRRGetOutputInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf615c830
XRRGetCrtcInfo Workaround: initialized with override: 0 real: 0xf615b000
01/23 17:24:16 minidumps folder is set to /tmp/dumps
01/23 17:24:16 Init: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steamsysinfo)/version(1769025840)/tid(14061)
Running query: 1 - GpuTopology
Response: gpu_topology {
  gpus {
    id: 1
    name: "Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S)"
    vram_size_bytes: 12263648256
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_MesaIntel
    driver_version_major: 25
    driver_version_minor: 2
    driver_version_patch: 6
    luid: 0
  }
  gpus {
    id: 2
    name: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU"
    vram_size_bytes: 8546942976
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_NvidiaProprietary
    driver_version_major: 580
    driver_version_minor: 119
    driver_version_patch: 2
    luid: 0
  }
  gpus {
    id: 3
    name: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU"
    vram_size_bytes: 8546942976
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_NvidiaProprietary
    driver_version_major: 580
    driver_version_minor: 119
    driver_version_patch: 2
    luid: 0
  }
  gpus {
    id: 4
    name: "Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S)"
    vram_size_bytes: 12263648256
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_MesaIntel
    driver_version_major: 25
    driver_version_minor: 2
    driver_version_patch: 6
    luid: 0
  }
  gpus {
    id: 5
    name: "llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.7, 256 bits)"
    vram_size_bytes: 3221225472
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_MesaLLVMPipe
    driver_version_major: 25
    driver_version_minor: 2
    driver_version_patch: 6
    luid: 0
  }
  gpus {
    id: 6
    name: "llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.7, 256 bits)"
    vram_size_bytes: 3221225472
    driver_id: k_EGpuDriverId_MesaLLVMPipe
    driver_version_major: 25
    driver_version_minor: 2
    driver_version_patch: 6
    luid: 0
  }
  default_gpu_id: 1
}

Exit code: 0