Trouble with Steam Remote Play on Framework

Framework Laptop 13
1

I have a Framework 11th gen running in a 3D printed case, connected to a TV and ethernet via a USB dongle. It also has the WiFi/Bluetooth board installed but is not connected to WiFi. It’s running Windows 11 Pro. I have a custom desktop and a Dell laptop, both running Windows 11 Pro. All three computers have the same OS and same version of Steam installed. The desktop acts as the server running the games and the Framework and laptop can be the clients. The Dell laptop is able to run/stream games from the desktop without issue.

The Framework can see the other computers, but when attempting to play any game, I get the error: “The streaming client exited unexpectedly (2)”. I’ve searched Google for this error, and people recommended turning off “hardware decoding”. I’ve tried turning it on and off - same result. I’ve tried messing with the display resolutions, the speaker configuration, etc - nothing has made a difference - still the same error. I’ve launched the games from Big Picture or from the regular client - always the same result, a crash.

The logs have nothing of value on the Framework - they just show that it discovers the other computers on the network. The fact that the Framework can see the other computers and what games are available makes me think they can talk to each other. No errors appear in the logs. But I do get crash dumps on the Framework from Steam. But I think the dumps are sent off to Steam to analyze and can’t be analyzed by users.

I was previously running Ubuntu 22.04 on the Framework and Steam Remote Play would at least attempt to start the game, but the game was just a black screen - it also did not work. I had installed Steam Link via flatpack and the client through a deb package or the store.

Having said all of this, is anyone else able to use their Framework for Steam Remote Play? On the 11th gen? Not just in the past, but currently with the current version of Steam? Can you provide any tips or specifications on how you are running it?

Thanks!!
Sean

2

Hi Sean,

Hopefully this doesn’t count as necroposting. I came across your post via the forum “suggested topics”, and it’s always a shame to see zero replies.

I just yesterday started streaming games to my Framework 13, 11th gen, using Steam’s Remote Play. I had to resort to closing and relaunching Steam “as Administrator” host-side in order to (a) avoid UAC prompts and (b) have Steam on the host be privileged enough to pass input to the game. Game devs don’t give a shit about security, what can you do.

You’ve probably already been there, and I didn’t see anything interestingly new relative to your problem, but Steam Support :: Steam Remote Play is a good FAQ / Known Issues page.

Hardware-wise, my host is a middle-aged Windows 10 Pro machine, 22H2. Graphics card’s an Nvidia 980 Ti. The Nvidia control panel says it’s version 516.94. Steam advanced host settings are all defaults, I’m pretty sure, with hardware decoding enabled. Checked boxes are “Dynamically adjust capture resolution to improve performance” and the four “enable hardware encoding” items. Other options are either “automatic” or unchecked, host-side.

Client-side, I’m on an Intel i7-1165G7, the mid-range one, for more GPU compute units (whatever Intel calls those) and no Intel ME. I’m running Fedora 37, X11, and KDE. As far as I can tell, I’m running drm/i915 Intel GFX Driver — The Linux Kernel documentation as my graphics driver. (Never made any effort to do anything non-default.) Client-side settings are the same, with hardware encoding enabled.

Let me know if there’s any other information I can give you. I can confirm that it can work, at least.