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Proton FAQ

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Michael T. DeGuzis edited this page Aug 25, 2018 · 17 revisions

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Where is Proton installed?

Proton is located in the "Proton 3.7" directory in your steam library folder, under "common". An example path to the Proton directory is:
$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 3.7/
Keep in mind that Proton will be installed in the same library as the first Steam Play game you try to launch, and will only be installed in one location. So if you have a library located in /mnt/data/SteamLibrary/, Proton should be located at:
/mnt/data/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Proton 3.7/

Where is the Proton configuration file?

The configuration file is called user_settings.py and it is located in the "Proton 3.7" directory. You can either manually create the file, or edit the sample configuration user_settings.sample.py by renaming it to user_settings.py.

How does Proton manage WINE prefixes?

Proton creates a new WINE prefix for each game. These prefixes are located in the same library as the game, in the steamapps/compatdata/[appid]/pfx/ directory ([appid] being the game's Application ID).
The default WINE prefix for Proton is located in the Proton 3.7/dist/share/default_pfx/ directory.

Where are Proton's Wine binaries located?

All of Proton's binaries and libraries are stored in Proton 3.7/dist/. The main WINE executable is located at Proton 3.7/dist/bin/wine.

None of my games are launching / "prefix not owned by you" error

This is likely caused by attempting to launch games from a library located on an NTFS partition which is not owned by your user. See #35 for information on how to fix this.

None of my games are launching / "prefix not owned by you" error

This is likely caused by attempting to launch games from a library located on an NTFS partition which is not owned by your user. See #35 for information on how to fix this.

My game has a graphics launcher that only runs once and I need to change stuff!

In this case, you have a few options:

  • Remove the compatdata folder ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/<APPID> and relaunch the game
  • Delete or modify the ini/settings file (if the game saves one)
  • Reinstall the game
  • Launch the exe manually with Proton (requires a desktop launcher file, untested)
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