When I try and remove steam via the software boutique I get: “Package libcomerr2:i386 cannot be removed”
via apt i get “Package ‘steam:i386’ is not installed”
How can I remove steam? Could this be caused by my switch to open-source display driver?
running 16.04 on a macbook
Why do you think its installed? You can verify this in terminal by entering the code:
apt-cache policy steam
Not showing installed
$ sudo apt-cache policy steam steam:i386: Installed: (none) Candidate: 1:1.0.0.48-1ubuntu3 Version table: 1:1.0.0.48-1ubuntu3 500 500 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse i386 Packages
But software Boutique shows it checked and locate is listing it:
$ sudo locate steam /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/steam.gpg /etc/gufw/app_profiles/steam.gufw /etc/gufw/app_profiles/steam.jhansonxi /lib/udev/rules.d/99-steam-controller-perms.rules /usr/bin/steam /usr/bin/steamdeps /usr/lib/steam /usr/lib/steam/bootstraplinux_ubuntu12_32.tar.xz /usr/share/app-install/desktop/steam:steam.desktop /usr/share/app-install/icons/steam.png /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop /usr/share/doc/steam /usr/share/doc/steam-launcher /usr/share/doc/steam/README /usr/share/doc/steam/steam_install_agreement.txt.gz /usr/share/doc/steam-launcher/changelog.gz /usr/share/doc/steam-launcher/copyright /usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/steam.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps/steam.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/steam.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/steam.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/steam.png /usr/share/man/man6/steam.6.gz /usr/share/pixmaps/steam.png /usr/share/pixmaps/steam_tray_mono.png /usr/share/ubuntu-mate-welcome/img/applications/steam.png /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steampowered.com_steam_dists_precise_InRelease /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steampowered.com_steam_dists_precise_steam_binary-amd64_Packages /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steampowered.com_steam_dists_precise_steam_binary-i386_Packages /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steampowered.com_steam_dists_precise_steam_source_Sources /var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.conffiles /var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.list /var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.md5sums /var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.postinst /var/lib/update-notifier/user.d/steam-install-notify
And I can run it but there are issues since I moved to the nouveau drivers :
$ steam Running Steam on ubuntu 16.04 64-bit STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically /bin/bash: /home/reid/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.5: no version information available (required by /bin/bash) grep: symbol lookup error: grep: undefined symbol: pcre_jit_stack_alloc grep: symbol lookup error: grep: undefined symbol: pcre_jit_stack_alloc grep: symbol lookup error: grep: undefined symbol: pcre_jit_stack_alloc awk: /home/reid/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.5: no version information available (required by /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libreadline.so.6) Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1465948400) libGL error: unable to load driver: nouveau_dri.so libGL error: driver pointer missing libGL error: failed to load driver: nouveau libGL error: unable to load driver: swrast_dri.so libGL error: failed to load driver: swrast
Please post the output of…
inxi -r$ inxi -r
Repos: Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial main restricted
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial main restricted
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial universe
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial universe
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates universe
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates universe
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial multiverse
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial multiverse
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates multiverse
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates multiverse
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-security universe
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-security universe
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
deb-src Index of /ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
deb Index of /ubuntu xenial partner
deb http://debian.drdteam.org/ stable multiverse
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list
deb http://deb.playonlinux.com/ trusty main
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webupd8team-ubuntu-java-xenial.list
deb Index of /webupd8team/java/ubuntu xenial main
I see discrepancies in your /sources.list.d that should also show errors when updating.
deb http://debian.drdteam.org/ stable multiverse
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list
deb http://deb.playonlinux.com/ trusty main
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webupd8team-ubuntu-java-xenial.list
Please post any errors from :
sudo apt update
no errors
$ sudo apt update
Hit:1 http://debian.drdteam.org stable InRelease
Get:2 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [94.5 kB]
Ign:3 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:4 Index of /ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:5 Index of /ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:6 Index of /webupd8team/java/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:7 http://repo.steamstatic.com/steam precise InRelease
Hit:8 http://repository.spotify.com stable InRelease
Hit:9 http://deb.playonlinux.com trusty InRelease
Hit:10 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release
Get:11 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease [95.7 kB]
Get:13 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security/main Sources [40.2 kB]
Hit:14 Index of /ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease
Get:15 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages [143 kB]
Get:16 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security/main i386 Packages [139 kB]
Get:17 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security/universe amd64 Packages [41.7 kB]
Get:18 Index of /ubuntu xenial-security/universe i386 Packages [41.7 kB]
Get:19 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates/main Sources [191 kB]
Get:20 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages [391 kB]
Get:21 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [385 kB]
Get:22 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 Packages [329 kB]
Get:23 Index of /ubuntu xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [326 kB]
Fetched 2,218 kB in 4s (453 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
42 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
W: http://deb.playonlinux.com/dists/trusty/InRelease: Signature by key 74F7358425EEB6176094C884E0F72778C4676186 uses weak digest algorithm (SHA1)
This is a upgrade from 14.04 to 16.04?
Sorry, I do not have the time to continue right now. I should be back in a couple of hours to finish this.
What I am thinking is reinstall steam and use either the remove command or ppa-purge instead of the welcome app. See if that will make a difference.
This libcomerr package is a required package and should not be removed.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/307/how-can-ppas-be-removed
Be back soon
Yes this upgraded from 15.04 > 15.10 > 16.04
tried some quick combinations of reinstalling via SB then purge via apt and ppa-purge with not much luck. I’ll try some more later
Ok, played with this some more and found a solution. In terminal:
sudo apt install --reinstall steam:i386 && sudo apt remove --purge steam:i386
And steam should now be gone 
This should not be necessary, but your welcome apt seems not to be working correctly. My first suspicion is a glitch in one of your version upgrades causing this.
I think software boutique installs steam from the steam ppa and not the Ubuntu’s repositories. If that’s the case, then you can completely remove it by executing sudo apt purge steam-launcher and then delete the folders ~/.steam and ~/.local/share/Steam.
It use to, but this was changed a few months ago to use steam provided in the multiverse repositories, which is steam:i386. If it was installed prior to this, @ThanosApostolou is right about removing steam-launcher instead, then the data folders.
Haven’t tried steam-launcher, but the above command will remove steam from the boutique.
Why is his boutique not removing it?
Boutique simply checks the cache for steam:i386 - and would show a tick if it’s installed.
You can do this by typing python3 into the terminal and using these commands:
>>> import apt
>>> a = apt.Cache()
>>> b = a["steam:i386"]
>>> b.installed.is_installed
True
>>> b.installed.version
'1:1.0.0.48-1ubuntu3'
Pressing tab for b. will output different functions (ignoring any starting with an underscore).
Synaptics shows a tick even though it is not installed.
Thanks everyone for their input!
Credit goes to @ThanosApostolou. Once I removed steam-launcher it is not showing up in Software Boutique. This also removed the Application links.
I removed ~/.steam and ~/.local/share/Steam from my system but I still found the following.
~$ sudo locate steam
/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/steam.gpg
/etc/gufw/app_profiles/steam.gufw
/etc/gufw/app_profiles/steam.jhansonxi
/lib/udev/rules.d/99-steam-controller-perms.rules
/usr/bin/steam
/usr/bin/steamdeps
/usr/lib/steam
/usr/share/app-install/desktop/steam:steam.desktop
/usr/share/app-install/icons/steam.png
/usr/share/applications/steam.desktop
/usr/share/doc/steam
/usr/share/doc/steam-launcher
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/steam.png
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps/steam.png
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/steam.png
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/steam.png
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/steam.png
/usr/share/man/man6/steam.6.gz
/usr/share/pixmaps/steam.png
/usr/share/pixmaps/steam_tray_mono.png
/usr/share/ubuntu-mate-welcome/img/applications/steam.png
/var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steamstatic.com_steam_dists_precise_InRelease
/var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steamstatic.com_steam_dists_precise_steam_binary-amd64_Packages
/var/lib/apt/lists/repo.steamstatic.com_steam_dists_precise_steam_binary-i386_Packages
/var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/steam-launcher.postinst
/var/lib/update-notifier/user.d/steam-install-notify
I assume leftovers from upgrades. Do see any issues with with me manually removing them?
Well some files may be needed. I have a clean install of Ubuntu MATE on virtualbox (without steam installed) and I get this output:
Maybe better to also try the command
sudo apt install --reinstall steam:i386 && sudo apt remove --purge steam:i386
suggested by v3xx.
Also make sure that steam repository is removed from Software & Updates and then run sudo apt update (this should remove the /var/apt/lists/* files).
Do an autoremove and see what it will clean up.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto#Removal_commands
I tried the reinstall purge and autoremove. both did not remove any additional files. Should be ok, as I was mostly worried about why software boutique still listed it checked. Could that be a bug that needs to be logged?
So far your the only one affected.