[BUG] SteamVR Crash when loading certain loading screen models in Half-Life: Alyx

[JulianHeuser]

Describe the bug
When Half-Life: Alyx loads certain maps, it tells SteamVR to display certain models. Some of these cause SteamVR to immediately crash, sometimes bringing the whole system with it.

I found this out by looking at the last log message in vr_compositor.txt after a crash:
Wed May 07 2025 22:20:32.666166 [Info] - Loaded render model: /home/julian/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Half-Life Alyx/game/hlvr/models/ui/dioramas/a3_distillery.obj

Deleting the dioramas folder prevents these models from being loaded, fixing the issue.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Run SteamVR in Linux
2. Open Half-Life Alyx
3. Start a new game in "The Northern Star" or "Jeff"
4. Instant crash

Expected behavior
It to load the model and not crash.

System Information (please complete the following information):
Please use the latest Steam beta client and SteamVR beta for your bug reports!

• Steam client version (build number or date): 1745876290
• SteamVR version: 2.10.4
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Mint 22.1 Cinnamon
• Steam runtime diagnostics: [generate via Help -> Steam Runtime Diagnostics in the Steam client]

Steam Runtime Diagnostics.txt

• Steam and SteamVR logs:

steam-logs.tar.gz

• Minidumps: [run the following command: tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-minidumps.tar.gz /tmp/dumps]

steam-minidumps.tar.gz

Additional context
This is with an original Vive headset/controllers/base stations.

This crash occurs both when using Proton and the native Linux port of the game.