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  • Steam Deck, can't save edits file in use, locked, lacking permissions

I'm on the Steam Deck trying to edit my game. When I open it, it says that I'm unable to write to "project_metadata.cfg", "script_editor_cache.cfg", and "editor_layout.cfg" because file is in use, locked, or lacking permissions.

When I try to save it says "Safe save failed. This may be a permissions problem, but also may happen because you are running a paranoid antivirus. If this is the case, please switch to Windows Defender or disable the 'safe save' option in editor settings. This makes it work, but increases the risk of file corruption in a crash.", but I'm using Steam Deck which runs on Linux.

    dragon3025 Linux has a different permissions system than Windows. Files have Read Write and eXecute permissions that apply to owner user, group, and "other users"

    Files have an owner and a group. If you go to where those files are and do: ls -la
    If will show you what permissions those files have (looking like -r--rwxr-- maybe).
    It is likely those files "belong" to a different user than you (Linux runs many systems and services as their own users to limit their scope) and it is likely that the "other users" permissions don't allow Writing.

    You could navigate to the directory those files are in (with the cd command) and run this:

    chmod 777 ./*.cfg

    That will make those files (every file that ends with a .cfg in that directory), have permissions RWX (Read, write, and eXecutable) for everyone (user, group, and other users). That IS overkill and isn't necessarily advisable, you'd be better off adding the least amount of permissions necessary, or adding your user to the group that owns the files.

        Are you running the Steam version in game mode? I'm not sure that works, you may have to switch to desktop mode and download the normal Linux editor.

          stranger_anger I'm able to set them all to Read, Write, and Executable by selecting them, right clicking, and going to permissions tab, but it doesn't work.

          cybereality I'm using deskstop mode.

          Megalomaniak I tried using that konsole command. It then asked for a password, but wouldn't respond to me typing. If I tried closing it, it would say "There is a process running", so I didn't want to close it in case it would break something. Eventually it times out, and I'm able to close it.

                  dragon3025 I tried using that konsole command. It then asked for a password, but wouldn't respond to me typing. If I tried closing it, it would say "There is a process running", so I didn't want to close it in case it would break something. Eventually it times out, and I'm able to close it.

                  Typically in terminal cli's password inputs aren't visible for security. My best guess, either the input was working fine or maybe the terminal CLI was out of focus for some reason.

                    Someone on steam forums figured it out. Using Proton was the default, so in Steam's Godot properties, I selected compatibility>Force a specific compatibility tool>Steam Linux Runtime.