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PSA: Steam Bugs Which Complicate Gifting...

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Khalaq
(Senior Moderator)

SALMA Bug

Recently, Valve has given Steam users the ability to activate their games through the Register Key page. (About dang time, too.) As you would expect, Valve has also taken the opportunity to introduce us to new bugs. One of them is where a single attempt leads to multiple activations of a product key (hereafter referred to as "the SALMA bug"). Basically, you go to the redeem key page, click on the button to activate, and get the following error message:

An unexpected error has occurred. Your product code has not been redeemed. Please wait 30 minutes and try redeeming the code again. If the problem persists, please contact Steam Support for further assistance.

This error (apparently) comes up because the page sends the activation code multiple times. In other words, the game is activated, and then it is activated again. The second activation attempt produces the error message. If you check your account, however, you will see that the game is now in your library. If you get the above error message, check to see if it is the SALMA bug.

Can't Add to Friends List

Many of our users run into problems when trying to contact their winners through Steam. They find themselves unable to add their winner to their friends list, and Steam doesn't tell them why. Usually, this is caused by an old, Steam bug, a discussion of which may be found here. If you find yourself unable to add another user, try the following:

  1. Access the winner profile.
  2. Click the "More" button and then Block All Communication. Confirm.
  3. Repeat Step 2, but now you click on Unblock All Communication.
  4. Try to add the winner again.
  5. Breathe a sigh of relief if this solved your problem.

(Thanks to Lucas, for providing this information.)

5 years ago*

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24 Comments
steveywonder75

Cheers for the heads up Khalaq.

5 years ago
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HoLYAssAsIN

Good to know that the situation i have already encountered is due to a bug.

5 years ago
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Ilan14

Yeah, this happened to me a few times before. I was confused the first time it happened, but then a few minutes later I received an email saying that I activated the product so after that I didn't worry too much.

Either way, thanks a lot for the info! :)

5 years ago
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icaio

at least she has a sweet name :D

saw her... 20/25 times (and every single time i forget that game is actually activated, while raging against her)

5 years ago
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JuicySteak

Already figured out the first bug as well.. Annoying.

5 years ago
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Janediel

Thanks for the heads-up Khalaq

5 years ago
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at46

I had the first bug a few times. Why is it called SALMA?

5 years ago
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pizurk
(Junior Moderator)

single attempt leads to multiple activations

5 years ago
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Khalaq
(Senior Moderator)

^ What Pizurk said. Single Attempt Leading to Multiple Activations.

5 years ago
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at46

Thanks. I wonder how I could oversee this.

5 years ago
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Pietruszek

Thanks for the post! I've experienced the second one many times in the past but I didn't know about that workaround :)

5 years ago
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Vecchia

Not sure, but I think something like the SALMA bug could be caused by interfering browser extensions or something similar on the side of the UA. Anyone encountering this issue could test if it also appears when using a clean browser profile, for example.

5 years ago
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L31FY

It happened on my mobile browser which allows no extensions at all (blame Apple) so I know it isn’t that.

5 years ago
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BloodyRo

It happened to me on mobile too and on clean browsers.

5 years ago
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nhahtdh

I encounter SALMA bug quite a lot these few days.

5 years ago
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Zomby
(Ultra Moderator)

Me too. It used to be occasional but the last few days it seems like every other key that I try to activate gives me that error message. (And actual activation is pretty much 50/50 whern it happens, so I end up having to check every time if the game activated.)

It's super fun when trying to add 10 keys from a new bundle. It became faster to just activate via the Steam client again.

5 years ago
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Thexder

We need a better acronym!

I propose:

"Steam Anomalous Logic Makes Online Network Errors Like Lost Activations"

5 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 11 months ago.

5 years ago
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omally72

Salma Hayek eating a bug...

Thanks for curing me of my long-standing desire to kiss her ;)

5 years ago
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Axelflox

That SALMA bug started to happen to me a few days ago, I hope it gets fixed at some point, it's kinda annoying.

5 years ago
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malabagaa

You know what I've noticed recently? That with every update my settings preferences get lost/discarded.
don't know if it's a bug or them purposely changing settings to make us use the feature they want though.. anyway, super bothersome!

5 years ago
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Cruse

Thank you for the information Khalaq. Error 1 had happened to me couple of times, the 1st being on 9 Jun, 2018 for a key I won on GreenMan. I thought the error was from the retail. Although I also had occasions where I successfully activated several keys at once and only 1 error. I was reading around and thought it might be an error due to regions, thanks for clearing it up once again.

By the way is it common to get "Steam account - Query account by CD key"? I have received such an email around 10 days ago, I have also received them previously. That is when a user query a duplicate key and send an email to the user whom had activated the key right?

:) Thank you and Cheers, Cruse~

5 years ago
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Khalaq
(Senior Moderator)

There are two instances I can imagine where you might get a query. The first is if someone is checking to see whether or not a key has been used and by whom (e.g. I don't remember whether or not I have previously given away a key). The second is if someone has been given a duped key which matches yours and gets curious about it.

That is when a user query a duplicate key and send an email to the user whom had activated the key right?

As far as I know.

5 years ago
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Cruse

Yes, the worst case is the person is duped into trading or buying a used key. Though it sucks that the game was not mentioned in the email. Also in the email you are asked of "E-Mail Verification" and "Account Security Recommendations" both of which has external links. I am careful and do not always click on links but it could be a scam/phishing email. Other people might had clicked the links regardless.

:) Thank you for the reply and Cheers, Cruse~

5 years ago
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