Investigate possibility to log in as main account

[JustArchi]

Background:
Accidentally I found out today that I no longer receive EResult.LogonSessionReplaced when I'm using my account both on PC through steam client and in ASF at the same time, both on the same machine.

This is interesting because either Valve changed it very recently, or it was non-intended.

What we know so far:

• For major portion of users, it's possible to use ASF and Steam Client for the same account, on same PC, and at the same time.
• Some (unlucky) users are actually still not possible to do so, and they're getting LogonSessionReplaced in OnLoggedOff event. If we found out a reason for that, perhaps I could implement something that could fix that as well.

Please let us know if you find anything interesting regarding that thing. If it works good for you, if it doesn't, and if it doesn't, if you have any ideas why.

[Sighery]

I know you can use ASF with your main, while you are also using your main from the Steam client, but only if they don't share the same IP. You say you run ASF in your server, so maybe the server has a different IP from your computer that you use to run the Steam client?

[JustArchi]

No, I tested it on the same PC as you can see in the screenshot, that's what made me curious.

[Sighery]

Hmmm... then that's interesting, maybe Volvo changed something. I will log in from one of my alts accounts and then run ASF and see if it let's me do stuff. I will also try the other way around (running ASF first and then the Steam client).

EDIT: Do I need a new version or the 0.8 works? I'm guessing the old one works

[JustArchi]

I'd appreciate if you did, because I want to make sure it works for everybody before I jump onto conclusions. Personally I think it has to do something with recent escrow implemented by Valve, perhaps they needed to change some things to make mobile steam clients work at the same time (same IP), and that affected ASF as well.

[JustArchi]

You don't need new (pre-release) version, V0.8 should work too, but if it doesn't, try V0.9 pre1.

[Rudokhvist]

Just tried to start my main account in ASF with it logged in steam client. Account in ASF started and connected normally (I have nothing to farm, so it just checked badges and stay online). Even more, I have CS:GO stared while trying it (forgot about it). Seems like no interference between this two logins.
Oh, to be precise - ASF is running on another PC, but with the same external IP (NAT on router).

[Sighery]

Doesn't seem to work for me, logged into my first alt account without having ASF open. As soon as I opened it, my Steam client went to the "Without connection" mode. Then I closed both, opened ASF first and then tried to log in, it allowed me to login in Online mode, but as soon as I was logged in I was without connection again (no access to friends, or store, or community features, etc).

In case it makes any difference, I'm using the pre-release V0.08, so maybe that's why.

[JustArchi]

That's strange, perhaps you can try V0.9 then. For now everybody confirmed my theory that it works for them.

[Sighery]

Well, if you send me the V0.9 I will update the xml files and try it, but yep, it's weird.

[JustArchi]

https://github.com/JustArchi/ArchiSteamFarm/releases

You don't need to update XML files anymore (since some time already), ASF uses defaults for missing fields.

[Sighery]

Nope, nothing. Tried first having the account opened and starting ASF. Then tried having ASF opened and starting the Steam client, neither of those worked.

EDIT: "Sin conexión" means "without connection", meaning that I'm not in Offline mode, but in Online mode but without connection.

[JustArchi]

Strange, I have no idea why it doesn't work properly for you then.

[Sighery]

Maybe Steam just hates me xD Either way, will keep an eye on the people that say it's working, maybe I can see some difference between them and me and figure out why is not working for me.

[JustArchi]

I released a pre-release 2, and encouraged more users to test it.

It doesn't have any crucial fixes yet, because I don't know the reason behind it, but if more users start getting similar issues, perhaps we can use common sense and find out the potential reason.

[Sighery]

And... nothing with my main either. I tried with the pre-release2 V0.9 and still doesn't work. Maybe I'm wrong about the IP thing, I mean, it's not something official, just something that I guessed, because a friend of mine lets me use his account to farm games, and while I'm running ASF in my computer he can log in and play and do whatever, that is why I guessed that if you don't have the same IP then you can have the same account opened.

But anyway, as I said, I will keep an eye on this and make a few more tests some of these days to see if using something like Sandboxie works.

[v3rg]

Hey Archi, nice program.
You actually can login from the same account on different PCs in one network with steam option called in-home streaming. It can be enabled in steam client preferences.

[Sighery]

@v3rg In-home streaming is only useful to run a game into one of the computers and stream the image to the other computer. It has nothing to do with this. And yes, you can log in from different computers in the same network, but that's not the point either, what we are trying to figure out is logging into the same account two times using the same computer.

[Pandiora]

If everything fails, just use sandboxie as an alternative. The free version let you set up exactly one sandbox but it would be enough for this case.

[JustArchi]

I have in-home streaming turned off, so it's not that which is causing problems for people around here.

@Sighery nailed it. This is exactly what we're trying to do here, as it magically works for some people out of the box (e.g. me), and some people are still receiving LogonSessionReplaced error.

If we could find the exact reason behind that, we could also find the solution and make ASF working for all accounts and for all users, instead of it's current state of "try, perhaps you're lucky and it works, if not, ASF was not created to work with primary accounts anyway".

[Ne3tCode]

@JustArchi this ?

[JustArchi]

This could be actually the answer we're looking for.

It still leaves me with question though. Why it works for me, and not for others?

I'll give it a shot when I find some time. Thank you once again @Ne3tCode

[JustArchi]

SteamRE/SteamKit#217

Let's wait now.

[JustArchi]

@Ne3tCode
You nailed it, setting LoginID to custom one fixed the problem for one of my friends.

I released pre4 which should work correctly for primary accounts now: https://github.com/JustArchi/ArchiSteamFarm/releases/tag/0.9.0.0-pre4

[JustArchi]

V0.9 was released which includes everything made so far, and some bugfixes/improvements compared to pre-releases. I consider this issue closed, if you spot any bug or any suggestion regarding it, please open new one.