wine users - Sep 2007 - Steam always locks up within a few dozen seconds of starting.

I have a brand new computer with a fresh install of Gentoo linux and wine.

I have been able to install and run Steam, but Steam itself always
seems to freeze some short time after starting it. Usually this takes
place at the "Connecting account. . ." dialogue, but every now and
then I can actually get a game of HL2 loading. I have never got as far
as the HL2 menu being active.

It does not seem to generate any sort of useful output in the console:

patrick at Gohan ~/Stuff/Wine/Program Files/Steam $ wine steam.exe -novid
-applaunch 220
err:ntlm:SECUR32_initNTLMSP ntlm_auth was not found or is outdated.
Make sure that ntlm_auth >= 3.0.25 is in your path.
dir: C:\Program Files\Steam\ *.mix
dir: C:\Program Files\Steam\ *.asi
dir: C:\Program Files\Steam\ *.flt
warning: Unknown nb_ctl request:  4
warning: Unknown nb_ctl request:  30
fixme:shdocvw:ViewObject_SetAdvise (0xd969df0)->(1 00000002 0x134bac0)
fixme:shdocvw:PersistStreamInit_InitNew (0xd969df0)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsBrowser (0xd969df0)->(ffffffff)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsDropTarget (0xd969df0)->(ffffffff)
fixme:shdocvw:ViewObject_SetAdvise (0xd967580)->(1 00000002 0x134bb28)
fixme:shdocvw:PersistStreamInit_InitNew (0xd967580)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsBrowser (0xd967580)->(ffffffff)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsDropTarget (0xd967580)->(ffffffff)
err:ole:CoGetClassObject class {9a5ea990-3034-4d6f-9128-01f3c61022bc}
not registered
err:ole:CoGetClassObject no class object
{9a5ea990-3034-4d6f-9128-01f3c61022bc} could be created for context
0x1
err:systray:delete_icon invalid tray icon ID specified: 1
err:ole:CoGetClassObject class {9a5ea990-3034-4d6f-9128-01f3c61022bc}
not registered
err:ole:CoGetClassObject no class object
{9a5ea990-3034-4d6f-9128-01f3c61022bc} could be created for context
0x1
fixme:shdocvw:ViewObject_SetAdvise (0xd99e140)->(1 00000002 0x134ed80)
fixme:shdocvw:PersistStreamInit_InitNew (0xd99e140)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsBrowser (0xd99e140)->(ffffffff)
fixme:shdocvw:WebBrowser_put_RegisterAsDropTarget (0xd99e140)->(ffffffff)
fixme:process:IsWow64Process (0xffffffff 0x3dee5c) stub!
fixme:win:SetLayeredWindowAttributes (0x20096,0x00000000,187,2): stub!
fixme:win:SetLayeredWindowAttributes (0x20096,0x00000000,187,2): stub!
Killed

In this instance, I killed it after it froze at the Connecting account dialogue.

Simple windows programs that don't have wacky interfaces like Steam
(or is it DirectX?) seem to work just fine.

I have the nvidia X drivers installed and they appear to be working
fine. I get over 22,000 FPS in glxgears :o. I have tried with ALSA,
OSS, and no sound options selected.

Does any one have any idea what may be causing this? Thank you!

Patrick