TF2/source games broken...help?

[bluntspoon]

Welcome any suggestions.

Game crashes within 30 seconds 99% of the time. Mostly at the character screen, but always soon after. Getting an error message in windows..

"display driver has stopped responding and has recovered."

Nothing on my machine is overclocked. I can play all non source games fine. The same crash happens in HL2, I can't even get past the initial screen there.

I have.. checked game cache, defragged game files, reinstalled TF2, reinstalled directx, tried running directx level 81, used several different driver versions going back up to 2 years and unchecked steam ui while in game.

I'm running Windows 7 ultimate 32bit.

Anything else I can try? Really bummed right now.

[metacide]

What sort of video card do you have, and what drivers are you using for it? Have you tried updating said drivers?

Is there anything in the event viewer?

[Boss Llama]

Just double checking, but when you used the different driver versions, did you delete the others off your system completely and reboot inbetween? They tend not to play nice with each other if multiple are installed.

Another thing you can try, since you have the option with ultimate edition - run the system in XP Mode, then try running the game. See if something in there likes the retro OS better.

If you have another video card that's compatible with your system, even if it's an older one, it would be worth swapping it in and trying it, to see if it occurs with that one. Likewise, try removing individual ram sticks (assuming you have two or more), to make sure there isn't a single errored piece there causing a problem between the components. The fact that non-source games are working makes me suspect it's not hardware at all, though.

[bluntspoon]

I did not completely delete drivers between installs, nor have I tried xp Mode. I'll do both those now. Thanks.

[Boss Llama]

Cool cool, let us know how it turns out.

In Win7, old video drivers can be readily deleted from the "Programs and Features" link in Control Panel. It replaces the old add/remove programs link.

[Clay Pigeon]

I had that problem once when my drivers got corrupted. update your drivers.

[bluntspoon]

Completely uninstalling drivers and reinstalling did not work. I have xp mode installed and working but I cannot get Steam to run. It says it cannot access the clientregistry.blob archive file, it will not open. I tried renaming it per the troubleshooting guide, that did not work either.

I have also tried Deathbringer's tip here

http://www.theville.org/forums/viewtopi ... =9&t=16478

and that didn't work either.

I have also unchecked steam cloud syncronization, uninstalled avg virus and created a specific logon for games that only runs the bare minimum processors and services.

I CAN however now play for around 5 minutes before I crash, just long enough to get my hopes up and make me depressed when it does go down. It crashes 100% of the time within 5 minutes.

[Plinko]

Silly question, do you play any GPU/CPU intensive non-Source games? Could still be a heat issue if nothing else is actually cranking up your system enough?

[bluntspoon]

Not a silly question. I can play Far Cry with the settings turned up high enough to make it stutter like crazy, but it doesn't crash. There is something going on with the display driver and source.

What, I don't know.

I also just tried playing in a window and that didn't work either.

Took the side off the case and hit it with the compressed air. No dice.

[dredfox]

Can you check your event logs after a crash and post any relevant info here? It should be the command eventvwr on all Windows versions.

[bluntspoon]

Under "General"

The display driver nvlddmkm has stopped responding and has successfully recovered

This is the "detail" I get after every crash

- System

- Provider

[ Name] Display

- EventID 4101

[ Qualifiers] 0

Level 3

Task 0

Keywords 0x80000000000000

- TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2010-05-23T04:26:01.000000000Z

EventRecordID 44639

Channel System

Computer mikes-PC

Security


- EventData

nvlddmkm

[Boss Llama]

I've heard of ClientRegistry.blob problems before, here's the fix:

Certain Steam issues may be corrected by renaming the ClientRegistry.blob and restarting Steam.

This file is located in the directory: C:\Program Files\Steam (or whichever directory you specified during installation).

Completely exit from Steam, then rename this file to ClientRegistryOld.blob.

Restart Steam to allow this file to be recreated and test the issue you have seen.

[bluntspoon]

I've heard of ClientRegistry.blob problems before, here's the fix:

Certain Steam issues may be corrected by renaming the ClientRegistry.blob and restarting Steam.

This file is located in the directory: C:\Program Files\Steam (or whichever directory you specified during installation).

Completely exit from Steam, then rename this file to ClientRegistryOld.blob.

Restart Steam to allow this file to be recreated and test the issue you have seen.

I can't get this to work under xpmode. I have done this in Win7 to no effect.

I also tried renaming the nvlddmkm.sys file and then expanding it. Didn't work.

[Dirty Dan]

If you're running out of things to try you could run driver sweeper, which does a more thorough wiping of your drivers, then reinstall.

[l3eeron]

try this in your internet browser


steam://support/?Issues=*


...might give you some clues.


EDit: this seems to be broken now.