Resolved - Issue with Day of Defeat Source

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Name: Daniela Beuting

Rank: Private

Type of issue: Steam

Brief Description of Issue: While playing Day of Defeat Source, my screen turns black in game all of a sudden: first it looks like my computer is about to crash, then i can only see a black screen in game, while the rest of the game works still fine. To close the game I need to use the task manager and I receive an error message about an application error of the hl2.exe then. (Can be copied next time, if necessary.) When I restart the game everything works fine again as if nothing happened before. I updated my video driver just in case which wasn't really helpful.

Thank you in advance

***Medical Supply Staff ONLY Below this line***

Current Status: Resolved

Researching

Pending Reply

Resolved

Unresolved

Main Technician: Pfc. S. Woz

Supporting Technician: Cpl. R. Vicari

Edited February 26, 2015 by Candy 1st MRB

[Woz 1st MRB]

This sounds exactly like Windows TDR (Timeout Detection Recovery)

Basically, when it detects a driver as being unresponsive for any reason, it will restart it without needing to BSOD or restart the computer.

There is not a catch-all fix for this, so this will possibly take some time to troubleshoot.

Did you build this computer, or did you buy it from a store?

[Beuting 1st MRB]

We built this computer. Here are some information that may be helpful:

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 (driver version 340.52)

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.00 GHz)

OS: Windows Vista 64

RAM: 4GB

Thank you so far

[Woz 1st MRB]

We built this computer.

This is great news.

Here is a list of the things that can commonly cause this issue:

• Incorrect memory timings or voltages You have not done any over clocking or modifications.
• Insufficient/problematic PSU (She has not added any new hardware, and the system was previously stable)
• Corrupt driver install Probably not this if this problem just now started.
• Overheating Probably not this. 75C is warm, but not the hottest I've seen a functioning graphics card go. Plus, the card is rated to 105C max (like most cards)
• Unstable overclocks (GPU or CPU) You have not done any over clocking or modifications.
• Incorrect MB voltages (generally NB/SB) You have not done any over clocking or modifications.
• Faulty graphics card Probably not this. Other games run stable with no driver crash.
• A badly written driver or piece of software This is an unlikely cause in most cases.
• Driver conflicts
• Another possibility that people tend not to like to hear, is that you are simply asking too much of your graphics card. It shouldn't be this in your case.

Let's try the one in bold first.

Could you open it up and give it a good air dusting? It could be that the video card is overheating and causing these problems.

Do that and see if the error continues. If it does, let me know!

Side question: Have you done any over clocking to your hardware?

Edited February 1, 2015 by Woz 1st MRB

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Thank you, I'll try that out and tell you. I haven't done any overclocking, so this falls out already

[J. Hill]

You don't have to overclock to have overheating. Dust build up on cooling fans will cause it also.

[Woz 1st MRB]

I think she was just saying that we can eliminate the overclocking as being a problem, since there was no overclocking. She is still going to dust it.

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Yes, Woz got that right. I dust the computer off regularly. After that the issue seemed to be better, but it always came back. But maybe it helps to open it up and leave it open then.

[Woz 1st MRB]

So the problem still occurred after dusting it off?

Could you run this program next time while you are playing and send me a screenshot of the readings when the blank screen happens?

HWMonitor

The screenshot will look something like this:

But maybe it helps to open it up and leave it open then.

This will definitely help air out the case, but it will also make it collect dust faster. You could try playing with the side open and see if it still happens. You could even use that same tool I linked to compare the temperatures.

If leaving the side open becomes a long-term solution, do keep in mind that you will need to pay more attention to the dust levels.

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Okay, I opened the case up and the issue did not occur today. Maybe, and I really hope, that was it already. Nevertheless I'll spectate that and tell you, if that issue occurs again.

Thanks for the efforts

[Woz 1st MRB]

Awesome! I'm glad I could help.

I'll leave this open for a few days. If I do not hear any bad news from you in that time, I will mark this as resolved.

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Maybe I should add, that a hl.exe error message occurs everytime when I close the game the normal way. But I guess that hasn't affected the game yet.

[Vicari 1st MRB]

Beuting, go download CCleaner. It's a registry cleaner. See what it picks up and then try to run DODs. If you need help using it, let me know. Heres the link below.

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

When you use it, use the registry part not the one called cleaner.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Vicari 1st MRB

[Beuting 1st MRB]

We've already done that, Vicari. Unfortunately that wasn't really helpful.

This is the HWMonitor screenshot of my latest crash today:

[Vicari 1st MRB]

Beuting, which graphics card are you running?

[Beuting 1st MRB]

It's the NVIDIA GeForce GTX260. The current driver version is 340.52.

[Woz 1st MRB]

We've already done that, Vicari. Unfortunately that wasn't really helpful.

This is the HWMonitor screenshot of my latest crash today:

Maximum operating temperature for the GTX 260 is 105C, but you don't really want to get it over 85C. It only got up to 75C.

All of the other temps look fine too, except for TMPIN2. Just to make sure that this is just a bug in how it is interpreting that sensor, could you post another screenshot of HWMonitor when your system is at idle and hasn't been playing games recently?

[Beuting 1st MRB]

Here it is:

[Yamagata 1st MRB]

Looks like the GPU maxed out at the moment of the crash, unless it's normal for your GPU to use 100% for dods...

TMPIN2 is a rarely used sensor, your motherboard is putting out a number, it just doesn't necessary mean temperature. If you were actually running at 124°C, you would know by the smell of burning electronics.

[Woz 1st MRB]

TMPIN2 is a rarely used sensor, your motherboard is putting out a number, it just doesn't necessary mean temperature. If you were actually running at 124°C, you would know by the smell of burning electronics.

Exactly.

Especially when considering the fact that it is the same at idle as it is at load.

Looks like the GPU maxed out at the moment of the crash, unless it's normal for your GPU to use 100% for dods...

I wouldn't expect it to be maxed at 75C, most cards go to about 85C before they start doing everything that they can to stay cool.

Also, throwing this in for reference.

My temps during DOD:S

My max temp during Shadow of Mordor

[Candy 1st MRB]

Anything new on this ticket?

[Yamagata 1st MRB]

Looks like they're waiting for a reply from the MSO techs.

[Woz 1st MRB]

Since I will be pretty busy this week, this post will have a few self troubleshooting steps in it. I will be checking in to see how it is doing, but things have really picked up at work for me.

Anyways, here goes:

1. If you installed new graphics drivers sometime between when it was stable and when it was not, try uninstalling the new ones, then installing an older version of the drivers that are compatible with your video card. If you need some more in-depth instructions for this, I can go into more detail. Just let me know.

   If you go this route and it does not help, here is a link to your current installed drivers if you want to undo your changes 340.52 - Release Date: 2014.7.29

2. If #1 does not apply to you, the next thing that we should try is verifying the game cache.
   • You can do this by first right clicking on Day of Defeat: Source and selecting properties.

     

   • Then go to the LOCAL FILES tab.

     

   • Then click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE (Steam uses capital letters in weird places) and wait for this box to finish.

     

3. If this does not solve the problem, we might try the uninstall/reinstall route, but if we go there, I want to make sure that your customizations are safe (skins, UI, etc.)

Other than that, I am running out of cheap ideas. If you have a spare graphics card in the house that you know works without crashing in another system, we could try testing with that. However, I would think that if it was a hardware issue, it would be happening in all of your games.

Keep me updated. I'll also be doing some more research in the mean-time. Any other techs: Feel free to step in with some ideas if you have any.

[Beuting 1st MRB]

At first, thank you for the efforts, Woz.

I have the issues since a while, so I don't really know to which driver version to go back for having it stable again. For that reason I'll try to verify the integrity of the game cache first and then, if that doesn't work, I try if reinstalling dods works better.

[Vicari 1st MRB]

Re-install DOD:S and let us know what happens. I've been reading some reviews on your card and much of the negative feedback is that it will stop working for no reason and overheat a lot. 75 is really hot for a video card. Can you try increasing the fan speeds to try and cool the card a bit?

[Bradley 1st MRB]

Any update on this Beuting? You still having issues with DOD:S?