All Source Games Crashing

[Number42]

Hello everyone
I just bought the CS:S package yesterday with CS:S, DoD:S, HL: DM and HL:LC. All of these games work fine, but anywhere from 5-10mins after I start playing, my screen just goes to "No video connection detected" and I have to restart my computer. Help would be very appreciated!

 

[kupocake]

Until someone with better knowledge comes along, this sounds more like a physical hardware issue rather than something to do with Source itself as far as I see. Do you not get similar behaviour in other games? Perhaps your video card or monitor are overheating (which is possible if other games aren't crashing because Source may just tax your computer that much more), or you have a loose connection you just haven't noticed? (as in wires or ports or electrical problems with the hardware).

If it is indeed the Software that is causing the problem, run through the " Problem: Crashing and lock ups in Source Games" support page on Steampowered.com (here) and have a general browse around the support pages to see if you can find anything

 

[Number42]

Well, come to think of it, I think it might be a DirectX 9 problem. Call of Duty 2 crashes the same way when in DX9 mode. But games like Red Orchestra work fine, also (oddly) the Half Life 2 Demo works fine. Ill take a look at the temps of my video card later while playing and see if that's the problem. Maybe I'll also reinstall DX9. It would be a shame if I couldn't play any of these games, Half Life 2 deathmatch is so fun lol. Thanks for the help so far!

 

[Beerdude26]

Try running the game in DirectX 8.1. mode:

Left-click on the Steam tray icon.
Select "Games".
Click on the "My Games" tab.
Right-click on the game that you want to activate the console of.
Select "Properties".
Click on the "General" tab.
Click on the "Set Launch Options" button.
Put in the window box: -dxlevel 81
Click "OK".
Click "Close".

 

[Number42]

I'll try that when I get home. Will that make the graphics less appealing? Because my computer can handle everythning fine at maximum settings. I was hoping to fix this problem without sacrificing graphics. Thanks for the input

 

[Beerdude26]

I'll try that when I get home. Will that make the graphics less appealing? Because my computer can handle everythning fine at maximum settings. I was hoping to fix this problem without sacrificing graphics. Thanks for the input

Reflections will be a bit less (water for the most), but apart from that, it'll be fine. This is just to check if DirectX 9.0 is the evildoer. If it still crashes, it is not. If it doesn't, you'll have to install the latest version (9.0 June Update)

 

[Number42]

Well, it seems to be fixed. It wasn't DX9 because I did as you suggested and it still crashed. The only possible thing I thought of was my new 1gb memory stick. So I removed it and replaced it with 256, and the games were fine. So I rearranged my sticks of memory (2 slots, one is 256 and the other is a gig) and started it up again, and they no longer crash. So, I don't really understand what happened. All I know is that they work now . Thanks for the help though!