CS:Source will not launch

[freakofnature95]

I just tinkered with my little brother's computer and this is the current configuration:

AMD Sempron 3000+ 2.0ghz processor
1.5gb pc3200 ddr ram
~80gb hard drive

256mb Radeon X1650 Video Card
Driver Version: 8.411.0.0 (pretty recent i think)

I decided to test it out with some CS: Source, so I installed steam and loaded cs:s on his comp from my steam account. Everything installs fine. When I launch the game, the monitor blinks (changing res) and I see the cs:s load screen for a second. Then it blinks again, and I am back at my desktop, steam staring at me like it did nothing wrong.

also, in a probably related problem, the earthsim software that came with the ati card won't launch either...

I've look around, and it doesn't seem to be a resolution issue (i've tried launching on many different res), and I am using DirectX 9.0c

I don't know what the problem is. thanks for any help

[mr spoon]

Sometimes virii can cause this - have you run a full check? Don't bother if it's a new build. Do you get any error messages in the system logs (found in the Manage option when you right click My Computer)?

[freakofnature95]

It's not a completely new build, but i reformatted the hdd before i added more ram and the video card. So, I'm thinking it's not virus related.

I looked in the event manager, and there seem to be quite a few errors. Most of them say this:

The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.

These are from when I was trying to install Far Cry from a badly scratched set of discs. They just refused to be read properly. The computer would start the install but at a certain place it would stop. So that is the bulk of the errors.

Then there are a lot of warnings that say this, and they are from the same thing I believe.

An error was detected on device \Device\CdRom0 during a paging
operation.

Then there is a DHCP error, a few MSIinstaller errors from the Far Cry incident, then there are two F-Secure errors -- something about files exceeding scanning time limit.

Bleh. that is all. I am at a loss.

Could it be that I have two different brands and sizes of RAM installed?

[mr spoon]

freakofnature95 wrote..
Could it be that I have two different brands and sizes of RAM installed?

Very unlikely - I have that sort of configuration on many PCs. Sadly as I suspected, it's crashing out without an error. I'd be tempted to try an update to the very latest Catalyst drivers. There have been alot of issues like this since a recent Steam update - this could well be one of them.

[freakofnature95]

I just installed the card a few days ago and I downloaded the latest drivers from ATI, but I opted to not dl the Catalyst Software Suite.

I figured that all I needed was the display driver if I didn't want to tweak the settings.

I will download Catalyst and see what happens...

[eipeks]

Hey freak,

Saw your post on Tech Forums too...my brother is having the same problems and like you, he also recently formatted AND put a new stick of RAM in!

I think there's definately a connection there. We're gonna try a few things and let you know how it goes....

[mr spoon]

I did get a similar thing with the ET:QW demo on Steam, which was annoying. I just deleted it though, which I wouldn't do with something I've paid for obviously. You shouldn't need the Catalyst CC, but it can be handy.

[freakofnature95]

Well, then we're back where we started. I have all the latest drivers installed, and I even updated the drivers for the mobo chipset.

I looked at the video adapter properties and it lists the location of the card as: PCI bus 1, device 0, function 0. It's an AGP card.

I don't know much about this, but is that the correct location for an AGP card?

How can I tell that the card is not running in PCI mode?

:::Update::::::::::::::::::::::::

I went into the bios and changed the primary video adapter from PCI to AGP/onboard. No noticeable difference.

CS:source still fails to launch.

CS (not source) works fine, and I've installed and played Rise of Nations with no problems. However, I tried to play the World in Conflict Demo today, and the same exact problem is occurring.

Thanks again and I am open to any further advice.

[freakofnature95]

Alright. All is well.

I ended up having to go into safe mode and use a driver cleaning program to wipe all the stuff the ATI uninstaller leaves. The problem persisted at that point with the up to date driver (7.9). So I downloaded 7.7 from earlier this year and everything works beautifully.

Thanks for your assistance. That was no fun.

[mr spoon]

That was some good thinking, so the updated driver (or fragments of it) was causing the problem? The location of the AGP card on PCI bus 0 is normal - but it can be confusing as if you don't install your AGP driver for the motherboard, the graphics card often only works in PCI mode (ie slowly!).