TF2 is acting very strange.

[MrSinistar]

I am having a glitch that is very, very annoying.:sad:

It happens with all of my Steam multiplayer games that I have (TF2 and Garry's Mod). I have tried everything in my knowledge to figure out how to fix this.

Whenever I try to play a server on TF2 or GMod, the server list gets populated to around 60 servers, and then stops. Almost all of the servers are empty and when I try to join one, it gives me the treaded "Server not responding" message. After that, my router gets killed and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get back online.

I have been able to fix this by verifying TF2 in Steam, but now that seems to be stop working.

We have also been getting errors about corruption in our hard drive so I'm thinking maybe the HDD is to blame, but I'm not sure. I don't want to blow $80 for a HDD if the HDD is not the culprit of this problem (I don't have a lot of money anyway).

This has been really driving me nuts because I just started mapping and I really want to play TF2. It was working fine a week ago. :crying:

EDIT: Yes, I'm sure my router has been port forwarded.

 

[Keir]

Try verifying the integrity of game cache.

Right click on the game in the steam games list, properties, local files.

Mine was letting me connect to a server and like 4 seconds into the game, I'd get a connection error. couldn't play the game

 

[drp]

it might be your router. once you refresh the server list, you get a lot of activity on your router and it might have a settting that will make it disconnect thinking its some type of attack.

 

[DJive]

What router is it? When trying to rad up on what i need to do to host a TF2 server through my router i read a TON of "servers not responding/only showing a few" type threads.

 

[MacNetron]

I don't have any settings in my router for any Steam game. (Linksys WRT54GC, firmware 1.00.7).
So maybe remove all port forwarding entries to TF2. It might be that you forward to the ip you had when you added the entry, but the router (DHCP) gives you a different ip now.

 

[MrSinistar]

it might be your router. once you refresh the server list, you get a lot of activity on your router and it might have a settting that will make it disconnect thinking its some type of attack.

Do you happen to know what this setting is called?

What router is it? When trying to rad up on what i need to do to host a TF2 server through my router i read a TON of "servers not responding/only showing a few" type threads.

My router is a Belkin Wireless G Router, part # F5D7230-4.

I don't have any settings in my router for any Steam game. (Linksys WRT54GC, firmware 1.00.7).
So maybe remove all port forwarding entries to TF2. It might be that you forward to the ip you had when you added the entry, but the router (DHCP) gives you a different ip now.

Well, actually, I didn't set up any settings for my Steam games. When I said, "I'm sure my router has been port forwarded.", I meant that I used the Steam connection test to figure out if my ports were blocked or not.

Another thing I should point out is that when this started happening Norton said that someone was trying to intrude my computer via port scanning. The thing was, it was MY COMPUTER doing the port scanning.

EDIT:

Would making maps in general cause something like this? It seems like this started happening when I got into map-making.

 

[MacNetron]

No, hammer doesn't use the internet connection (as my firewall-logs confirm).
I would rather suspect the HD with all info you have given us.
If I were you, I would make a backup and then start testing the HD. Most manufacturers have tools to test their HD's, or you can just do a defrag and then crosses fingers...

EDIT: MAKE A BACKUP FIRST!!!

 

[drp]

Well, actually, I didn't set up any settings for my Steam games. When I said, "I'm sure my router has been port forwarded.", I meant that I used the Steam connection test to figure out if my ports were blocked or not.

Another thing I should point out is that when this started happening Norton said that someone was trying to intrude my computer via port scanning. The thing was, it was MY COMPUTER doing the port scanning.

EDIT:

Would making maps in general cause something like this? It seems like this started happening when I got into map-making. __________________

well there's your problem
disable norton and try again.

 

[MacNetron]

^^
Oh my... I missed that part! Again no helpdesk-certificate...

 

[Fyfey]

Are you just trying to play the game? Or are you trying to host your own server on the Internet?

If you are not hosting your own server, you do not need to forward any ports. Port forwarding is a way of people on the net connecting to your pc (on your network) by using a specified port number (which would be set when starting a server).

I doubt this is your problem, but maybe disabling port forwarding would help.

 

[MrSinistar]

To answer Fyfey's question, I'm just trying to play the game.

I have no idea what the hell is going on...lol.

I un-installed Norton and moved TF2 and Steam to an external drive, seeing if that would fix my problem. It did fix it but not permanently.

I found out that the same problems happen in Steam when I click on the "Servers" button in Steam to see the main servers list. After the server list pops up, 60 to 200 servers for various games pop up with high ping (usually around 350) and immediately the router and internet are killed. However, verifying TF2 seems to fix the problem and the servers in the find server list are responding and I can play them.

I'm going to report this to VALVe soon and hopefully this problem won't get any worst.

 

[l3eeron]

Try copy/pasting this code into the address bar of your internet browser (need to be on the machine that's trying to run TF2)

steam://support/?Issues=*

It will go check all your steam files and hardware and offer ways to fix things.

If it doesnt work in Firefox, Internet Exploder usually works

PS. If you get the "Video driver outdated" error, ignore it if you arent having any video problems


(I got this little gem of a tool from a steam forum moderator)