CS2 does not start - now FIXED

[Brummie0121]

When i click the play button, it says "running" but a new application window does not open, then after a few moments nothing loads, just stays on the steam library page . It then stops saying "running" and gives the option to press the green play box again. . but it just wont load

I have tried
1) verifying games files . .2 files needed and were downloaded
Game still didnt start
2) Uninstalled. Re-installed on Hard Drive.
Game still didn't start
I re verified files.. all were ok
3) Uninstalled from HDD and did a Fresh install on SSD
Game still doesn't start.

Updated GPU driver, makes no differece, still same issue.

System : Ryzen 7 3700x, RTX 2060, 32gb 3200mhz RAM, 256gb SSD, 2tb HDD

Any ideas the issues? Was working fine a couple weeks back on CS GO, this has been since the switch to CS2. I've ran out of things to try. All other games work on Steam with no problems

[⛴ lolegusha]

Did you check for any recent system updates or software changes that might be clashing with CS2?

Here’s a couple more things to try:

• Run Steam as administrator, sometimes permissions can get in the way.
• Check the game’s integrity one more time post the fresh install.
• Delete the CS2 folder in the Steam directory, then hit up verify to snag a clean set of game files.
• Dive into the game’s launch options (right-click CS2 in Steam, Properties, Set Launch Options) and try adding “-autoconfig” or “-windowed” to see if it helps.
• Make sure there's no funky business going on with your antivirus or firewall blocking the game.

[CourtesyFlush]

I would go to properties > files > Verify integrity of game files...

You said you did this, but I'd do it again. At that point really unknown. Can you load any other games just fine afterwards? My system is almost identical to yours (2600x cpu everything else the same), and no issues.

[Brummie0121]

Originally posted by Courtesy Flush:

I would go to properties > files > Verify integrity of game files...

You said you did this, but I'd do it again. At that point really unknown. Can you load any other games just fine afterwards? My system is almost identical to yours (2600x cpu everything else the same), and no issues.

I just built a 2600x GTX1060 for my nephew, it works ok on his PC too with no issues, i only play CS with him but we havent been to only since the update..
Apex Legends and Titanfall2 and Destiny still load no problem.

Thank you for your reply, it wont hurt to try and re verify 👍

[Brummie0121]

Originally posted by ⛴ lolegushka:

Did you check for any recent system updates or software changes that might be clashing with CS2?

Here’s a couple more things to try:

• Run Steam as administrator, sometimes permissions can get in the way.
• Check the game’s integrity one more time post the fresh install.
• Delete the CS2 folder in the Steam directory, then hit up verify to snag a clean set of game files.
• Dive into the game’s launch options (right-click CS2 in Steam, Properties, Set Launch Options) and try adding “-autoconfig” or “-windowed” to see if it helps.
• Make sure there's no funky business going on with your antivirus or firewall blocking the game.

I am just about to perform a fresh install again, due to your nice helpful post, I will try each of these steps you have listed, as i haven't tried any of those. Thank you

[Just Guy 0_0]

Originally posted by Brummie0121:

Originally posted by Courtesy Flush:

I would go to properties > files > Verify integrity of game files...

You said you did this, but I'd do it again. At that point really unknown. Can you load any other games just fine afterwards? My system is almost identical to yours (2600x cpu everything else the same), and no issues.

I just built a 2600x GTX1060 for my nephew, it works ok on his PC too with no issues, i only play CS with him but we havent been to only since the update..
Apex Legends and Titanfall2 and Destiny still load no problem.

Thank you for your reply, it wont hurt to try and re verify 👍

You have to delete game manually including all old workshop items and clear the cache then install game again. New engine so old maps conflict.

[Brummie0121]

Update: Now fixed, Thank you to all who replied with your comments. I have learned quite a few new things if i ever encounter issues like this again.

The fix: Thanks to @lolegushka for this
• Dive into the game’s launch options (right-click CS2 in Steam, Properties, Set Launch Options) and try adding “-autoconfig” or “-windowed” to see if it helps.

I copied in -autoconfig and it loaded right away. . .thanks (steps before i wasnt sucessfull, but thank you so much)

[gamil]

i´m having the same problem as you but i couldn´t solve it

[pchuu]

Originally posted by Brummie0121:

When i click the play button, it says "running" but a new application window does not open, then after a few moments nothing loads, just stays on the steam library page . It then stops saying "running" and gives the option to press the green play box again. . but it just wont load

I have tried
1) verifying games files . .2 files needed and were downloaded
Game still didnt start
2) Uninstalled. Re-installed on Hard Drive.
Game still didn't start
I re verified files.. all were ok
3) Uninstalled from HDD and did a Fresh install on SSD
Game still doesn't start.

Updated GPU driver, makes no differece, still same issue.

System : Ryzen 7 3700x, RTX 2060, 32gb 3200mhz RAM, 256gb SSD, 2tb HDD

Any ideas the issues? Was working fine a couple weeks back on CS GO, this has been since the switch to CS2. I've ran out of things to try. All other games work on Steam with no problems

downgrade your driver, latest ones are bugged and theres DX11 not working. Happend to me with gtx 1080ti.

[pchuu]

Originally posted by gamil:

i´m having the same problem as you but i couldn´t solve it

downgrade your nvidia driver, latest ones are bugged and theres DX11 not working. Happend to me with gtx 1080ti.

[HeRo]

All i had to do was go to Properties/workshop and remove ALL new and old maps and now it works again.

[76561198981860286]

I did everything that people suggested but my game still does not run. It still says running then goes back to having that green play button. Never did it once go into the game

[Just Guy 0_0]

Originally posted by you:

I did everything that people suggested but my game still does not run. It still says running then goes back to having that green play button. Never did it once go into the game

This happens when you still have old csgo files .

Unistall game , and go to file explorer find csgo and delete everything then go to steam delete download cache, restart pc , download game again, go to firewall add game as not block public network, do same to antivirus.

Do latest windows and nvidia drivers.

If that's not it you might need to re install steam itself.

For more information check event viewer for error code.

[AssureMe.exe]

I've tried everything that was discussed in this thread and it still refuses to launch...

[Just Guy 0_0]

Originally posted by AssureMe.exe:

I've tried everything that was discussed in this thread and it still refuses to launch...

What is your pc ? Gpu and cpu?
Are you on windows?
What does event viewer say?
It will say an error code why game not launching.

[dakill]

I'm gonna leave an answer here to help future adventurers who stumble upon this. So, the problem is that the game simply does not start from steam, crashes without errors. Also, if you run cs2 via the executable file, it will launch the game in insecure mode and will not give you the opportunity to play online, so forget about this option.

People that know nothing about anything usually put out the same noises "update your gpu drivers" "reinstall windows" "verify game files" "reinstall the game". You know, if I am searching the internet for a solution, I probably did some of those already. </rant>

With that out of the way, it seems this is caused by something funky within the Nvidia drivers. Shocking, I know. Because of that, SOMETIMES, upgrading the GPU driver really can help with it.

Some forum posts recommended using the -vulkan launch option, which actually solved the crashes for me, but the game was laggy, low FPS, and stuttering, so it wasn't an option for me. If it works for you, thank the gods.

In my case, I couldn't upgrade the GPU drivers, because I am on the equivalent of Windows 10 LTSB (actually I use Windows Server 2016. fite me) - and new Nvidia drivers are the so-called DCH drivers, which are meant for new builds for Win10 and for Win11 only. The newest "Standard" driver didn't solve the problem.

I was able to forcibly install a DCH driver ( an older version, think it was 535.98 or 531.18, can't remember exactly, the latest ones will fail with "Request not supported" which means that now it DOES use something that's only available on newer Windows' kernels, but if Nvidia wanted, they could make it work on older kernels </rant2>) by modifying INF files (with an utility called NVCleanstall - and you end up without the Nvidia Control Panel), and that worked !! CS2 now launched correctly from Steam BUT BEWARE !!! : as the INF files are modified, the driver signature is now invalid which COULD trigger VAC (as modified video drivers are one of the hacking vectors cheaters use), so I decided on not following with this method.

(Also, on the forum posts about installing DCH drivers on Win10 LTSB, it's staggering the amount of people that do not have a solution and instead just judge OP for not using the latest bloatware ridden version of Windows instead of a fully supported LTSB (or Server) version... if you can't answer the actual question how about not posting? </rant3>)

So, in a desperation, I decided to try multiple versions of the Standard drivers: running DDU to fully uninstall a driver, running the new driver setup EXE through NVCleanstall (not to modify the INF files, but for disabling the bloatware that comes with Nvidia drivers - highly recommend, and does not invalidate the signatures) so that only the plain Video driver was installed, until finding a version where it worked.

You wouldn't believe what solved the problem. DOWNGRADING the GPU driver ! Ended up on version 456.71 (Game Driver, not Studio), and now CS2 is working perfectly for me. I am on a GTX 1070, so the latest and greatest driver is not a must. If you are on a new GPU that the old driver does not support, read on.

And then I decided to make it a mission to post about it on every forum that I went for help in order to help future people. Then, while searching for forum posts to help, I've found a reddit post which suggested the following:

Originally posted by davidalmarinho in the GlobalOffensive subreddit:

This method is intended for those who have lags when entering the -vulkan launch option, although it may work in other cases.
Open Powershell as an administrator and enter the following 2 commands there:
dir "$env:systemroot\system32\driverstore\filerepository\*NvCameraEnable.exe" -rec |% {& "$_" off}
dir "$env:programfiles\nvidia corporation\*NvCameraEnable.exe" -rec |% {& "$_" off}

I didn't check this last method because the problem was already solved for me, but here it is. Maybe it wasn't the driver version, maybe, NVCleanstall removed the NvCamera functionality and that's what solved it, who knows. But here is my quest, hope it helps you solve your problems without resorting to nuking your Windows installation.