[darktemplarr]

Anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes in-game, my Left 4 Dead 2 will crash all together, saying the .exe has stopped working.
If I rename my sourcemod plugins folder to something different and thus disable all plugins completely, this doesn't seem to happen. This made me believe it was a specific plugin screwing me over. At first I figured I'd get rid of all the ones I downloaded, but it still crashed. It had to be something that came with sourcemod to begin with. I did some very tedious agonizing process of elimination and narrowed it down to having the random crashes only happen when the plugin admin_flatfile.smx is in the plugins folder.
This is the plugin that allows me to be recognized as an admin and use admin abilities on my server, and there is no way around using it.
I got an older version of sourcemod (v1.3.9) and stole that admin_flatfile.smx which was 10 KB just as a nice bit of proof it was indeed slightly different, and used it to replace the one I had originally which was 11 KB.
No such luck, I still crashed about 20 minutes in to gameplay.
This is NOT with my game. I have been able to complete full campaigns that are 2+ hours long of playtime on regular, vanilla, completely unmodded Left 4 Dead 2 with this not happening.
It only started happening when I installed sourcemod and metamod in the most recent version.

The crash is NOT triggered by anything in-game what-so-ever. I have tested it all alone with bots standing absolutely still and doing literally nothing at all as I stare at them with the director, zombies, specials, spawning, and bosses all disabled, waiting for the crash to occur (which it eventually did). I have done it with a full server of players, none of which do anything in particular each time the crash occurs. It is absolutely and completely random in terms of what occurs in-game.

I am getting desperate. This one little fupping issue is preventing me from actually expanding the content my server is capable of utilizing.

I have tried verifying the integrity of my game cache. Interestingly enough it did say 3 files were missing and would be reacquired, but alas the random crashes still occurred like they normally did.

I have tried putting -condebug as a launch parameter and checking the console log after the crash occurs. It does not show anything special in particular. The last thing that went to be logged were players using the chat feature. No errors. No nothing. Each other crash was the same. The console did not record anything different or unusual, any errors, any warnings of any kind.

The crash is also very clean. By that I mean, I do not freeze up and have to end the process of the .exe like some genuine lock-ups in other VALVe games I have had before. It is also not a desktop crash, meaning it doesn't drop me into my desktop with no actual error message, as though I quit the game. What it does is it smoothly freezes for a few seconds (like what would occur when just quitting the game mid-play) and takes me to my desktop quickly but provides the common "This program has stopped working" error of left4dead2.exe.

Anybody who is a coder, could you please dig in to this stupid admin_flatfile.smx file, and perhaps see what is causing it.

There is a very small chance it could also be the adminmenu.smx plugin file, as it was with the admin_flatfile.smx during the process of elimination tests I did. After a successful play of half an hour, I had four plugins remaining that were not "cleared". adminhelp.smx, adminmenu.smx, antiflood.smx, and admin_flatfile.smx. I put in flatfile and adminmenu as the only change to the plugins folder. The random crash occurred the very next testgame. I ASSUMED it was admin_flatfile.smx because adminmenu.smx is only a gui that allows me to access certain abilities easily with the number keys, and I have used it many many times before without it causing a crash. ALL the random crashes DID NOT occur while I was using the adminmenu or any binds that rely on features the adminmenu has built in. This why I deduced it was admin_flatfile.smx.

With all that mumbo jumbo of my experiments put forth, can anybody help me? I really will just have to give up and forget about rebooting my custom gamemode if I cannot resolve this random-crash issue. It did not happen for me a few years ago in left 4 dead 2 when I was doing exactly what I am trying to start back up now, but obviously on a significantly older version of both sourcemod and metamod. The most frequent crashes I had back then were accidental on my part by ent_remove-ing a live player or myself while toying about with things.

Literally any ideas are greatly appreciated. I really have run out of things to try... I'm a mapper, not a coder. I'm at the mercy of the community here.

[asherkin]

Are you running SourceMod on your client (a listenserver)? That can't be supported on L4D2.

[darktemplarr]

Originally Posted by asherkin Are you running SourceMod on your client (a listenserver)? That can't be supported on L4D2.

No. The only way I know how to do that anyway is to start up a game with the "map <mapname>" command in console. This is simply opening a lobby, setting it to local host, and launching the game. All sourcemod features work when doing this.

[asherkin]

That is indeed a listenserver, and is unsupported with L4D2 due to conflicts with the DRM in the client (causing "random" crashes). You'll need to setup SRCDS if you want to use SourceMod (or server plugins in general).

[darktemplarr]

Originally Posted by asherkin That is indeed a listenserver, and is unsupported with L4D2 due to conflicts with the DRM in the client (causing "random" crashes). You'll need to setup SRCDS if you want to use SourceMod (or server plugins in general).

Oh, so they are one in the same even though an sv_cheats test in a local server makes the console ask you to start a listen server through the map command? Well that was misleading then. Alright, if it'll fix it, what is SRCDS? Can you give me a lovely link perhaps?

Edit: It should also be mentioned that for what I'm trying to do, I essentially need to be on the server at all times, and therefore have no purpose of running the server if I am not there, meaning a local area network lobby is still my first choice. Can this SRCDS recreate the same effect?

Edit 2: Looking in to this, you mean to tell me I need to set up a dedicated server. The immediate problems with this are that I only have this machine right here to host it which I am not sure is a good thing or not, and it would also suck up more bandwidth than a local server, wouldn't it? I also can't really afford that, especially on a regular basis like what I intend to do with my server. Isn't there a reliable fix that patches up the specific conflict(s) causing said random crashes? A downgrade to an older version of sourcemod and metamod respectively perhaps? Or is there a way to set up this "SRCDS" so that it functions exactly the same, meaning it is only online when I am online with it. I can access it from a Left 4 Dead 2 lobby initially, as well as be able to shut it down easily literally any time I am not on it?

For what I'm trying to construct, it basically needs to work exactly like a local area network server. Can this be done or is this a whole other world of problems to set up for something that actually will NOT work or have purpose under dedicated host.

Edit 3: Apparently the crash is not specific to any plugins period. I have had it crash both with and without the last two plugins I assumed I had deduced to be the issue. Being that my gamemode only works when driven manually, I will just have to wait until someone fixes these conflicts. A dedicated server is simply not an option the more I look in to it as a possiblity. This is my only machine, and it is not strong enough to support a functioning virtual box on the same machine I play on the server with.

[asherkin]

Originally Posted by darktemplarr Edit 2: Looking in to this, you mean to tell me I need to set up a dedicated server. The immediate problems with this are that I only have this machine right here to host it which I am not sure is a good thing or not, and it would also suck up more bandwidth than a local server, wouldn't it? [...] Or is there a way to set up this "SRCDS" so that it functions exactly the same, meaning it is only online when I am online with it. I can access it from a Left 4 Dead 2 lobby initially, as well as be able to shut it down easily literally any time I am not on it? For what I'm trying to construct, it basically needs to work exactly like a local area network server. Can this be done or is this a whole other world of problems to set up for something that actually will NOT work or have purpose under dedicated host.

It's just a program you run (much like the game client, or other software on your computer), you can run it and close it whenever you like, it won't use up any more resources than when running a server in your client, and you can configure it however you want (sv_lan 1 would be a good start for a local server). You might need to join with the connect command in the console rather than via the lobby system - I'm unsure of the specifics of L4D2.

Originally Posted by darktemplarr Being that my gamemode only works when driven manually, I will just have to wait until someone fixes these conflicts.

Originally Posted by darktemplarr If I were to get my hands on outdated versions of sourcemod and metamod respectively that still functioned with l4d2, would that be a bypass to this fucking conflicts thing? I need it local or my project is virtually shot.

They cannot be fixed, they cannot be worked around with older versions of SM - it's intentional behaviour by Valve (we can't even legally work around it due to the DMCA, the conflict is with anti-piracy systems in the client).

[darktemplarr]

Originally Posted by asherkin It's just a program you run (much like the game client, or other software on your computer), you can run it and close it whenever you like, it won't use up any more resources than when running a server in your client, and you can configure it however you want (sv_lan 1 would be a good start for a local server). You might need to join with the connect command in the console rather than via the lobby system - I'm unsure of the specifics of L4D2.

srcds.com is what you are referring to right? It appears to just be a means of upholding a source dedicated server. Am I looking at the right thing? What does SRCDS stand for, how does it not use any further resources than something like a local server would suck up, and where can I find the official version? Can you please link me so I am absolutely sure I am looking at the right thing before I start digging in to it for as a potential solution to set up?

I was under the impression that a dedicated server either requires a second machine to host it, or a virtual box which my current machine will have to actively host at the same time, which is very hardware-demanding and not an option for me. This SRCDS is completely new to me. Is it not the same?