Assertion failed!

Question

I can't launch Half Life Dedicated Server to host a server for me and my friends. Don't know any possible fix.

When i double click on hlds.exe it says

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library

Assertion Failed!
Program:

G:Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life\hlds.exe

File: c:\buildslave\goldsrc_win32\build\G...\CreateM...age.cpp

Line: 613

Expression: strlen(m_szMod) > 0

JIT must be enabled

Answer 1

Hi, Цветомир Тодоров

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

We understand that you have encountered an Assertion Failure error with the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library while running Half-Life Dedicated Server. This is usually caused by the program code encountering some conditions that are not expected at runtime. It is recommended that you try the following solutions: 

1. Verify the integrity of the game files:- Open the Steam client.- Go to “Library” -> Right click on “Half-Life Dedicated Server” -> Select “Properties”. Open the Steam client.- In the “Local Files” tab, click “Verify Integrity of Game Files”.- This will check and repair any missing or corrupted game files.2. Reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable:- Visit Microsoft official website to download and install the latest version of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.- Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn- After the installation is complete, restart your computer and try to run hlds.exe again.3. Clear the game cache before running HLDS:- Delete the cache files in the Half-Life game directory:- Navigate to the G:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life directory.- Delete the cache folder (if any) in the directory where hlds.exe is located.- Restart the Steam client and try to run hlds.exe again.4. Run HLDS as administrator:- Right click on hlds.exe and select “Run as administrator”.- This will ensure that the program has enough permissions to run the necessary operations and prevent problems caused by insufficient permissions.5. Check the game configuration files:- It is possible that some configuration files or mod files are causing the problem.- Navigate to the G:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life directory and check liblist.gam and other configuration files for problems.- Make sure there are no empty mod fields in the config file.6. Enable JIT debugging:- Follow the error prompts to ensure that JIT (Just-In-Time) debugging is enabled on your system.- Open the Visual Studio Tools menu and select Options.- In the “Debugging” tab, make sure “Enable JIT debugging” is checked.If the problem persists after trying the above options, it may be related to the programming of the game tool itself, and you are advised to contact Valve's official support.

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist