Failed to Create D3D Device Steam Link

OK, so I ran into a persistent Steam Link problem with certain older games. In particular LEGO Movie video game and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean.

I can connect to the PC running Steam from downstairs on the Link just fine but whenever I try to launch either of those games then it switches from Big Picture mode to the desktop with the Failed to create d3d device error message. I initially found a fix by switching on the TV I use as a monitor for the host PC then the game runs on the Steam Link downstairs just fine, but that involves having to go upstairs every time my kids want to play. Therefore my first idea to fix the d3d error was to find a way to switch the TV on when i boot the PC through the link. Sadly after maybe several hours of crawling Google I got nowhere with every road of solution leading to having to buy a HDMI-CEC dongle for the PC. So I then tried messing around with the Steam settings, unfortunately I made the situation worse by doing so and couldn’t even connect to the Computer.

Not long afterwards I made my first breakthrough by trying a newer game and to my delight it worked with no error.

After further research I found there are two methods for fixing the FAILED TO CREATE D3D DEVICE

1. Set the game to run from your graphics card in your graphics control panel.

2. Set the game exe file in question to launch in compatibility for an older version of windows.

This problem is common with certain ATI graphics cards apparently but I am using an Nvidia. The fixes above will likely solve this issue when using the steam link.

If you have any other methods for overcoming the ‘failed to create d3d device’ error then please leave a comment.