HALF LIFE 2 TROUBLESHOOTING/TWEAK THREAD!

[TheVrolok]

For those of you having that random stuttering/freezing every 20 seconds it seems it's more than likely the autosave feature. I used to get it on my system (P4 2.8 1GB DDR GeForce 6800 P4C800-E Deluxe) until I see this thread. The advice there does work, I tried it out and now the game no longer autosaves and therefore no longer stutters.. keep in mind you must now remember to quicksave!

 

[SilverTorch]

Thanks warcrow,

got a few things to try when I get home tonight

I'm getting the choppyness and such.

3.4 P4 HT
nVidia 6800
Audigy 2

 

[fwtong]

I've noticed that Half Life 2 won't start if my Nostromo Loader is on Auto Mode, but will start if it's on manual mode. Don't know if anyone else uses the N50 and Nostromo loader to play games.

 

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: buck
im sorry to read this, i am having issues as well, i am reinstalling HL2 because of memory errors as well. Its rediculous. I tried erasing that one file that someone mentioned and steam had to redownload for 100+minutes overnight and this morning i cant even get into the game. arrggggg

Any luck, buck?

Finally, i uninstalled hl2 and then i deleted the whole valve folder. I saved the saved game folder and the config.cfg.
I reinstalled and did some tweaks on my video card like change drivers to 61.77 and toned down my memory settings in bios even though i wasnt overclocking at the time. I used the same settings as anand did on his review and its worked. I am able to play without problems or lockups.

I am however disgusted with the performance of my 6800gt. For $400 i sure as hell thought i would get somethign a little better. HL2 is beautiful though even at 1152x864 (?) with settings turned down just a little.
Any luck on your end werk? Still cant play?

 

[WeGotVlad]

I have a problem with CS Source. When I load CS Source I get this message in the console:

"Game .dll loaded for "Counter-Strike: Source"
Both ConVars must be marked FCVAR_REPLICATED for linkage to work (r_VehicleViewDampen)"

Anyone know what this means so I can play? I can get to the menu look for a server but when I get to the internet filtering, the game section where I have to choose a game is frozen and I can't pick cs source to play. Every other filter works except that one and it says master servers cannot be listed. Can anyone help?

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: silverpig
If anyone is having the "Memory could not be 'read'" error, try deleting the halflife 2 content.gcf file and re-download it. I was getting that error and it turned out to be a corrupted map file in my download. I deleted and re-downloaded and now everything works fine.

Had the same problem with CS:Source as it'd crash every few minutes with that error. I just finished re-installing it. Haven't tested it yet though.

I had this problem last night. I will try this when i get home. thanks

 

[XMan]

Has anybody figured out how to speed up the loading of levels? It just feels weird having to wait 1-2 minutes for levels to load on a game again . . . it's been a long time since I've had to pick up a book and read every so often while playing a game.

 

[puffpio]

Originally posted by: buck

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: buck
im sorry to read this, i am having issues as well, i am reinstalling HL2 because of memory errors as well. Its rediculous. I tried erasing that one file that someone mentioned and steam had to redownload for 100+minutes overnight and this morning i cant even get into the game. arrggggg

Any luck, buck?

Finally, i uninstalled hl2 and then i deleted the whole valve folder. I saved the saved game folder and the config.cfg.
I reinstalled and did some tweaks on my video card like change drivers to 61.77 and toned down my memory settings in bios even though i wasnt overclocking at the time. I used the same settings as anand did on his review and its worked. I am able to play without problems or lockups.

I am however disgusted with the performance of my 6800gt. For $400 i sure as hell thought i would get somethign a little better. HL2 is beautiful though even at 1152x864 (?) with settings turned down just a little.
Any luck on your end werk? Still cant play?

when I read your problem and saw what you've tried already the first thing I thought was 'bad ram' if you have to underspeed your ram to get it to work, you might have bad ram

 

[Shlong]

Don't remember where I got this from, but these two commands removed most of the chopiness for me:

cl_smooth 0
cl_smoothtime 0

better shot registration:
cl_interp 0.01
cl_cmdrate 101
cl_updaterate 101

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: X-Man
Has anybody figured out how to speed up the loading of levels? It just feels weird having to wait 1-2 minutes for levels to load on a game again . . . it's been a long time since I've had to pick up a book and read every so often while playing a game.

Get more RAM

 

[0roo0roo]

medium sound quality supposedly fixes some stutters

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: pio!pio!

Originally posted by: buck

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: buck
im sorry to read this, i am having issues as well, i am reinstalling HL2 because of memory errors as well. Its rediculous. I tried erasing that one file that someone mentioned and steam had to redownload for 100+minutes overnight and this morning i cant even get into the game. arrggggg

Any luck, buck?

Finally, i uninstalled hl2 and then i deleted the whole valve folder. I saved the saved game folder and the config.cfg.
I reinstalled and did some tweaks on my video card like change drivers to 61.77 and toned down my memory settings in bios even though i wasnt overclocking at the time. I used the same settings as anand did on his review and its worked. I am able to play without problems or lockups.

I am however disgusted with the performance of my 6800gt. For $400 i sure as hell thought i would get somethign a little better. HL2 is beautiful though even at 1152x864 (?) with settings turned down just a little.
Any luck on your end werk? Still cant play?

when I read your problem and saw what you've tried already the first thing I thought was 'bad ram' if you have to underspeed your ram to get it to work, you might have bad ram

Dude, 1000 :beer:s to you. I ran memtest again and I started getting errors (weird, I ran it a couple days ago for 2 hours or so with no errors, now after 15 minutes I get errors). Pulled my 512MB stick and replaced with another 256MB (total 512MB) and HL2 now plays fine (at least for the past 45 minutes). Need to add some more ram to my Christmas list now, I guess.

 

[Yossarian]

oh man I can't wait till my new parts arrive. ATI x800 Pro and 2x WD Raptors in RAID-0 to go along with my current A64 3000 and gig of RAM

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: warcrow

Originally posted by: X-Man
Has anybody figured out how to speed up the loading of levels? It just feels weird having to wait 1-2 minutes for levels to load on a game again . . . it's been a long time since I've had to pick up a book and read every so often while playing a game.

Get more RAM

Sh!t, man I've got a gig!

 

[Extrarius]

buck: Physically inspect your motherboard. I've had 2 epox boards die on me so far, both from faulty capacitors. The symptoms that led up to the end each time was system instability of the chaotic kind(ie first stuff that points to faulty RAM then a week later it looks like the vid card is dying then next week the lan card won't init half the time etc) in/shortly after system-intensive situations (ie games). See if any of the large capacitors are bulging way more than the others. Some may even have corroded some (looks almost rusted).

 

[davboo]

I just got a new system and what better game than HL2 to de-virginize it with??? Well, it sorta doesnt run well and i'm having problems like most of everybody above combined, kicks me out to desktop, freezes... and this is before I even get off the train! My system is an AMD 3200+ on an ASRock mobo with 1gig Mitsibitshi pc2700 ram geforce 5200 128meg vid card 24 bit creative sound card and latest drivers for all of it, so what gives??? Werk's last reply on the memory deal sorta changed things a bit. I put a stick of crucial 512 pc2100 in and ran it and was finally able to get off the train without it locking freezing or something but made it to the first load screen and had a loooooooong wait, played almost 30 sec, then crashed out... Is it a ram issue you suppose? Can someone provide a link where I can check out a memory tester? Whats really odd is I can't even play Deus Ex Invisible War! It runs slooooooow at the lowest settings, am I busted up in BIOS maybe? I have no idea here, usually problems in the past have been driver problems but that doesnt seem to be the case... Is there a known issue with DirectX 9.C not being happy on the geforce 5200 vid card...? But I can run Painkiller with no problems :disgust: ... So if any of the rambling above triggers an idea from someone, I'd really appreciate a reply.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: davboo
I just got a new system and what better game than HL2 to de-virginize it with??? Well, it sorta doesnt run well and i'm having problems like most of everybody above combined, kicks me out to desktop, freezes... and this is before I even get off the train! My system is an AMD 3200+ on an ASRock mobo with 1gig Mitsibitshi pc2700 ram geforce 5200 128meg vid card 24 bit creative sound card and latest drivers for all of it, so what gives??? Werk's last reply on the memory deal sorta changed things a bit. I put a stick of crucial 512 pc2100 in and ran it and was finally able to get off the train without it locking freezing or something but made it to the first load screen and had a loooooooong wait, played almost 30 sec, then crashed out... Is it a ram issue you suppose? Can someone provide a link where I can check out a memory tester? Whats really odd is I can't even play Deus Ex Invisible War! It runs slooooooow at the lowest settings, am I busted up in BIOS maybe? I have no idea here, usually problems in the past have been driver problems but that doesnt seem to be the case... Is there a known issue with DirectX 9.C not being happy on the geforce 5200 vid card...? But I can run Painkiller with no problems :disgust: ... So if any of the rambling above triggers an idea from someone, I'd really appreciate a reply.

memtest86
Just follow the instructions on the site for creating a floppy or bootable cd test with.

Good luck!

 

[imported_Krypto]

Hey, I heard there was a problem running HL2 on a widescreen? Something about it crashing and the blue screen of death? I'll be playing it on my laptop and I was wondering if anyone has had any problems playing it widescreen.

 

[remagavon]

Originally posted by: X-Man

Originally posted by: warcrow

Originally posted by: X-Man
Has anybody figured out how to speed up the loading of levels? It just feels weird having to wait 1-2 minutes for levels to load on a game again . . . it's been a long time since I've had to pick up a book and read every so often while playing a game.

Get more RAM

Sh!t, man I've got a gig!

I have 2 gigs and it loads slow

 

[KeithP]

Well I have now experienced my first problem with the game. I am running a Shuttle SN45G, 1GB RAM, 6800 GT (stock speeds...66.93), Turtle Beach SC sound card.

When I reached Black Mesa East and start going through the cut scenes I can't make it through. The game keeps locking up during the cut scenes (in different spots). Turning down the sound quality has not helped.

My rig has run through D3 and Far Cry and a handful of demos without a single problem. While this is my first issue, it is a big one since I can't get through to the next stage. Based on what I am reading here and in other forums I think the best bet is to just stop playing and wait for driver and game updates. This game has issues.

-KeithP

 

[Bumrush99]

Originally posted by: werk
This is getting ridiculous. 2 days now and I cannot play this game. I get pretty much every error discussed on the halflife2.net, hl fallout, and steam forums. Memory errors, crashing to desktop, restarts, hanging to black screen, artifacting, stuttering, etc.

System:
Ideq 200v sff
Athlon XP 1600+ (soon to be replaced with a 3000+, not that I think it'll help)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
768 MB PC 2700 (name brand crucial and kingston)
80 GB Seagate 7200 rpm ATA drive
Dell 1900FP LCD

I have all the latest drivers
Latest via 4in1s (also tried older versions)
Latest Catalyst (still need to try Omega drivers)
DirectX 9.0c
SP2/all latest updates (also tried no sp's/updates)

So far I've tried:
Every console tweak listed, in different combinations
Defragging HD
Deleted all game content and registry entries, uninstalled steam, redownloaded HL2
Windows reinstall (currently, there is nothing on this system but XP, all updates, drivers and 3DMark2003)
Only running 512MB stick, either slot
Running system with huge desk fan blowing into it (although temps were reported as OK previously)
Underclocking 9800/processor
Every resolution/quality combo I can (most times it crashes when trying to change resolution though)
Probably some other stuff I've forgotten by now

It's not heat or PSU issues as I ran it through 3DMark several times last night.

This is driving me insane, I get memory errors if I try to change resolution, crashes at random times, memory errors at random times, stuttering at random times.

So far, the farthest I've gotten is seeing the strider walk by right after you get out of the train station.

:|

Next step is to switch everything around with my MCE machine (SN41G2) and see if an NVidia chipset fares better...oh boy, I'm really looking forward to reinstalling windows 2 more times.

Is anything overclocked in your system? I had the exact same problems on my rig, and until I put everything at default, the game continued to crash with a BSOD every 30-60 minutes. If that is not the case, make sure to relax your memory timings in the BIOS and see if that solves the problem.
EDIT: After reading this entire post, I may try relaxing my high end corsair to cas 2.5.. I'm not ready to give up on Ultra speeds with my 6800GT, everything else has run perfect before HL2 shat on my supposedly stable system

 

[ss284]

The game seems to work fine for me, but I'm getting weird flashes of white and red on some textures. I'm guessing it might have to do with faulty ram on my graphics card, is that possible? I'm running a BFG 6800GT at stock at 1600-1200, with 4x fsaa and 8x AF with the beta 67.02 detonators. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

-Steve

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: ss284
The game seems to work fine for me, but I'm getting weird flashes of white and red on some textures. I'm guessing it might have to do with faulty ram on my graphics card, is that possible? I'm running a BFG 6800GT at stock at 1600-1200, with 4x fsaa and 8x AF with the beta 67.02 detonators. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

-Steve

Have you tried rolling back to an earlier Nvidia driver version?

 

[ss284]

I tried the 66.83s, and I'm still getting flashing textures. Is there a program that will test my cards memory for errors?
-Steve

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Bumrush99

Originally posted by: werk
This is getting ridiculous. 2 days now and I cannot play this game. I get pretty much every error discussed on the halflife2.net, hl fallout, and steam forums. Memory errors, crashing to desktop, restarts, hanging to black screen, artifacting, stuttering, etc.

System:
Ideq 200v sff
Athlon XP 1600+ (soon to be replaced with a 3000+, not that I think it'll help)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
768 MB PC 2700 (name brand crucial and kingston)
80 GB Seagate 7200 rpm ATA drive
Dell 1900FP LCD

I have all the latest drivers
Latest via 4in1s (also tried older versions)
Latest Catalyst (still need to try Omega drivers)
DirectX 9.0c
SP2/all latest updates (also tried no sp's/updates)

So far I've tried:
Every console tweak listed, in different combinations
Defragging HD
Deleted all game content and registry entries, uninstalled steam, redownloaded HL2
Windows reinstall (currently, there is nothing on this system but XP, all updates, drivers and 3DMark2003)
Only running 512MB stick, either slot
Running system with huge desk fan blowing into it (although temps were reported as OK previously)
Underclocking 9800/processor
Every resolution/quality combo I can (most times it crashes when trying to change resolution though)
Probably some other stuff I've forgotten by now

It's not heat or PSU issues as I ran it through 3DMark several times last night.

This is driving me insane, I get memory errors if I try to change resolution, crashes at random times, memory errors at random times, stuttering at random times.

So far, the farthest I've gotten is seeing the strider walk by right after you get out of the train station.

:|

Next step is to switch everything around with my MCE machine (SN41G2) and see if an NVidia chipset fares better...oh boy, I'm really looking forward to reinstalling windows 2 more times.

Is anything overclocked in your system? I had the exact same problems on my rig, and until I put everything at default, the game continued to crash with a BSOD every 30-60 minutes. If that is not the case, make sure to relax your memory timings in the BIOS and see if that solves the problem.
EDIT: After reading this entire post, I may try relaxing my high end corsair to cas 2.5.. I'm not ready to give up on Ultra speeds with my 6800GT, everything else has run perfect before HL2 shat on my supposedly stable system

yea his problem is rather hard to diagnose. if he has a friend that iwll let him borrow their videocard for a test swap..that might be good 1600+ is rather slow for halflife 2 though.