HL2 won't run

[scott]

Howdy folks
I installed HL2 on a second machine and it keeps crashing. Sometimes to desktop sometimes it reboots and sometimes it just hardlocks with the the sound stuttering and a blank screen from which there is no recourse but a hard reboot. Sometimes I will get an error message. ( Screenie below )

I downloaded it from steam twice and have "Validated" the files both times.
And did a registry clean between installs. I have also updated my ATI drivers to Cat 4.11 all with no help.
The rig is a watercooled (40 C full load ) NF7 with a mobile barton 2500+ running at 2400 12 x 200. Memory is OCZ PC4000 2x512 2-3-3-6
with a 9800pro 128 ( stock speeds )(Stock cooling )

I have tried running with and without FAH running. FAH has been running on this machine without errors for many months. It passes Prime 95 without errors it runs FAR CRY and DOOM 3 just fine.
Any Ideas ?

Scott

[primesuspect]

Have you done a memtest (http://www.memtest.org)?

[shwaip]

I had a similar problem on my system that was fixed by reducing the OC of my video card. Or the dissapearance of the problem just coincided with my lowering the video card's speed.

[^Ben]

Try adding to the launch options.

-heapsize 512000

[scott]

Well I just hung a floppy drive on it and ran memtest. It failed with 116 errors. I changed the timings to SPD 3-4-4-8 and am running memtest again.

I will let you know

[primesuspect]

memtest WINS AGAIN! :p

[^Ben]

Well anyway add -heapsize 512000 (Or half your current system ram) It really helps with load times.

[shwaip]

Try adding to the launch options.

-heapsize 512000


I've actually heard that you want to use (System RAM / 2) - 64k = "-heapsize 458752" as using 512000k causes crashes on some systems.

[^Ben]

Oh ;)

Didnt' crash for me so i thought it was a-ok.

Has updates for bugs, Apparently they have a fix for the crashing problem being worked on.

http://www.blep.net/hl2stutter/

[scott]

It passed memtest with no errors with the loose timings. It still crashed in HL2 though. I tried the -heapfile 458752 and it has been running fine for about 15 min. now. which is about 14 minutes longer than any previous attempt.

So it seems to be running now.


Thanks Guys !!!

Short Media ROCKS !!!

[scott]

I spoke too soon.

Crashed again with the above memory error.

any other ideas ?


Scott

[primesuspect]

I dunno man, I still suspect the memory. Perhaps you should go to stock settings on everything and see if it runs. If it does, you know it has something to do with your OC.

[scott]

Prime wins the Prize !

I swapped out the memory for some OCZ pc3200 EL 2 x 256 and it ran for a good 40 minutes before I stopped.
So now I guess I have to run memtest for several runs on each stick of the offending 512's to see which one gets RMA'D

Thanks again guys


Scott

[primesuspect]

so.... um..... what's the prize? :D

[pseudonym]

so.... um..... what's the prize? :D

a gift certificate for www.mantouch.com of course :eek2:

[^Ben]

The changes in this release are directed at reducing the problem some users are experiencing with sound stuttering. The sound stuttering is not indicative of a sound problem, sound stuttering is only a symptom of texture thrashing on your video card or AGP memory. For information on how to reduce texture thrashing visit this link on our support site:

http://steampowered.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/steampowered.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=280

This update will fix sound stuttering that users were experiencing that would last for longer than a few seconds during normal gameplay. This update will also eliminate this same behavior following a quicksave or autosave. There will still be a short pause while the autosave happens, but not the more drawn out stuttering behaivior.

We are still investigating another performance problem on some hardware, which will manifest where the game is getting into a state where performance drops to less than 5 fps and does not recover or crashes.

Next week we will be releasing the Source SDK, along with a surprise for the community.

[keto]

With a guest appearance by Richard Simmons. ;D Jetski lessons extra. :eek: