Audio Problems with HL2

[ShivaX]

I just had the exact same problem, and restarting the game hasn't helped. I've checked the key bindings in the .cfg file, and w is bound to +forward. ShivaX, have you managed to fix this problem?

There is a setting (sorry cant remember where) in the .cfg that sets your movement speed. For some reason mine was set to 1 (normally its 400). So once I changed it back to 400, everything worked fine again.

 

[Griifin]

ive gone down the uninstalll track as i have tried every thrown up cfg and setting suggestion out there ive redownloaded its telliin me 100% rdy ta play but the properties tab says 838 mb at a loss atm.

 

[ilove64]

I am severely dissapointed at the stress test results with my rig (6800 GT, 1 gig of ram, 3.2 ghz):

 

[akula]

ilov64

Something else is wrong there, You should get 80+ FPS. Don't think this is the games fault, could it be time for a reformat?

 

[G-Mans Luv Child]

Woohoo! I was post #800!!! I feel all special!!

*Sigh* I'm so bored! Want to play HL2!!!!

 

[Ka-Oz]

I GOT IT FIXED !! :bounce: :cheers: :bounce: :cheers: :bounce: :cheers: :E :E :E

I uninstalled my ATI 4.11 Drivers and installed the lasted OMEGA drivers (http://www.omegadrivers.net/) now everything works like a charm, i got rid of 99% of the slutering. now i am just experiencing a sound loop for an 1/2 second after the loading of a level.

as a side note, i dont think its normal to have such a load of error showing up in the console of a final product ...
"missing caption xxxxx , failed to load to load sound xxxxx/xxxxx , CSceneEntity xxxxx unable to find actor named xxxxx, ect... "

Thats what they call an optimized game ? with so much junk left in the code i have a doubt.

System :
P4 3Ghz Asus P4C800-E
1 Gig Ram / Ati X800 Pro
Audigy 2
WinXP sp2

 

[rd_syringe]

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

 

[efilflah]

I know what you mean. I downloaded the leaked CS:S to optimise my system before it was release (/excuse) I was getting 125fps in the stress test.
I formatted reinstalled everything, same settings, tweaks, same cs:s settings...now I'm getting 91fps....a 30fps drop..kinda sux, not as severe as yours appears but I share your pain.

 

[rd_syringe]

as a side note, i dont think its normal to have such a load of error showing up in the console of a final product ...
"missing caption xxxxx , failed to load to load sound xxxxx/xxxxx , CSceneEntity xxxxx unable to find actor named xxxxx, ect... "

Thats what they call an optimized game ? with so much junk left in the code i have a doubt.

Doom 3 does the same thing. Check the console sometime.

 

[Vahn]

I had the stuttering prob as well and it was really bad....

With the cfg tweaks like snd_mixahead cl_smooth etc.. i could lessen it a bit...but it wasnt really nice to play...

Today by accident i noticed that my cpu went up to 90° C so i decided cleaning my whole pc interior ... omg never saw so much dust in a cooling fan in my life!

i remembered someone saying that moving the soundcard up some pci slots would help with sound errors some time.... i did that and now.... it works perfect !!! no stuttering no nothing

I understand that this wont help everyone...but maybe it will work for some of u ....


my specs:

p4 3ghz

1024 mb ddr

Radeon 9700 pro + cat 4.12 beta

SB Audigy2

 

[Matriel]

i did the extraction thingy of the sound files and it made it a lil better for me (well a lot better compared to before) only bigger explosions and stuff cause stuttering.
but i'll try the soundcard moving tomrrow as well 'cause i'm going to install more ram anyway

btw specs are:

xp 2600+
512mb (tomrrow 1024)
radeon 9500 pro 128mb
audigy zs2

 

[G-Mans Luv Child]

I GOT IT FIXED !! :bounce: :cheers: :bounce: :cheers: :bounce: :cheers: :E :E :E

I uninstalled my ATI 4.11 Drivers and installed the lasted OMEGA drivers (http://www.omegadrivers.net/) now everything works like a charm, i got rid of 99% of the slutering. now i am just experiencing a sound loop for an 1/2 second after the loading of a level.

as a side note, i dont think its normal to have such a load of error showing up in the console of a final product ...
"missing caption xxxxx , failed to load to load sound xxxxx/xxxxx , CSceneEntity xxxxx unable to find actor named xxxxx, ect... "

Thats what they call an optimized game ? with so much junk left in the code i have a doubt.

System :
P4 3Ghz Asus P4C800-E
1 Gig Ram / Ati X800 Pro
Audigy 2
WinXP sp2

Dunno about these Omega drivers....I'm not very technical when it comes to the pc and I saw this on the read me for the drivers:

"After installing the new drivers and rebooting, if your desktop is SLOW and
games won't run, is because AGP acceleration has been disabled by Windows, in
order to fix this you MUST re-install the latest AGP chipset drivers for your
Mother Board (this also includes laptops). After rebooting check the Advanced
SmartGart Options in the Omega Start Menu and see if at least AGP/PCI read are
both ENABLED, if all of them are enabled, the better, but some MBs doesn't
support AGP/PCI write functions, if all still disabled, just click on "Retest
All" and press OK to restart."

I'm not sure if I could find the right chipset drivers for my Dell Motherboard.....I'm so crap at stuff like this! ;(

 

[MeanWhile]

What's helped me so far is -heapsize 512000 (only a little) and replacing the latest Catalyst drivers with Catalyst 4.7. This helped alot, the stuttering when G-Man is speaking in the intro scene is completely gone now.

Game still stutters upon loading dialog though, in other words it stutters right before the dialog start playing.

snd_async_fullyasync 1 helps lessen the stuttering even more, but the "downfall" is that ofcourse what you hear and see isn't always in sync, especially in firefights, so no good.

Guess we'll just have to wait some more... But at least now the game is more than playable for me, after twenty minutes of playing now I'm so immersed that I don't notice any hitching. But it was bad before, before I tried the older driver for my card.

Specs: P4 2.8, 1024 MB RAM, x800 XT, Audigy 2.

 

[shinrai]

"Aside from these isolated drops in frame rate, the game is otherwise perfectly smooth."

That was from the website and I have to disagree. I get below 60 fps in most areas, including indoor and I have done everything to rectify the problem. I know it can't be a hardware problem because I get smooth sailing in Doom 3 and Far Cry. Here are some pictures

Just to let you know, I play at 1024x768 at 4x AA and 8x AF with a GeForce 6800 GT, 3.2 Ghz P4 HT, and 1 gig of DDR400 RAM

I agree. Although i've fixed 90% of the stutter the game still does not run as well as it should on my a64 3200, 6800GT,1 gig ram, audigy. Even when i get 80-100 outdoor it still lags alittle.

 

[Jak]

Steam Update

Steam Client Update Released
November 19, 2004, 3:03 pm · valve

A small number of Half-Life 2 customers have been experiencing problems while playing the game, and we have traced these issues to corrupt Steam cache files. We've released a Steam update to help resolve these issues. If you have been experiencing problems such as crashing during gameplay or startup of Half-Life 2, please restart Steam and then click on one of the links below. Steam will then automatically verify your cache files. The verification process will take roughly five minutes to complete.

To validate Half-Life 2 click here

To validate Counter-Strike: Source click here

To validate Half-Life: Source click here

We're also investigating a solution for the sound skipping problems a small number of users are running into. We'll have a solution for this as soon as possible.

"a small number of users" - Yeah right. Glad they have admitted it offically now.

Source: http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=news

 

[Shinobi]

just tried that fix (despite the fact vavlve said it wouldnt work)

no dice

 

[luckyjan]

Indeed "a small number" ?????? What a bullshit remark from valve :dozey:

 

[Doppleganger]

Hi guys, I'm knew to this forum, having the same dodgy sound problems as everyone else! I do have a very noobish kind of question though, if anyone can help. I've looked everywhere for more up to date drivers for the sound card i use, I realise it's a crappy one but it's worked fine before on every game I own including Doom 3, Vice city, Rome Total War...you get the picture. So, my question is this:

Can anyone tell me where to find recent drivers for a Creative SB Live! card, it's the kind ya get with a Dell Dimension machine....please don't flame me for having a crap system, it's not my fault.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional
System Model: Dimension 4600i
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A07
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 510MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Graphics Card Radeon 9600xt

Just Google Creative SB Live and you should get some joy. I think the latest drivers are still the ones released in 2003. You could also go here and get this driver www.kxproject.com Mainly musicians that use this but it works fine for games too (until HL2 that is )

 

[ilove64]

I'm going to reformat. Yup, I'm that desparate.

 

[goatmanjt]

fixed my wagon!!!

The latest Omega drivers fixed it for me also. No more stuttering ...even when autosaving. Did a clean uninstall of the 4.12 betas and installed the omegas...perfection. Luck has it that im not to far into the game. Im still waiting for a patch though.....all of these little tweaks are just overcompensation for a underlying problem. No matter what color you paint rust ....ITS STILL RUST!!!! :thumbs:


might try the omegas before a reformat......a little less drastic!!!

good luck people



----------------------------------------------------
Ive got headcrabs.

 

[NeuralClone]

Indeed "a small number" ?????? What a bullshit remark from valve :dozey:

Personally, I'm just happy they are working on it.

 

[NeuralClone]

The latest Omega drivers fixed it for me also. No more stuttering ...even when autosaving. Did a clean uninstall of the 4.12 betas and installed the omegas...perfection.

According to omegadrivers.net their last update was on 10/02/2004. "Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.90 (Catalyst 4.10 Beta)" are the latest drivers listed. Are those the drivers you are using?

 

[goatmanjt]

According to omegadrivers.net their last update was on 10/02/2004. "Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.90 (Catalyst 4.10 Beta)" are the latest drivers listed. Are those the drivers you are using?

yup yup. 2.5.90 is the latest version that im aware of.

 

[Ruben]

I made a movie of the stutter!!!

Have a look!

Enjoy!

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1001132#post1001132

 

[efilflah]

**this post has nothing to with the mem/cache/sound problems that this thread relates to. It is more of an observation concerning high end cards and low fps**

Strange, every benchmark I run (3dmark, sisoft sandra) gives the same results that I used to get, and all games that I run now give the same fps they gave before I formatted.

Yet my legal valid CS:S gives me an fps drop of 30 as opposed to the hacked version of CS:S that was released by LuZiFeR.

LuZiFeR Version stress test:
1024X768
Tex Quality High
Model Qual High
Anisotropic 2X
Reflect all
NO AA
Sound High

Result Avg: 126fps (give or take)

UK DVD Release Version with HL2 stress test:
1024X768
Tex Quality High
Model Qual High
Anisotropic 2X
Reflect all
NO AA
Sound High

Result Avg: 91fps (give or take a few)

The source engine seems to me to have gone backwards in performance leading up to the official release.

I've seen this happen with many things, drivers, games, apps where the official release seems to screw everything up where betas worked fine. I mean remember 1.6 ? struggled on alot of high end video cards (mostly ATI) on an ancient engine...and they never really fixed the problem (but there were some solutions to alleviate the symptoms, like downgrading your opengl driver).

Some developers do release patches that solve these poor performance issues, but I really don't understand how they come to be in the first place.

 

[psalm]

Not sure if this will help anyone, and I don't know if it has been suggested or not. But changing my AGP aperature to 512mb (half of my system ram) completely got rid of the sound stuttering for me.

 

[Finnegan]

I do sympathise with you Ruben yours is worse than mine is now. Mine is quite playable now there are some Judders still. It would definately be unplayable in that state and would ruin all enjoyment of the game. I still dont get what makes the game run fine of some pc's i dont see any pattern to it all it seems random.
Peter.


Beware of the Judder Man when the moon is fat.

 

[palefire]

I made a movie of the stutter!!!

Have a look!

Enjoy!

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1001132#post1001132

Ruben:

That's exactly what I'm getting.

 

[akula]

Valve: "We're also investigating a solution for the sound skipping problems a small number of users are running into"

Small number? right..

 

[Wthrman13]

Yeah, mine is the same sort of problem, but not nearly as extreme. I think I was able to improve it a little bit following some of the "fixes" suggested. I'm thinking of trying to reinstall the game at some point and/or change my AGP apeture size (if I can find the option in my BIOS, never have noticed it there before).

 

[toksic]

I havnt read all the posts, but setting my desktop to the same resolution as the game (1280x1024) sure helped for me. still have occasional hiccups though. I have also discovered that I can max everything except shadows with 2xaa on gforce 4800se, with no slow down. Pretty amazing.

 

[palefire]

Valve: "We're also investigating a solution for the sound skipping problems a small number of users are running into"

Small number? right..

 

[Rirath]

Personally, the omega drivers helped me a great deal. In fact, using the 44.03 Quality version, my 3Dmark2001 score went from 4470 to 5470. Benchmarks of a prerecorded demo went from 27 FPS with 7.4 var, to 33 FPS with 2.9 var. A noticable improvement all around.

I find 44.03 work well for me, using a DX 8 Geforce 3. Results may very on DX 9 cards. Use with all the other tweaks listed so far for best results. Bigger heapsize, etc. And if you're not using a custom Quality video driver, I recommend it anyway. The visual difference is definately noticeable, especially if you can only run medium textures. The textures are much sharper.

Get them here:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?threadid=112531 - 44.03 at bottom
http://www.omegadrivers.net/ - new drivers.

--

However, I don't think anything we're tweaking is fixing the bug itself. It seems to me that we're probably just streamlining our systems to an extreme degree, enough to not notice the problem anymore. The good news is that assuming the bug is found and fixed, we'll all have highly optimized HL2 configs and drivers.

 

[Gobuchul]

I made a movie of the stutter!!!

Have a look!

Enjoy!

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1001132#post1001132

Mine is worse than this.

 

[Urethra]

Well, I turned off mouse smoothing and set my in-game resolution to match that of my desktop (1280x1024) and my stuttering problem has gotten MUCH better.

The first time I went through the train station at the beginning I couldn't understand anything because the audio was skipping so much (the video wasn't as bad but there was a lot of stuttering there as well). I just ran through it again after making the changes and it was almost (but not quite) stutter free. In Ravenholm I haven't noticed any stuttering at all yet (fingers crossed).

I'm hoping that doing something like this may help some of you.

 

[NeuralClone]

Okay I just tried installing the latest Omega drivers for my Radeon, with little success. Now I get NONSTOP stuttering and VERY low framerates (10 to 20 fps). After switching back to Catalyst 4.11 the stuttering was reduced to a minimum and I began getting 50 to 60 fps again. This is what I have done that has reduced stuttering:

- defragged my hard drive (it was at 41% after installing HL2)
- ran msconfig, chose selective startup (uncheck everything except Windows services and system services)
- closed explorer.exe
- turned off mouse smoothing

 

[NeuralClone]

In Ravenholm I haven't noticed any stuttering at all yet (fingers crossed).

I've also noticed that Ravenholm is pretty much stutter free as well.

 

[Disposition]

the worst stutter for me is when your in the buggy! it gets pretty bad at this part!

i cant believe they release that statement saying a "small number" of us have this problem! why are the acting dumb?

 

[Sharpfish]

How is it struggling to load textures? Jeez, it autosaves/loads every few minutes (it takes forever too). Is their algorithim for this O(2^n)? Did monkeys write it? Doom 3 & Farcry & UT2004 don't have any problem with this. When users with over a Gig of RAM and 128 mb plus video cards are having problems with memory allocation, something is seriously wrong.

How was this not noticed before????????

:thumbs:

that loading time down every "other" corridor or passageway just as you are getting into in (trying to forget about the stutter) really puts the nail in the coffin for me... 3 older games mentioned that work perfectly on this, no-wonder we expected the same technical skills for loading/saving or BETTER given how long this game has been in dev.

Use cam 1 I was able to clip through the bsp and noticed, even on the less detailed levels, that there wasn't much occlusion going on. Also that there wasn't "that much" detail at all in the game to cause such long load times... I realised it was probably due to the mass amount of scripted audio, A.I, and non algorithmic reliance that has bumped the load times up. Bad move.

 

[Mark-P]

Man, this is going to be a long, boring weekend with that icon sitting on my desktop, taunting me.