Audio Problems with HL2

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this might be intresting info:

i'm running this game on a notebook (Acer Aspier 1501LMi) and it has a AC97 onboard soundchip. But I bought a Audigy 2NX external soundcard.

Well, I was trying the game with the external soundcard and got this stuttering, but now I unplugged the external soundcard and tried with the AC97.

And the bug is still there. So, either this bug affects both sound hardwares, or the soundhardware has nothing to do with this and it's merely a coincident that so many with this bug have a audigy2.

Anyways, i wanted to try out what Rick said, but somehow i cant open the console. I have the "developer console (^)" box checked, but when i press ^ in game nothing happens.

So, how does the console work?
 
I think that from reading this quote below, and that after seeing all of the people with Sound Blaster Audigy's, Live's and SoundStorms we can conclude that the quality of the SoundCard makes no difference in whether or not the game is going to stutter while loading sounds. I think that there is an actual problem with the game in the way that it loads the sound files, and it has nothing to do with system specs. Although I would be curious to have someone with 2GB of RAM say if they are having the same problem.
CastleBravo said:
I have the EXACT same problem with the following system:

Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8V Deluxe Rev2 motherboard w/ 1009.2 BIOS
Realtek AC97 onboard audio w/current A3.57 drivers (downloaded them today from Asus)
1GB OCZ EL Platinum Rev2 PC3200 RAM
BFG 6800 GT OC using 65.73 Forceware drivers
WD 120GB 7,200 RPM HD, defragged right before playing HL2
Clean Windows XP install with SP-2 and all other updates, SP-2 firewall and security center disabled
Fresh virus scan using Symantec Anti-Virus & current defs from LiveUpdate. Real-Time AV monitor turned off. All sypware/adware removed with Spybot Search & Destroy using current definitions.

As a side note, this system scores about 120 frames per second on the Source Stress Test at 1280x960 4xAA 8xAF & maximum detail settings. 69,000+ on Aquamark 3. No sound problems with anything else (e.g. Doom 3). Anti-virus software is disabled & turning off hardware acceleration didn't seem to do anything. So I'm pretty sure it isn't a hardware performance issue. ;)
Click to expand...
 
I've just tried the heapsize suggestion and that didn't work.

I think its fair to say this is a problem that we gamers can't really resolve and that its something within the Half Life 2 coding causing the issue.

A defrag didn't make any difference either by the way.
 
wasted said:
this might be intresting info:

i'm running this game on a notebook (Acer Aspier 1501LMi) and it has a AC97 onboard soundchip. But I bought a Audigy 2NX external soundcard.

Well, I was trying the game with the external soundcard and got this stuttering, but now I unplugged the external soundcard and tried with the AC97.

And the bug is still there. So, either this bug affects both sound hardwares, or the soundhardware has nothing to do with this and it's merely a coincident that so many with this bug have a audigy2.

Anyways, i wanted to try out what Rick said, but somehow i cant open the console. I have the "developer console (^)" box checked, but when i press ^ in game nothing happens.

So, how does the console work?
Click to expand...

console is ~ key ....and it is definatly NOT just audigy cards I have nforce2 onboard sound stutters, same with my PCI slot soundblaster live 5.1
 
On a side note Rick, if you need to see the problem in person. I live jus right up 85th street from you guys. If you want I could run my computer down to you guys if you haven't been able to simmulate the problem there.
 
Did anyone try to turn the sound complete off, that might work :)


Well seeing as you all have tried all these things suggested as I cant until I get home from work, it discourages me from playing until its fixed. I am going to try all those things anyway because what doesnt work for you may work for me or show improvment at least. I hope this issue is resolved soon :(
 
I have the same problem. Here are my stats:

P4 2.2
512mb ram
9800 pro (techconnect drivers built on Catylst 4.12 beta)
sb live 5.1
 
BTW, I did try turning the sound sync on.... it actually seemed to make the problem worse for me? What kind of sound engine does this game use, is it just DirectSound?
 
The snd_async_fullyasync lessens the stuttering somewhat, there are instances where there are stuttering even with this, but it lessens. However... This is not a good solution, sound is async ... When someone hits me, the sound might sometimes be delayed by 2 seconds. Opening a door and you walk outside, you cant hear the door opening, and you walk 5 meters and suddenly the sound comes of you opening the door.

The sound of people talkng gets overlapped ... you pick up a bottle and drops it, you cant hear it, 2 seconds later the sound of you dropping the bottle.

Not w very good solution, but a god tip ... some people other that me might have good effects with this.
 
Right then.

I've just took the files from my Half Life 2 installation and transferred them to my secondary PC. First off though, here are the specs of both PCs...

Primary PC
P4 3.0GHz
1 Gig DDR RAM
ATI X800 XT (4.11 CAT drivers)
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (Latest Drivers)
WinXP SP1

Secondary PC
AMD Athlon 1800+
512MB DDR RAM
Nvidia Geforce4 Ti4800 SE (Latest Drivers)
Soundblaster LIVE 5.1 (Latest Drivers)
WinXP SP1

The problem occured on the secondary PC too. Is it possible that us lot with this problem could have got a dodgy download due to busy servers? I have noticed in the console at some points, the game reports that some sound files are missing (a wind one when you get off the train at the start for example).

I really can't see this problem being related to specific hardware. Those two PCs are pretty diverse in their hardware suggesting that. Even the motherboards in those two PCs are different and yet the problem is there.

Hope this helps.
 
Same problem, somewhat. I have a Creative Audigy LS, p4 1.8 ghz, 512mb ram, ATI Radeon 9500. Its a stuttering prob...kinda sounds like a scratchy-like noise everytime it stutters. I also had this with CS:S, even before HL2 came out.
 
well, i didnt dl the game, i bought it on DVD in a shop, so it's not a bug due to busy steam servers (at least not in the downloading process, i dunno about the unlocking stuff).

well, i hope it's not an installation bug. i took like 80(yes, eighty!) minutes to install, and i'm not really keen on doing it again and again just for testing...

if there's really sth wrong, a CRC check with a working version would show
 
Maybe it has something to do with the encryption used on the files. That they're getting mangled when they're being decrypted by the steam unlocking download. Just a thought anyway.
 
Same problem here
p4 2.4, ati 9700 pro, soundblaster live 512mb ram. Tried all off the above but nothings helps. With 5.1 audio it's the same problem as with CSS (crackling bad sounds) setting 2 speakers or headphone fixes this but in HL2 setting 2 speakers or headphone stutters when something is loading in small area's without action the sound is ok (not with 5.1).
Thus when there is much action and much loading it's not playable.
To bad cause this game looks as the best i've ever seen and played.
No problem at all with games like farcry, mohpa, sims2, starwars battlefront and many others. As a last resort now disfragmenting my HD's but i don't believe that will help much.
Seems that most ppl with this problem have a creative soundcard.
 
Well I have the same problem.

I got a Althon XP 2400, 700MB of DDR Ram, Geforce 3 Ti 500 and a SoundBlaster Live! 1024 (PCI) and I get the problem.

I made an Autoexec file and put the following in it:

r_mmx 1
r_3dnow 1
r_sse 1
snd_async_fullyasync 1
snd_mixahead "0.5"
sv_forcepreload "1"

And while it did make a marginal reduction to the stuttering, it's still there, and hasn't gone at all. In fact, with these settings onI noticed a number of sounds having a large delay (lag) so I'd hit something, and it'd take a second to hear the smash. Also I found if i shoot a gun lots of times, it would cut out all-to-gether and in the worst cases, it just wouldn't play a sound at all.

It's definately NOT a autoload problem. I've heard from friends that the vampire game using the source engine also has the problem for some people, so it looks like a bug in the engine.

I've still not worked out a way around the problem, and i'm not gonna continue to play HL2 until Valve manages to fix the problem :)

Good to see you guys at Valve are on it though, thanks for all your work, great game!

Pip
 
This is really starting to piss me off to an enourmous degree. I have paid for this game and i expect to be able to play it, somewhat hassle free. But no... I just started this game and the sound, studdering issuue is really getting to me, i cant turn around a corner or open a door or du anything but stand still and the game studders. As soon as some action starts its HORRIBLE!!! The game freeze up in seconds intervalls. I run up some stairs and the game freeze for 2 seconds and i suddenly find myself running into walls, missing doors, running too far... game freeze!

AND I CANT LOG INTO STEAM EITHER!!!

I WANT MY MONEY BACK! I WANT A REFUND!

BTW here are my sys spec.

Abit NF7-S v2 Nforce 2 Soundstorm.
AMD XP 3000+
Radeon 9500 Pro
512 mb RAM
 
This is really starting to piss me off to an enourmous degree. I have paid for this game and i expect to be able to play it, somewhat hassle free. But no... I just started this game and the sound, studdering issue is really getting to me, i cant turn around a corner or open a door or do anything but stand still and the game studders.

As soon as some action starts its HORRIBLE!!! The game freeze up in seconds intervalls. I run up some stairs and the game freeze for 2 seconds and i suddenly find myself running into walls, missing doors, running too far... game freeze!

And now i cant play even though i have paid for it, i have registered the game online and i cant play because steam cant connect somehow. This is really starting to get to me.. if this persists i will demand a refund and maybe buy the game when the programmers have sorted the issue... And by the way.. did you test the game at all before sending it to retail? How could you not notice this horrible bug? Its obiously something wrng with the game, i see lots of people with all sorts of high end machines have the same exact issue.

BTW ...here are my sys spec.

Abit NF7-S v2 Nforce 2 Soundstorm.
AMD XP 3000+
Radeon 9500 Pro
512 mb RAM

This is making me nuts!!!
 
And now the forums ar escrewed aswell.. how nice... please delete message #59 ... it was not meant to be posted. Thanx!
 
just swapped my SB Audigy 2 SZ for an older SB Live!...and still the stuterring continues - and thats when its not playing any sound....(though it works in windows)

Creative aren't obscure hardware manufactures....valve should have sorted this....whether its a memory leak or just a plain incompatibility issue, they had enough time....

:(

d
 
just swapped my SB Audigy 2 SZ for an older SB Live!...and still the stuterring continues - and thats when its not playing any sound....(though it works in windows) updating drvs but i don't reckon it'll work...

Creative aren't obscure hardware manufactures....valve should have sorted this....whether its a memory leak or just a plain incompatibility issue, they had enough time....

:(

d
 
To Ruben, you're an idiot.

Firstly, your graphics card isn't exactly amazing and I wouldn't be suprised to hear you've got all the options up max. Secondly, you probably have never defragged your hard disk which is causing 99% of your problems.

To be honest, if you don't understand that all pc systems are different, and you want "hassel free", then just buy a console and leave us proper gamers to the best game i've ever played.

Man its scarey.

But still, my audio does stutter - however 99% of people's machines still find it playable, therefore i doubt this is your problem.

Show some respect for Valve, its 5 am there and some of the employees are on this forum, helping out us, their fans.
 
I think this sound problem has something to do with the steam update on Nov 3. I play a lot of DOD and after the update I noticed this sound problem. I've done all of the above tips but it makes no difference.
 
Pippinator:

1. Calling me an idiot because you presume i have all options turned up to max makes you ... well you get it.

2. Presuming i have not defragged my haddrives makes you.. yeah you guessed it.

3. Presuming i do not know there are a lot of different computersystems makes you... yeah.

4. Coming here with your 38 posts and trolling me makes you a scmuck, i bet you are a 17 year old idiot who does not know his head from his ass speaking the way you do. Calling me an idiot based on my post in this thread proves to me that you are the ONE!

5. I bet i have played more PC titles than you ever had in your life, judging by your statement in the above post. Calling me a console gamer and no proper gamer. How nice.

HAve some respect for Valve... What are you? Who the hell are you? Get away from here unless you have some answers! Defragmenting your hard drives and updating your drivers is the least of my problems. Technical issues is the least of my problems. If you read these posts instead of trolling in here and being a smartass you will see that there are highend systems that have the same exact problem.

And by the way you little brat ... my 9500 pro can measure itself agaiinst many new ati cards... its the most versatile DX9 card ATI ever created so STFU kid.

Now go on and troll some other thread.
 
I'm sure that this is one of the more obvious problems in the game if not the most obvious, and I bet that it'll be one of the first updates Valve releases. Give them a few days and I bet that there will be a patch.
 
Exactly. After I experienced it (and don't take this wrong please - I'm sorry for anybody who has), I was a little relieved to find out it was so widespread and isn't related to my computer. That means there'll probably be a fix, and fairly quickly. (I sure hope so). Thanks Valve for noting this - it's appreciated. We know you've done hard work on this and have faith you'll iron out the problems.
 
2o3 said:
I think this sound problem has something to do with the steam update on Nov 3. I play a lot of DOD and after the update I noticed this sound problem. I've done all of the above tips but it makes no difference.
Click to expand...


This is interesting.... because css went fine for me and then suddenly dust & dust2 were not playble anymore due to this stuttering....this must have been sometime after the 3rd of Nov when i noticed ..... so it might have something to do with that update....
 
I have nothing to add other than to say the problem is there for me too. . . I'm using onboard sound on a Dell 400sc. I thought it was a ram issue (only have 512MB) so I bought another gig today. Hopefully it will help with the problem. I noticed a similiar problem with CS:S, where sometimes the first time I shot anything, the sound would repeat for a couple seconds(sometimes resulting in a crash with the sound still looping). Its a little more annoying with HL2 though, as it happens almost every time something *New* occurs.
 
Adding my name to the list.
Creative Soundblaster Audigy LS.
Can't play the game.
Pissed beyond words.
The end.
 
I am also having this problem, it pisses me off and makes this game unplayable for me :flame:

Edit: I get many stutters and the sound has like static or something.
 
Actually having beaten my head against the wall for 9 hours now, I've noticed that if you go through an area (lets say the starting part of the game) and then reload a saved game from earlier in that area, there is no stutter until you reach a "new" area.
Seems like the sound files are compressed or something, and once they are used get "cached" (for lack of a better term) and are instantly available.
I've tested this multiple times in the opening part of the game, and every time I can get flawless gameplay up to the point where I reloaded. Once I hit new content, it stutters all over again.
So I guess the solution is to play through the game by doing every area 15 times and making as many sounds as you possibly can so they are all cached up, then you can play through "for real".

And for the record, Steam is a piece of crap as well. I love being told I can't play my game (which has already been authenticated) because Steam says so. I also hate the 2 minute wait I get to endure while Steam does whatever its doing before it actually loads anything. With the time they had to prepare this should have gone off near flawlessly. Instead its one of the most horrible piles of crap I've seen since Temple of Elemental Evil, and at least that was quasi-playable.
 
I tried out hl:source and it has the problem as well. At first I thought it was my hardware, but seeing as so many people have this problem on diverse systems, Im actually thankful its probably not hardware, so chances are it can be fixed.

Oh, heres my specs:
Athlon64 3200
1 Gb Ram
5950 Ultra, 66.81 drivers
Audigy 2z
 
Stuttering problem on an nvidia soundstorm audio as well. FPS were well above 80 the entire time, so its not an issue with my hardware. I hope there is a quick fix.
 
I get it, not just when moving either, sometimes Ill just be standing there and some people will start talking which will cause the audio to skip a little.

So is anyone NOT having this problem? What about people with 2gbs ram like the valve staff seemed to be set on playing the game in?

audigy 2, 768mbs ram (has nothing to do with the hdd, its on a completely unused sata drive)
 
It's not hardware. I've tried 3 different drivers for my onboard soundcard (Realtek, nvidia newest + beta) all with same problem I also tried chancing my IDE drivers and all possible hardware and driver settings possible. :dead:

Hope Valve will put out a patch soon.. I hope that's why we have steam - and not just to annoy us. :flame:

nForce2, onboard AC97
XP2500+ @ 3200
9800XT 128 (4.12 beta)
512 DDR
XP SP1

And absolutely clean machine, no single unnecessary apps except steam :hmph:

Anyone with nForce2 and flawlessly working copy of HL2?? Would love to hear your driver setup..
 
same thing here guys

yeah... i'm having the same problems... unfortunately... AND my two friends are sitting here playing it with NO problems telling me my computer sucks... even though it's better than both of theirs... man... this really does suck... hope you valve guys get a patch out QUICK... i can't wait to play hl2 w/ no problems... as far as solutions go, i have a creative live card, had the problem, so i switched to my mobo's integrated card, still have it. changed the hard drive that hl2 was installed in... still have the problem... disk clean up, memory freeing... new drivers for everything, nothing works... i hope it's the game and not my computer... please... PATCH IT!!!!!!
 
if someone new the commands, i bet if you coiuld up the cache for the sounds in the console it would fix this.
 
Hi,

Adding my name here to, i have this problem stutter when new sounds are cached.
Also my m8 has the same problem with his HL2 but he also has Vampire Bloodlines which dosent suffer from this and it use the Source engine. He has the almost same setup as me but with 512meg of ram and 9800XT
It must be Steam causing the problems, i also noticed the CS:S update making the game stutter just last week and the otherday it thought it was loads of user stressing Steam with there pre loads i guess not.

Nforce 2
3200 Athlon XP
1gig ram
9800Pro 128
Win XP Sp1
 
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