*CRASH* The memory could not be 'read' error, for HL2 and CS:S

[seanahrens]

AMD XP 2800+
160 GB SATA RAID (80+80)
1G DDR RAM (DUAL CHANNEL*)
WIN XP PRO

original problem: would get "memory error- cannot read...", 6 seconds into the intro for a new game, or during loading

the attempted solution: i added the new miles sound driver things into both of the disputed folders. I got about 10 seconds further in the intro for a new game after this.

the second attempted solution: i took the advice of someone in the forum and removed one ram stick (went from 1G to 512mb). I ran HL, started new game, and got all the way from the train to barney in the interrogation room. then it crashed with the same old memory error. ive been playing since then with it crashing (w/ the memory error) randomly (around 3-15 minutes) from that point on.

just thought id give you another testimony.
-sean

my third attempted solution: i had been playing with only one stick of RAM (512mb) and it worked signifcantly better than it had with 2 sticks (1G), but still crashing about every 3-15 minutes. I decided to add those "launch properties" to the target box in the HL2 shortcut ("C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 220 +mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1). I played HL2 for about 20 minutes without any memory errors (still audio stuttering). So I thought that that solved it, so I turned off my comp and put back in my other stick of RAM (now back up to 1G). And i tried to run HL2 and it crashed with the mem error (sometimes without the mem error) early in the intro sequence, etc. It was really bad. I ran HL about 5 times and this happened consistently. I am convinced the RAM has something to do with it. I took out the second stick again, launched HL2. it ran, but i didnt get out of the train before it crashed again.

the question has arised to me, whether this has to do with having a motherboard that has DUAL CHANNEL RAM. That is what I have. And obviously, when I'm only using one stick, my mobo wont be using that feature. But when I do use both sticks, it does. I'm curious whether this has anything to do with the crashing.

Do any of you who have the mem error have a DUAL CHANNEL RAM feature on your mobo? Don't confuse this with DDR. It is a feature that only some motherboards have.

Thanks

 

[Crazycanuck]

I have two sticks of 512 DDR ram.

I finally narrowed my problem to the FSB. I have my pc overclocked.
I had my cpu overclocked to 11 times and my FSB to 197. I lowered my FSB until I stopped getting errors. I lowered it all the way to 193. My AMD 2500 still runs at 3200 or 2.1Ghz. Since lowering my FSB, about 5 hours of play time ago, I have had no more memory errors.

 

[destrukt]

i had to take mine down from 200 mhz to 185. my cpu runs @ 2053 instead of 2200 but the performance is still the same, or even better if i dare say so [possibly because of the different ram timings].

 

[!@bLah:(]

by adding those lines to the "launch properties" what do you mean? do i right click on the HL2 link and go to properties...then add those lines to the end of what is in the "target" box?

thanks

my bad, I should have been clearer. Yes, in the target box.

 

[kennerado]

I have this same problem but some save games load and others dont, the one I want to load always has this crash error.

 

[The ToAsT]

If for nothing other than to keep reminding Valve that this problem hasn't gone away, this problem still hasn't gone away.

I have the UK DVD version, and have had the memory 'read' error from the beginning. Yesterday I downloaded the latest version of Steam and HL2 at work (only have 56k at home), did a backup, and then installed that latest version on my home PC.

Memory 'read' error worse than ever. Endless amounts of tinkering and following the instructions on the Steam support forums has achieved precious little. The really annoying part is the unpredictable nature of it - some times it crashes every couple of minutes, other times (in the same place on the same level) it can run faultlessly for 30 minutes or more.

Terribly disappointed really, can't enjoy the game like this because I just can't get in to the swing of it. Such a shame after all the anticipation.

 

[neowens]

How do i check if my pc is overclocked? and how do I change it so this game actually works before christmas? Cheers peeps

 

[oldagerocker]

I only get this when i try to play a demo... the game goes to a blank screen with a text typing curser and eventually it comes up with the memory cannot be read error. Im disapointed because i want to view demo's, but i guess il have to wait until its fixed.

 

[ZoFreX]

How do i check if my pc is overclocked? and how do I change it so this game actually works before christmas? Cheers peeps

If you don't know whether your pc is overclocked, bets are it isn't.

 

[gzm]

I've been lurking here at the forums for a long time and now decided to actually post something .

I've tried numerous "fixes" and nothing seemed to work... until Crazycanuck's idea to lower FSB.

As far as I've tested it - it worked. I lowered my FSB from 200 to 166. No crashes when I'm playing Counter-Strike: Source. Normally it would crash after 10 minutes of gameplay.

I'll do some more testing and post again if the problem is still there... but looks like it did the trick.

 

[cave]

I have Dual Channel on my IS7. I was having the memory error when I had my two 256 MB sticks in slots one and three. I moved them to two and four and have not crashed since.

 

[seanahrens]

I have Dual Channel on my IS7. I was having the memory error when I had my two 256 MB sticks in slots one and three. I moved them to two and four and have not crashed since.

So by moving them, were they no longer utilizing dual channel? because i have 3 slots. 1 and 2 are on one channel, 3 is on the other. so if i moved my sticks (usually in 1 and 3) to 1 and 2, then it wont be using dual channel.

 

[rado907]

OK this is really quite gay.

Initially I could play HL2 without saving and CSS normally.

FIrst patch. HL2 memory read errors all the time.
But CSS is fine I think what the hell, play that.

And now, the current patch. CSS memory read errors TOO.

WTF... Valve... WTF?

 

[neowens]

I could play CSS without any errors at all which is cool, and I just typed that text into the command line and it worked great. Now HL2 and CSS work. At the risk of sounding complaincent, and i know some of you just wanna play HL2, i cant play deathmatch which looks cool.... still cant moan. Good luck guys.

 

[taku]

So I left HL2 alone for over three weeks, hoping to come back and find that Valve has released a patch for this. And what do I find when I return? THEY HAVEN'T!? WTF is this? I paid $55 for a set of coasters?

 

[MetalMessiah]

Memry read error

:angry: I get this error when half-life 2 starts. it goes to a blurry screen and waits there for a long time and then i get the pop up. I used to be able to play CS:S but now i get the memory read error on that too. I cant play deathmatch either.

1 month old
Dell 4700
3.0 GHZ Pentium 4(HT)
512MBs of ram
intel integrated video <- i was told by VU games that the problem is because of the intel video cards
soundblaster or something sound card.

This is stupid because the intel video cards are directx 9. I cant get a refund for the game either. Ive been waiting 5 years for this game God damnit im pissed off.

 

[^Ben]

No the intel cards are not direct x 9 they are direct x 9 compatible but they have the featureset of directx 7.

Honestly instead of sending the game back I would send that PC back and use the money to buy an immensly better PC for the same price.

That ram is probably extremly low quality, and don't even get me started on intels graphics card they are one of the reasons PC gaming is not as big as it could be. And im not even sure if that P4 is a C variety.

 

[Brazooka]

Found One More Fix!

FOUND ONE MORE FIX! At least worked for me... After trying lots of possible fixes, I decided to try changing my memory timings. The Steampowered support says we should relax it, 2 to 2,5, 6 to 7... but when I checked my mem timings they were 8 3 3 3, I thought "what if, instead of relaxing, I try to tight it up?", so I chose a preset option(6:5) 7 2 2 2.5 and IT WORKED!!! I played for 3 hours straight, no crashes!!!

Now, don't ask me why it worked, I don't know sh*t about mem timngs... I hope this fix works for some of you, please let me know if it does!

I know some of you are pretty pissed with this situation, I was too till yesterday, but don't give up! The game is f*cking beautifull !!!! Umbelieveble story!!! Amazing graphics!!! And the vehicles.... awesome!

Specs:
Athlon xp 3200+
MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR (Phoenix Award BIOS)
2 X 512Mb Kingston PC3200
RADEON 9800 PRO
120GB RAID 133 7200rpm Ssmsung HD
40GB RAID 100 7200rpm Seagate HD(slave)

 

[rado907]

Actually the newest Intel cards are DirectX 8.1... So they run Most games problems is usually they are not supported.
But HL2 runs perfectly on my Intel integrated... Apart from the MR error it's fine. The memory read error has nothing to do with video cards sheesh.

My comp is a brand new Dell as well though.
But people with older games and ATI/Nvidia cards have the problem too...

Dunno...

 

[tahrikmili]

I had this exact same problem and solved it before stumbling into this thread. Just writing to let you know my experience.. had the memory could not be read error on the following system:

Epox 8KRAI
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Running at 11x200 MHz)
2x 512MB PC2700 Kingston ValueRam (Running at 200MHz)
128MBB Sapphire 9800PRO (Running with 9800XT BIOS)

I kept getting the memory error in CS:S but HL2 was fine. Eventually, I decided my poor PC2700 sticks could not take it anymore, and started running at 13x166 (3000+ settings) and I think I solved it.

If you are having problems with this game and are running at 200MHz you should either relax your ram timings, or if they are already at the most lax possible, either go down to 166MHz or buy better PC3200 or better RAM. My PC2700 Kingston memory sticks never had a single glitch before (actually, come to think of it, I did have a few weird lockups with Doom 3..) but I guess it's now time to buy some real PC3200 RAM.

 

[Clay005]

I Have An Answer

All should read:

All have been reading these forums for some time now trying and looking for a solution to my problem. I had tried many things none of them worked. I talked to someone with VUgames in the live chat. I have found that the problem for me is if you have an Intel graphics card it does not have theTransform and Lighting Function, that HL2 needs. This could be the problem for many. Here is an explanation http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-011910.htm. So a better graphics card is needed.

 

[Dominant1]

i have this problem on my fx-55 6800gt system with audigy 2 card. i also have an fx-51 machine with a 9800xt card that does not get this error. its a problem with nvidia cards no matter what driver, from what i can see.

 

[destrukt]

All should read:

All have been reading these forums for some time now trying and looking for a solution to my problem. I had tried many things none of them worked. I talked to someone with VUgames in the live chat. I have found that the problem for me is if you have an Intel graphics card it does not have theTransform and Lighting Function, that HL2 needs. This could be the problem for many. Here is an explanation http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-011910.htm. So a better graphics card is needed.

yes, we've already discussed the problem with intel integrated graphic chips, and it has been officially addressed by valve.

 

[Crazycanuck]

I had this exact same problem and solved it before stumbling into this thread. Just writing to let you know my experience.. had the memory could not be read error on the following system:

Epox 8KRAI
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Running at 11x200 MHz)
2x 512MB PC2700 Kingston ValueRam (Running at 200MHz)
128MBB Sapphire 9800PRO (Running with 9800XT BIOS)

I kept getting the memory error in CS:S but HL2 was fine. Eventually, I decided my poor PC2700 sticks could not take it anymore, and started running at 13x166 (3000+ settings) and I think I solved it.

If you are having problems with this game and are running at 200MHz you should either relax your ram timings, or if they are already at the most lax possible, either go down to 166MHz or buy better PC3200 or better RAM. My PC2700 Kingston memory sticks never had a single glitch before (actually, come to think of it, I did have a few weird lockups with Doom 3..) but I guess it's now time to buy some real PC3200 RAM.

Sounds like same solution I posted last week on the previous page. I have the same set up except I use Samsung PC3200 ram.

 

[alisgood2]

how do you get to the timing configuration to fix the memory timings with the CS source problem?

 

[MetalMessiah]

All should read:

All have been reading these forums for some time now trying and looking for a solution to my problem. I had tried many things none of them worked. I talked to someone with VUgames in the live chat. I have found that the problem for me is if you have an Intel graphics card it does not have theTransform and Lighting Function, that HL2 needs. This could be the problem for many. Here is an explanation http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-011910.htm. So a better graphics card is needed.

Im using an Intel integrated card. My game did not work before cause of the memory read error. I fixed it either by typing this into the launcher: +mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1. or by adjusting my paging settings or whatever. I did both at the same time so i dont know. The graphics are a bit slow though, but whatever.

 

[Dominator5158]

Memory Problems

IAM HAVING THE SAME ISSUES WITH THIS CANNOT READ MEMORY THING...only...when i start the game whether its CS:S or HL2 ..it opens then closes and goes back to Desktop..ive been awake for hours tryign to fix this..PLEASE HELP ME..I BEG ALL OF YOU!

 

[Dominator5158]

Memory Problems

I have a RADEON 9600 PRO 256MB...512MB of RAM...and AMD ATHLON XP...PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[Dominant1]

the latest steam update on 12/22 may have fixed the problem. i played on my nvidia machine for 2.5 hours without a single incodent.

 

[RustyNail]

I read somewhere that it was a directx9 related issue and that steam is resolving the issue. What version of directx does everyone have who experiences the bug?

 

[FLAIR]

wow this many people have the same problem as well...cmon valve

 

[Asga]

How to finish a Half-Game ? (By G. Newel)

And it could have been worst...
From HL2, I haven't been able to see more than the Valve Logo + Loading screen + our-very-famous-&-beloved error message about a narcissistic memory (who adresses herself). No game at all.

I've tried everything that gentle people at Steampower.com generously adviced me to overcome this problem (Bin-copy, GCF rename, upgrade, downgrade, frag, defrag, plug, unplug, install, uninstall, CAS-RAS-Prefetch Trilogy "please hold the line Mister") but with no other result than a big waste of my time... Steam is a very pathetic screensaver after all. I'd like to see the man that designed and programmed that Mighty Icon of Inefficiency hooked above a Lava Pit. Even if the game ran fine, this installation process would be an absolute shame !

Here is my system :
P4 2,66Ghz (Shuttle Barebone SB51G - i845 - no-overclocking!)
512Mo (very standard settings too!)
Radeon 9700Pro (Catalyst 4.8 to 4.12 - all fanzy marketing stuff disable)
SB Live Value!
Plextor DVD with latest firmware
Win2000 Pro SP4

If anyone knows how to finish Gabe Newel's last Half-Game...
Thanks.

Asga

 

[Dominator5158]

I HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!!!!

OK DO THIS IT WORKED AND HAS NOT CRASHED FOR ME AT ALL...

GO HERE

C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

Then go into where you see Bin folder and then press CTRL+A then CTRL+C then go back to :


C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

Then PASTE ALL OBJETCS!!!

Then COPy EVERY SINGLE THING AGAIN THT U SEE HERE :


C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

EVERYTHINGGG!!! EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT
EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT
for
BIN folder and then go into BIN Folder and Paste and if it asks you to Replace Press YES!!!

AND IT WORKS!!!!!
works for me and others....i hope and i give you guys my best luck to get your game you payed for working!!! :burp:

 

[St3wb3rt]

That doesnt work for me . It crashes (and I get the error) when I try to change the video settings. BTW, I can't even run HL2, only been able to run CS:S (Already beat HL2 anyway).

 

[Legion5]

Asus nForce2 Deluxe (A7N8-D)
AMD XP 3200+
GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
1 GB Ram
Integrated nForce Sound (which owns btw)
though currently using, Audigy 2 Pro Platinum Plus ZS
2x 120GB

-
Running Windows 2000 SP 4

I can play CS just fine, but when I start the HL2 Campeign I get either a Memmory Error or a crash to desktop.

I have some save games from when I was playing the game before, and I can load them just fine and actualy play, but when it tires to load a new area, it crashes to desktop with no error message.

 

[Legion5]

I HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!!!!

OK DO THIS IT WORKED AND HAS NOT CRASHED FOR ME AT ALL...

GO HERE

C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

Then go into where you see Bin folder and then press CTRL+A then CTRL+C then go back to :


C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

Then PASTE ALL OBJETCS!!!

Then COPy EVERY SINGLE THING AGAIN THT U SEE HERE :


C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\YOURACCOUNTNAME\half-life 2

EVERYTHINGGG!!! EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT
EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT EXCEPT
for
BIN folder and then go into BIN Folder and Paste and if it asks you to Replace Press YES!!!

AND IT WORKS!!!!!
works for me and others....i hope and i give you guys my best luck to get your game you payed for working!!! :burp:

OMG it worked!!! Superb.

 

[HalfLife2Addict]

This error's because of bad RAM. Run memtest and find out how many bad segments your RAM has, I had no problems when I was getting similar errors with other software and changed my RAM.

 

[destrukt]

This error's because of bad RAM.

no, it's not.

and dominator, could you please rewrite your 'fix.'

 

[HalfLife2Addict]

no, it's not.

I would like to hear what you think causes the error, then?

Oh wait, you can't.

 

[Asga]

Dominator President-for-life !

Oh Gosh, I can't beleive it. Dominator's tweak just works !

Thanks !