Do YOU have stability issues?

[TaiFong]

We've seen a few patches so far, but none to address the freezing/booting bug that seems to an issue with many users. I just wanted to see just how many.

Myself, I always get the freeze + repeating sound bug where I have to restart the computer. I actually start CS knowing I will encounter the bug. Sad really.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Yes apparantly im very unstable ;(

 

[poseyjmac]

lay off the refried beans, it will help!

but have you tried underclocking your components and seeing if that helps? even if you are at stock, its something to try.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

does random performance count?
I get the shittiest performance ever on my PC. (p4 2.6ghz radeon 9800 pro 128mb (256 architecture) 512mb ddr 2700 ram)

average fps 20

sometimes I play games with everything max, 1280x1024 4xaa, 8xaf with a server of 32 people, and my fps is around 90 constant.

other times (mostly) I get 10-20fps.

and this whole morning I got 5-10fps.
yah
I have no viruses (scan daily with symantec)
no spyware (daily scan with adaware)
I defragged my HD last night (so it isnt that)
I have my latest mobo drivers, ati 4.10s, soundcard etc.

its just random.
the only thing I can think of is I need to format my HD. (80gb seagate barracuda)
and if that's not it.... I have no idea.

time to buy new ram/mobo/cpu I guess.

or should I go with an x800 pro (don't really want to, because it's not that impressive.... I would rather wait for next gen cards in feb)

edit: also, no matter if I have every option on low, no aa, no af, host my own server (no people), am in dx level 7 and 640x480.. I CANNOT increase my fps... it stays the same (basically) as it is with everything maxed... kinda pointless.

 

[2n193r]

CSS crashed on me bc, i created a loop (script) that would go for ever. :dork:

 

[poseyjmac]

mr redundant, this could potentially be related to the server you are on. a server that isn't up to the requirements will give all clients a worse framerate than a powerful server.

or do you notice the difference on the same server?

 

[AlaskanStewie]

I get that Memory could not read error too much, and I get kicked to the desktop.

My maps Aztec, Dust2, Cobble, and Havana are different then the servers...

I just bought the Silver package yesterday and installed CS:S TWICE.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

mr redundant, this could potentially be related to the server you are on. a server that isn't up to the requirements will give all clients a worse framerate than a powerful server.

or do you notice the difference on the same server?

I see a difference on the same servers.
including as I said, creating my own server on lan
and on my other pc
and on Hl2.net servers.

I think I may just need a format.. or something.
regardless Im getting new hardware soon, just can't decide what.

sorry to hijack your thread, I will create my own in the Hardware forum.

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

I have been getting hicckups lately when someone blow up grenades. I hear the grenade going off and everything stutters. My fps feels like it's dropping to 1 and the sound stutters.

This only happens a few times every day. Most of the time it happens on de_chateau .. Strange .. Maybe it will get fixed eventually.

 

[v1p3r]

No stability issues for me at all, and I overclock

 

[Asuka]

I haven't had any stability issues so far

 

[downthesun]

I OCed my video card quite a bit and I've had zero stability issues. :naughty:

 

[Bio]

My system has great stability.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

I have been getting hicckups lately when someone blow up grenades. I hear the grenade going off and everything stutters. My fps feels like it's dropping to 1 and the sound stutters.

This only happens a few times every day. Most of the time it happens on de_chateau .. Strange .. Maybe it will get fixed eventually.

thats when someone blows up physics objects, usually when the T's Grenade the middle (the boards covering the crack)

it lags everyone, no matter how powerful your pc. (at least everyone I have ever asked while playing)

 

[The Monkey]

No, but I've only played it for one day.

 

[Mouldy Punk]

Occasionally my PC will quite to desktop with a memory read error. But that hardly ever happens. Usually only if my PC has been on all day and I have hardly any RAM left.

 

[Miker75]

I used to get the freezing and sound looping bug quite often, but now for some reason, CS:S does not do it, but the Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 demo from ATI's website *does* do it, on a constant basis (luckily I wasn't *that* interested in the game, but because of the error I'm not interested at all). No other apps/games have any problems. Every other steam based game plays well, Doom3 no problem. Far cry demo no problem.

 

[John Romero]

do you all get repeating/stuterring sounds on certain maps like aztec when you look at walls? like for instance in ct spawn stand near the wall in the corner by the stairs leading to bridge. do you hear a rapidly stuttering background sound like water/birds that causes your game to lag up and your framerate drop?

 

[poseyjmac]

yea john i get that too.

 

[Dre3k]

Occasionally my PC will quite to desktop with a memory read error. But that hardly ever happens. Usually only if my PC has been on all day and I have hardly any RAM left.

If you get the Memory read error you may want to try either bumping the vdimm voltage up a bit in your bios or relax your ram timing settings within the bios to try and help stability.

 

[cadaveca]

You all are lost puppies....
sry for being harsh, but really....
how many of you with issues installed your own hardware?

I keep going on steampowered, posting fixes taht don't actually involve the game, and lo and behold, i get flamed. "NO OTHER GAME CRASHES! YOUR FIX CAN'T WORK!"

Surprisingly enough, those that try my fixes get thier issues solved.


LOW LOW LOW FPS?

drivers installed in wrong order.





CRASH TO DESKTOP? MEMORY REFERENCE ERRORS?

IRQ conflict.
like this guy:

well, after trying to change the IRQ's for my NIC and sound hardware in my motherboards bios and failing. i couldn't switch em from irq 22 from some reason. in bios i'd set the NIC to IRQ 7 and it would still take IRQ 22.

SO, i disabled my on motherboard NIC and swapped in a piece I say 10/100 linksys. now the linksys nic uses IRQ 19 and my on motherboard sound uses 22 and video uses 16.

AND!!!! DRUM ROLL!!!

i've not had one lock in 3 hours of play. damn. that's solid. i'm gunna play all night and post tomorrow. damn if it wasn't IRQ all along.

DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU?

send me a pm, and i'll get it fixed for you. Don't waste my time tho... i'll ask you to do seemingly stupid things that did not work before, but there is a routine to troubleshooting. Do them, be patient, and things will end up working. It may take time, as alot of variables can come into play, but i get results.


I make my living solving these issues, but out of support to Valve, i'll lend my time for free. Too many people are blaming Valve for Microsoft and hardware OEM issues.

 

[poseyjmac]

irq conflict? thats a laugh.

we are not in the 90s anymore, so stop trying to troubleshoot as if people have problems that computers had in the 90s and come into the 21st century where OSes such as windows xp exist..

people get memory reference errors for many different reasons, irq conflict not being one of them i have ever heard of. for instance, i fixed a constant memory reference error, when i used ati tray tools to lock refresh rates instead of refreshforce. if i didn't any resolution that had a frequency of 85hz would give an instant memory reference error.

even i get low fps in parts of maps, and i know the ins and outs of xp pro, and i pride myself in my slimmed down unattended installations and tweaked video settings. there are problems with CS:S whether you care to admit it or not. even the smartest tweakers in forums like hardforum.com get low framerates in CS:S because there are problems with it.

you say you do it for a living, that doesn't mean you are smart, guy. the fact that you gave those weak responses for each issue shows that you don't know have current knowledge on how these issues are happening.

well, after trying to change the IRQ's for my NIC and sound hardware in my motherboards bios and failing. i couldn't switch em from irq 22 from some reason. in bios i'd set the NIC to IRQ 7 and it would still take IRQ 22.

SO, i disabled my on motherboard NIC and swapped in a piece I say 10/100 linksys. now the linksys nic uses IRQ 19 and my on motherboard sound uses 22 and video uses 16.

AND!!!! DRUM ROLL!!!

i've not had one lock in 3 hours of play. damn. that's solid. i'm gunna play all night and post tomorrow. damn if it wasn't IRQ all along.

and notice that this guy didn't change his IRQ's to get it working. he changed NICs. so in fact his nic on his m/b was screwed up.

 

[cadaveca]

yeah ok then. In my 20 years of building pc's, I've learned nothing.(Except CS:S runs smooth as silk for me. 5 different pc builds.)

Not my fault dude doesn't know to disable "plug and play os" in bios to stop windows from frocing the IRQ that the driver was installed with.

2 devices, especially sound and NIC, using the same IRQ...no not an issue at all.

It's people like you that make problems worse than they really are. Go back to the basics...things have NOT changed that much.

BTW...how long has XP been out....if anything, it's outdated too.


Nobody seems to remember that the game is GOLD....or how many RC's were sent....or how many builds of the engine there are. Oh, i forgot...Valve have spent the last year doing nothing.

 

[Dre3k]

CRASH TO DESKTOP? MEMORY REFERENCE ERRORS?

IRQ conflict.
like this guy:

well, after trying to change the IRQ's for my NIC and sound hardware in my motherboards bios and failing. i couldn't switch em from irq 22 from some reason. in bios i'd set the NIC to IRQ 7 and it would still take IRQ 22.

SO, i disabled my on motherboard NIC and swapped in a piece I say 10/100 linksys. now the linksys nic uses IRQ 19 and my on motherboard sound uses 22 and video uses 16.

AND!!!! DRUM ROLL!!!

i've not had one lock in 3 hours of play. damn. that's solid. i'm gunna play all night and post tomorrow. damn if it wasn't IRQ all along.

Sounds like his on board sound and NIC were in conflict. This would result in a hard lock with looping sound in game etc. I dont see how IRQ conflicts would have any thing to do with memory read errors.

 

[poseyjmac]

yeah ok then. In my 20 years of building pc's, I've learned nothing.

Not my fault dude doesn't know to disable "plug and play os" in bios to stop windows from frocing the IRQ that the driver was installed with.

2 devices, especially sound and NIC, using the same IRQ...no not an issue at all.

It's people like you that make problems worse than they really are. Go back to the basics...things have NOT changed that much.

BTW...how long has XP been out....if anything, it's outdated too.

not saying you've learned nothing, but don't go touting your experience here pridefully and expecting people to respect you because of that alone. no one likes a pompous jerk. what we do like is solutions to problems.

with current motherboards, you dont even need to TOUCH the plug and play OS option, or most of the old options in the bios.

people like me that make problems worse than they really are? there isn't a shred of sense or factual basis in that statement. what in the hell are you talking about?

 

[cadaveca]

Sounds like his on board sound and NIC were in conflict. This would result in a hard lock with looping sound in game etc. I dont see how IRQ conflicts would have any thing to do with memory read errors.

That's why i make money building pc's.

IRQ- interrupt request. look at it this way...nic says pyhsics should be in such and such a place. This is stored in memory. Shortly after, the soundcard writes to that same block of memory, and wipes out what the nic wrote. Nic goes looking for the saved info...and cannot find it. Memory reference error. Basic stuff, dude. They shared the same reserved memory space, as they are using the same IRQ.

 

[cadaveca]

not saying you've learned nothing, but don't go touting your experience here pridefully and expecting people to respect you because of that alone. no one likes a pompous jerk. what we do like is solutions to problems.

with current motherboards, you dont even need to TOUCH the plug and play OS option, or most of the old options in the bios.

people like me that make problems worse than they really are? there isn't a shred of sense or factual basis in that statement. what in the hell are you talking about?

the problem is not the board, posey, it's windows. Turn off that option, and windows does not take control of IRQ management.

 

[poseyjmac]

That's why i make money building pc's.

IRQ- interrupt request. look at it this way...nic says pyhsics should be in such and such a place. This is stored in memory. Shortly after, the soundcard writes to that same block of memory, and wipes out what the nic wrote. Nic goes looking for the saved info...and cannot find it. Memory reference error. Basic stuff, dude.

alright, explain how my memory reference error happened,smart guy. as i explained before, i was using refreshforce to lock refresh rates. i could run any resolution as long as it was 85 hz or lower. if i ran any resolution that was above that id get the memory reference error. after installing ati tray tools and using its refresh lock, the problem disappeared. now, explain how that works?

 

[cadaveca]

alright, explain how my memory reference error happened,smart guy. as i explained before, i was using refreshforce to lock refresh rates. i could run any resolution as long as it was 85 hz or lower. if i ran any resolution that was above that id get the memory reference error. after installing ati tray tools and using its refresh lock, the problem disappeared. now, explain how that works?

Your video driver is responsible for resolution control...and your video control panel was proly an active process. You had another process, trying to force other settings, in conflict with the control panel. This is why you can stop and start the Catalyst Control Center's runtime...


two programs trying to do the same thing...same as two peices of hardware sharing an IRQ...slightly different, but the same. you could also solve this problem by just installing your vid driver, and not the control panel, and then use all the programs you are more familiar with....that then would not be in conflict with another program.

 

[cadaveca]

Sounds like his on board sound and NIC were in conflict. This would result in a hard lock with looping sound in game etc. I dont see how IRQ conflicts would have any thing to do with memory read errors.

the only conflict was the IRQ's...

 

[Dre3k]

Was the guy getting a lock or being dropped to desktop with a memory read error?

Sounds to me like he was getting a hard lock up which sounds like what i would expect with how he had is sound/nic IRQs set prior. I know ppl who get memory errors in Source(and other games) due to too aggressive memory timing settings or too little voltage for their memory.

Never heard of that error being related to an IRQ conflict however.

 

[poseyjmac]

Your video driver is responsible for resolution control...and your video control panel was proly an active process. You had another process, trying to force other settings, in conflict with the control panel. This is why you can stop and start the Catalyst Control Center's runtime...


two programs trying to do the same thing...same as two peices of hardware sharing an IRQ...slightly different, but the same. you could also solve this problem by just installing your vid driver, and not the control panel, and then use all the programs you are more familiar with....that then would not be in conflict with another program.

-im not running CCC.
-refreshforce.exe doesnt run as a process, all it does is autodetect best refreshrate settings, and slaps them in the registry for the display driver to see
-ATI tray tools is a process, yet everything works now with it.

your explanation isn't accurate. why not just say you don't know?

 

[cadaveca]

posey...you've got me wrong... i'm not touting my knowledge..but i was formally trained on this stuff.
THESE GAMES ARE AWESOME...and noone should be left out, because of stupid problems. I can help...and am offering that help...but, if people, like you have, respond saying it won't work..i'll just not answer.


That's why i said send me a PM. This way i can ignore the crap. I just don't have the time...really...Christmas is here, and i have a store to run. I just want to help as many as possible, and would like others to not get in the way.


Sad thing is, if Vavle would post these things(not like they really should have to, but it would end alot of whiing), we wouldn't be here in the first place.

 

[poseyjmac]

i know you were formally trained. that is why you feel the need to give an explanation for every fix, regardless if you actually know what you're talking about, because it makes the customer feel good, and they'll never know any different. but i know enough to know that you gave a BS explanation to me. just please, try and be more humble if you're going to help people.

 

[cadaveca]

I never said that YOU were running CCC...but i'm pretty sure that's why they enabled that option.


great.... so...now that you have one process, and one reg setting, things work. When you had two things trying to do the same thing, it didn't.

Really, i DON'T know ecaxtly what your issue was , but if i had your eventlogs, i could pinpoint the exact issue. I simply posted one possibility....


Grow up and stop with the "haha i'm smarter"....it only makes you look more shallow.


you forget that i posted offering help...not because i had to, but because i can. You, Poseyjmac, are simply wasting server space and my time...heck you don't even have a problem...

How old are you? Are you really that shallow? Maybe you need a girlfriend...or at least someone to love you. :hmph:

 

[John Romero]

That's why i make money building pc's.

IRQ- interrupt request. look at it this way...nic says pyhsics should be in such and such a place. This is stored in memory. Shortly after, the soundcard writes to that same block of memory, and wipes out what the nic wrote. Nic goes looking for the saved info...and cannot find it. Memory reference error. Basic stuff, dude. They shared the same reserved memory space, as they are using the same IRQ.

UM...no.

windows is built wit architecture in place where one application/piece of hardware cant write to memory thats already in use by another piece of hardware or software. so theres no way that could happen. if one program tried to write to memory that was already in use it would get an illegal error and crash. maybe something like that happens but its not like you said...not at all.

a lot of people who crash out of the game with memory errors dont have a stable system. if your computer crashes or applications crash when they use a lot of resources, then your computer isnt stable. someone or maybe yourself overclocked too far and didnt test for stability. my cs used to crash a lot too with memory errors. i just clocked my fsb down a notch ...stable as a rock .

 

[cadaveca]

LOL yeah..windows is perfect.

I overclock...not too seriously, but yeah overclock. No issues.
[email protected]/[email protected] vid cards overclocked too...

if one program tried to write to memory that was already in use it would get an illegal error and crash

um, yes, and no. we are both right. But you're just getting into more detail that i explained. Still the same issue. I have answers that are "politically correct"...you don't fault your investors.

do i need to..nah.. i don't. PLUG AND PLAY OS(turn it off). I don't enable that on my builds...changes things slightly.

Regardless, the root of the problem is still the same. When 2 devices share the same reserved memory, whether it be the memory has been overwritten(which gives an "IRQ not less to or equal" BSOD), or not allowed to be access(like in your instance, with just a crash to desktop), the end result is a crash. It's part of what makes USB so problematic. Regardless of what causes the crash, these things are recorded in eventlogs. A simple perusal of the logs will tell you the real error, and allow you to fix it.

This is the problem i had with poseyjmac:

and notice that this guy didn't change his IRQ's to get it working. he changed NICs. so in fact his nic on his m/b was screwed up.

in his rush to prove me wrong, for whatever reason, he fails to notice that while re-installing the NIC, a new IRQ had been assigned, which was the real root of the problem. It's not the onboard NIC that's the problem, as posey states. He's just trying to make me look bad, for whatever reason. Maybe i pissed in his cornflakes, or stole his girl...who knows. Funny too, how I posted that a different resolution changer other than what comes with the driver was a problem.....weeks ago.
Now, instead of dude being unable to change maps, he just gets random crashes. there's still some issue, but it will be easier to find(and at this point overclocking being the problem makes more sense). once he gets a few logs of the issue, and i get the errors, i can fix that too, as can just about anyone, with a little time.

 

[poseyjmac]

I never said that YOU were running CCC...but i'm pretty sure that's why they enabled that option.


great.... so...now that you have one process, and one reg setting, things work. When you had two things trying to do the same thing, it didn't.

Really, i DON'T know ecaxtly what your issue was , but if i had your eventlogs, i could pinpoint the exact issue. I simply posted one possibility....


Grow up and stop with the "haha i'm smarter"....it only makes you look more shallow.


you forget that i posted offering help...not because i had to, but because i can. You, Poseyjmac, are simply wasting server space and my time...heck you don't even have a problem...

How old are you? Are you really that shallow? Maybe you need a girlfriend...or at least someone to love you. :hmph:

no thats wrong.(yet again) the one process and one reg setting is what DIDN't work. when running the two programs, it DID work. see, you really don't know what you're talking about. like i said, spouting off a bunch of stuff to make you think you are actually helping.

 

[poseyjmac]

This is the problem i had with poseyjmac:


in his rush to prove me wrong, for whatever reason, he fails to notice that while re-installing the NIC, a new IRQ had been assigned, which was the real root of the problem. It's not the onboard NIC that's the problem, as posey states. He's just trying to make me look bad, for whatever reason. Maybe i pissed in his cornflakes, or stole his girl...who knows. Funny too, how I posted that a different resolution changer other than what comes with the driver was a problem.....weeks ago.
Now, instead of dude being unable to change maps, he just gets random crashes. there's still some issue, but it will be easier to find(and at this point overclocking being the problem makes more sense). once he gets a few logs of the issue, and i get the errors, i can fix that too, as can just about anyone, with a little time.

according to what the guy said, he couldn't change his IRQ for the onboard NIC and have it stick, so he installed a new NIC which got an IRQ that was ok. did he fix the onboard lan with your help? not according to the quote you gave. so your help didn't really apply to the problem. a busted NIC is a busted NIC, doesn't really matter why its busted if it can't be fixed. again this is going off the brief quote you gave. if you had given a link to the whole situation, it would have shed some more light on the situation.

refreshforce is NOT a resolution changer, all it does is figures out your highest refresh rates for your display driver to know. and yes when you try and give a BS explanation for something you know nothing about, i will make you look bad. you don't even know the difference between refreshforce's method of locking refresh rates and ATI tray tool's method(neither do i but i admit it), yet you say oh that makes sense! please.

 

[cadaveca]

Really, i DON'T know exactly what your issue was , but if i had your eventlogs, i could pinpoint the exact issue. I simply posted one possibility....

i said this earlier...so why are you still posting? Of course i don't know the exact cause...how could I? Have we done any troubleshooting? That how problems get solved, but you are just getting in the way. I don't get it...you really are a loser, aren't you? Grow up! Why don't you try actually helping people, instead of wasting thier time?

but of course, because of these very words in bold, you'll post again