It's taken 7 months to get HL2 to work, and I'm STILL having problems.

[Mega_Lesus]

I'm not going over every detail for fear of boring people. But I had problem with HL2 not getting passed the loading screen after you select to start a new game. It got half way through and I got 'failed to lock vertex buffer in CMeshDX8::LockVertexBuffer' every time or it would just hit an error and I'd get that 'End Now' window. I got it with CS:S too, but that kind of stopped, however I still have problems with it restarting my computer after 10-20 mins of play...

So I looked at forums to see if people had similar problems. I've re-installed twice and last night formated. I've only installed basics like Firefox, WinRAR etc... Tried it again. It got passed the loading screen and the game started.

However, I got off the train, saw a guy on a TV welcoming me to a city, sat there for a bit listening to what he had to say and then got crash, 'failed to lock vertex buffer in CMeshDX8::LockVertexBuffer'.

Anyone know what the deuce is going on? Whats that error message mean, and how to fix it? I read while browsing forums for solutions it's when you return to the desktop and there isn't enough memory... But that doesn't seem to be the problem at all. My firewall did switch me back to desktop to authorise the access, but I restarted the game afterwards. Even after a complete system restart and going straight into the game doesn't stop the error..

Also, just incese anyone has any suggestions, anyone know why CS:S is randomly restarting my computer?

Thanks.

Oh and if it helps I have:

Pentium D 3.40GHz, 1GB of RAM and a Geforce 7300se.

 

[Rapstah]

Try to run the game in DX8 by adding -dxlevel 81 in Steam.

 

[Nitre]

Have you tried updating your graphics drivers to the most recent version? It seems like its a graphics rendering problem. Also, are you running the game in DirectX8? If so, i think you need to input a console command that allows the game to function properly with a backdated version of directx, as the game is supposed to run in dx9 at least.

 

[Mega_Lesus]

Thank you guys. I've found how to back date the Direct X. I'll try it and edit, to let you know.

EDIT: Sadly, it crashed with the same error at the same place. Get off the train, watch the guy on the TV... I tried using 8.1 and will now try full restart and then turning down the settings and using just ver. 8...

EDIT 2: OK, turned down shader detail to low, and a couple of other things to low aswell as changing to DX8.0... Got pasted the old man on the video, went through the turn style-thing... Went over to a man sat at a table to chat to him and then... well, by now you know what happens. Starting to think I may never get to enjoy this game...

 

[Laivasse]

This is what Steam support says about it.

I know this happens without you pressing alt+tab, but some Steam games auto-minimise when certain programs in the background want to come to the front (like IM windows, etc.) Do you have anything like this running? Try adding '-heapsize 512000' to your launch options too, to give the game some more memory to play with.

Also try updating your graphics drivers even though it says that the driver problem is an ATI specific issue.

 

[Mega_Lesus]

Well, I want to thank everyone thats helped... Although I can't say it's 100% fixed yet I have just had a long run on the game without any problems. It looks like crap, but at least I can play it... and that enough for me.

For anyone having the same problem I had to lower ALL detail, making sure the system had only just been booted so all memory was free and all non essential background programs are closed as well as forcing it back to DX8.0...
learn to do that here

... This had better be the best game I EVER played

 

[Mega_Lesus]

Dammit! I just tried to play it properly, got a little bit into it and crashed out on me with the usual error...

I don't know why it's doing this now. My PC has more then enough spec to run the game, and all drivers are up to date... I've done everything it says on Steam's support page, yet I'm still unable to play the game. Even with everything turned off. I've almost given up all hope now. I'll probably end up only playing CS:S :'(

If anyone has any ideas... I'll be the guy curled up in the corner, rocking back and forth in tears...

 

[stewie]

I have:

Pentium D 3.40GHz, 1GB of RAM and a Geforce 7300se.

I have just had a long run on the game without any problems. It looks like crap, but at least I can play it... and that enough for me.

I had to lower ALL detail, making sure the system had only just been booted so all memory was free and all non essential background programs are closed as well as forcing it back to DX8.0...

your graphics card is a piece of crap (and possibly onboard - they put 7100 / 7300 chipsets onboard these days). how much memory does it have? either way, a 7300 is crap, and is what your problem is. replace it.

 

[Mega_Lesus]

your graphics card is a piece of crap (and possibly onboard - they put 7100 / 7300 chipsets onboard these days). how much memory does it have? either way, a 7300 is crap, and is what your problem is. replace it.

Sorry, but you're wrong. I had BioShock brought for me in an attempt to cheer me up and it plays fine. No problems at all. I'm only having porblems with Sorce engine games.

EDIT: Turns out it was my AGV anti-virus causing the problems. My friend phoned me this morning saying he had the same problem with running CS:S and it was because of a Norton product. I've been playing CS:S all morning without any problems since disabling AGV. Tried HL2 and not only have I bumped detail up, I've even managed to get passed that first conversation with Barney with out it crashing and escaped through the window. Go me.

So yeah, for future reference for people having a similiar problem, it could be your Anti-Virus or internet security programs.

 

[joule]

I'm glad to hear you've gotten it all straightened out. Sometimes it could be as simple as disabling a program.

your graphics card is a piece of crap (and possibly onboard - they put 7100 / 7300 chipsets onboard these days). how much memory does it have? either way, a 7300 is crap, and is what your problem is. replace it.

Your rights should be removed from posting in this forum ever again.

 

[Druckles]

When I first got HL2, it stuttered constantly. About the nearest I've had to your problem.

Although Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory restarts my computer occasionally which is annoying. The last time it did, it corrupted my game file so I gave up . It might be something to do with graphics drivers, but I can't update them because I have no internet.

 

[DIEB4ME]

I had that same exact problem not too long ago and i have resolved the issue, as it tured out my os page pool memory was too low to run the game so if you want to fix this then go here http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=60382&page=3 my post is the very last one, this should fix your issue.