G
gordon13
Guest
The Following is a time table of my half-life 2 “experience”
Tuesday Oct 19th 9:30am
Drove 15 miles and bought The Gordon Freeman cover copy of the CD set of Half Life 2 at a cost of 54.95 plus tax at a Best Buy.
9:45am- arrived home to my system of love and understanding, a hand-built Athlon 64 3400, VIA k8v-Deluxe, Brand New BFG 6800gt OC, Audigy 2 ZS, 1 gig of the good stuff Micron DDR-400 etc, etc.
9:50am- began to install HL2 with my 52x CDROM
9:59am- inserted disk 2
10:05am -disk 3
10:13am- disk 4
10:20am -disk 5
10:21am- inserted disk 1 for authentication
10:30am -16%
10:40am -62%
10:50am -62 %
11:00am -62% (I am now officially late to my Chem Lab, which I skip)
11:10am -79%
11:17am -100% (Woo Hoo)
11:18am- Steam, play games, Half life 2, Launch…. Preparing to launch….
BOOM. My Computer of love and understanding takes a dump of massive proportions. I get kicked out of windows, no program error, no blue screen of death; I get a complete restart back to my BIOS load screen. That not the bad news, once it checks my CD and DVD drives it fails to located my WD 7200rpm Raptor Hard Drive.
It is now 11:20 and I have had HL2 for almost two hours and I can’t even load windows
11:21am- I try in Vain to restart my computer, only to be defeated by the same error message every time. The definition of insanity is repeating the same task over and over and expecting a different result. After restarting my computer 20 times I take action.
11:24am- First I Unplug PC- this is a time consuming process all in all, three wires for my Klipsh Promedia’s, one for my Ethernet, Keyboard, USB Mouse, Game pad (Nostromo they rock) TV Tuner Cable, Back up hard drive, video in, sound out.
11:30am -I Reseat the Hard Drive disconnecting the IDE cable and reinserting it
11:35am- I meet with success, as my Hard Drive is now operational.
11:36am- I notice my Win XP load time is about a minute plus, 6 times the usual amout
11:38am -Still haven’t played half life 2 yet.
11:40am- check my hard drive, imagine my surprise when Disk manager shows me that my drive is 59% fragmented. Obviously I defrag
11:41am- begin defrag
11:59am -23% complete
12:21pm- 100% complete
It is now 12:30pm I hold my breath and Start HL2
12:31pm- I get a Nice out of focus picture before Crashing Back to desktop.
12:32pm- Take 4 aspirin and take 15 minutes to think (Meaning I Jerked off to relieve my frustration and took a dump)
12:47pm- feeling refreshed I try once again to start hl2 and to my surprise it starts.
12:48pm- while setting up my options, keeping things conservative going with recommended settings, I hit the apply button and I am greeted by a looping sound for 30 seconds before crashing back to windows.
12:50 -since I am using XP pro I checked my monitor, to find a miscellaneous Application error report, since I don’t speak Hexadecimal this does me no good.
1:01pm -I now am mildly miffed, try once more to start the game and low and behold I get to the opening train sequence.
1:02pm- notice a dramtic stutter in the same places in the G-mans speech (a-a-again, w-w-w-world) I ignore this for the time being and begin to play.
1:07pm- the mind blowing graphics are cool but being the audiophile that I am the skipping are getting annoying.
1:27pm- almost 20minutes of game play, you would think I was in the clear….wrong, wrong, wrong
1:27pm- Memory Could at such and such Not be Read at such and such, Application Terminated
1:28pm- Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted
1:45pm- I look to guidance in these hallowed forums, I am relieved to find that I am not the only one.
2:39pm- after writing down so tweaks I begin to implement them.
Beta Nvidia Drivers-10 min
Via 4in1 Hyperion-4 min
Audigy Drivers-4 min
Edit Config File- 2min
3:00pm- I start the game stuttering is reduced greatly but still present
3:18pm- Crash: Memory error
3:19pm- start HL2
3:39pm -Crash: Memory errot
At this point in time I am now miffed, debate on whether or not to get refund.
3:45pm- I go drastic and remove one of my 512meg sticks of RAM, this involved all the unpleasantness of unplugging and plugging back in a lot of wires.
4:00pm -Take more aspirin and fire up HL2
4:02pm -Load Times are noticeably worse and the stuttering is back big time.
4:05pm -Lowered Graphics, Sound, Textures, and resolution, to med settings
4:06pm -I take a moment to realize the irony in buying a 400 dollar, 16-pipe Graphic card with 256megs of RAM and being forced to use these settings. I Chuckle when I reflect on how I ran Doom3 in Ultra mode and Far Cry with all the settings maxed at 60+fps.
4:40pm- 34min without a crash, (note to self:800x600 looks like (Expletive Deleted) on my 19inch)
4:41pm- Water Hazard Third Load Screen Crash
4:43pm- same place, memory crash
4:45pm- crash, same place
4:47pm -Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted
5:00pm -Uninstall Game
5:05pm -Defrag
5:10pm -try a fresh install
5:20pm -.Cab error, installation aborted- WTF
5:21pm- retry install, completes.
5:30pm- much faster install and verification, still defrag afterwards, only 23% fragmented
5:45pm- Launch game
5:50pm- Configured in game options start game
5:51pm- “…your time has c-c-c-come again”, exit game tweak config
6:02pm- Game starts no stuttering, looks like crap because textures are set to low
7:05pm- Water Hazard Third Load Screen….crash, it crashes, it *ucking crashes
7:07pm- return to Forums and try to download game files from steam
9:10pm- 4.5gigs in 2hours, am very happy that Adelphia doesn’t charge bandwidth usage fees
9:12pm- my lab partner call me asking why I wasn’t in class, I give him the lowdown, he reply was that I was stupid. I agree with him.
Have been Working for 12 hours on this and have very little to show for it. I resolve not to play until it has been patched.
10:12pm- I lose my resolve and begin working the problem again
10:15pm- start with the basics (Can We Say Reformat)
11:15pm- Complete Reinstall of windows XP, had problems with activation, to many upgrades I guess, I will fix that later.
11:20pm- Drivers, Drivers, and More Drivers, all the latest and greatest.
11:30pm- Install From CDs
11:50pm- Launch game- to my surprise it works, still cannot make it past the third load screen at the water hazard, without memory crash. Expletive Deleted
What I gained from all this
1. The game now works with Medium Textures, at any resolution, 1600x1200 is smooth High Textures still result in massive stuttering, even if resolution is set to 640x480
2. The skipping is there but hardly noticeable
3. Sound is good, no pops or clicks
I then Spend the next two days installing all my various other programs and MP3s
I leave for Thanksgiving Break, I do NOT take my PC with me
Upon my return today Steam updates HL2
I can now get past the third load screen. I am a happy man.
So The game runs good for a hour, I use this information and I decide to put my other 512 back in to give me my Gig o RAM. That takes 10minutes and a lot of hassle
15minutes later…crash “memory can not be read”
Try again..same results.
Figure BIOS problem, flash with 1.004 revision from Asus.
NOW, now I can play with High textures, and no skipping however…THE GAME STILL (Expletive Deleted) CRASHES with a Memory Error
Tried running mem-manager in backround…crashed
Increased my latencies…crash
Lowered them…crash
Tried DDR-333…crash
DDR-266…crash
Tried swapping RAM sticks in different slot configurations…crash
Tried the heapsize 512000 command…crash
Tried the heapsize 384000…crash
Tried Optimal Mode in BIOS…crash
Tried Aggressive Mode in BIOS…crash
Tried Auto Settings in BIOS…crash
Tried a Sacrifice to the Heathen Gods…crash
Tried a BIOS setting called RAM Interleave Mode…and it works, it works, it works. THANK YOU GOD, IT WORKS :cheers:
After my entire ordeal, it is 1:08am in the morning and I am able to run HL2 the way God…I mean the Gabe intended it to be run. As of right now I have gone 6 Hours with all settings maxed at 1600x1200. But if one where to ask, “Was it worth it all?” My answer would be HELL YES.
Bryophytesd AKA gordon13
Tuesday Oct 19th 9:30am
Drove 15 miles and bought The Gordon Freeman cover copy of the CD set of Half Life 2 at a cost of 54.95 plus tax at a Best Buy.
9:45am- arrived home to my system of love and understanding, a hand-built Athlon 64 3400, VIA k8v-Deluxe, Brand New BFG 6800gt OC, Audigy 2 ZS, 1 gig of the good stuff Micron DDR-400 etc, etc.
9:50am- began to install HL2 with my 52x CDROM
9:59am- inserted disk 2
10:05am -disk 3
10:13am- disk 4
10:20am -disk 5
10:21am- inserted disk 1 for authentication
10:30am -16%
10:40am -62%
10:50am -62 %
11:00am -62% (I am now officially late to my Chem Lab, which I skip)
11:10am -79%
11:17am -100% (Woo Hoo)
11:18am- Steam, play games, Half life 2, Launch…. Preparing to launch….
BOOM. My Computer of love and understanding takes a dump of massive proportions. I get kicked out of windows, no program error, no blue screen of death; I get a complete restart back to my BIOS load screen. That not the bad news, once it checks my CD and DVD drives it fails to located my WD 7200rpm Raptor Hard Drive.
It is now 11:20 and I have had HL2 for almost two hours and I can’t even load windows
11:21am- I try in Vain to restart my computer, only to be defeated by the same error message every time. The definition of insanity is repeating the same task over and over and expecting a different result. After restarting my computer 20 times I take action.
11:24am- First I Unplug PC- this is a time consuming process all in all, three wires for my Klipsh Promedia’s, one for my Ethernet, Keyboard, USB Mouse, Game pad (Nostromo they rock) TV Tuner Cable, Back up hard drive, video in, sound out.
11:30am -I Reseat the Hard Drive disconnecting the IDE cable and reinserting it
11:35am- I meet with success, as my Hard Drive is now operational.
11:36am- I notice my Win XP load time is about a minute plus, 6 times the usual amout
11:38am -Still haven’t played half life 2 yet.
11:40am- check my hard drive, imagine my surprise when Disk manager shows me that my drive is 59% fragmented. Obviously I defrag
11:41am- begin defrag
11:59am -23% complete
12:21pm- 100% complete
It is now 12:30pm I hold my breath and Start HL2
12:31pm- I get a Nice out of focus picture before Crashing Back to desktop.
12:32pm- Take 4 aspirin and take 15 minutes to think (Meaning I Jerked off to relieve my frustration and took a dump)
12:47pm- feeling refreshed I try once again to start hl2 and to my surprise it starts.
12:48pm- while setting up my options, keeping things conservative going with recommended settings, I hit the apply button and I am greeted by a looping sound for 30 seconds before crashing back to windows.
12:50 -since I am using XP pro I checked my monitor, to find a miscellaneous Application error report, since I don’t speak Hexadecimal this does me no good.
1:01pm -I now am mildly miffed, try once more to start the game and low and behold I get to the opening train sequence.
1:02pm- notice a dramtic stutter in the same places in the G-mans speech (a-a-again, w-w-w-world) I ignore this for the time being and begin to play.
1:07pm- the mind blowing graphics are cool but being the audiophile that I am the skipping are getting annoying.
1:27pm- almost 20minutes of game play, you would think I was in the clear….wrong, wrong, wrong
1:27pm- Memory Could at such and such Not be Read at such and such, Application Terminated
1:28pm- Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted
1:45pm- I look to guidance in these hallowed forums, I am relieved to find that I am not the only one.
2:39pm- after writing down so tweaks I begin to implement them.
Beta Nvidia Drivers-10 min
Via 4in1 Hyperion-4 min
Audigy Drivers-4 min
Edit Config File- 2min
3:00pm- I start the game stuttering is reduced greatly but still present
3:18pm- Crash: Memory error
3:19pm- start HL2
3:39pm -Crash: Memory errot
At this point in time I am now miffed, debate on whether or not to get refund.
3:45pm- I go drastic and remove one of my 512meg sticks of RAM, this involved all the unpleasantness of unplugging and plugging back in a lot of wires.
4:00pm -Take more aspirin and fire up HL2
4:02pm -Load Times are noticeably worse and the stuttering is back big time.
4:05pm -Lowered Graphics, Sound, Textures, and resolution, to med settings
4:06pm -I take a moment to realize the irony in buying a 400 dollar, 16-pipe Graphic card with 256megs of RAM and being forced to use these settings. I Chuckle when I reflect on how I ran Doom3 in Ultra mode and Far Cry with all the settings maxed at 60+fps.
4:40pm- 34min without a crash, (note to self:800x600 looks like (Expletive Deleted) on my 19inch)
4:41pm- Water Hazard Third Load Screen Crash
4:43pm- same place, memory crash
4:45pm- crash, same place
4:47pm -Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted Expletive Deleted
5:00pm -Uninstall Game
5:05pm -Defrag
5:10pm -try a fresh install
5:20pm -.Cab error, installation aborted- WTF
5:21pm- retry install, completes.
5:30pm- much faster install and verification, still defrag afterwards, only 23% fragmented
5:45pm- Launch game
5:50pm- Configured in game options start game
5:51pm- “…your time has c-c-c-come again”, exit game tweak config
6:02pm- Game starts no stuttering, looks like crap because textures are set to low
7:05pm- Water Hazard Third Load Screen….crash, it crashes, it *ucking crashes
7:07pm- return to Forums and try to download game files from steam
9:10pm- 4.5gigs in 2hours, am very happy that Adelphia doesn’t charge bandwidth usage fees
9:12pm- my lab partner call me asking why I wasn’t in class, I give him the lowdown, he reply was that I was stupid. I agree with him.
Have been Working for 12 hours on this and have very little to show for it. I resolve not to play until it has been patched.
10:12pm- I lose my resolve and begin working the problem again
10:15pm- start with the basics (Can We Say Reformat)
11:15pm- Complete Reinstall of windows XP, had problems with activation, to many upgrades I guess, I will fix that later.
11:20pm- Drivers, Drivers, and More Drivers, all the latest and greatest.
11:30pm- Install From CDs
11:50pm- Launch game- to my surprise it works, still cannot make it past the third load screen at the water hazard, without memory crash. Expletive Deleted
What I gained from all this
1. The game now works with Medium Textures, at any resolution, 1600x1200 is smooth High Textures still result in massive stuttering, even if resolution is set to 640x480
2. The skipping is there but hardly noticeable
3. Sound is good, no pops or clicks
I then Spend the next two days installing all my various other programs and MP3s
I leave for Thanksgiving Break, I do NOT take my PC with me
Upon my return today Steam updates HL2
I can now get past the third load screen. I am a happy man.
So The game runs good for a hour, I use this information and I decide to put my other 512 back in to give me my Gig o RAM. That takes 10minutes and a lot of hassle
15minutes later…crash “memory can not be read”
Try again..same results.
Figure BIOS problem, flash with 1.004 revision from Asus.
NOW, now I can play with High textures, and no skipping however…THE GAME STILL (Expletive Deleted) CRASHES with a Memory Error
Tried running mem-manager in backround…crashed
Increased my latencies…crash
Lowered them…crash
Tried DDR-333…crash
DDR-266…crash
Tried swapping RAM sticks in different slot configurations…crash
Tried the heapsize 512000 command…crash
Tried the heapsize 384000…crash
Tried Optimal Mode in BIOS…crash
Tried Aggressive Mode in BIOS…crash
Tried Auto Settings in BIOS…crash
Tried a Sacrifice to the Heathen Gods…crash
Tried a BIOS setting called RAM Interleave Mode…and it works, it works, it works. THANK YOU GOD, IT WORKS :cheers:
After my entire ordeal, it is 1:08am in the morning and I am able to run HL2 the way God…I mean the Gabe intended it to be run. As of right now I have gone 6 Hours with all settings maxed at 1600x1200. But if one where to ask, “Was it worth it all?” My answer would be HELL YES.
Bryophytesd AKA gordon13
