Sigma Tel sound driver causing crash...

[Quidam Phoenix]

I'm running (I use that term loosely ) Half-Life 2 on a Macbook, in
Windows XP under bootcamp. I've run into a repeating crash upon starting
a new game, and tried various times to fix the problem.

This includes forcing various DirectX modes, and disabling autosave, etc,
as it is well documented that the Intel 945 has some issues with HL2.

However, none of these fixed the issue, except using the -nosound
parameter, signalling that the issue is my sound driver, and really not
the graphics card to begin with...

I'm using the latest driver included with Leopard 10.5, and have been
unable to find any updates, probably because there's been issues with
this driver in Windows XP on Macbooks, and the only available drivers
seem to be the ones Apple has provided.

Obviously I don't want to play without sound, so I need to find a fix.

Anyone have a link to earlier drivers, from OS X 10.4 Bootcamp, maybe
that will work (although doubtful), or has anyone had the same issue
and found another fix?

Please don't say this is what happens when you buy a Mac, or go and get
a new computer, I would like to solve the issue at hand, not just move
past it...

Thanks, Tom.

 

[diluted]

Have you tried changing the in-game sound quality in the options? Maybe if you run it on Low quality it might work.

 

[Quidam Phoenix]

Unfortunately I have tried that, with no luck, I still get the crash
on low, medium, or high. Worst case scenario I can probably "fix" the
issue with a cheap USB sound card, however it's not my first choice, as
I stated in my above post...

I'm a little shocked though at the compatibility issues I'm having...
It's not like SigmaTel isn't very common, you think the bug would be
pretty well known.

Sigh, and to top it off I have a sound related issue with the original
Half-Life too, when picking up the suit, however it was fixed by a console
command. (Thankfully!) Obviously This sound card has some issues!

Oh well, I'll keep trying I guess! Just cause a Macbook isn't meant for
gaming doesn't mean I won't try my damndest!

 

[Quidam Phoenix]

I can't test it at the moment to see if this worked, as I'm at school
and the bloody firewall blocks the ports Steam uses, but I managed to
get HL2: Lost Coast running after lowering the Hardware Acceleration on
my sound card, and I'm hoping that it will solve my issue for Half-Life 2
as well... I'll try later on.

I haven't been able to play long enough due to crashing to allow the game
to be played in offline mode yet.

Just in case anyone has the same issue: under Run in the Start Menu, type dxdiag, click okay, then lower the acceleration slider under the "sound"
tab).

 

[Quidam Phoenix]

Nope. I give up!