Half Life 2 fails to load
- Thread starter cookiemoose
- Start date
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Please make sure you are not running sonic dla in your system.
Make sure you disable any conflicting application with your programme
Try running the game by disabling all the background applications:
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.
The System Configuration Utility starts.
Click the General tab, and then click Selective Startup.
Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
- Process System.ini file
- Process Win.ini file
- Load Startup Items
Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
Click OK, and then click Restart.
Start the game.
At last Change your cd or dvd drive and surely then you will be able to play the game
Make sure you disable any conflicting application with your programme
Try running the game by disabling all the background applications:
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.
The System Configuration Utility starts.
Click the General tab, and then click Selective Startup.
Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
- Process System.ini file
- Process Win.ini file
- Load Startup Items
Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
Click OK, and then click Restart.
Start the game.
At last Change your cd or dvd drive and surely then you will be able to play the game
Graphics card problem
It's good to know that I'm not the only one who's had this problem with Half-Life 2. Mine mostly involved getting to the loading screen, hearing a couple of critical error sounds, and seeing a memory conflict error screen. I'd tried most of the suggestions in this thread, with no luck, so I decided to contact HP (I've been trying to use the game on a Presario 2200 that I bought just a month ago). They're reply wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but it might explain why so many have had problems.
I've attached part of the transcript of the chat session. BTW, throughout this Steam / Valve / whoever make the game have been crap- I've sent 2 emails- one over 2 weeks ago, with no reply. It might be a fantastic game, and hopefully one day I'll get a chance to play it, but why do I have to find out from HP/Compaq (who knew about the issue and were able to give me an answer in 5 minutes) rather than the manufacturer?
Keith
other people seem to have experienced similar problems (mainly memory
conflicts), although I haven't heard of any from people with Presarios
Kevin
Yes, the graphics card in your laptop is intel extreme graphics card
which does not have the enhanced features to run this game.
This game requires an enhanced video card with the latest
specifications to support the latest version of direct X.
Keith
so I guess there's no way to get it to run on my laptop?
Kevin
There is a PCMCIA slot in the laptop. You can add on enhanced video
card in that slot, install the driver for it and play the games of high
end graphics.
So there you have it- spend out more cash or return the game! :dead:
It's good to know that I'm not the only one who's had this problem with Half-Life 2. Mine mostly involved getting to the loading screen, hearing a couple of critical error sounds, and seeing a memory conflict error screen. I'd tried most of the suggestions in this thread, with no luck, so I decided to contact HP (I've been trying to use the game on a Presario 2200 that I bought just a month ago). They're reply wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but it might explain why so many have had problems.
I've attached part of the transcript of the chat session. BTW, throughout this Steam / Valve / whoever make the game have been crap- I've sent 2 emails- one over 2 weeks ago, with no reply. It might be a fantastic game, and hopefully one day I'll get a chance to play it, but why do I have to find out from HP/Compaq (who knew about the issue and were able to give me an answer in 5 minutes) rather than the manufacturer?
Keith
other people seem to have experienced similar problems (mainly memory
conflicts), although I haven't heard of any from people with Presarios
Kevin
Yes, the graphics card in your laptop is intel extreme graphics card
which does not have the enhanced features to run this game.
This game requires an enhanced video card with the latest
specifications to support the latest version of direct X.
Keith
so I guess there's no way to get it to run on my laptop?
Kevin
There is a PCMCIA slot in the laptop. You can add on enhanced video
card in that slot, install the driver for it and play the games of high
end graphics.
So there you have it- spend out more cash or return the game! :dead:
I am having the same exact problem as well. The only thing is I have been playing the game for 2 weeks now without any problems. I am going to try and do a Windows update and refresh my vid drivers and see what happens. I will update you to what happens
Athena
Posts: 63 +0
I have read on more than a few sites of people having problems like this. a few ideas I have seen work. Double check that NONE of your PC part are over clocked in any way.
If that does not work some people got it to work by under clocking their system ram. (This includeds CAS timeings guys)
If yo have an Nvidia card you can try under clocking the core a few Mhz.
Try another CDrom drive that spins at slower speeds and/or upgrade to a better CDrom drive.
If you have any CD coping programs installed like Achahol or Nero un-install them.
Turn off your Virus and/or spyware programs. (As steam acts alot like spyware) Also double check if you have the XP SP2 update you firewall is not blocking HL2 from talking to Steam.
And last and the most fun. Re-installing your OS from scratch and make sure you start off with only the newest drivers. Do not install old ones then upgrade them. (I know this is really hard for those of use using Creative stuff, their Driver update method really sucks!!)
Good luck guys!! :angel:
If that does not work some people got it to work by under clocking their system ram. (This includeds CAS timeings guys)
If yo have an Nvidia card you can try under clocking the core a few Mhz.
Try another CDrom drive that spins at slower speeds and/or upgrade to a better CDrom drive.
If you have any CD coping programs installed like Achahol or Nero un-install them.
Turn off your Virus and/or spyware programs. (As steam acts alot like spyware) Also double check if you have the XP SP2 update you firewall is not blocking HL2 from talking to Steam.
And last and the most fun. Re-installing your OS from scratch and make sure you start off with only the newest drivers. Do not install old ones then upgrade them. (I know this is really hard for those of use using Creative stuff, their Driver update method really sucks!!)
Good luck guys!! :angel:
Possible solution
Maybe this here can help at least some of you; it was posted by a guy named fireflaie on halflife2.net: (it solved my problem that was quite similar to yours)
Part 1 :
--------------
Go in the directory :
E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
there is a directory named "bin" that contains many .dll etc
Part 2 :
--------------
Enter the "bin" directory and copy all the files (ctrl+A, ctrl+C)
go back at E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
then paste the files here (Ctrl+V)
Part 3 :
--------------
Select all the files and directorys (EXCEPT THE "BIN" DIRECTORY) in
E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
Copy it !!!
Part 4 :
--------------
No Go back in the "bin" directory then Paste the files and dir you've just copy
if windows tell you that there is files that have the same name so just overwrite it, as you want that's not seams to be a problem if you don't
Part 5 :
--------------
Quit Steam
=> Reload Steam, right click : Games, right click on Half-Life 2 and Launch the game
Enjoy if that works , sorry if that don't
Maybe this here can help at least some of you; it was posted by a guy named fireflaie on halflife2.net: (it solved my problem that was quite similar to yours)
Part 1 :
--------------
Go in the directory :
E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
there is a directory named "bin" that contains many .dll etc
Part 2 :
--------------
Enter the "bin" directory and copy all the files (ctrl+A, ctrl+C)
go back at E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
then paste the files here (Ctrl+V)
Part 3 :
--------------
Select all the files and directorys (EXCEPT THE "BIN" DIRECTORY) in
E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2
Copy it !!!
Part 4 :
--------------
No Go back in the "bin" directory then Paste the files and dir you've just copy
if windows tell you that there is files that have the same name so just overwrite it, as you want that's not seams to be a problem if you don't
Part 5 :
--------------
Quit Steam
=> Reload Steam, right click : Games, right click on Half-Life 2 and Launch the game
Enjoy if that works , sorry if that don't
Thanks. I will give it a try and let you know the status. You might have come across a way to help countless others as well.
I have been having the same problem as described above. etc,etc. Unfortunately, I am not a programmer or even particularly skilled with pc's. I am loathe to try what countuebles suggests cos i havn't got a clue what i'm doing (though thanks for the effort of help). However, I loved half life and desperately want to play the sequel. Should I give up? Does any body who knows what they are on about actually think a sensible solution to this problem will be forthcoming? And I do not mean putting a new(or old) dvd drive in my machine-i don't know how to do this and fail to see why I should have to. Surely this is a legal problem. Valve/steam/sierra (whoever) have sold me something that I can not use or return. without in my opinion sufficient warning as to the problem that is occouring. If there is no hope of a solution then i'll just sack the whole thing and forget about it. WHY SHOULD I NEED A DEGREE IN PROGRAMMING/PC BUILDING IN ORDER TO USE SOMETHING I'VE BOUGHT IN GOOD FAITH. THIS SITUATION IS INTOLERABLE, FRANKLY OUTRAGEOUS AND POSSIBLY EVEN ILLEAGAL. Valve/steam/sierra- WHAT A BUNCH OF ARSEHOLES. IF I WAS AS INCOMPETENT AS THEY ARE IN MY JOB I WOULD EXPECT TO HAVE MY EMPLOYMENT TERMINATED.
sorry, I feel a little better now.
sorry, I feel a little better now.
FFS, help
Hi, i have had this same problem after i updated steam and HL2 Deathmatch. I have played it before and am at the airboat level, but ever since patch i cannot load hl2, nor CS source or anything, i dont think its my cdrom or anything, cause its worked before.. "preparing to play Half-Life 2..." then a mouse icon and a working glass, then nothing, no error message nothing.
someone please post at steam's official forum site under general or somthing to get steam's attention, i keep getting errors signing up there.
this problem seems to be common but steam has no idea what to do? someone let them know, because no1 has posted anything else about this other than on this forum board.
ps: have tryed lowering dvdrom speed to 1x, etc, but still no dice. someone post a thread at steams site linking to this prob (^_^)
Hi, i have had this same problem after i updated steam and HL2 Deathmatch. I have played it before and am at the airboat level, but ever since patch i cannot load hl2, nor CS source or anything, i dont think its my cdrom or anything, cause its worked before.. "preparing to play Half-Life 2..." then a mouse icon and a working glass, then nothing, no error message nothing.
someone please post at steam's official forum site under general or somthing to get steam's attention, i keep getting errors signing up there.
this problem seems to be common but steam has no idea what to do? someone let them know, because no1 has posted anything else about this other than on this forum board.
ps: have tryed lowering dvdrom speed to 1x, etc, but still no dice. someone post a thread at steams site linking to this prob (^_^)
Hi guys! I have been reading your problems with running half-life 2 on steam, and CONGRATULATIONS! I have got a sollution. I had the same problems with running hl2 before, but it all has been fixed. Ok, here we go. Try this:Try to update your system, or try to update the dvd-driver. If this doesn't work, buy a new DVD-driver and install it, it worked for me, my best friend and 10 other buddies i know, the dvd-driver is not so expencive, try this, it's your only choise, and if this does'nt work, try to uninstall steam and hl2 and install it again, or else, go to a electronic shop or someone you know who maybe can fix the problem. GOOD LUCK! :grinthumb
I have tryed to look for CD-ROM drivers on the net and fail to find any, as i goto properties on my computer (this is winXP), i goto hardware,device manager,and then DVD-CDROM Drives, and ones i got listed are _NEC CD-RW and then a CD-ROM Drive. I cant tell the maker of my cdrom drive, and this one site i went to told you to choose your company. I have tryed clicking on Update Driver also, and went to Recommened setting, couldnt find anything, this is a stand cdrom that came with pc. Where do i go to find cdrom updates???
ps: do you think if i update to winXP Service Pack 2 (SP2) might work?
ps: do you think if i update to winXP Service Pack 2 (SP2) might work?
@ jim453: Don't worry pal you won't do anything overly complicated. You are just rearranging files to force steam around a memory problem they seem to have. To be 100% sure you don't hack up anything, copy the whole E:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_ACCOUNT_NAME\half-life 2 directory into another dir somewhere (call it temp or whatever) and THEN do as I wrote in my initial posting. If you really would frag up (which is rather unlikely) you still could copy the old dir in your temp dir back and everything would be a it was before, even without reinstalling. (which you could do as well in any way).
It looks more complicated when its written down then it actually is - all you do is copy files into another directory, then copy them back plus some others.
@ steamarg: A lot of people already notified valve about this and similar problems, it just seems they are either to much occupied with other stuff (fighting legal battles with vivendi about steam perhaps?) or just dont frigging care atm.
About your CD-Rom problem: Why don't you take it out and look for a label with the manufracturer and - important - the exact type of your drive. Mostly those labels are on the upper or underside of a drive, sometimes on the back. Unless its a super cheapo chinese clone there should be SOMETHING there.
It looks more complicated when its written down then it actually is - all you do is copy files into another directory, then copy them back plus some others.
@ steamarg: A lot of people already notified valve about this and similar problems, it just seems they are either to much occupied with other stuff (fighting legal battles with vivendi about steam perhaps?) or just dont frigging care atm.
About your CD-Rom problem: Why don't you take it out and look for a label with the manufracturer and - important - the exact type of your drive. Mostly those labels are on the upper or underside of a drive, sometimes on the back. Unless its a super cheapo chinese clone there should be SOMETHING there.
Ok everyone, I have the solution for the load failure with no error. There is in fact an error and it has to do with memory.
Here is the fix:
First location:
Right click your Half Life 2 icon on your desktop (the one you would normally double-click to launch the game). Then click Properties. Click the Shortcut Tab. In the line labeled Target, you will see something like this, depending on where you put the program when you installed it:
"C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 22
Copy and paste the following AFTER the above line:
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
Be sure there is a space between -applaunch 22 and +mat
Click save and you are ready to go.
Second location:
From the Steam Play Games Menu, right click on Half Life 2. Choose Properties, then click Launch Options. Paste the following in the box.
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
Click Ok and you are ready to go.
Do the same fix for Half Life 2 Deathmatch and Counter Strike Source.
Offline and Online Mulitplayer modes should all work now.
Good Luck!!!
Here is the fix:
First location:
Right click your Half Life 2 icon on your desktop (the one you would normally double-click to launch the game). Then click Properties. Click the Shortcut Tab. In the line labeled Target, you will see something like this, depending on where you put the program when you installed it:
"C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 22
Copy and paste the following AFTER the above line:
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
Be sure there is a space between -applaunch 22 and +mat
Click save and you are ready to go.
Second location:
From the Steam Play Games Menu, right click on Half Life 2. Choose Properties, then click Launch Options. Paste the following in the box.
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
Click Ok and you are ready to go.
Do the same fix for Half Life 2 Deathmatch and Counter Strike Source.
Offline and Online Mulitplayer modes should all work now.
Good Luck!!!
Cattivo071 said:
Thank you very very much, that solved my friends problem.
Cattivo071 said:
I think I am only sharing the problem with half of the people here. From what I can figure out most of you can’t read the DVD at all (meaning when the DVD is in the drive it says there is nothing in it) or is that just me? Anyway I just thought I would mention that because for some of us (or maybe just me) don't have any sort of a HL2 icon to click on. There is not even an error message when the DVD is placed in the drive.
After swapping the game today for the first time I was hoping that it would decide to work. However once again I heard the spinning and was lifted by the flashing light on the drive only to sit and wait....Nothing. Thats all it does. Checked My Computer D:\ drive. My DVD drive has never let me down.....till now. There was apparently no DVD in the drive in fact apparently there was nothing in the drive. Sorry to be long winded and maybe sound a little irritated but I want to make sure we all know what is going on.
I have had a reply from Vivendi. I sent them the problem and they kindly sent back stuff that didn’t even come close. Starting up with nothing in the task bar (I am not an *****, I tried but as I thought no change). Clicking on steam and doing something to that (but I said I didn’t have steam?? what are they talking about). They have been rubbish and so I am asking you. Please help me out guys. Anyone that this has happened to will understand the frustration, its so petty I just want to play a game.
By the way this whole thing means that the solution up there doesn’t work.
Thanks anyway keep trying guys and I will keep e-mailing Vivendi.
Sladers,
The solution I posted is not for your problem. I think you are talking about an Autorun feature that is not working. Have you installed the game already? You saying you do not have Steam is telling me you haven't. You MUST have Steam as it is required to register and authenticate the game. It will be the first thing installed when you run setup.
The solution I posted is not for your problem. I think you are talking about an Autorun feature that is not working. Have you installed the game already? You saying you do not have Steam is telling me you haven't. You MUST have Steam as it is required to register and authenticate the game. It will be the first thing installed when you run setup.
Half Life 2 @#$#%$#$##$
I have have tried this $#%#@@ game on a new computer that I built a little while back and I am getting the same problem as every body else here, so I tried it on my brothers system with the same results.
I try to start the game and "STEAM" loads, I get the valve splash screen (the guy with the valve in his eye) then the screen goes black and kicks back to the desktop, The cd or dvd rom doesn't even spin up. I am using the cd rom retail version of the game.
I have tried reloading game, changing drivers for everything, slowing clock speeds of video cards, turning hardware acc. down on sound cards, adding the lines to the starup that are mentioned in other posts, loading and removing service pack 2, updating drivers for chipset (Via in both cases). Everything except flashing bios or updating firmware, which I refuse to do for the sake of this game.
I know that half life is optimized for ATI cards but looking through other posts I see that people with ATI cards are having the problem as well, so it is not the Nvidia cards. I have other games that run fine on both systems, including far cry and doom 3 so there is nothing wrong with either system.
I sent tech support an email a few days before christmas and got a reply that they need a copy of my dxdiag, I sent it to them before christmas and have heard nothing back. I am sorry for rambling on but I am very frustrated with all of this. I was looking forward to playing this game and for the longest time could not find anyone else who was having the same problem. At least now I know that there is more then me that are getting very pissed off.
Hopefully valve will do something about this soon, We should all start an email campaign to their tech support until they do something for us. $60 might not seem like much to some people, but it is alot for a coaster.
GOOD LUCK!!!
my system:
AMD 64 3500+
ASUS A8V Deluxe MB
BFG 6800gt oc
1gb Samsung PC 3200 Ram
2 WD 80 gb sata hard drives 8 mb cache
Benq DVD durner
LG CDRW
sound blaster audigy platinum
Win XP Pro
brothers system:
AMD xp 1800
gigabyte mb
768 samsung pc 2700 ram
MSI TI 4400 128 mb video card
Asus CDRW
Hitachi CD Rom
Onboard sound
WD 80 gb ata hard drive 8 mb cache
Win XP Home
I have have tried this $#%#@@ game on a new computer that I built a little while back and I am getting the same problem as every body else here, so I tried it on my brothers system with the same results.
I try to start the game and "STEAM" loads, I get the valve splash screen (the guy with the valve in his eye) then the screen goes black and kicks back to the desktop, The cd or dvd rom doesn't even spin up. I am using the cd rom retail version of the game.
I have tried reloading game, changing drivers for everything, slowing clock speeds of video cards, turning hardware acc. down on sound cards, adding the lines to the starup that are mentioned in other posts, loading and removing service pack 2, updating drivers for chipset (Via in both cases). Everything except flashing bios or updating firmware, which I refuse to do for the sake of this game.
I know that half life is optimized for ATI cards but looking through other posts I see that people with ATI cards are having the problem as well, so it is not the Nvidia cards. I have other games that run fine on both systems, including far cry and doom 3 so there is nothing wrong with either system.
I sent tech support an email a few days before christmas and got a reply that they need a copy of my dxdiag, I sent it to them before christmas and have heard nothing back. I am sorry for rambling on but I am very frustrated with all of this. I was looking forward to playing this game and for the longest time could not find anyone else who was having the same problem. At least now I know that there is more then me that are getting very pissed off.
Hopefully valve will do something about this soon, We should all start an email campaign to their tech support until they do something for us. $60 might not seem like much to some people, but it is alot for a coaster.
GOOD LUCK!!!
my system:
AMD 64 3500+
ASUS A8V Deluxe MB
BFG 6800gt oc
1gb Samsung PC 3200 Ram
2 WD 80 gb sata hard drives 8 mb cache
Benq DVD durner
LG CDRW
sound blaster audigy platinum
Win XP Pro
brothers system:
AMD xp 1800
gigabyte mb
768 samsung pc 2700 ram
MSI TI 4400 128 mb video card
Asus CDRW
Hitachi CD Rom
Onboard sound
WD 80 gb ata hard drive 8 mb cache
Win XP Home
Cattivo071 said:
Thanks for your help so far by the way. I'm impressed that you are actually reply so soon. so thanks. I havent yet installed the game. because as i mentioned my computer just doesnt appear to recognise the DVD. Also i do have steam for Half life 1 and counter strike (i am affriad i over exaggerated) because i just didnt see how that would help me specific problem. But just to make sure that you know i have NOT been able to install HL2 or CS source (and the auto run thing does not appear and there is no error). Thanks again for your help so far. If you think any more info may help then just ask.
Kinda similar problem......
Got HL2 for xmas, installed it but every time i try to load the game the following message appears...... ' failed to load the launcher DLL. One of the library files needed to load this application cannot be found'.
We had the game loaded before, it ran and worked fine but we had to format the hard drive (in an unrelated problem) re-loaded the game and now we get that DLL message.
Anyone know of this problem or have a soloution at all?
Cheers
Got HL2 for xmas, installed it but every time i try to load the game the following message appears...... ' failed to load the launcher DLL. One of the library files needed to load this application cannot be found'.
We had the game loaded before, it ran and worked fine but we had to format the hard drive (in an unrelated problem) re-loaded the game and now we get that DLL message.
Anyone know of this problem or have a soloution at all?
Cheers
Dont know why but i got ad-aware SE and cleaned up everything on my computer and for some reason it has started working. It may have been some weird virus but that problem is now gone. Just got to hope that no new problems arise during my install. Keep fingers crossed. Thanks for the help guys.
Get It To Work
ok follow instructions [this worked for me]
open steam > click play games > RIGHT click half life 2
> properties > launch options > enter this
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
ok part one good.
now minimize all windows and RIGHT click the HL 2 icon on your desktop
>compatibility [at top]
click run in 640x480.
it should work. if not make sure you have newest directX and minimum requirements. this worked for me. you might want to lower your options if it loads
HOPE THIS HAS HELPED!
ok follow instructions [this worked for me]
open steam > click play games > RIGHT click half life 2
> properties > launch options > enter this
+mat_forcehardwaresync 0 +snd_async_prefetch_priority 1
ok part one good.
now minimize all windows and RIGHT click the HL 2 icon on your desktop
>compatibility [at top]
click run in 640x480.
it should work. if not make sure you have newest directX and minimum requirements. this worked for me. you might want to lower your options if it loads
HOPE THIS HAS HELPED!
Oh Joy!
:giddy: Oh Joy!, weeks and weeks I've been waiting to play this game and thanks to your solution it finally works! Thank you so much I did indeed have memory errors and this was the only solution that fixed it, I tried everything except changing my CD-rom drive, I knew that couldn't be the problem for my entire computer was only 2 month old. I am interested in the deeper meaning of what the problem and actually was and what the solution does and how it works, could you explain?
Cattivo071 said:
:giddy: Oh Joy!, weeks and weeks I've been waiting to play this game and thanks to your solution it finally works! Thank you so much I did indeed have memory errors and this was the only solution that fixed it, I tried everything except changing my CD-rom drive, I knew that couldn't be the problem for my entire computer was only 2 month old. I am interested in the deeper meaning of what the problem and actually was and what the solution does and how it works, could you explain?
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