Games freeze or crash with looping sounds (paged pool memory issues)

Article ID: 5034-EIPV-6426

Intel Video Cards

If you are running Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal or Team Fortress 2 on a computer with an integrated Intel video card such as the Intel 945GM, please follow this Intel Compatibility guide.

Paged Pool Memory Issues (Looping Sound Crash)

These crashes are most commonly a result of running out of a special type of memory called paged pool memory. Paged pool memory is allocated by the OS kernel for use in applications such as Direct3D resources. Running out of paged pool memory can result in Direct3D crashes (a.k.a. game crashes) and in the Steam.exe process using 100% of the processor. In some cases you may get an error message stating there is an issue with paged pool memory and/or there will be black textures and missing models. In most cases, you will not see any such error message - your game will simply crash and the sound will loop.

How to check your paged pool memory

1. Download and extract Process Explorer.
2. Run Process Explorer. Press CTRL + i to bring up the System Information window.
3. Run the game in a window.
   • Go to Steam's My games menu.
   • Right-click on the problematic game.
   • Select Properties > General > Set launch options.
   • Add -sw to the launch options.
   • Launch the game.
4. Watch the System Information > Kernel Memory (K) > Paged Physical value. If the value exceeds 150MB, you are using too much paged pool memory.

Resolving paged pool memory issues

If you have determined that your system is using too much paged pool memory, you can resolve the issue by closing processes that are using paged pool memory. You may determine which processes are using paged pool memory by watching the Paged Physical value as you close a process. Make note of those that result in the Paged Physical value dropping. Anti-virus and security applications are known to use large amounts of paged pool memory and will not release the memory when the game calls for it, resulting in a crash.

Checking for a Paged Pool Memory Lock

Some systems may have a lock on their paged pool memory due to a setting in the boot.ini file. This can also be a cause of crashes due to the system not allocating enough paged pool memory to use for games like Team Fortress 2. To check this setting, please follow these directions:

Note: editing system files can have adverse effects on your system's stability and performance. If you are not comfortable editing system files, please contact your system manufacturer for assistance.

1. Click "Start"
2. Select "Run"
3. Type in msconfig and press enter
4. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab
5. Look for the following line: /3GB /Userva=2900 - If your system does not have this setting, you can stop here

Please proceed to the Advanced Troubleshooting section below if your boot.ini file does not have this setting. Otherwise:

1. If you see the line /3GB /Userva=2900, please close the System Configuration Utility
2. Open "My Computer" and navigate to the base of the hard drive that has your operating system installed on it (C:\ by default)
3. Locate the boot.ini file (you will most likely need "view hidden files and folders" turned on in Folder Options -> View order to see the file)
4. Open the boot.ini with Notepad
5. Remove the line /3GB /Userva=2900
6. Save the boot.ini file and then reboot your computer
7. Try running the game

By removing the paged pool memory lock, your system will be able to allocate the memory necessary for the game.

Advanced Troubleshooting

Checking Video Devices

• Ensure that you are running the most recent driver version available for your video card. If you are unsure whether you have the most recent version of your driver, please visit the video card manufacturer's website to locate the latest driver. If you own a notebook computer, please check first with your notebook manufacturer for drivers specific to your notebook model.
• Ensure that you do not have multiple video drivers installed. To check this, boot your computer into Safe Mode and open your Device Manager. Locate your video card and delete all drivers for the device. Reboot your computer and install the latest drivers available from the video card manufacturer's website.
• If you are running multiple video cards, try disabling your secondary card to see if its presence is causing the issue.

Video Card Manufacturer Resources:

• Nvidia
• ATI
• Intel

PCI Latency Timings

In some rare cases, the PCI Latency is a setting that can affect your system in such a way that you may experience "stuttering" or a looping sound crash while playing the game. There are various ways to go about adjusting your PCI latency timings to troubleshoot the issue. Please follow the directions included in the example below:

PCI Latency Tool provided by Guru3d.com.

Checking Sound Devices

Determine whether you are using a built-in sound device or an add-on sound device by checking the Windows Device Manager. If your computer has both an on-board sound device and an add-on sound card (such as a Sound Blaster X-fi or Audigy), disable whichever sound device you are not using in Device Manager. Having multiple sound devices running concurrently can be problematic.

If you are certain that you will not use the on-board sound provided on your motherboard, it is recommend that it is disabled in the system BIOS.

Make sure that you are running the most recent driver available for your audio device. Most of these devices use drivers included in your operating system; however, newer drivers are occasionally available from the manufacturer that may resolve potential issues.

Sound Card Manufacturer Resources:

• Creative
• RealTek
• SoundMax

If you are experiencing this issue in Source games, a simple way to determine whether the issue is being caused by your sound device is to add -nosound as a launch option to your game. If the crash continues, it is unlikely to be an issue with your sound device. If this resolves your issue, then the sound device is quite likely the cause of your issue. To perform the same test, you must disable your audio interface from the Device Manager.

Note: This launch option does not work for Gold Source games such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat and Team Fortress Classic.

If -nosound resolves your issue, please follow these steps:

1. Go to Start-->Run
2. Type dxdiag into the Run dialog box and press the Enter key.
3. Go to the Sound tab and set the Hardware Sound Acceleration Level to Basic Acceleration.
4. Remove -nosound from your launch options and launch your game.

If the issue was resolved by adding -nosound but returns after setting the Hardware Sound Acceleration Level to Basic Acceleration, you may be experiencing a driver or IRQ issue.

Built-in Sound Devices

In the event that you have an IRQ conflict, you can move the sound device to another IRQ.

1. Go to Start-->Control Panel.
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance.
3. Click on System.
4. Click on Hardware.
5. Click on Device Manager.
6. Select View-->Resources by Type.
7. Double-click Interrupt request (IRQ).
8. Right-click on your sound device and select Properties.
9. Click on the Resources tab.
10. Uncheck the Use automatic settings checkbox. Note: If the checkbox is grayed out, you cannot change the IRQ setting.
11. Select an IRQ that does not conflict with other devices.
12. Click OK.

Add-on Sound Devices

If you are running a PCI or external sound card such as a Creative Audigy, you may be able to resolve your crash by moving the card to a different PCI slot on the motherboard.

"Gold Source" Specific

This applies to the older series of games such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic and Day of Defeat. Launch the game and then go to Options-->Sound and uncheck the following:

• EAX
• A3D