[BlackHalo]

Ok, i recently got a new laptop (specs posted after the message) and obviously went out and bought some games to accompany it. I bought Doom3 and Half Life 2 and both ran pretty smoothly in the beginning.

Doom3 (also Star Wars KOTOR and few other programs) still runs perfectly and hasn't posed any problems yet. Recently however, Half Life 2 (and CSS) has started crashing during the game (VERY often, usually after quicksave or quickload). I ran a system diagnostics test (the 'Crash Test' on the Steam site) and they told me that my display driver's drivers are out of date.

Sounds easy enough: just go on ATI and update the drivers. But when i tried to do this, i was prompted to download a verification tool and this tool told me that the updates cannot be downloaded for my machine? Now how can i update the drivers if i can't download them?

The drivers for the card are not available on ATI nor are they available on the Toshiba website. I'm a bit sketchy on 3rd party drivers...

I'm pretty sure that this is the issue as all my other system specs match the criteria for HL2.

System Info:
Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180
Memory (RAM): 1024 MB
CPU: Intel® Pentium® M processor 2.00GHz
CPU Speed: 888.2 MHz
Sound card: Realtek AC97 Audio
Display Adapters: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X700 | ATI MOBILITY RADEON X700 | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 800 - 32 bit
:
Network Adapters: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport | Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ-841S
:
COM Ports: COM3 | COM6 | COM7 | COM15 | COM16 | COM17 | COM18 | COM19 | COM20 | COM21
LPT Ports:
Mouse: 2 Button Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 74.5GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 55.2GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): 1 host controllers.
:
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Product Make: Satellite Pro M70
:
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: ATAT COMPATIBLE 122605 TOSCPL 6040000
Time Zone: W. Europe Standard Time
Battery: High
Motherboard: TOSHIBA HTW00
Modem: TOSHIBA Software Modem
Communications cable between two computers

Edited by BlackHalo, 07 January 2007 - 11:03 AM.

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it took forever for me to find it, but try this link out and see if you can find what you need. If not, let me know.

http://eu.computers....teddProduct=611

[starjax]

it took forever for me to find it, but try this link out and see if you can find what you need. If not, let me know.

http://eu.computers....teddProduct=611

[BlackHalo]

Whoa!! Kudos starjax! Thanks a motherload. I found some drivers on there for my display, i'll download 'em and let you know how they work. Thanks again!

EDIT: I see the drivers on there are 8.203, not quite the 8.282 HL2 is moaning about, but still an improvement, will let ya know how it works out.

Edited by BlackHalo, 09 January 2007 - 03:24 PM.

[BlackHalo]

Ok, I've extracted the files to My Documents. Then i went to control panel, right-clicked on the display drivers and said 'update' then i specified the place i extracted the files to. It starts installing just fine, but then i get the message: 'Setup cannot copy the file ati2mtag.sy_. Ensure that the location specified is correct or change it and insert ATI Techonolgies Inc installation DISK (VIDEO) in the drive you specify'. Uhm, what now?

[starjax]

look at the drivers you downloaded. they should come with their own setup file. Look for a setup.exe

[BlackHalo]

Tried that as well, it gives me the following: 'SETUP cannot proceed because the length of the specified directory path plus the installation folder name exceeds 88 characters. Please shorten one or both below the specified limit and try again'.

[starjax]

take the folder you created and move it to c:\ and run the install from there. Could be you just have to many sub folders of sub folders. If it still gives you the problem I will hunt down a driver that will work.

[BlackHalo]

Awesome! Thanks a lot Starjax, i owe ya a beer! It works and the drivers are now updated to version 8.203. I'll check with HL2 another time to see if it's still got issues (Like i said, it needs 8.282, but i'll check to see if it accepts the current version though).

Just another quick question:
I moved the new folder to C:\ and renamed it to ATI1. Now i have a folder called ATI (the old drivers) and ATI1 (the newly installed drivers). Would it be OK to delete the folder with the old drivers in (ATI) or would this mess with my current settings and such?

[starjax]

you can delete. that is just the default location for driver extraction prior to install.

[BlackHalo]

Just ran HL2 again, still a few jitters after quicksave or quickload, but it hasn't crashed like it does usually, so it's an improvement. Thank ya!

[BlackHalo]

One more update:

Been running without glitches for a while now (still jitters though). Only had two or three crashes since the drivers were updated. (As opposed to the 2 or 3 per session I used to have....)

It (Steam) still reads my driver pack as 6.14. I checked this and although my drivers are now at version 8.203, the Control Panel (which, for some reason, is the file Steam checks for the drivers) is still version 6.14. I can't remember the name of the exact file it checks at this particular time though...

Edited by BlackHalo, 25 January 2007 - 03:54 PM.