Hi all!

I am in the last chapter of Episode 2 from Orange Box. I am using the
latest updates from Steam and all the components. For some reason, the
last chapter is giving me reproducable crashes in some specific areas
inside the silo area in White Forest level.

Here is area #1:
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5849/crasharea1zt4.jpg -- notice the
group of people I circled. If I get too closed to them, the game crashes
as shown below in the screen shot. I found a way to avoid the crash,
don't look at them and just move to the next area without looking at
them (graphic related?).

Area #2 was in the silo after I fought the Columbine from its breach:
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/3488/crasharea2ke3.jpg (with the
error). I was not able to avoid this area even with my back turn away
from the bad area that causes the crash.

I tried rebooting and upgrading my NVIDIA driver to the latest, but they
didn't help at all. With WinDbg, I analyzed two of many *.mdmp files
left behind from the game and saw:

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.8.0004.0 X86
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Loading Dump File [I:\winstuff\steam\SteamApps\antdude\half-life 2
episode two\Steam__3300__2007_11_24T6_49_51C45468.mdmp]
User Mini Dump File: Only registers, stack and portions of memory are
available

Comment: 'Crash: Map: ep2_outland_11
Game: i:\winstuff\steam\steamapps\antdude\half-life 2 episode two\ep2
Build: 3300
Misc: skill:1 rate 20000 update 20 cmd 30 latency 0 msec
Net: loopback
cmdline:"i:\winstuff\steam\steamapps\antdude\half-life 2 episode
two\hl2.exe"  -game ep2 -steam
driver: Driver Name:  NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Driver Version: 6.14.11.6904
VendorId / DeviceId:  0x10de / 0x295
SubSystem / Rev:  0xc6353842 / 0xa1
DXLevel:  gamemode
Vid:  1280 x 1024
video: picmip: -1 forceansio: 16 trilinear: 0 antialias: 4 vsync: 0
rootlod: 0 reducefillrate: 0
shadowrendertotexture: 0 r_flashlightdepthtexture 1 waterforceexpensive:
1 waterforcereflectentities: 1 mat_motion_blur_enabled: 1
OS: XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) version 5.1
prev PP PAGES: used: 26021, free 66139
final PP PAGES: used: 26021, free 66139
memalloc = 0
'
Symbol search path is:
srv*e:\winstuff\symbols\*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows XP Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: SingleUserTS
Debug session time: Fri Nov 23 22:49:52.000 2007 (GMT-8)
System Uptime: not available
Process Uptime: 0 days 0:00:46.000
................................................................................................................
This dump file has an exception of interest stored in it.
The stored exception information can be accessed via .ecxr.
(c60.8c8): Access violation - code c0000005 (first/second chance not
available)
eax=0ec40000 ebx=00000000 ecx=00000007 edx=7c90eb94 esi=01b225b1
edi=00001bf0
eip=7c90eb94 esp=0013b230 ebp=0013b240 iopl=0         nv up ei pl zr na
pe nc
cs=001b  ss=0023  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=003b  gs=0000
efl=00200246
ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet:
7c90eb94 c3              ret
0:000> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*
      *
*                        Exception Analysis
      *
*
      *
*******************************************************************************

*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for engine.dll -
*** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for client.dll
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for client.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for shaderapidx9.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for materialsystem.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for tier0.dll -
*** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for vstdlib.dll
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for vstdlib.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for Steam.dll -
Matched: 7c8866fc kernel32!BasepAppCertDllsList = <no type information>
Matched: 7c8848d0 kernel32!BasepAppCertDllsList = <no type information>
*************************************************************************
***                                                                   ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Your debugger is not using the correct symbols                 ***
***                                                                   ***
***    In order for this command to work properly, your symbol path   ***
***    must point to .pdb files that have full type information.      ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Certain .pdb files (such as the public OS symbols) do not      ***
***    contain the required information.  Contact the group that      ***
***    provided you with these symbols if you need this command to    ***
***    work.                                                          ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Type referenced: kernel32!pNlsUserInfo                         ***
***                                                                   ***
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***                                                                   ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Your debugger is not using the correct symbols                 ***
***                                                                   ***
***    In order for this command to work properly, your symbol path   ***
***    must point to .pdb files that have full type information.      ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Certain .pdb files (such as the public OS symbols) do not      ***
***    contain the required information.  Contact the group that      ***
***    provided you with these symbols if you need this command to    ***
***    work.                                                          ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Type referenced: kernel32!pNlsUserInfo                         ***
***                                                                   ***
*************************************************************************

FAULTING_IP:
studiorender+1b631
0d8cb631 83b834fd360000  cmp     dword ptr [eax+36FD34h],0

EXCEPTION_RECORD:  ffffffff -- (.exr 0xffffffffffffffff)
ExceptionAddress: 0d8cb631 (studiorender+0x0001b631)
   ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
  ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
   Parameter[0]: 00000000
   Parameter[1]: 0036fd34
Attempt to read from address 0036fd34

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  APPLICATION_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME:  hl2.exe

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx"
referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

READ_ADDRESS:  0036fd34

BUGCHECK_STR:  ACCESS_VIOLATION

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from 0d8c051b to 0d8cb631

STACK_TEXT:
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be
wrong.
0013d510 0d8c051b 0d8c056a 0013dc00 0d8c051b studiorender+0x1b631
0013d57c 0d8c3e82 34467d0c 0013d844 00000005 studiorender+0x1051b
0013da34 0d8c5644 0d46b350 34467d0c 05602d50 studiorender+0x13e82
0013da78 0d8c5871 0d46b350 34467d0c 03158758 studiorender+0x15644
0013dacc 0d8bfba7 0d46b350 00000000 3679e8e4 studiorender+0x15871
0013db00 0d8bf620 0d46b350 00000000 00000001 studiorender+0xfba7
0013db5c 0da4336d 0d46b350 00000000 00000000 studiorender+0xf620
0013dbc4 0da4960b 0013dcf4 0dddfc68 0df00000 studiorender+0x19336d
0013dc44 0c818f42 0013dca4 0013dcf4 0df00000 studiorender+0x19960b
0013e020 100664e2 00000009 3679e8e4 00000000 engine!F+0x7d892
0013e040 10170cbf 00000009 0013e094 0013e29c client+0x264e2
0013e060 101756e8 10426701 00000000 367a0354 client+0x130cbf
0013e09c 0e251937 00000000 0d465290 0d3b2fd0 client+0x1356e8
0013e0a8 0d3b2fd0 00000000 00000036 0ceffd34 shaderapidx9+0x11937
0013e0c0 0d3842e3 0f01b310 0360c898 00010002 materialsystem+0x32fd0
0013e0dc 0e259ab5 00000000 ffffffff 014f7eae materialsystem+0x42e3
0013e0e8 014f7eae 0000002d 0d393e4f 0e39f238 shaderapidx9+0x19ab5
0013e0f0 0d393e4f 0e39f238 0e2489bd 0e39f238 tier0!CThreadLocalBase::Get+0xe
0013e0f8 0e2489bd 0e39f238 00000000 00000000 materialsystem+0x13e4f
0013e134 0c8355d0 0d46b350 00000004 00000002 shaderapidx9+0x89bd
0013e184 0c83632b 0d46b350 00000004 0d46b350 engine!F+0x99f20
0013e194 014f7eae 0000002d 0d38c1d0 0cbdd798 engine!F+0x9ac7b
0013e19c 0d38c1d0 0cbdd798 0cbdd798 0000000a tier0!CThreadLocalBase::Get+0xe
0013e1b4 0e256fa1 00000002 0013e1e4 0d46b350 materialsystem+0xc1d0
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 shaderapidx9+0x16fa1

STACK_COMMAND:  ~0s; .ecxr ; kb

FAULTING_THREAD:  000008c8

FOLLOWUP_IP:
studiorender+1b631
0d8cb631 83b834fd360000  cmp     dword ptr [eax+36FD34h],0

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  0

SYMBOL_NAME:  studiorender+1b631

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: studiorender

IMAGE_NAME:  studiorender.dll

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  474345ff

BUCKET_ID:  ACCESS_VIOLATION_studiorender+1b631

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  studiorender.dll!Unknown_c0000005_APPLICATION_FAULT

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

AND

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.8.0004.0 X86
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Loading Dump File [I:\winstuff\steam\SteamApps\antdude\half-life 2
episode two\Steam__3300__2007_11_24T8_5_8C192315.mdmp]
User Mini Dump File: Only registers, stack and portions of memory are
available

Comment: 'Crash: Map: ep2_outland_11a
Game: i:\winstuff\steam\steamapps\antdude\half-life 2 episode two\ep2
Build: 3300
Misc: skill:1 rate 20000 update 20 cmd 30 latency 0 msec
Net: loopback
cmdline:"i:\winstuff\steam\steamapps\antdude\half-life 2 episode
two\hl2.exe"  -game ep2 -steam
driver: Driver Name:  NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Driver Version: 6.14.11.6909
VendorId / DeviceId:  0x10de / 0x295
SubSystem / Rev:  0xc6353842 / 0xa1
DXLevel:  gamemode
Vid:  1280 x 1024
video: picmip: -1 forceansio: 16 trilinear: 0 antialias: 4 vsync: 0
rootlod: 0 reducefillrate: 0
shadowrendertotexture: 0 r_flashlightdepthtexture 1 waterforceexpensive:
1 waterforcereflectentities: 1 mat_motion_blur_enabled: 1
OS: XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) version 5.1
prev PP PAGES: used: 22764, free 69396
final PP PAGES: used: 22764, free 69396
memalloc = 0
'
Symbol search path is:
srv*e:\winstuff\symbols\*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows XP Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: SingleUserTS
Debug session time: Sat Nov 24 00:05:08.000 2007 (GMT-8)
System Uptime: not available
Process Uptime: 0 days 0:03:13.000
.............................................................................................................
This dump file has an exception of interest stored in it.
The stored exception information can be accessed via .ecxr.
(1ac.9b0): Access violation - code c0000005 (first/second chance not
available)
eax=1ed20000 ebx=00000000 ecx=00000007 edx=7c90eb94 esi=01b227a1
edi=00001b40
eip=7c90eb94 esp=0013a530 ebp=0013a540 iopl=0         nv up ei pl zr na
pe nc
cs=001b  ss=0023  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=003b  gs=0000
efl=00200246
ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet:
7c90eb94 c3              ret
0:000> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*
      *
*                        Exception Analysis
      *
*
      *
*******************************************************************************

*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for engine.dll -
*** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for client.dll
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for client.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for shaderapidx9.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for materialsystem.dll -
*** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for vstdlib.dll
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for vstdlib.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for tier0.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found.  Defaulted to export symbols
for Steam.dll -
Matched: 7c8866fc kernel32!BasepAppCertDllsList = <no type information>
Matched: 7c8848d0 kernel32!BasepAppCertDllsList = <no type information>
*************************************************************************
***                                                                   ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Your debugger is not using the correct symbols                 ***
***                                                                   ***
***    In order for this command to work properly, your symbol path   ***
***    must point to .pdb files that have full type information.      ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Certain .pdb files (such as the public OS symbols) do not      ***
***    contain the required information.  Contact the group that      ***
***    provided you with these symbols if you need this command to    ***
***    work.                                                          ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Type referenced: kernel32!pNlsUserInfo                         ***
***                                                                   ***
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***                                                                   ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Your debugger is not using the correct symbols                 ***
***                                                                   ***
***    In order for this command to work properly, your symbol path   ***
***    must point to .pdb files that have full type information.      ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Certain .pdb files (such as the public OS symbols) do not      ***
***    contain the required information.  Contact the group that      ***
***    provided you with these symbols if you need this command to    ***
***    work.                                                          ***
***                                                                   ***
***    Type referenced: kernel32!pNlsUserInfo                         ***
***                                                                   ***
*************************************************************************

FAULTING_IP:
studiorender+1b5dd
0d8cb5dd 0fb711          movzx   edx,word ptr [ecx]

EXCEPTION_RECORD:  ffffffff -- (.exr 0xffffffffffffffff)
ExceptionAddress: 0d8cb5dd (studiorender+0x0001b5dd)
   ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
  ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
   Parameter[0]: 00000000
   Parameter[1]: beb7787b
Attempt to read from address beb7787b

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  INVALID_POINTER_READ

PROCESS_NAME:  hl2.exe

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx"
referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

READ_ADDRESS:  beb7787b

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from 0d8c051b to 0d8cb5dd

STACK_TEXT:
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be
wrong.
0013c810 0d8c051b 0d8c056a 0013cf00 0d8c051b studiorender+0x1b5dd
0013c87c 0d8c3e82 1dc12bc8 0013cb44 00000006 studiorender+0x1051b
0013cd34 0d8c5644 0d46b350 1dc12bc8 05600a28 studiorender+0x13e82
0013cd78 0d8c5871 0d46b350 1dc12bc8 02f99bf0 studiorender+0x15644
0013cdcc 0d8bfba7 0d46b350 00000000 3556ccb4 studiorender+0x15871
0013ce00 0d8bf620 0d46b350 00000000 00000001 studiorender+0xfba7
0013ce5c 0da4336d 0d46b350 00000000 00000000 studiorender+0xf620
0013cec4 0da4960b 0013cff4 0dddfc68 0df00000 studiorender+0x19336d
0013cf44 0c818f42 0013cfa4 0013cff4 0df00000 studiorender+0x19960b
0013d320 100664e2 00000009 3556ccb4 00000000 engine!F+0x7d892
0013d340 10170cbf 00000009 0013d37c 0013e29c client+0x264e2
0013d360 101756e8 10426701 00000000 3556bf7c client+0x130cbf
0013d3cc 4fe1ec03 00000405 0025a980 001b3620 client+0x1356e8
0013d3ec 4fe1f4a4 001b2e20 00000000 00000000 d3d9!CRMHeap::update+0xc3
0013d408 4fe59dff 4fe59f66 001bc840 001c6980
d3d9!CResourceManager::TimeStamp+0x34
0013d47c 4fe76db1 00000000 001bc840 001bc844
d3d9!CD3DBase::UpdateTextures+0x14f
0013d4a4 4fe58910 001bc840 00000004 00000000
d3d9!CD3DDDIDX8_DrawIndexedPrimitive+0x41
0013d4ec 0e24908a 001bc840 00000004 00000000
d3d9!CD3DBase::DrawIndexedPrimitive+0xe0
0013d530 0e259c41 00000001 0d465294 0d3b0d17 shaderapidx9+0x908a
0013d53c 0d3b0d17 00000000 0d3b0d27 00000000 shaderapidx9+0x19c41
0013d544 0d3b0d27 00000000 0e39fa70 0efb8be4 materialsystem+0x30d17
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 materialsystem+0x30d27

STACK_COMMAND:  ~0s; .ecxr ; kb

FAULTING_THREAD:  000009b0

PRIMARY_PROBLEM_CLASS:  INVALID_POINTER_READ

BUGCHECK_STR:  APPLICATION_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_READ

FOLLOWUP_IP:
studiorender+1b5dd
0d8cb5dd 0fb711          movzx   edx,word ptr [ecx]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  0

SYMBOL_NAME:  studiorender+1b5dd

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: studiorender

IMAGE_NAME:  studiorender.dll

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  474345ff

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  studiorender.dll!Unknown_c0000005_INVALID_POINTER_READ

BUCKET_ID:  APPLICATION_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_READ_studiorender+1b5dd

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

I never had these problems in Portal, TF2, original HL2, episode 1, Lost
Coast, mods, etc. I ran the game cache verifier and it found no
problems. I'd like to finish episode 2. Any ideas? I still have my crash
dumps and saved games if needed.

Thank you in advance. :)