Take-Two suggests PS3 GTAIV fix

Publisher's tech support department unveils an elaborate 12-step program to address frequent freezing by deleting saves, disabling online and rumble support; 360 remedy still MIA.

Reports of Grand Theft Auto IV freezing up have been circulating message boards since the game's launch Tuesday, but Rockstar Games has been tight-lipped as to the reason or the remedy, passing off requests for public comment onto Sony. While the majority of complaints appear to be coming from PlayStation 3 users, Xbox 360 owners with glitch-ridden game experiences have also voiced their frustrations online.

Take-Two representatives may not have been willing to go on the record about the issue, but the publisher's tech support team does not have the same luxury when it comes to customer complaints. An inquiry into the Take-Two tech support site yielded the following array of suggestions on how to fix the problem. The 12-part response follows below:

Please run through the following, go through in order.

1) Delete the game's install data. This is done via the PS3 options. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Game Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, from the menu select Delete. This will delete the game's install information.

2) Delete the game's save files. To delete any save files you will need to do the following. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Save Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, and from the context menu select Delete.

3) Disable your Internet connectivity for the PS3. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Settings' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Network Settings'. Now scroll down to the Internet connection option and press x, now select the disable option. Once this has been done unplug the ethernet cable if you are connecting to the Internet if using this.

4) Disable the console's information board. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Information Board', highlight this and press triangle. From the menu select 'Do not display' Press X to confirm this.

5) Disable Media Server functionality. Scroll to Settings, now scroll up / down to 'Network Settings' select Media Server connection. Once this has been done press triangle and change the option Disabled.

6) Delete all of the system's Internet cache. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Internet Browser', highlight this and press X. Once you browser opens press the triangle button once, from the new menu highlight the 'Tools' option and press X. Scroll down the menu until you reach 'Delete Cookies' and press X. Confirm the files deletion. Repeat this for 'Delete Cache'.

7 ) Turn off the PS3 screen saver. Use the cross media bar to scroll to 'Settings', select 'Display Settings'. Now highlight 'Screensaver' and set this to 'Do not use'.

8 ) Once this has been done, manually restart you PS3 by holding down the power button for 5 seconds it will beep once and then shut down. Release the power button and re-press it and hold for about 5 seconds. The system will then boot and reset all display settings. You will be prompted to reset your display settings to how you require them.

9) Once restarted please try the game again, you will be prompted to reinstall.

Once the game has started please turn off the following features:

1) The game's auto-save. Press Start, Game, and locate the Auto-save option. Turn this off.

2) Turn off the game's flicker filter. Press Start, Display and locate the Flicker Filter option. Turn this off.

3) Turn off the controller vibration feature. Press Start, Controls and locate the vibration option. Turn this off.

If that doesn't solve the problem, Take-Two allows tech support users to reopen their cases within seven days.

As for Sony, earlier today, a representative with the company confirmed a 'freezing' issue with GTAIV on "a limited number of PS3s." He added that Sony has received "an extremely low volume" of complaint calls to its customer service line, and that it is working with all concerned parties to pin down and fix the issue.

Microsoft has not yet responded to GameSpot's inquiries on problems with the Xbox 360 edition of the game. GameSpot editors have yet to receive a response to a Take-Two tech support ticket filed for that version of the game.

930 Comments

  • RonHack

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 1:49 pm GMT

    Gee, I wonder if I should lay down $400+ for one of these systems?

    Hmmmm, I think not.

    (Note: Not just GTA IV causing freezing issues with either console)

  • acemasta21

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 11:01 pm GMT

    wtf i have both (dont ask me y lol)

    and they dont freeze at all

  • joedirt1

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 1:27 pm GMT

    Mine doesn't let me online Sony freaking sucks FIX YOUR FREAKIN SYSTEM!

  • simdx

    Posted Jun 8, 2008 5:07 am GMT

    mine dos not freeze, instead the loading screen wont disappear. and after i eject the disc, the cut scene appears for 2 seconds then blackout and back to xmb. after that i keep getting "8001002b" error when starting the game. i think it kinda bricked my ps3. the sony in asia is not that good, it took them 2 months to change my bd lens.

  • EnigManic

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 4:15 am GMT

    My copy frequently has trouble loading, and I've experienced numerous graphical glitches so far. This game definitely didn't deserve a ten!

  • ChadFromCanada

    Posted May 17, 2008 12:57 pm GMT

    Yeah auto save is good after missions, especially when it does it say right after you kill your target, even if you're still being shot at and sheeeit.

  • perfkwepon

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:37 pm GMT

    Having to turn off auto saves screws the game. Douchebags!

  • perfkwepon

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:37 pm GMT

    Having to turn off auto saves screws the game. Douchebags!

  • southen

    Posted May 15, 2008 6:44 pm GMT

    www.2guys1horse.com

  • Tasuke

    Posted May 15, 2008 10:34 am GMT

    Indeed this is saddening...ive emailed rockstar explaining the same issue on my 360 how it started off freezing every now and then and im up to the mission Last Checkout and now whenever i even try to play once my game loads everything i freeze 5 seconds later everytime. Its sad this has been happening for weeks to many people and still no fix in sight....its like congradulations too all the 360 GTA4 owners who are having problems....you spent $60 bucks on a paperweight and all your anxiouse waiting has gone down to flames...gg microsoft and rockstar

  • gmen79player

    Posted May 14, 2008 10:20 am GMT

    Soooooo.......... Those of us who have freezing issues on 360 are left hanging. Gee, I feel a lot better that ps3 gets such a fast response to their problems while we micros**t owners get to play a freezing game. Thanks rockstar!

  • monieluvg

    Posted May 12, 2008 8:32 pm GMT

    This is a joke. I submitted a fix for both launch and non-launch editions of PS3 to Rockstar a week ago. They obviously do not care about their customers. Sony couldn't figure it out, Rockstar couldn't figure it out. Funny, it only took me 20 minutes of not being able to play the game to solve the issue. Whoever wants to attract millions of people to their site, i will sell you the fix. Call me bull$#T, I don't care. I am playing the game right now on my 20 gig'r that wouldn't get past the loading screen. Do not loose your saved game or disconnect from the internet, THAT IS NOT THE PROBLEM.

  • SpoonHeroSR

    Posted May 11, 2008 9:07 pm GMT

    Ok I cant even get on Online because it keeps saying "Disconnected from game session" everytime. Can someone please give me a real good advice. Im also coneccted to a router maybe thats the problem?

  • WJCJ

    Posted May 11, 2008 7:20 pm GMT

    The only reason mine freezes is because I play it for 17 hours straight. LOL....

  • lamepunk

    Posted May 11, 2008 2:45 pm GMT

    And yet this game still sells like none other. As long as people get their daily dose of violence and sex no one seems to care much about this.

  • adamrains

    Posted May 10, 2008 10:25 pm GMT

    What a joke......Two weeks and still no response other than this crap..........Thanks for the $60 coaster Rockstar!

  • lrsp

    Posted May 8, 2008 5:17 pm GMT

    Ok, let's see if this crap works on my PS3. I doubt it.

  • thug_angel123

    Posted May 7, 2008 4:23 pm GMT

    oh at last...

  • ihabn0legs

    Posted May 7, 2008 11:46 am GMT

    PS3 GTA Patch: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/872/872121p1.html

  • j7_97219

    Posted May 7, 2008 8:51 am GMT

    I have the 40GB PS3, and GTA IV began freezing upon start-up (I would have to restart it like 3 times before it worked). I have since disabled all my internet connection options on the PS3's main menu, and haven't had any problems since. Sounds like the freezing is caused by GTA IV's attempt to connect to PS3 network. It sounds like Take-two is creating a patch that will be available this week to fix this.

    Hope this helps others.

  • stinkyfriend

    Posted May 6, 2008 11:38 pm GMT

    wonder why when i call rockstar sumtimes they hint there is a patch but most of the time they say they have no news of a patch if they are working on a patch why wont they say why make the people who buy there products wonder and get mad...cuz the game they bought for $60.00 that freezies,crash there systems like mine did,and disc read errors..and they have no news or anything it just sux man

  • AirwolfUK

    Posted May 6, 2008 10:55 pm GMT

    I found by just disconnecting the internet from my PS3 it worked

  • tojo12

    Posted May 6, 2008 8:18 pm GMT

    I have an 80GB launch PS3 and this problem appeared day1, then seemed to go away for a bit. Now, as I am reaching around 27% complete it freezes 4 mins into game play. This sucks. I'm about ready to give up! It's worse with my Internet disconnected. The 12 steps are crap. They didn't do a dern thing for my system.

  • champ56

    Posted May 6, 2008 7:23 pm GMT

    I cant say for sure... I would have to say about 2 years actually. Microsoft gave me a replacement when my first one caught the rrod disease. I really don't understand why it runs on some 360s but not others. I take care of my xbox too, and every other game runs just fine... I really dont think its entirely my xbox's fault. But if its any help, gta worked fine until I played for a couple days, adding up to about 8 hours of gameplay maybe. However, with mine, I have never gotten a disk read error... it just freezes.

  • Paradosis

    Posted May 6, 2008 4:52 pm GMT

    I remember the days of old, when they would release games that actually ran the way they were supposed to. Sure, you would have it freeze up or something every once in a while, but that was a rare exception, and not because of fixable bugs that weren't ironed out ahead of time.

  • _guenter_26

    Posted May 6, 2008 4:21 pm GMT

    champ56
    how old is your 360?

  • champ56

    Posted May 6, 2008 3:44 pm GMT

    Btw for those of you xbox users, I tried unplugging mine from the internet in hopes that both versions of the game had the same quick fix and it helped nothing. Still froze in the first 10 minutes of gameplay. Just thought I would throw that out there. Guess we have to keep our fingers crossed.

  • ctg867

    Posted May 6, 2008 3:19 pm GMT

    Wow, a small problem with launch 60GB units needs a 12 step program? Jeez. And is there no 360 fix because the problem isn't big enough? Or is it because there isn't a fix? Or is it just not priority? Who knows. Glad Rockstar is doing something. Seems pretty simple to me. Probably would of done 10-11 of theses steps on my own out of common sense. I guess gamers these days are pretty dumb eh?

  • champ56

    Posted May 6, 2008 3:10 pm GMT

    _guenter_26 just because you arent having problems doesn't mean no one else is. There are already multiple reports involving the 360 version and according to various news websites R* has begun working on a patch for both versions of the game. My xbox is just one of the many that freeze. And yes other games work... and no i dont use cheat codes. So, while the real problem remains a mystery (at least with the 360 version), there is clearly something wrong.

  • _guenter_26

    Posted May 6, 2008 3:03 pm GMT

    I dont think tere is a problem with the 360 version mine runs fine and my 360 is 2 years old and no rrod.

  • ShadowOfKratos

    Posted May 6, 2008 12:34 pm GMT

    I don't think you have to be connected to PSN for the game to attempt a connection to R* server, just the internet connection in general... it's like when some games find an update when the PS3 is online but disconnected from the PSN.

    so to be sure, just turn off your Wi-Fi, or unplug your ethernet cable... that should do the trick.

  • stinkyfriend

    Posted May 6, 2008 12:20 pm GMT

    so if you disable your psn? or dont sign in its soppose to fix it???

  • ShadowOfKratos

    Posted May 6, 2008 11:59 am GMT

    tought I'd repost my previous statement... u know, just in case some of you missed it...

    TO ALL PEOPLE HAVING THE FREEZING PROBLEM ON THE PS3:

    before all, note that I don't yet have the game (still waiting for my import copy).

    but consider this:
    the freezing may have to do with the automated "statistics uploads" to R*.

    remember when R* said that the game would keep track of everybody's accomplishments to see who completes the game first, who finds all the easter eggs first, the craziest stunt driver, etc...? if you remember that, then maybe it makes sense to say that when you attain a certain statistic and keep saving the game with the autosave feature, the game tries to connect automatically to the R* server to upload those statistics and ends up freezing up, either becouse it can't connect or becouse it has hit a barrier upon trying to upload and goes into a loop to try and upload the statistics again and again and again.

    I don't know, I could be wrong of course, but try saving manually only, and play the single player mode without beeing connected to the internet, and by this I mean from start to finish without using autosave and Internet connectivity. wait, hear me out...

    if you want to play online, load up the game from a manual save point created for online purpose "only", so you won't have the risk of the statistics load-up on your proper single player manual save mixed up when you're connected... it's worth a try...

    oh, and if this works, make sure to spread the word...

  • GodOfSyn

    Posted May 6, 2008 11:41 am GMT

    I was having problems with it freezign during loading, it didn't actually freeze but would not load, it just sits there. Me and my buddy figured out if you log out of PSN your good to go. No problems since, by the way the reinstall of game data doesn't work, I have tried that. It's something with PSN, maybe this game has anti piracy in it, like a checksum and PSN screws it up and causes it to just not load. Who knows though, wish they would fix it so that I could get on multiplayer.

  • DarthMallrat

    Posted May 6, 2008 11:30 am GMT

    Well I got my copy of GTAIV last night (Xbox 360). Played it for about 3 hours with not a single problem. Ran smooth as butter. It's weird how some people with the same system have such major issues and others have none at all.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted May 6, 2008 10:52 am GMT

    have played with over 100 people on XBL who have never even heard of this issue.

  • champ56

    Posted May 6, 2008 10:43 am GMT

    Not mine... I have used no cheats. So Threesixtyci obviously not all of them. In fact I have read that a lot of the freezes have happened even when people haven't used cheats.

  • Threesixtyci

    Posted May 6, 2008 10:21 am GMT

    So, just how many of these freezes are because of an entered cheat code? All of them?

  • livinglegend305

    Posted May 6, 2008 7:12 am GMT

    just imagine the problems if they would have released it at the original date..when mine started freezing up i took my copy back to gamestop. i havent had another problem since

  • Agermemnon

    Posted May 6, 2008 6:34 am GMT

    34% in on the 360 ver and have suffered no problems .

  • Awful_Cleric

    Posted May 6, 2008 1:51 am GMT

    I guess I'm one of the lucky few. I have only had mine Freeze up once and I attributed that to all the police gunning for me!

  • stinkyfriend

    Posted May 6, 2008 12:53 am GMT

    R* told me on the phone there were a bunch of disc with missing codes and this new patch will fix the codes when it comes out for download i hope hes right cuz im dying to play my game it just sits next to my ps3 just collecting dust lol

  • frostybubbler

    Posted May 5, 2008 6:23 pm GMT

    It's cool to see gamers on these post actually formulating some viable diagnosis and solutions to this GTA4 problem. It's funny that the critics think that people who play this game are no good. Game on!

  • aznkhaoone

    Posted May 5, 2008 6:09 pm GMT

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it froze again...

  • DBone420

    Posted May 5, 2008 5:08 pm GMT

    I have the 360 version and it happens every 30 minutes. It sux

  • Diddies

    Posted May 5, 2008 4:54 pm GMT

    well i have a ps3 and that was my quick fix for it by unplugging the ethernet cord

  • lil_menace

    Posted May 5, 2008 4:37 pm GMT

    hopefully when i get mine this doesnt happen

  • doomsoth

    Posted May 5, 2008 4:30 pm GMT

    RockStar tells you the best way to eliminate the problem is just don't play it! Awesome!

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