18MB. It's still early but initial reports are that it does fix the freezing issues.

How do you get the patch? I still cannot get into the game while online. I had the freezing loading screen issue that was avoided only by disabling my internet connection but encountered a new problem yesterday and today - the disc isn't recognized or otherwise doesn't show. I can see the "disc loading" graphic identify a disc is being examined but after that there's nothing and no error message, as if there was no disk in the unit.
An odd thing about the loading screen freeze - neither my master or sub account would work or even start a new game unless the internet was disabled but my nephew's account worked fine and could still go online until yesterday when the disc was no longer recognized.

SWEET....I can finally travel more than a third of a block!!!!

I hope?

How do you get the patch? I still cannot get into the game while online. I had the freezing loading screen issue that was avoided only by disabling my internet connection but encountered a new problem yesterday and today - the disc isn't recognized or otherwise doesn't show. I can see the "disc loading" graphic identify a disc is being examined but after that there's nothing and no error message, as if there was no disk in the unit.
An odd thing about the loading screen freeze - neither my master or sub account would work or even start a new game unless the internet was disabled but my nephew's account worked fine and could still go online until yesterday when the disc was no longer recognized.As long as your internet option is enabled just start the game and it will prompt you to download the patch. Unfortunately it sounds like you're having disc read errors now. If you're having problems with all your discs you may end up having to send the PS3 in for repairs.

As long as your internet option is enabled just start the game and it will prompt you to download the patch. Unfortunately it sounds like you're having disc read errors now. If you're having problems with all your discs you may end up having to send the PS3 in for repairs.

Warhawk and Burnout Paradise (online and offline) continue to work fine as well as DVDs and the like. I'm certain the problem lies with the game itself.
I tried a new approach just now that worked. When I tried before I switched from my account to my nephew's without restarting but this time I signed in first with his account and it worked fine. I then switched to my account without restarting and it continued to see the disc.
I was able to download the patch and it now works with the internet connection enabled. I was even able to start an online multiplayer game but I didn't actually play online as I only wanted to test it. If it remains working I'll be online later.

Glad you got it working. Maybe the parental controls are set on your nephew's account and that's why the game won't show up.

I installed the patch, completed a mission, then it froze. :mad: I hope others have better luck than I.

Where's the 360 patch???? I froze twice last night along with a bunch of other nights. Sent an email to support at Rockstar and never got any reply. They really dropped the ball on this problem.

Ok. The patch is out (hint of hesitation). I must say "great job Rockstar on getting it out so quick".

On the single player side I have not had a single lock up playing the game. It has been running perfectly for me. On the multiplayer side it has been great for me as well. No major issues except for the first day I couldn't even log in to multiplayer. Day two and beyond working great!

Now here is my problem. When I download this patch, it had better not start giving me issues. This happened to me in COD4. I never had any issues from day one playing COD4 online (unlike a lot of people) then they put out a patch and it made the game unplayable for me online.:mad:

So I am crossing my fingers this patch doesn't cause me issues because I have been enjoying my addiction to GTA4 with no problems on- or off-line.:D

JD

i still cant connect to MP on my 40 gb.. will be patching and checking my 60gb after the kids go to bed.

But the SP on the 40 is working great now with the internet enabled.. Still getting the "unable to connect to game provider" when i try MP.

Apparently this still doesn't help those that can't even get the game to start before it freezes.

Now here is my problem. When I download this patch, it had better not start giving me issues. This happened to me in COD4. I never had any issues from day one playing COD4 online (unlike a lot of people) then they put out a patch and it made the game unplayable for me online.I didn't have any issues before the patch and haven't noticed any problems after. I haven't tried MP post-patch though.

Arent patch notes fairly standard in the software industry are there any with this release? Im still at work.

i still cant connect to MP on my 40 gb.. will be patching and checking my 60gb after the kids go to bed.

But the SP on the 40 is working great now with the internet enabled.. Still getting the "unable to connect to game provider" when i try MP.

have you reset your router and modem. After they got the servers back up, a friend of mine buzzed me and said to logon. However, I still got the error message that provider couldnt be contacted. After I reset the modem and router...all was good.

Give it a try.

Arent patch notes fairly standard in the software industry are there any with this release? Im still at work.Nothing really specific. Just this:

Rockstar Games has released a GTA IV patch for Playstation 3 today that prevents Gamespy’s servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up. We continue to monitor the performance of the game both on and offline and will provide further updates as necessary. We want to assure everyone that, together with our hardware partners, we continue to strive to give our fans the best possible interactive entertainment experiences possible. This update will ensure that everyone will experience Grand Theft Auto IV the way it was intended. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

Launch 60.
The patch did nothing for me. I freeze 5 seconds after I get control of the car in the very beginning.

Launch 60.
The patch did nothing for me. I freeze 5 seconds after I get control of the car in the very beginning.

backup
format
re-install!

i have had no problems.. i formatted week before game came out.. only freeze i had were mulitplayer online loading screens.. thats it!

i don't need the patch. 40 gig ftw.

Apparently this still doesn't help those that can't even get the game to start before it freezes.


Not good. That's the problem I had and disabling the network connection fixed it. However, if this patch doesn't allow me to enable the network connection and load the game then it didn't fix the problem a lot of people are having. There is more than one freezing issue going on with this game...

Sure enough......this patch did nothing for me. I have deleted and reinstalled the game three more times this evening. No luck. I have tried with and without the network connection being enabled.

I can't even let it scroll through the cut scenes and credits without it freezing....... :mad::mad::mad:

Disable the scrolling message board on your xmb. You get to the controls for it in the same place you find folding@home. That solved the problem for me anyway. Didn't need to totally disable the internet to get in the game. That might help you get in to at least get the patch.

*Knocking on Wood*--I have a launch 60gig and my game has only froze once. Hopefully the patch won't give me any problems.

Same problems I was having before. The game is playable, but barely. I just finished knocking boots with Michelle and went to start a mission and I froze during a cutscene.

have you reset your router and modem. After they got the servers back up, a friend of mine buzzed me and said to logon. However, I still got the error message that provider couldnt be contacted. After I reset the modem and router...all was good.

Give it a try.

Done and Done and still cannot connect to multiplayer.

backup
format
re-install!

i have had no problems.. i formatted week before game came out.. only freeze i had were mulitplayer online loading screens.. thats it!

I formatted and reinstalled about 10 times in teh last week .. not a solution.

i don't need the patch. 40 gig ftw.

I have a less then 1 week old 40gb that has exactly the same problems as my 60 gb. So whats your point?

Not good. That's the problem I had and disabling the network connection fixed it. However, if this patch doesn't allow me to enable the network connection and load the game then it didn't fix the problem a lot of people are having. There is more than one freezing issue going on with this game...

I actually got notified of the patch when i started the game with the network disabled. (which i did just before starting the game). It surprised me.... but it worked (when i accepted the patch i had to sign in to the network again)

FWIW, this patch seems to have worked for me. I have a 60 Gb console from November 2006. Previously couldn't get past the initial load screen montage. Been playing for two hours without issues.

Sure enough......this patch did nothing for me. I have deleted and reinstalled the game three more times this evening. No luck. I have tried with and without the network connection being enabled.

I can't even let it scroll through the cut scenes and credits without it freezing....... :mad::mad::mad:
Did you also remove your GTA4 profile info? If you delete / re-install the game, the profile stays unaffected. Delete it and try again.

P.S. You are on a launch 60GB SKU?

Did you also remove your GTA4 profile info? If you delete / re-install the game, the profile stays unaffected. Delete it and try again.

P.S. You are on a launch 60GB SKU?

Yes, each time I reinstalled I deleted the game and the profile (that's the game save data, right?).

Yes, I have a 60GB SKU that I picked up from Target a week or two before Christmas. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also, I have the information scroll bar turned off (I turned it off shortly after it was added and haven't used it since). I have tried to do the installs without being connected to PSN. Probably most of the installs were done without being connected to PSN and the internet connection disabled.

This stinks, I would like to play this game that everyone else is raving about.

Nothing really specific. Just this:Sounds like they fixed a completely different thing than that guy announced who supposedly worked for R*. He was saying something about double buffering and how they had a glitch that prevented the buffers from swapping again so you maintain audio but the graphics freeze up.

Sounds like there was more than one problem and this just fixed a portion of the problems?

Luckily mine has only frozen one time with a couple other "close calls." Lately it has been OK, but I don't play as much as you guys do either :shrug:

I need to make sure I kiss my PS3 and copy of GTA4. I had two loading screen freezes right after another on Saturday, and that's been it.

I even signed into multiplayer last night without any problems.

I hope they get these issues resolved--I'd hate for this amazing game to get overshadowed with these myriad problems.

It looks like the reviews should have given GTAIV a "10" for buggy release code, too.

After installing the patch I was FINALLY able to play some MP, good job R*. I didn't have any luck prior to the patch.

Anyone still having freezing issues, I would strongly suggest following this method. First, back up your save data to a USB drive.

Then, do the following:

Take-Two suggests PS3 GTAIV fix

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.

After you re-install, enable your internet connection and start the game.You should be prompted to download and install the patch. You should be good from there.

What's happening is the internet connection causes the data from the install to become corrupted. If your data was corrupted prior to the patch, it will still be corrupted.

Good luck.

Yes, each time I reinstalled I deleted the game and the profile (that's the game save data, right?).
There are two profiles: one for your character and one for settings like button config, display option etc. Delete both.

You could try setting up a new account and see if you can manage to get the game running on that. I've heard some successes with that on prior releases.

Yes, I have a 60GB SKU that I picked up from Target a week or two before Christmas. Thanks for the suggestion.
Well, there apears to be some problem with this game and with a small batch of release SKUs. You might be in that boat: don't know.

Also, I have the information scroll bar turned off (I turned it off shortly after it was added and haven't used it since). I have tried to do the installs without being connected to PSN. Probably most of the installs were done without being connected to PSN and the internet connection disabled.
Try a new profile, if you haven't already.

This stinks, I would like to play this game that everyone else is raving about.
Bummer indeed, hope you get it fixed soon.

Where's the 360 patch?With the new DL content that MS$ paid Rs $50 mil for..

http://webpages.charter.net/nathantruax/rofl.gif

my ps3 froze while downloading the patch that is supposed to fix the freezing issue. talk about irony.

my ps3 froze while downloading the patch that is supposed to fix the freezing issue. talk about irony.


That's not irony. It's simply unfortunate circumstance.

my ps3 froze while downloading the patch that is supposed to fix the freezing issue. talk about irony.

That is pretty ironic, and don't let them tell you it isn't! :p It's like getting hearing damage from a hearing test. Or slipping on a banana peel at a workplace safety meeting. Or Alanis Morissette singing a song about bummers and calling them ironic. Er...but I digress into oblivion for no reason. :)

As for the patch, so far I haven't had any freeze ups. Even staying signed in playing the offline game, it's been perfect (so far) for me.

There are two profiles: one for your character and one for settings like button config, display option etc. Delete both.

You could try setting up a new account and see if you can manage to get the game running on that. I've heard some successes with that on prior releases.

.
Well, there apears to be some problem with this game and with a small batch of release SKUs. You might be in that boat: don't know.


Try a new profile, if you haven't already.


Bummer indeed, hope you get it fixed soon.

I have not deleted two profiles. I deleted the 3XXX MB file (which I believe is the game) and the other file that was like 47kb's (which I believe is the profile. I don't think I have seen two profiles. Should both profiles be in the same "folder"? Maybe I don't have a second profile because I don't have enough time to config buttons or display options....

I will try the new account/profile tonight. Hopefully that will work.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

I have not deleted two profiles. I deleted the 3XXX MB file (which I believe is the game) and the other file that was like 47kb's (which I believe is the profile. I don't think I have seen two profiles. Should both profiles be in the same "folder"? Maybe I don't have a second profile because I don't have enough time to config buttons or display options....

I will try the new account/profile tonight. Hopefully that will work.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Read my post also. Disable your internet and media server options. Back up your saves and profile onto a USB drive. Delete ALL GTA data from your PS3. Reset your PS3 by holding the power button for 5 seconds. Re-install GTA. Copy over your data. Then enable your internet and download the patch.

That should work.

Patch didnt do jack for me. I've followed the 12 steps. Im currently loaning out my GTA4 disk until the MGS bundle comes out.

R*, thank you very little for this patch. Before it would lock up within 2 to 5 minutes, now I can play for a wopping 10 to 20 min before lockup...LOL!

^^ I still believe the freezes the last two posters are experiencing are internet/server related. Are the freezes happening at loading or save screens?

no, the freezing does not happen during loading/saving.

^^ I still believe the freezes the last two posters are experiencing are internet/server related. Are the freezes happening at loading or save screens?

No, these guys are in a select group of freezes that has nothing to do with internet/psn connectivity...again, I feel for you guys :(. I believe I read on the sony forums that rock * and sony are aware of the problem and working around the clock to resolve it...hopefully this patch wasn't intended for this type of freeze and they are still locked in a basement somewhere trying to resolve...

I personally have had GTA4 freeze on me once. Before the patch, none since. What I dont understand is WHY does R* have the game constantly connected to the net if you are in single player mode. I was downloading demos yesterday played 2 hours of GTA (no freeze's BTW) quit and checked my DL progress and it was still at 86%..the same place it was before I started playing. Mins later it finished. If they truely want to eliminate internet causing freezing, disable the friggin internet connection when playing single player. When someone wants to go online, in multiplayer...turn it on then. How hard can that be??

I personally have had GTA4 freeze on me once. Before the patch, none since. What I dont understand is WHY does R* have the game constantly connected to the net if you are in single player mode. I was downloading demos yesterday played 2 hours of GTA (no freeze's BTW) quit and checked my DL progress and it was still at 86%..the same place it was before I started playing. Mins later it finished. If they truely want to eliminate internet causing freezing, disable the friggin internet connection when playing single player. When someone wants to go online, in multiplayer...turn it on then. How hard can that be??

It probably has to do with the fact that you can get an invite while you're in single player.

I'm sure they could have coded it better so it would only go online when an invite is sent, but they probably took the easy way out.

No, these guys are in a select group of freezes that has nothing to do with internet/psn connectivity...again, I feel for you guys :(. I believe I read on the sony forums that rock * and sony are aware of the problem and working around the clock to resolve it...hopefully this patch wasn't intended for this type of freeze and they are still locked in a basement somewhere trying to resolve...

I hope they are working on it. I went home last night, deleted anything I could find related to GTA then turned off the PS3. Restarted, created a new account/PS3 profile, turned off the info. bar, disabled the internet and the media server. Then I turned it off again, restarted and loaded in the GTA disc. I then walked away. When I returned, the video was frozen, the sound was still playing and the PS3 wouldn't respond to the controller (holding down the PS3 button). I let it go till the sound stopped. I ejected the disc, which caused a restart. I started it again and it froze again, never even got through the credits.....twice.

I deleted the new account and moved back to Resistance. There weren't many people playing before GTA came out, now the number of CTF games doesn't even fill the screen....... I am to the point where I may have to take over my son's campaign on The Incredibles :eek:

Not to change subjects, but if you like capture the flag - you should really be investing in Warhawk.

Sorry to hear that this patch is doing squadoosh for some of you.

So far the patch has worked for me.

I did have the game lock up on me once since, but it happened when I was quitting the multiplayer tutorial. I can live with that.

I had it freeze twice before the patch. Once on a game load. Then once when I was running thru a door and instead of hitting punch I hit jump and Niko jumped and hung from the door jamb. I hit triangle to jump down but it froze there, controller was frozen none of the buttons would work, couldn't even turn it off, had to do a manual reboot. After patch have had no freezes yet. Verizon DSL connx, soon to be FIOS.