Having troubles with Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3? Try this fix

Some PlayStation 3 owners are having difficulties starting the game or loading saved games. The fix? Deactivating the PS3's online connection.

I started having problems with the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV this weekend. The game started just fine, the music and art kicked in, and the game would begin to load my save file.

Then...nothing.

The game would simply hang on the load screen (sometimes with chugging noises coming from the Blu-ray drive). This happened five times in a row before I caught word of a simple fix: unplugging the PS3's internet connection.

UPDATE: Simply signing out of PSN before playing also works fine.

And guess what? The fix worked perfectly on the first try. After unplugging my ethernet port and restarting the PS3, Grand Theft Auto IV started right up with no difficulties. This obviously means that I can't play the game's online mode, but given that the PS3 servers are overwhelmed at the moment, this isn't a real sacrifice.

Given the apparent simplicity of the problem, I'm hoping Rockstar will come up with a quick and dirty patch next week, but we'll have to wait and see. For the moment, disconnecting the PS3's online capabilities seems to work just fine.

Other readers have also suggested disabling your PS3's wallpaper or, in desperate cases, deleting the game's save files and stored game content from your PS3's hard drive. Which obviously means you'll have to re-start your progress with a fresh install.

If you've got any workarounds for the technical issues plaguing the PS3 (or Xbox 360) versions of GTA IV, share your fixes in the comments below.

Comments [151]

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ShortHairedOffender

Just log off. Then go in the game and if you want to go online it will let you log on.

denveraic

So in other words, you have to lose out on a lot of features just to game the game to work? Come on Rockstar and Sony, fix this shit. That is a joke, can't use online, or keep your wallpaper, and oh yeah, you might have to delete some files. Best $60 spent, on a non working game.

TRUPREDATOR

there is already a solution to it.your late gamepro.and if your a ps3 owner (i feel for you if you bought that version,sorry but i own the ps3 and a 360 and i new well b4 that the 360 version was the way to go for me and this just valdates my point,and reason for my purchase even further)im sure not everyone would want to sacrifice the online portion of the game.here i got this from game informer.com rockstar has a twelve pronged approach to fixing it.im not going to paste the whole process because its lengthy but go there and read it if you really wanna solution to the problem.

since the game launched this week, some PlayStation 3 owners have reported a number of system freezes and other problems when playing Grand Theft Auto IV. Take-Twos technical support now has a solution of sorts, in the form of a 12-pronged fix. Its definitely not the most elegant solution, and it includes reinstalling the game, but if it works its better than nothing.

ViciousSid

The whole 12-step thing is probably unnecessary. From what I've been reading, just deactivating online (by unplugging the ethernet, deactivating through the PS3 menu, or possibly even logging out) is working for most folks.

artsaber

denveraic Posted at: 05/03/08 at 3:10 PM PST So in other words, you have to lose out on a lot of features just to game the game to work? Come on Rockstar and Sony, fix this shit. That is a joke, can't use online, or keep your wallpaper, and oh yeah, you might have to delete some files. Best $60 spent, on a non working game.
You are correct on the D. But Rockstar has to fix it, Sony can't... Rockstar did the development and they have to fix this thing.

tparsons5150

Game Runs smooth as a Baby's ass for me/ online and offline (60GB luanch PS3)

Gameprosuxbluballs

Ok gamepro... What should i do if i'm having problems with the fucking x360 version?... WTF did MS release a fucking system?... They heat up, give you a ring of death and then you'll have to wait fucking 2weeks to get the damn thing back... Now you get it back by the time GTA4 comes out and the fucking game freezes everytime it gests a fucking chance!!!!!... FU gamepro, tell me what to do with the x360 version damn it...

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