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My gear: Intel P4 3.2Gb (not oc'd), 2GB of RAM (2 pairs of matched DIMMs for dual channelling), and an ATI x800 series card (not oc'd). Retail BF2, full 1.2 patch applied, punkbuster manually updated.
Delurking to make this post. Like Somerville and others my system has been crashing to desktop during the shader optimization process when I try to join a game. It usually fails around 62% (geometries), but it used to fail around the 14-15%. I don't know what changed. In any case, the problem started with patch 1.03, and accordingly I haven't been able to play since October '05.
I've tried every combination of reinstalling and patching within reason without success.
The following solution worked for me.
It is a memory problem (though not with the memory per se). Apparently, BF2 doesn't like dual channel memory architecture. It must be due to a change in the way the game addresses memory or something after the early patches.
I disabled dual channel mode. Apparently, some systems allow you to do this in BIOS, but if, like me, there is no option in your BIOS setup dealing with dual channel, you can achieve it by physically pulling your paired memory DIMMS and reinstalling them in sequence instead of in pairs.
So, if, like me, you have 2 pairs of 512MB sticks (each pair sold as a kit), you would have installed them as follows:
Stick X1 installed in bank A1, stick X2 installed in bank B1, stick Y1 installed in bank A2, stick Y2 installed in bank B2.
Pull them, and reinstall them as follows:
Stick X1 in bank A1, stick X2 in bank A2, stick Y1 in bank B1, stick Y2 in bank B2.
This "turns off" dual channel mode. When I did this, I was able to get through the map load process without crashing to desktop.
I discovered this tip at www.bf2lag.com (have your virus shield up if you go there, as the site tries to push adware/spyware to your system).
Now that I'm able to get through the map load process, I find that I'm still not able to join a game due to the stupid "unmodified content" error
I am able to join games on non-'pure' servers (no computer icon). Many reruns of patch 1.2 later, I still haven't solved this issue. Still trying though 
Delurking to make this post. Like Somerville and others my system has been crashing to desktop during the shader optimization process when I try to join a game. It usually fails around 62% (geometries), but it used to fail around the 14-15%. I don't know what changed. In any case, the problem started with patch 1.03, and accordingly I haven't been able to play since October '05.
I've tried every combination of reinstalling and patching within reason without success.
The following solution worked for me.
It is a memory problem (though not with the memory per se). Apparently, BF2 doesn't like dual channel memory architecture. It must be due to a change in the way the game addresses memory or something after the early patches.
I disabled dual channel mode. Apparently, some systems allow you to do this in BIOS, but if, like me, there is no option in your BIOS setup dealing with dual channel, you can achieve it by physically pulling your paired memory DIMMS and reinstalling them in sequence instead of in pairs.
So, if, like me, you have 2 pairs of 512MB sticks (each pair sold as a kit), you would have installed them as follows:
Stick X1 installed in bank A1, stick X2 installed in bank B1, stick Y1 installed in bank A2, stick Y2 installed in bank B2.
Pull them, and reinstall them as follows:
Stick X1 in bank A1, stick X2 in bank A2, stick Y1 in bank B1, stick Y2 in bank B2.
This "turns off" dual channel mode. When I did this, I was able to get through the map load process without crashing to desktop.
I discovered this tip at www.bf2lag.com (have your virus shield up if you go there, as the site tries to push adware/spyware to your system).
Now that I'm able to get through the map load process, I find that I'm still not able to join a game due to the stupid "unmodified content" error
I am able to join games on non-'pure' servers (no computer icon). Many reruns of patch 1.2 later, I still haven't solved this issue. Still trying though
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