Recent Constant Crashing - Unplayable - CPU issue.

[Maxila]

I have 3,000+ hours on my current game I last played it August 26th with no problems before having the crashes, I believe that last stable play was before the hotfix 2 update. As best as I can remember the game never crashed once before this. Besides the hot fix, and possible normal Windows 11 updates there have been no changes to my system (see specs below). Now every time I load my save game it crashes within a few seconds to a few minutes; it crashed shortly after an older save I tried to load as a test also, and crashed once while the game was starting up.

I have been playing Remnant 2 and Civ 6 at this time and they are stable, I’m only having a problem with X4, it’s a game crash to desktop not a system crash. The Windows event viewer only showed an error when the game crashed the one time while starting up not the other crashes after loading a save. I ran a Steam file integrity check it saw no issues. I don’t know how to view the X4 dmp file but there is one for each crash.


X4 Version 7.10 (538965) with all DLC (no mods installed ever)
Windows 11 Pro
Intel 14900K (recently replaced under warranty due to intel CPU issue)
Intel Z790 Chipset w most recent bios and intel me microcode
64 GB DDR5
PCI 4.0 4TB SSD
RTX 4090 GPU (Gigabyte) driver version 556.12
DXdiag https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A9fOOi ... drive_link
Vulkan info https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qpRKbB ... drive_link
X4 Dmp https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBO3Dx ... drive_link
X4 Dmp https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k7mHqd ... drive_link
X4 Dmp https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dG3TJH ... drive_link
X4 Dmp https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KXYMcw ... drive_link
X4 Dmp https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mK_5NW ... drive_link

Being how many hours I’ve played with no crashes, and there have been no real system changes, I have to suspect the problem is with hotfix 2. It’s the only real change from my last stable play to my constant crashes. The game is currently unplayable.

[CBJ]

Unfortunately we can't help much with the minimal system information you've provided. The very first thread at the top of the forum, entitled "Technical Support Requests - Please read this before posting!" explains what information we need, and how to provide it. As well as the DXDiag and vulkaninfo, remember to also indicate whether or not your game is modified, and provide information about the error message or type of crash you're experiencing.

One thing you could also do is perform a full file verification using the Steam or GOG client, to make sure that your installation of the game isn't corrupted.

[Maxila]

Unfortunately we can't help much with the minimal system information you've provided. The very first thread at the top of the forum, entitled "Technical Support Requests - Please read this before posting!" explains what information we need, and how to provide it. As well as the DXDiag and vulkaninfo, remember to also indicate whether or not your game is modified, and provide information about the error message or type of crash you're experiencing.

One thing you could also do is perform a full file verification using the Steam or GOG client, to make sure that your installation of the game isn't corrupted.

All the relevant information has been added to the post. The error message appears and disappears too fast for me to read and be certain however, I believe it simply says X4 stopped responding , yet there is no error in Windows event viewer indicating X4 stopped responding.

[Alan Phipps]

All your above Google drive links say that I need to request access and that I *might* get an e-mail if my request is approved. I don't think they are public open sharing links.

[Maxila]

I don't use google drive often I'll fix it, sorry. I just changed them to anyone with a link, not using it much I'm not sure if I also have to post new links? Please let me know if they are accessible now?

[CBJ]

The links work now.

The crashes dumps are a bit of a mixture, but most of them don't correspond to crashes we've seen from other players. They are also mostly related to memory. That tends to imply that there is a system issue at play here, and unfortunately the issues with recent Intel processors are a fairly strong candidate.

If any part of your system is overclocked, overvolted, or operating at non-factory settings in any other way, then please try resetting it to the standard. Also take a look at this post from another user who had similar problems and solved them by adjusting some BIOS settings.

[Maxila]

The links work now.

The crashes dumps are a bit of a mixture, but most of them don't correspond to crashes we've seen from other players. They are also mostly related to memory. That tends to imply that there is a system issue at play here, and unfortunately the issues with recent Intel processors are a fairly strong candidate.

If any part of your system is overclocked, overvolted, or operating at non-factory settings in any other way, then please try resetting it to the standard. Also take a look at this post from another user who had similar problems and solved them by adjusting some BIOS settings.

I did have an issue with my Intel 14900K and it was replaced 4 weeks ago under warranty, the new CPU has only been run with the bios and microcode fix's for the issue, and I haven't overclocked it or the memory before or after it was replaced. I can try running a memtest but I did days of extensive memory tests in the past before I found the intel CPU problem with no errors ever. It's one of the last places I'd expect to find a problem after all those tests. Also no other game has had a single crash and running 3D mark CPU and GPU tests go fine too. So far the only instability I have is with x4 after hotfix 2, this was not the case before I replaced the CPU, 3d mark had errors and other games occasionally crashed too.

I do have new memory I bought for troubleshooting before I found the intel CPU problem but never installed due to all the mem tests running successfully and discovering it was my intel CPU. Since the CPU was replaced every game has run without a single crash including 20+ hours of X4 until August 26 before hotfix 2, that was the last time I played until a few days ago and experienced constant crashing since.

[CBJ]

I understand that for you the issue appears to have coincided with HF2, but the vast majority of players are playing HF2 without such problems, and the evidence from your crashdumps also tends to suggest a system issue rather than a game error. Please remember that every application, game or otherwise, stresses a system differently, and can expose different issues with hardware timings, drivers, and other elements of that system's configuration, so other games working is not a particularly strong indicator. Trying the suggested solutions would either confirm the findings of the handful of other players who had a similar problem, or allow us to look in different areas.

[Alan Phipps]

I also noticed a strange thing in the DxDiag for your two gaming monitors. You are running a Dell S2722DGM monitor Nvidia sound driver from January 2023 - not only is that driver over 18 months old when all your other Nvidia drivers are up to date, but also the advertising I have seen says that neither Dell S2722DGM nor Alienware AW3423DWF gaming monitors have speakers.

Your Windows Error Reports in the DxDiag indicate a range of different app and updating issues but that might be legacy from the hardware changes.

[Maxila]

I also noticed a strange thing in the DxDiag for your two gaming monitors. You are running a Dell S2722DGM monitor Nvidia sound driver from January 2023 - not only is that driver over 18 months old when all your other Nvidia drivers are up to date, but also the advertising I have seen says that neither Dell S2722DGM nor Alienware AW3423DWF gaming monitors have speakers.

Your Windows Error Reports in the DxDiag indicate a range of different app and updating issues but that might be legacy from the hardware changes.

You are correct both monitors don't have speakers. I use both creative lab speakers and/or a Arctis 7 Steel Series headset. I use Realtek (Built in MB) drivers and the Arctis 7 drivers. When I update my Nvidia drivers I usually exclude the HD Audio driver, I didn't know it was installed. I'll see about removing them.


Update: When I looked in device manager it was described as an HD audio driver for the Dell S2722DGM. I don't know how it got on the system or why Dell makes an HD audio driver for a monitor that doesn't have sound capabilities? It appears those drivers are for audio over HDMI which I don't need because I use DP, it still doesn't answer why Dell makes it for a monitor that doesn't have speakers?

[Maxila]

I'm getting a bit jaded at this point because of passing it off as a likely hardware issue which has caused me to run today another CPU stress test (completed no errors), a GPU stress test completed no errors, and I'm 2 hours into another memory test which is still running, however it's on the 3rd pass with.......... 0 errors so far. Over the 30 years I've been building systems and playing games unfortunately it seems to be standard operating procedure for support personal to pass the buck to any other problem but their own. This is why I do significant troubleshooting before I contact support to help narrow the most l likely cause.

I tend to use the principle of Occam's Razor, "the simplest explanation is the most likely", at this point, having no significant changes to my system, three other games running perfectly, doing additional successful CPU, GPU stress tests, and Memtest (not finished but 75% complete with no errors) . Logic says the highest probability is with X4, I did a file integrity check but it may be with a save or the fact my save is huge with thousands of hours and huge mega factories. I did take a break from playing and last played for several hours on August 26 (date of last save).

There could be a problem with my save? I did load the next most recent save it it behaved the same.

I just remembered I didn't like the Timelines missions and changed some files as instructed in a Steam thread to have them show as completed and get the content in my open world game. I know I played at least 20 hours after that with no problems but maybe with hotfix 2 that is an issue now? Can someone tell me how can I check or revert this?

[Alan Phipps]

"changed some files as instructed in a Steam thread" Hmm, so from 'no mods ever' to possibly modded, unless perhaps those instructions came from an X4 dev.

Assuming it wasn't dev advice and with no idea here as to what you changed or what unintended effects they have, I can't see the devs spending much time on this unless you can confirm an issue continues in a clean vanilla game fresh gamestart. Out of interest, do the current game and/or your previous saves show as modded when you start and/or load?

[Maxila]

"changed some files as instructed in a Steam thread" Hmm, so from 'no mods ever' to possibly modded, unless perhaps those instructions came from an X4 dev.

Assuming it wasn't dev advice and with no idea here as to what you changed or what unintended effects they have, I can't see the devs spending much time on this unless you can confirm an issue continues in a clean vanilla game fresh gamestart. Out of interest, do the current game and/or your previous saves show as modded when you start and/or load?

I've been playing X games since 2009 and in general never installed a mod, this was a bit different I replaced my userdata file with someone who completed the Timelines missions. https://steamcommunity.com/app/392160/d ... 677878243/

I don't know what constitutes a mod but this seemed to me more like using someone else's saved game not a mod?

[Alan Phipps]

Oh OK, so it wasn't gamefiles or saves that were changed/edited, just player game progress flags. That's fine and hopefully the devs will take a look.

[CBJ]

The balance of probabilities is our starting point. We have thousands of people playing the exact same version of the game as you, without encountering the problems you are having. We also have a number of people who have run into similar issues in the past, some of them with similar hardware to you, who have solved them by sorting out system issues. The only other evidence we have to work with are the crashdumps you've provided, which also tend to support the theory that there is a system configuration issue. We are not ruling out the possibility that there is a problem with the game, but the balance of probabilities based on a fairly large number of datapoints suggests otherwise.

We want to get you back to the point where you can play as much as you do, and we are working through the most likely scenarios first because that's the quickest way to achieve that. You accusing us of "passing off" the problem is not helping. What would help is if you could try out, and give feedback on the result of, the troubleshooting suggestions we've made so far. Did you perform the file verification? Have you looked at the specific BIOS settings in the thread that was linked?

[Maxila]

The balance of probabilities is our starting point. We have thousands of people playing the exact same version of the game as you, without encountering the problems you are having. We also have a number of people who have run into similar issues in the past, some of them with similar hardware to you, who have solved them by sorting out system issues. The only other evidence we have to work with are the crashdumps you've provided, which also tend to support the theory that there is a system configuration issue. We are not ruling out the possibility that there is a problem with the game, but the balance of probabilities based on a fairly large number of datapoints suggests otherwise.

We want to get you back to the point where you can play as much as you do, and we are working through the most likely scenarios first because that's the quickest way to achieve that. You accusing us of "passing off" the problem is not helping. What would help is if you could try out, and give feedback on the result of, the suggestions we've made so far. Did you perform the file verification? Have you looked at the specific BIOS settings in the thread that was linked?

I understand why you are pointing to hardware however, if I have (repeatedly now) tested my hardware, and don't see a hint of instability in my hardware in any test or other game, what's the next logical step? Remember I had an intel CPU issue that took months to zero in on, however, all along the way there were tests results and a range of games instability that pointed to a hardware problem. It just took a while to zero in on the CPU, now every CPU, GPU, Memory test finishes perfectly, multiple times. I ran a full suite of test a second time due to your post. No other game has crashed or not run as expected for high end hardware. What am I supposed to do start randomly swapping out hardware anyway? Due to the past CPU problem I have a replacement for the memory, CPU, and power supply on hand but it seems nonsensical to tear the system down after the testing I've completed, and having no issues with other games and software?

I don't doubt the issue may be unique to my game due to it being thousand of hours old and so huge, that game has about 675 billion in cash (not including cash in stations) alone, from memory I think I own about 800 ships or more, and a plethora of stations. I guess I should try starting a new game to check if that crashes (realized that as I was typing this). But any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Also That userdata file I changed I didn't replace my entire file rather I edited it with the information to give me a complete for the Timelines missions, I may have messed something up there? I'm just am looking for some help in trying to figure it out and right now hardware seems like a rabbit hole after what I've already done.

[CBJ]

Nobody has suggested tearing down your system. All we've asked you to do is to try verifying your game installation, and to try adjusting some BIOS settings that another player said worked for them. Regarding your userdata, your game may or may not now be marked as modified depending on which userdata file you edited, but either way I doubt that's got anything to do with the problem.

Starting a new game would certainly be a good test. If the game is stable with a new game then either there's a problem with your save, or we're back to a hardware issue where the problem only appears when the additional load (CPU and/or memory) from your large savegame comes into play.

[Maxila]

Nobody has suggested tearing down your system. All we've asked you to do is to try verifying your game installation, and to try adjusting some BIOS settings that another player said worked for them. Regarding your userdata, your game may or may not now be marked as modified depending on which userdata file you edited, but either way I doubt that's got anything to do with the problem.

Starting a new game would certainly be a good test. If the game is stable with a new game then either there's a problem with your save, or we're back to a hardware issue where the problem only appears when the additional load (CPU and/or memory) from your large savegame comes into play.

You may have missed that I already did a steam file integrity check, and my Bios is updated to the latest Intel fix including the latest management engine interface microcode, it is set to the intel defaults expect for my case fans (set to turbo) and XMP is on (I have done two 4 pass runs of memtest, the second set of passes was in parallel mode). I don't know how or if I can check the integrity of a save game file? In the mean time I going to try a new game and an older save and will report back.

[CBJ]

I didn't see the file verification, probably just because you'd used a different name for it. My mistake. I did see that you'd updated your BIOS, however, but that wasn't what the poster in the linked thread tried.

So i had to limit the turbo settings in the Bios and had to undervolt the CPU, after that, no more erros in any game.

I'm aware that in theory the BIOS update should make that unnecessary, but it's still worth trying to see whether it makes a difference.

[Maxila]

I didn't see the file verification, probably just because you'd used a different name for it. My mistake. I did see that you'd updated your BIOS, however, but that wasn't what the poster in the linked thread tried.

So i had to limit the turbo settings in the Bios and had to undervolt the CPU, after that, no more erros in any game.

I'm aware that in theory the BIOS update should make that unnecessary, but it's still worth trying to see whether it makes a difference.

I saw a weird problem when I opened a SSD diagnostic test after my last post, and I've run X4 for 15 minutes with a new game start then closed it normally (on my saves I get 2 or 3 minutes tops before a crash). The SSD diagnostic issue was with the program not the test, the first time the program opened to the taskbar but would not open to a window even when clicking in "open", I restarted and ran the program and test with no errors.

I have a new (received via RMA from intel) i9 13900K. I'm going to swap out the processor since many of the problems I had when the first intel CPU went bad were subtle, although at the time, I did get errors in CPU and GPU stress tests that I did not get this time. I will keep you advised, it might be a day or two. Perhaps it is another faulty intel processor......Jeeze. In the more than 30 systems I have built this was the first time I had a processor, failure, therefore it was my last suspect, it will be unbelievable if the new one I got and installed after the Intel "fixes" is also bad.