Game (7.5, 7.6 & 8.0) crashes almost immediately in the main menu

[BenjiBaggins]

Hi !

Unfortunately this issue is very tricky and is known for its "unexpected" behavior.

Here are few things that I would ask you to test in order to investigate your case more and maybe even fix it:

1. Previous week i think NVIDIA released new drivers which fixed lots of instability, please check out this link, select your NVIDIA 4080 super card and install new drivers https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/

-> if this doesnt help...
2. go to your config.xml (documents/egosoft/x4/config.xml) and find and change the resolution entries:
<fullscreen>false</fullscreen>
<borderless>false</borderless>
<res_width>1904</res_width>
<res_height>1041</res_height>

run and test. did it crash?

3. it would be very helpful if you could record a video with following:

a. open Task Manager in Windows
b. find "Settings" in the left bottom corner and checkbox "always on top"
c. start a game and record the game with Task manager on top (so the moment with crash is also captured). Please open "Performance" tab in Task Manager and select your dedicated GPU
d. if the issue is easy to reproduce then do at least 3 captures and attach the videos here

oh and also attach your config.xml with what you experience a crash !

I put the weird resolution in the config file and uploaded it to the dropbox.
The game runs significantly longer now; almost 4 instead of 1min.

In the video (3:45): When the coordinates are 9.1 km away the video freezes but the audio continues (music and wingman's monolog). Closing (my input) the game opens up the Exit Code 1061 webpage.

Video and crashdumps in the dropbox.

[BenjiBaggins]

Newest development: There's a window with a more specific exit code popping up: 205
Screenshot in the dropbox.


https://wiki.egosoft.com:1337/X4%20Foun ... tcode_205/

I checked the vulkaninfo, but there's no Error popping up.

Trying to generate the txt file (https://wiki.egosoft.com:1337/X4%20Foun ... ulkanInfo/)
cmd tells me: WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : windows_read_data_files_in_registry: Registry lookup failed to get layer manifest files.

[Maria_EGO]

I see you attached a vulkaninfo file in dropbox - did the error just gone away?

[BenjiBaggins]

I see you attached a vulkaninfo file in dropbox - did the error just gone away?

No, I simply hand copied the cmd-output into a text-file.

[BenjiBaggins]

Because of this weird inability to create a text file output with vulkaninfo I was brave and deleted all vulkan mentions in windows' registry and reinstalled the newest nvidia drivers.

vulkaninfo still can't create text files (same "warning"), but the game runs stable now. No crash in the last 30 minutes.

[BenjiBaggins]

Had the same crash just now.

So it still happens, but much less frequent.

[Alan Phipps]

On the VulkanInfo issue (not the game issue), I found this advice which seems to be somewhat supported by Khronos who make Vulkan API but is obviously untested by myself:

"Registry lookup failed to get layer manifest files" is an error message that can occur when using Vulkan. One solution is to delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREKhronos key in the registry and install the latest SDK from https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home#windows . Another solution is to uninstall Vulkan and remove everything from the registry keys HKLMSOFTWAREKhronosVulkanExplicitLayers and HKLMSOFTWAREWOW6432NodeKhronosVulkanExplicitLayers, then reinstall Vulkan."

Be aware that this does sideline for this instance the usual way to get Vulkan via the graphics driver suite though.

[Maria_EGO]

Please do not install the SDK from the link posted above ---- it is developer tool kit and is not needed for "normal" game users.

- in which paths exactly have you deleteted vulkan layers entries?
- are among your apps in windows "vulkan runtime"?
- have you ever installed Vulkan Developer SDK (the link which was shared above) by chance ?

[BenjiBaggins]

Please do not install the SDK from the link posted above ---- it is developer tool kit and is not needed for "normal" game users.

- in which paths exactly have you deleteted vulkan layers entries?
- are among your apps in windows "vulkan runtime"?
- have you ever installed Vulkan Developer SDK (the link which was shared above) by chance ?

Yes, a friend of mine is in indie game development and I tested something that needed the Vulkan SDK. Deinstalled it afterwards, but it seems it left some traces in the registry. But I found those traces in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE/Khronos and got rid of them.

[Maria_EGO]

Okay, then please check if you can find Vulkan SDK / Vulkan runtime within your windows app and uninstall them if you have

also are there still any vulkan entries in registry ?
this vulkaninfo continues to write a warning then there is something wrong

[BenjiBaggins]

Okay, then please check if you can find Vulkan SDK / Vulkan runtime within your windows app and uninstall them if you have

also are there still any vulkan entries in registry ?
this vulkaninfo continues to write a warning then there is something wrong

Nothing Vulkan related in the windows software list.

Registry:

Many of those entries:
VulkanFiles - REG_MULTI_SZ - vulkan-1-x64.dll vulkan-1.dll
VulkanFiles - REG_MULTI_SZ - vulkan-1-x86.dll vulkan-1.dll

And these, multiple times in different keys:
VulkanDriverName - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vk64.json
VulkanDriverNameWoW - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vk32.json
VulkanImplicitLayers - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vk64.json
VulkanImplicitLayersWoW - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vk32.json
VulkanSCDriverName - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vksc64.json
VulkanSCImplicitLayers - C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_fb80e95fa979ce23\nv-vksc64.json

It feels like I shouldn't delete those.

[Maria_EGO]

No, dont delete it

so if you think that old vulkan sdk entries are gone - we can continue

from the videos you 've sent i didnt notice suspicious GPU behavior (except of it being lost at the end )

so I will ask you to do 2 stress tests. One for GPU, another fro CPU

gpu:
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/downloads/
download zip/setup for windows from the link above
Run FurMark2 executable
Select the same parameters as on attached screenshot. Then please select one of available buttons for your monitor "BENCHMARK Pxxx" (since you have 4k monitor probably the third one should be available for you)
Start doing test. If everything is fine at the end you will see a window with your score (average FPS)

cpu:
https://www.mersenne.org/download/#
download zip for windows from the link above
extract folder, navigate to folder, start "prime95" exe. you will see the initialization window, same as on screenshot . start stress test.
the longer you can run it - the best. i would ask you to keep it at least for 30 minutes (i dont know how much could take making all of tests). so be prepared that it gonna overwhelm your cpu and memory, thus normal usage of PC wont be possible. but it will help us to determine whether there is some hardware/other issue.
after tests - check in the prime95 directory "results.txt" file - if you seen any errors/issues in the log please attach it here.

in any way please let me know whether it was fine on your side

[BenjiBaggins]

No, dont delete it

so if you think that old vulkan sdk entries are gone - we can continue

from the videos you 've sent i didnt notice suspicious GPU behavior (except of it being lost at the end )

so I will ask you to do 2 stress tests. One for GPU, another fro CPU

gpu:
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/downloads/
download zip/setup for windows from the link above
Run FurMark2 executable
Select the same parameters as on attached screenshot. Then please select one of available buttons for your monitor "BENCHMARK Pxxx" (since you have 4k monitor probably the third one should be available for you)
Start doing test. If everything is fine at the end you will see a window with your score (average FPS)

cpu:
https://www.mersenne.org/download/#
download zip for windows from the link above
extract folder, navigate to folder, start "prime95" exe. you will see the initialization window, same as on screenshot . start stress test.
the longer you can run it - the best. i would ask you to keep it at least for 30 minutes (i dont know how much could take making all of tests). so be prepared that it gonna overwhelm your cpu and memory, thus normal usage of PC wont be possible. but it will help us to determine whether there is some hardware/other issue.
after tests - check in the prime95 directory "results.txt" file - if you seen any errors/issues in the log please attach it here.

in any way please let me know whether it was fine on your side

With the registry and programs leaving junk behind you can never be sure. vulkaninfo still throws this warning at the beginning.

GPU (P1440): Score 4882 - 81fps

CPU: Every test passed, having it run for 40 minutes.

x4 is back to consistently crashing before the main menu has finished loading...throwing a 205 exit code.

[BenjiBaggins]

For a little test I deleted a VulkanOverlay file in the steam folder and vulkaninfo gave me three warnings.
(Restored the file again, of course)

I searched through the registry, trying to find all the keys that point to Vulkan-(Overlay)-files, but all of them seem to be accounted for (steam, epic and Windows' DriverStore).

I don't know where else in the registry a vulkan.json file could be hiddenly mentioned.

Is there not some migthier vulkan tool that woul tell me the path where it doesn't find a file it's expecting and not just: WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : windows_read_data_files_in_registry: Registry lookup failed to get layer manifest files.

[BenjiBaggins]

Starting the game in this resolution...
<res_width>1904</res_width>
<res_height>1041</res_height>
...makes it a lot more stable.

After startup I can change the resolution to anything I want and it stays stable.

But there are certain situations (in my save (Gamestart: Stranded)) where it reliably crashes.

Yesterday evening: Capture/Stole a ship and tranfered a crewmember to be its captain. As soon as the npc takes control it crashes.
Today it surprisingly worked.

Just now: Docking at the Arcadian Endeavour. Reliable crash.
I tried flying around for a while. Came back to the ship and tried docking. Sometimes during docking, sometimes a dozen seconds after docking ti reliably crashes.

[Alan Phipps]

Could you link a fresh run of DxDiag please? We can check if the crashes are still LiveKernelEvents after all your game installation and driver checks and updates. That situation would tend to indicate either a hardware stability issue or one with the driver of a device or chipset we haven't considered as yet.

In the meantime, it might be a good idea to check your Intel chipset drivers. There is a good tool for that here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... stant.html

[BenjiBaggins]

Could you link a fresh run of DxDiag please? We can check if the crashes are still LiveKernelEvents after all your game installation and driver checks and updates. That situation would tend to indicate either a hardware stability issue or one with the driver of a device or chipset we haven't considered as yet.

In the meantime, it might be a good idea to check your Intel chipset drivers. There is a good tool for that here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... stant.html

Fresh DxDiag.txt in the dropbox.


There seem to be 10 errors.
One seems to be a LiveKernelEvent with some nvidia file (nvldmkm.sys).
And there's an x4 event: BEX64 connected to the file vulkan-1.dll

[Maria_EGO]

It is very likely for lost device error to crash randomly and not always you have reliable repro case

Even tho I would like for some clarification: when you talk about "I was able to run in lower resolution and change resolution after and game was stable" -- you mean 205 error code? So on the startup you always crash with this error?
But the crashes that are random and happens during the gameplay -- are 1061 (lost device)?

as for your vulkan warning ... I can't figure out any other recommendation except of trying reinstalling the SDK. Probably will do no harm, but I also dont think it should make any difference to be honest

also as other test - did you try to play for a longer period of time in lower resolution? without changing it to 4k afterwards
did it crash?

[BenjiBaggins]

It is very likely for lost device error to crash randomly and not always you have reliable repro case

Even tho I would like for some clarification: when you talk about "I was able to run in lower resolution and change resolution after and game was stable" -- you mean 205 error code? So on the startup you always crash with this error?
But the crashes that are random and happens during the gameplay -- are 1061 (lost device)?

as for your vulkan warning ... I can't figure out any other recommendation except of trying reinstalling the SDK. Probably will do no harm, but I also dont think it should make any difference to be honest

also as other test - did you try to play for a longer period of time in lower resolution? without changing it to 4k afterwards
did it crash?

In this lower resolution...
<res_width>1904</res_width>
<res_height>1041</res_height>
...I can reliably start the game. Once the main menu is there I can change to 3440x1440 which turns into 3370x1401, being windowed. It's semi stable, sometimes crashing after minutes or running half an hour...
Seems to be more stable the lower the resolution is set. I had it (just now) circling on the highway loop in lower resolution, eventually crashing after 10 minutes. They always end up with exit code 205.

If I start the game with my native 3340x1440 it almost never makes it to the main menu and crashes with a 1061. Very rarely it survives for a minute, but eventually crashes (also 1061).


No matter the resolution, today it always crashes when docking (while or a bit later), always throwing a 205 exit code.

[BenjiBaggins]

A crash I never had before:
Exit Code: 123
EndCBQueue() failed for 'asset\unit\size_xl\ship_arg_xl_builder_01_data#fx_decals_back_r-lod0'