We're attempting a free flight mission without any units (with SRS only), and so far, there have been no crashes. Nevertheless, in my opinion, conducting a test without AI units, explosions, or missile/bomb shots doesn't seem representative of how we typically use DCS.
I understand that DCS is a complex environment and I am not trying to discredit ED. I know you want to rule out all possible variables (I work in IT, I will do the same)
Maybe Pretense is the problem but if we don't have crashes outside of Pretense, it would be too simple to say that the issue comes from there.
I'd like to mention that there are approximately ten pilots flying on Pretense, and two of us have experienced recurring random crashes (possibly a third—I'm currently recovering the log).
The randomness of this crash makes debugging difficult. It can occur in the first minutes after selecting a slot or after 30 minutes - an hour of flight and sometimes even a day without meeting it.
Could enabling the full log tell us more?