solved Constant CTD + reboot + BSOD since 2.8.

[Fulgrim]

28 minutes ago, Flappie said:

You have a lot of mods installed. One may cause your issue. Please try this:

1. Go to "Saved Games".
2. Rename "DCS.openbeta" to "DCS.openbeta.bak" (do NOT delete it, you will need it to retrieve your custom settigns among other things).
3. Start DCS: it will ask for your credentials, then it will create a brand new "DCS.openbeta" folder.
4. Exit DCS.
5. Go to "Saved Games/DCS.openbeta.bak/Config" (the old folder).
6. Copy the "Input" folder.
7. Paste it into "Saved Games/DCS.openbeta/Config" and accept overwriting. You should now have retrieved your custom bindings.
8. See if DCS keeps crashing.

 

Also, just renamed DCS.Openbeta and got a BSOD when launching. I don't know if this is log will tell something interesting, but it's the only one there is in the new DCS.Openbeta folder

dcs.log

[Fulgrim]

4 minutes ago, Flappie said:

You still have two of them active:

2022-11-12 18:25:00.900 INFO    APP (Main): Loaded C:\Users\jaime\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Scripts\Hooks\OpenKneeboardDCSExt.lua
2022-11-12 18:25:00.902 INFO    LuaNET (Main): [Scratchpad] Loaded ...
2022-11-12 18:25:00.902 INFO    APP (Main): Loaded C:\Users\jaime\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Scripts\Hooks\scratchpad-hook.lua

You don't want to create a fresh DCS.openbeta folder, do you?

Sorry, I got a bit behind with your instructions. In my previous message I had already renamed DCS.openbeta. After that I slow repaired and searched for extra files again and launched. Again I got a crash, but this time I got a crash dialog and was able to get a more complete log. I'm going to enable the full debug log now and keep reporting.

dcs.log dcs.log-20221112-185001.zip

[Flappie]

Reacting to your BSOD:

2022-11-12 16:53:39.064 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache Bazar/shaders/fxo/fxo.zip
2022-11-12 16:53:41.582 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache done. Loaded 1845/1846.

With a fresh "DCS.openbeta" folder, this fxo folder shoud be empty, thus triggering the shaders compilation. The compilation command may have triggered the BSOD. In any case, a BSOD is a system issue.

Two things to try:

1. Uninstall + reinstall your GPU driver.
2. Check your RAM using Memtest86.

Reacting to the latest crash:

DCS crashed when trying to initialise your Open VR:

2022-11-12 18:50:00.959 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): VRG skip, ask for support if you own VRG helmet
2022-11-12 18:50:00.988 INFO    EDCORE (Main): try to write dump information
2022-11-12 18:50:00.988 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # -------------- 20221112-185001 --------------
2022-11-12 18:50:00.989 INFO    EDCORE (Main): DCS/2.8.0.32235 (x86_64; Windows NT 10.0.22621)
2022-11-12 18:50:00.989 INFO    EDCORE (Main): C:\Windows\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
2022-11-12 18:50:00.990 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # E06D7363  at C6E2039C 00:00000000
2022-11-12 18:50:00.992 INFO    EDCORE (Main): SymInit: Symbol-SearchPath: '.;C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta;C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\system32;SRV*C:\websymbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;', symOptions: 528, UserName: 'jaime'
2022-11-12 18:50:00.992 INFO    EDCORE (Main): OS-Version: 10.0.22621 () 0x300-0x1
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000009039C (KERNELBASE): RaiseException + 0x6C
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000066C0 (VCRUNTIME140): _CxxThrowException + 0x90
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000007A2C2 (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x753C2
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000070CFB (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x6BDFB
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000090B7 (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x41B7
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000082DF (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x33DF
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000031D0 (vrclient_x64): VRClientCoreFactory + 0x30
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000015DA (openvr_api): VRVirtualDisplay + 0x20A
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000001B4C (openvr_api): VR_IsHmdPresent + 0x3C
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000C0E78 (Visualizer): HMD::setPlatformCompensation + 0xBD48
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000B1C9A (Visualizer): TerrainRenderer::updateSharedParams + 0x298A
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000B458B (Visualizer): HMD::initialize + 0x31B
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000008162BA (DCS): SW + 0x3D6DBA
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000814B18 (DCS): SW + 0x3D5618
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000002271A5A (DCS): AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance + 0xF4AA56
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000BDA932 (DCS): SW + 0x79B432
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000001244D (KERNEL32): BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x1D
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000005DFB8 (ntdll): RtlUserThreadStart + 0x28
2022-11-12 18:50:01.337 INFO    EDCORE (Main): Minidump created.

 

That makes me think: have you tried running DCS in pancake mode? If so, does it crash as well?

Edited November 12, 2022 by Flappie

[Fulgrim]

2 hours ago, Flappie said:

Reacting to your BSOD:

2022-11-12 16:53:39.064 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache Bazar/shaders/fxo/fxo.zip
2022-11-12 16:53:41.582 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache done. Loaded 1845/1846.

With a fresh "DCS.openbeta" folder, this fxo folder shoud be empty, thus triggering the shaders compilation. The compilation command may have triggered the BSOD. In any case, a BSOD is a system issue.

Two things to try:

1. Uninstall + reinstall your GPU driver.
2. Check your RAM using Memtest86.

Reacting to the latest crash:

DCS crashed when trying to initialise your Open VR:

2022-11-12 18:50:00.959 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): VRG skip, ask for support if you own VRG helmet
2022-11-12 18:50:00.988 INFO    EDCORE (Main): try to write dump information
2022-11-12 18:50:00.988 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # -------------- 20221112-185001 --------------
2022-11-12 18:50:00.989 INFO    EDCORE (Main): DCS/2.8.0.32235 (x86_64; Windows NT 10.0.22621)
2022-11-12 18:50:00.989 INFO    EDCORE (Main): C:\Windows\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
2022-11-12 18:50:00.990 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # E06D7363  at C6E2039C 00:00000000
2022-11-12 18:50:00.992 INFO    EDCORE (Main): SymInit: Symbol-SearchPath: '.;C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta;C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\system32;SRV*C:\websymbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;', symOptions: 528, UserName: 'jaime'
2022-11-12 18:50:00.992 INFO    EDCORE (Main): OS-Version: 10.0.22621 () 0x300-0x1
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000009039C (KERNELBASE): RaiseException + 0x6C
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000066C0 (VCRUNTIME140): _CxxThrowException + 0x90
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000007A2C2 (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x753C2
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000070CFB (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x6BDFB
2022-11-12 18:50:01.206 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000090B7 (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x41B7
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000082DF (vrclient_x64): VR_Shutdown + 0x33DF
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000031D0 (vrclient_x64): VRClientCoreFactory + 0x30
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000015DA (openvr_api): VRVirtualDisplay + 0x20A
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000001B4C (openvr_api): VR_IsHmdPresent + 0x3C
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000C0E78 (Visualizer): HMD::setPlatformCompensation + 0xBD48
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000B1C9A (Visualizer): TerrainRenderer::updateSharedParams + 0x298A
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000B458B (Visualizer): HMD::initialize + 0x31B
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000008162BA (DCS): SW + 0x3D6DBA
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000814B18 (DCS): SW + 0x3D5618
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000002271A5A (DCS): AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance + 0xF4AA56
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000BDA932 (DCS): SW + 0x79B432
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000001244D (KERNEL32): BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x1D
2022-11-12 18:50:01.207 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000005DFB8 (ntdll): RtlUserThreadStart + 0x28
2022-11-12 18:50:01.337 INFO    EDCORE (Main): Minidump created.

 

That makes me think: have you tried running DCS in pancake mode? If so, does it crash as well?

 

It crashed in pancake mode just as you sent this message :'-). IDK if this is the correct log but uploading anyways.

Anyways, after that I uninstalled/reinstalled the Nvidia drivers and passed memtest with 0 errors. I'm going back in to see how it goes.

Thanks for your patience @Flappie

dcs.log

[Fulgrim]

Yet another in pancake while F2'ing

dcs.log

[Flappie]

OK. Your log ends abruptly. It looks like a freeze.

I think we need to investigate on your BSOD. A BSOD cannot be caused by the sim alone, it means someting is not right with the PC. Look into the Windows Event viewer, read the System log at the time of your crash. Find the BSOD message and paste it here, please.

[Hiob]

@Fulgrim Something that came to my mind. What kind of Power Supply do you use? How many watts, how old, clocked fan?

If the power supply is unstable it may cause crashes under load.

[Fulgrim]

8 minutes ago, Flappie said:

OK. Your log ends abruptly. It looks like a freeze.

I think we need to investigate on your BSOD. A BSOD cannot be caused by the sim alone, it means someting is not right with the PC. Look into the Windows Event viewer, read the System log at the time of your crash. Find the BSOD message and paste it here, please.

Thanks, what's worrying to me is that 2.7 didn't give me any problems at all, and that there isn't a consistent behavior: sometimes it's BSOD, sometimes it's crash to BIOS, sometimes it's CTD, and sometimes it's just a freeze.

What changed from 2.7 to 2.8 that requires so much digging?

Just now, Hiob said:

@Fulgrim Something that came to my mind. What kind of Power Supply do you use? How many watts, how old, clocked fan?

If the power supply is unstable it may cause crashes under load.

Thanks, I'm using a 11-month old Corsair SF750.

[Hiob]

4 minutes ago, Fulgrim said:

Thanks, what's worrying to me is that 2.7 didn't give me any problems at all, and that there isn't a consistent behavior: sometimes it's BSOD, sometimes it's crash to BIOS, sometimes it's CTD, and sometimes it's just a freeze.

What changed from 2.7 to 2.8 that requires so much digging?

Thanks, I'm using a 11-month old Corsair SF750.

That should work, but is not plenty for a ti. Have you connected the GPU to both rails? Consult the manual of the PSU and make sure that you allocated the power draw correctly. Also you can try to limit the power draw of your GPU with afterburner and see if that stabilizes your system. Don’t use Y-split connectors if possible!

Edited November 12, 2022 by Hiob

[Flappie]

1 minute ago, Fulgrim said:

What changed from 2.7 to 2.8 that requires so much digging?

It seems that shadows and lights impacted FPS (terrain shadows were anti-aliased, cockpit global lighting was changed). 2.8 is more  demanding than 2.7 was (at least for my PC).

[Fulgrim]

16 minutes ago, Hiob said:

That should work, but is not plenty for a ti. Have you connected the GPU to both rails? Consult the manual of the PSU and make sure that you allocated the power draw correctly. Also you can try to limit the power draw of your GPU with afterburner and see if that stabilizes your system. Don’t use Y-split connectors if possible!

 

Yes, it's well connected. It has worked perfectly since I installed it, and the wall meter tells me it's not even close to drawing max wattage. Plus, my 3080ti is slightly undervolted.

[Hiob]

I don’t know how likely it is, I‘m just pointing out possible(!) culprits. 

Mind that the showing of your wall meter tell you nothing about spikes in load in the ms regime, which is where load spikes of the GPU happens. But it was an Idea to be ruled out anyway.

You should however disable the undervolt for the time being. Any undervolt or overclock is always only reliable for the applications it was thoroughly tested with.

As Flappie pointed out, there has been changes to the graphics engine of DCS which may very well change the power demands of your GPU. 

(I don’t want to go to deep into the rabbit hole here and now,  because it won’t help you. But in short: The power ratings are averages over a certain time period. The GPU will produce spikes well over its announced power draw, that in time and magnitude depends on the quality of the onboard power stage design. Depending on the reserves and quality of your PSU, that may cause it to stumble. That‘s the reason that your PSU shouldn’t be on the edge of the power needs of your system.) Google „transient spikes gpu“ if you‘re interested in the matter.

Again, I‘m not saying that this is what’s happening here. It was just an idea.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Hiob

[Hiob]

I‘m going to bed now. I wish you good luck. You will sort it out eventually. Sometimes it’s a pita though…

[Baldrick33]

44 minutes ago, Hiob said:

You should however disable the undervolt for the time being. Any undervolt or overclock is always only reliable for the applications it was thoroughly tested with.

I think this is definitely the next thing to try to eliminate anything non standard.

[Baldrick33]

Also note this thread which suggest the GPU is working harder with 2.8, which might explain why it is working your PC differently than 2.7 and finding any instability with the GPU when strained.

 

[Fulgrim]

Thanks everybody. I have no OC on the CPU and I have removed my GPU UV. Fresh DCS.openbeta, slow repair looking for extra files, no mods...

Yet it now appears I have completely lost the ability to boot to VR altogether. My situation is worse than when I opened this post.

dcs.log-20221113-224450.zip dcs.log dcs.log-20221113-223846.zip dcs.log.old dcs.log-20221113-224027.zip dcs.log

[Flappie]

I asked you about Windows Event Viewer. What does it say at the time of the VR crash? Look into the App and System logs.

[Fulgrim]

35 minutes ago, Flappie said:

I asked you about Windows Event Viewer. What does it say at the time of the VR crash? Look into the App and System logs.

I have nothing from that time (23:45) on System, this is what I get on Apps:

Faulting application name: DCS.exe, version: 2.8.0.32235, time stamp: 0x63622b13
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 10.0.22621.755, time stamp: 0x19d26491
Exception code: 0x00000000
Fault offset: 0x000000000009039c
Faulting process id: 0x0x3690
Faulting application start time: 0x0x1D8F7B182184868
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin\DCS.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: b2fcaefa-d907-4f14-aedd-6410fb5b618c
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID: 

Thanks

Edited November 14, 2022 by Fulgrim

[Baldrick33]

Although it probably isn't the suggestion you would wish for a fresh Windows install wouldn't go amiss.

If you have a separate partition you could install a fresh copy on it wouldn't be such a pain reinstalling everything else and dual boot. I have gone down the route of a Windows 11 and Windows 10 dual boot after my Windows 11 install wouldn't run a racing sim.

[Fulgrim]

1 hour ago, Baldrick33 said:

Although it probably isn't the suggestion you would wish for a fresh Windows install wouldn't go amiss.

If you have a separate partition you could install a fresh copy on it wouldn't be such a pain reinstalling everything else and dual boot. I have gone down the route of a Windows 11 and Windows 10 dual boot after my Windows 11 install wouldn't run a racing sim.

Thanks. This is a fresh Windows install with less than ten days on it. I have installed very little besides DCS. This is a 2.8 problem. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by Fulgrim

[Hiob]

42 minutes ago, Fulgrim said:

Thanks. This is a fresh Windows install with less than ten days on it. I have installed very little besides DCS. This is a 2.8 problem. 

 

If it was only a 2.8 problem, everybody would have it. Since this isn't the case obviously, there must be individual factors at play, too.

Edit:

@Fulgrim Can you run some stress tests like OCCT or MSI Kombustor? That should show system instabilities if there are any. With OCCT you can stress test every part of your system (CPU, GPU, RAM etc) individually and most likely get more information on what crashed (e.g. which core of your cpu can't keep up).

There are other specialized tests for memory e.g. but with OCCT you get a pretty solid package. Kombustor stresses only the GPU.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Hiob

[Fulgrim]

28 minutes ago, Hiob said:

If it was only a 2.8 problem, everybody would have it. Since this isn't the case obviously, there must be individual factors at play, too.

Edit:

@Fulgrim Can you run some stress tests like OCCT or MSI Kombustor? That should show system instabilities if there are any. With OCCT you can stress test every part of your system (CPU, GPU, RAM etc) individually and most likely get more information on what crashed (e.g. which core of your cpu can't keep up).

There are other specialized tests for memory e.g. but with OCCT you get a pretty solid package. Kombustor stresses only the GPU.

 

Thanks I passed OCCT and Cinebench yesterday for CPU, GPU, RAM, with and without OC/UV. My hardware is rock solid. 

[Hiob]

6 minutes ago, Fulgrim said:

Thanks I passed OCCT and Cinebench yesterday for CPU, GPU, RAM, with and without OC/UV. My hardware is rock solid. 

Ok, that's good.

The last thing I can think of atm is any of the windows 11 related things that popped up. Like virtualization or trusted computing etc.
I'm running W11 myself and don't have those problems. But W11 is(was?) known to produce gaming issues with certain settings. Nothing but a last straw.... sorry.

[silverdevil]

@Fulgrim - to add to what @Hiob @Baldrick33 @Flappie stated. i looked at your DXDIAG file in the latest zip. i think you are running Windows 11 Build 22621? I believe that is Insider build. there could be something here too. https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2022/05/11/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-22621/ there was a quite lengthy DCS thread about someone trying to overcome issues running Insider. just an idea.

[Baldrick33]

7 hours ago, Fulgrim said:

Thanks. This is a fresh Windows install with less than ten days on it. I have installed very little besides DCS. This is a 2.8 problem. 

 

PCs can be fickle beasts for sure. My recent experience went like this.

Well known race sim had dire performance in VR with my Windows 11 22H2 install (quite old, an upgraded Windows 10 install)

Nothing to suggest it was a general issue and everything else including DCS ran fine.

I created a fresh Windows 11 22H2 partition. Had the same problem, which again seemed unique to me.

Deleted the new Windows 11 partition. Installed Windows 10 and stopped it upgrading to 11 in group policy.

Problem solved but nothing to suggest there was a problem with the race sim with Windows 11 22H2. Just me!

It could be an issue with your PC, the Windows build, drivers installed and DCS 2.8 that isn’t an issue for others with the same Windows build and drivers. Digging out the actual dll or update may prove incredibly time consuming, far more than trying another Windows build. I do appreciate the frustration though when a perfectly working hardware and software combination gets updated and stops working!