fixed AMD Adrenalin 22.12.1+ causes Mission Editor to crash

[Daemoc]

First, a little background information. I have DCS on two computers, my Desktop and my Laptop. I have been working on a rather large custom mission without issue on either for hundreds of hours. I just installed a new GPU in my desktop and now the custom mission will CTD every time I try to load the map. It still works fine on my laptop.

I have done a crap load of troubleshooting and narrowed it down to the editor when it loads the 3d models in either the model viewer or if I enable show 3d models in the editor map window. I have checked the logs and there are a few errors, but I get the same errors on my laptop which does not crash. I don't think they are causing the crash.

There is one error that sticks out though...
2023-01-05 19:08:22.892 INFO    GRAPHICSVISTA (Main): renderer: 'dx11backend.dll'
2023-01-05 19:08:22.944 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11Renderer initialization (w:1920 h:1080 fullscrn:1 vsync:0 adapter:0 monitor:0 shaderErrors:1)
2023-01-05 19:08:23.237 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): Driver Concurrent Creates - 1
2023-01-05 19:08:23.237 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): Driver Command Lists - 0
2023-01-05 19:08:23.242 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): NvAPI_Initialize Error:
2023-01-05 19:08:23.304 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): ATI Adapter AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
2023-01-05 19:08:23.304 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): ATI Driver Version 22.20.29.10-221130a-386458C-AMD-Software-Adrenalin-Edition
2023-01-05 19:08:23.304 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): AGS Version 3.2.0
2023-01-05 19:08:23.304 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): GPU count:1
2023-01-05 19:08:23.484 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): commonPool: 48-128, cbPool: 4-14
2023-01-05 19:08:23.484 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): samplerPool: 5-16
2023-01-05 19:08:23.484 INFO    METASHADER (Main): Init filesystem: G
2023-01-05 19:08:23.491 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache Bazar/shaders/fxo/fxo.zip
2023-01-05 19:08:24.982 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache done. Loaded 1854/1855.
2023-01-05 19:08:24.990 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache C:\Users\*****\Saved Games\DCS\fxo
2023-01-05 19:08:25.001 INFO    DX11BACKEND (Main): DX11ShaderBinaries::loadCache done. Loaded 119/119.
2023-01-05 19:08:25.017 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): SceneManager initialization
2023-01-05 19:08:25.254 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): cascade shadows init (preset:'default' quality:4 layers:4 size:4096)

See that shader error? Also 1854/1855 shaders loaded.
I am not sure that is the cause, just the only thing that stands out to me.

Also this stands out in the mission editor section...
2023-01-05 19:08:51.289 INFO    EDTERRAINGRAPHICS41 (Main): ITerrainGraphicsImpl4::openTerrain() END 1.083557 s
2023-01-05 19:08:51.289 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (Main): render target 'cloudShadows' not found
2023-01-05 19:08:51.289 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (Main): render target 'mainDepthBuffer_copy' not found
2023-01-05 19:08:51.289 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (Main): render target 'DummyShadowMap' not found
2023-01-05 19:08:51.308 DEBUG   LuaGUI (Main): Mission G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\Saves\Missions\CanyonRun.miz loaded
...This happens on the smaller missions too though that do not cause a CTD.

I have purged all shader caches in Windows and through the GPU drivers.
I have completely unistalled the game, deleted all user save file folders and in the user appdata folders. (made backups of the mission files first)
I have tried the recommeded page file settings in the pinned thread.
I pulled the two mod's I had installed as well. (A4 and T45) Although neither are in the custom mission that is crashing.

Note: I can play replays of these missions and play the missions themselves fine. No issues.
Partial Workaround: If I open a new mission in the editor, turn off 3d models and switch the map type to "Map" rather than "Alt" I can then open the custom mission without crashing.
That is until I click on a static unit that opens the model viewer window. That will instantly cause a CTD.

One last bit of info. When I try to open the custom mission file first, or when I click on a static unit and the model window pops up, the entire screen flashes like it is loading and refreshing the screen really fast a bunch of times. Something I do not experience on the laptop or this desktop with the old GPU.

FYI, the computer is 100% stable during DCS mission modules, instant action and on other high demand games and high GPU load. I have also ran multiple Furmark burn ins and have had zero issues under 100% load. Nothing overclocked.

Desktop:
Windows 10
i7 7700k
32g DDR4
RX 6800 XT new (GTX1080 old)
SSD OS and Game install location

Laptop:
Windows 10
Acer Preditor Helios 500
Ryzen7 2700
16g DDR4
RX Vega 56
SSD OS and HDD game install locations

[Daemoc]

One last bit of info, this is the last list of entries in the log file after opening the custom map...

2023-01-09 13:10:22.615 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_basic() started
2023-01-09 13:10:22.996 ERROR   EDCORE (Main): Can't open file: /animations/typev.anim.
2023-01-09 13:10:33.739 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): Loading graphs:
2023-01-09 13:10:33.828 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_basic() ended
2023-01-09 13:10:33.828 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_main() started
2023-01-09 13:10:34.014 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_main() ended
2023-01-09 13:10:35.941 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_basic() started
2023-01-09 13:10:36.212 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_basic() ended
2023-01-09 13:10:36.212 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_main() started
2023-01-09 13:10:36.557 INFO    ANIMATOR (Main): load_main() ended
2023-01-09 13:10:40.703 ERROR   NGMODEL (2920): Can't load lod //models/invisiblefarp.edm of model invisiblefarp. Reason: Model has invalid bounding box.
2023-01-09 13:10:57.560 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: MissionEditor
2023-01-09 13:10:57.564 INFO    DXGUI_WIN_ADAPTER (Main): resize main window to [1366, 768]
2023-01-09 13:11:15.408 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=1
2023-01-09 13:11:36.275 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=0
2023-01-09 13:11:52.902 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (3008): texture 'zil135l_spec' not found. Asked from ''
2023-01-09 13:11:58.716 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (3008): texture 'mi_8_tex_spec' not found. Asked from ''
2023-01-09 13:12:34.791 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (3008): texture 'f-5e3_cockpit_normal.bmp' not found. Asked from ''
2023-01-09 13:12:34.791 ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (3008): texture 'f-5e3_cockpit_spec.bmp' not found. Asked from ''
2023-01-09 13:14:17.943 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=1
2023-01-09 13:15:12.790 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=0
2023-01-09 13:15:13.570 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=1
2023-01-09 13:15:15.910 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=0
2023-01-09 13:15:18.998 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=1
2023-01-09 13:15:21.063 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=0
2023-01-09 13:15:23.188 INFO    GUI_MAP (Main): levelformap=1

The above is taken from my laptop after the mission completely loads.

 

The desktop log is identical except this is the last line after crashing...

2023-01-09 13:10:57.564 INFO    DXGUI_WIN_ADAPTER (Main): resize main window to [1366, 768]

 

Any ideas?

[silverdevil]

hello @Daemoc i suggest you attach the entire DCS.LOG. since you changed GFX card, make sure all remnants of Nvidia are gone using DDU. also maybe try to rename your OPTIONS.LUA in saved games > DCS > config. then run the game and let it autoconfigure everything. see what happens. good luck.

[Daemoc]

Holy horse crap batman! I think I got it!

I used DDU before the swap. Also the options.lua was blown away when I nuked the game install and all traces during my troubleshooting. I do appreciate the help though. I was about ready to give up.

Anyway, back to the fix. During my Nth test run today I actually got the editor to hang rather than CTD. This time I had more information in the log file and it crated a crash dump finally. There was some sort of access violation with a amdxx64.dll. On a whim I just tried a previous driver version and it opens the mission fine now. No more screen flashing on map load either.

Why the laptop's Vega56 opens the mission with the latest driver and the desktop's 6800XT does not is beyond me, but I'll take it. I have been at this for well over a week.

[Flappie]

This issue began this summer. All AMD 6000 and 7000 series GPUs seem to be affected.  Glad you sorted it out.

The problem is worse for 7000 series users, because previous drivers are not compatible with their GPU The issue has been reported.

See here:

 

[Daemoc]

HA! Of course that thread would be hiding right here after a week of pulling my hair out.

I did do a quick search for this, but I was convinced the new GPU was somehow going bad and focused my search on that and not the editor.

Oh well, I am just glad it is all sorted and my GPU is not the issue. Hopefully either AMD and/or ED can get this worked out.

[Flappie]

Yes, this thread is well hidden. Even though I knew about it, I had a hard time finding it back. I'll ask for it to be renamed.

[cyberaxcess]

Only saw this thread now that the name changed, and it lines up with my experience before Christmas. All I'm really doing is adding to what seems to have been discovered already.

Early December I upgraded the Adrenalin drivers from 22.6.1 to 22.11.2, for my RX 5700 XT. Everything appeared to be fine and DCS was working fine.
Then just before Christmas I upgraded my graphics card to a RX 6800 XT. I then started having strange occasional crashes in DCS when launching some missions (the P-51D Batumi instant action crashed reliably every single time). The biggest problem was that I was suddenly having massive frame time lag spikes approx. every 40-80 secs, to the point it was almost unplayable. Similar experience was had in a certain other big name flight sim. After much cussing and scratching of the head I realized its probably not DCS (as the other one was behaving similarly) and was either the card or drivers. I then used the amd cleaner util to remove the drivers and installed the 22.6.1 drivers again. Everything has been mostly stable and all working smoothly since then (including in the other sim)!

I do still have the odd crash, but it seems random and much rarer now so not sure if still related or not.

[TheGhostOfDefi]

Some Missions, in general just big missions so far can result in a CTD.

An interesting "show" is perfomed as well.

A video of the "Show": 

 

dcs.log

[Flappie]

Hi. This issue started with August 2022 new Adrenalin driver. If you can, revert to a previous driver. See here:

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Flappie

[Th3ChosenOn3]

Getting the same CTD on RX 7900 XTX with the 23.1.1 Drivers. Although, I've only started getting them today for some reason with the latest open beta patch.

[PanzerPunisher]

Just to chime in, same problem here. 7900XTX on 23.1.1 drivers Win10.
Have been having the problem for a few weeks now.

Edit: 23.2.1, released 14/2/23: same thing, no change.

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by PanzerPunisher

[Camble]

Something I've discovered that might be helpful.

I've experienced this issue on several driver versions (even prior to 22.12.1) and I seem to be able to avoid the crash if I follow these steps:

1. Open the mission editor
2. Create a blank mission
3. Disable "show models" on the bottom bar
4. Open the offending mission

I thought just disabling "show models" was enough, but if I don't start a blank mission first, I get the same colourful show then crash.

Also, the instant I re-enable "show models", DCS will hang/freeze but not necessarily crash. It does actually recover.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Camble

[Flappie]

Thanks for sharing your discovery. Does this workaround work for everybody here?

If so, I'll add it to the report. It may help devs to find a fix.

[Bobelz]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb Flappie:

Thanks for sharing your discovery. Does this workaround work for everybody here?

If so, I'll add it to the report. It may help devs to find a fix.

Hey got a XFX 6950xt for Christmas since then got this problem and was not able to edit the missions for our group.
(i dont wanted to use such a old driver)

Did some editing in editor for about ~20min ... no crash
But need more testing, sometimes for me it was running some time till it crashed.

[Th3ChosenOn3]

11 hours ago, Camble said:

Something I've discovered that might be helpful.

I've experienced this issue on several driver versions (even prior to 22.12.1) and I seem to be able to avoid the crash if I follow these steps:

1. Open the mission editor
2. Create a blank mission
3. Disable "show models" on the bottom bar
4. Open the offending mission

I thought just disabling "show models" was enough, but if I don't start a blank mission first, I get the same colourful show then crash.

Also, the instant I re-enable "show models", DCS will hang/freeze but not necessarily crash. It does actually recover.

 

This solution unfortunately does not work. Used Operation_Scarlet_Dawn-A74-v.025.miz that was shared in this thread. Maybe it increases the threshold before the crash/glitches occur, but I'm uncertain.

This is on RX 7900 XTX, Adrenaline 23.2.2 and Windows 10.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Th3ChosenOn3

[Tholozor]

12 hours ago, Flappie said:

Does this workaround work for everybody here?

6650 XT user here, the 'Show Models' trick partially worked for me on 23.2.2 on W10. Depending on the complexity of the scenario, it'll either be fine or crash immediately, but it doesn't feel as 'guaranteed' to happen.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Tholozor

[313 SQN JD]

Bump

Updated AMD drivers to 23.2.2. Still have the exact same issue. This is getting annoying. I run a virtual airwing and can't even edit my own groups server missions. Is there anything coming from ED about this? I see this thread is marked as solved but it is definitely not! It's been noted before that driver rollbacks have worked for some but not for others, also when using tools like DDU and such. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by 313 SQN JD

[Ithronwise]

Strange. I build complex missions in the ME, too but couldn't (fortunately) see this issue yet. I also have an AMD + AMD system (AMD Ryzen 3800X + ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 6800 XT). I am still on Adrenalin 22.11.2. Maybe I don't use the "right" units or trigger actions? Has someone of the affected users an example mission to share?

 

[Daemoc]

Disabling the models in the editor worked for me until I clicked on a static unit that opened the little 3d model window, then it would instantly crash again. As stated above, I also had to open a blank mission first.

Also noted in my post, the new driver works flawlessly on my RX Vega 56 in my laptop, but crashes on both my RX 6800 XT and 6950 XT's. I had to roll back the driver to get those stable. Again, no overclocks.

I am not sure what the issue is, but there is definitely an issue.

[Bobelz]

Am 26.2.2023 um 23:52 schrieb Bobelz:

Hey got a XFX 6950xt for Christmas since then got this problem and was not able to edit the missions for our group.
(i dont wanted to use such a old driver)

Did some editing in editor for about ~20min ... no crash
But need more testing, sometimes for me it was running some time till it crashed.

For me it is happening again, too. Also sometimes it is happening with a clean new mission without any unit placed.

[Flappie]

3 hours ago, 313 SQN JD said:

Is there anything coming from ED about this? I see this thread is marked as solved but it is definitely not!

No news so far. I'll bump the report right away.

The green "solution" tag was not made by ED. For some reason, this thread was not tagged "reported" and I don't know why, becasue it is reported. I'll ask for the tag.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Flappie

[TheGhostOfDefi]

On 2/26/2023 at 6:20 PM, Flappie said:

Thanks for sharing your discovery. Does this workaround work for everybody here?

If so, I'll add it to the report. It may help devs to find a fix.

Just tested it, seems to work but as mentioned as soon as a 3d Model is opened it crashes right away. (6800XT with driver 23.2.2)

 

I really should´ve choose Nvidia... 

[Flappie]

6 hours ago, TheGhostOfDefi said:

Just tested it, seems to work but as mentioned as soon as a 3d Model is opened it crashes right away.

You mean, when you access a unit's payload menu?

[Ithronwise]

I wonder why this doesn't happen to me. Is it the driver? Has someone of the affected users tried a rollback to 22.11.2?