DCS crashes when entering Options>VR while in VR

[GayCavalier]

System specs:
i9-11900KF OC to 5500Mhz with water block- RTX3080 OC - ASUS ROG HERO VIII - 64GB DDR4 @3600MHz- 1TB SSD OS - 2TB SSD GAME- 1000W PSU
Pimax 8kx -  All other USB except keyboard and mouse unplugged.

No mods except ED core mods.  Running DCS in latest OB.

I'm reopening this one, because maybe someone in the community can help - as i'm at a dead end, and my support ticket doesn't seem tempting to anyone at ED.

Whenever I attempt to enter the VR menu (in options) during a mission while in VR, DCS will crash.    Also, If I enter the VR menu while in the main menu prior to going into any mission, then DCS will crash at the "Mission Load Complete" point.   Happens regardless of the aircraft.   I can go into DCS, enter the options at the main menu, enter the VR tab, and then OK-out, and exit DCS without issue.  The settings in the VR tab, and rest of options save into the options.lua without issue, so it doesn't appear to be a file-access issue. 

This doesn't ever happen when in 2d (non-VR mode).

The game is also stable for hours in VR.  But going to Options>VR kills it instantly.

I had originally reported this issue, but managed to resolve by reintalling Windows 11, Reinstalling Nvidia drivers (clean install).  Then reinstalling DCS.  Then PiTool.  Then SteamVR.   With no mods and a completely clean saved games folder, the "VR Tab crash" symptom doesn't happen.  However, after playing two or three times (i.e. DCS restarts) without changing any settings, the issue comes back.

I've attempted complete reinstalls of everything - finally stripping everything back to a bare OS without Nvidia drivers and building up from scratch (after deleting any install folders or remanent files or registry entries).

Below is a section from the log from when I start up in VR (SteamVR), I went into DCS, logged in, ran the F/A18-C "cold and dark" instant action.  Everything appeared fine, until I pressed escape, click options, and then the "VR tab".   Note that this is after completely uninstalling EVERYTHING, and running a repair on Windows 11, and then installing PiTool, SteamVR, then DCS.

2023-01-24 20:16:37.876 INFO    Dispatcher (Main): loadMission Done: Сontrol passed to the player
2023-01-24 20:16:51.904 INFO    LUA (Main): Lua CPU usage: metric: average mission execution: 0.3110 %
2023-01-24 20:16:53.367 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: Settings
2023-01-24 20:16:54.577 INFO    EDCORE (Main): try to write dump information
2023-01-24 20:16:54.579 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # -------------- 20230124-201654 --------------
2023-01-24 20:16:54.584 INFO    EDCORE (Main): DCS/2.8.1.34667 (x86_64; Windows NT 10.0.22621)
2023-01-24 20:16:54.586 INFO    EDCORE (Main): F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin\Visualizer.dll
2023-01-24 20:16:54.591 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # C0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION at FAC10C3D 00:00000000
2023-01-24 20:16:54.594 INFO    EDCORE (Main): SymInit: Symbol-SearchPath: '.;F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld;F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32;SRV*C:\websymbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;', symOptions: 528, UserName: 'GayCavalier'
2023-01-24 20:16:54.596 INFO    EDCORE (Main): OS-Version: 10.0.22621 () 0x100-0x1
2023-01-24 20:16:54.926 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000080C3D (Visualizer): delete_UI_VRScene + 0x388D
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000080DE4 (Visualizer): delete_UI_VRScene + 0x3A34
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000E3AC4 (Visualizer): smSceneManager::DestroySceneManager + 0x4F74
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000811713 (DCS): SW + 0x3D1AF3
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000008320B9 (DCS): SW + 0x3F2499
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000007F16F4 (DCS): SW + 0x3B1AD4
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000007F25C4 (DCS): SW + 0x3B29A4
2023-01-24 20:16:54.927 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000228469E (DCS): AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance + 0xF5769A
2023-01-24 20:16:54.928 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000BDFBA2 (DCS): SW + 0x79FF82
2023-01-24 20:16:54.928 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000126BD (KERNEL32): BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x1D
2023-01-24 20:16:54.928 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000005DFB8 (ntdll): RtlUserThreadStart + 0x28
2023-01-24 20:16:55.163 INFO    EDCORE (Main): Minidump created.

The only thing that seems to fix this issue is fully uninstalling DCS, and then running a full installation/repair on Windows11, then reinstalling everything from scratch.  However, even then, the "VR tab" issue will happen again within 2-3 restarts of DCS - and I will not have changed any settings or installed anything new.

I also tried OpenXR/OpenXR-Toolkit/PimaxXR, and exactly the same thing happens, so I know it's not a SteamVR issue either - DCS was running fine in VR for at least the last 18months, and this happened about 3 weeks ago, and i've been trying to fix it ever since.

I've checked the SSDs that i'm running.  I've checked pagefile.  Used different versions of Nvidia's drivers.  Unplugged every USB device possible..  i've tried everything I could think of to try and work out why, after a completely new OS install, DCS will run normally in VR for a few sessions, and then the dreaded "VR tab" crash will come back again...

[GayCavalier]

So..

Without uninstalling anything, I repaired Windows 11, checked DCS in VR.. "VR tab" crash.  I then clean installed the latest Nvidia drivers, and started DCS.  While in the main menu, I went into options and then the VR tab, all fine as usual, then I entered F/A18-C instant action "Cold and Dark".  (it doesn't matter which airframe/mod or mission - same problem).   It crashed again at "Mission Start" or "mission load complete".   Either way, if I enter the VR-tab before or during a mission, I get a crash either at "mission load complete" or during the actual mission when I dare click on said tab.

2023-01-25 02:19:16.785 INFO    APP (Main): Loaded F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\Scripts\Hooks\webGUI.lua
2023-01-25 02:19:21.155 INFO    Dispatcher (Main): //=== END OF INIT ======================================//
2023-01-25 02:19:21.156 INFO    EDCORE (Main): (dDispatcher)enterToState_:2
2023-01-25 02:19:21.182 INFO    EDCORE (Main): (dDispatcher)enterToState_:3
2023-01-25 02:19:21.182 INFO    LUA (Main): Lua CPU usage: metric: average game loading: 68.5608 %
2023-01-25 02:19:21.188 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: MainMenu
2023-01-25 02:19:24.853 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: Settings      -- When I enter the options, VR menu..
2023-01-25 02:19:30.560 INFO    ASYNCNET (6668): Login success.
2023-01-25 02:19:46.698 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: MainMenu    
2023-01-25 02:19:52.139 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: InstantAction    -- Entering F/A18-C instant action "Cold and Dark"
2023-01-25 02:19:53.867 INFO    Dispatcher (Main): load terrain from ./Mods/terrains/Caucasus\terrain.cfg.lua
2023-01-25 02:19:53.879 INFO    SECURITYCONTROL (Main): Loaded mods/terrains/caucasus/terrain.cfg.lua.pak.crypt
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    TERRAIN (Main): lSystem::load(./Mods/terrains/Caucasus\terrain.cfg.lua)
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    TERRAIN (Main): lSystem::openSession(./Mods/terrains/Caucasus\terrain.cfg.lua)
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    TERRAIN (Main): lSystem::exit()
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): TerrainRenderer::release
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    TERRAIN (Main): lSystem::CleanScenes()
2023-01-25 02:19:53.880 INFO    EDOBJECTS (Main): lTypeObjectManagerImpl::clear 13
2023-01-25 02:19:54.320 INFO    EDTERRAIN4 (Main): TERRAIN_REVISION = 4920
2023-01-25 02:19:54.326 INFO    EDTERRAIN4 (Main): Open terrain cfg "./Mods/terrains/Caucasus\terrain.cfg.lua"
2023-01-25 02:19:54.327 INFO    EDTERRAIN4 (Main): Build date: 
2023-01-25 02:19:54.327 INFO    EDTERRAIN4 (Main): Texture quality: "min"
2023-01-25 02:19:54.327 INFO    EDTERRAIN4 (Main): Language: "en"

..and..later...  while still loading the mission..

2023-01-25 02:20:19.136 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): Preload() finished
2023-01-25 02:20:19.182 INFO    APP (Main): Screen: mission_offline
2023-01-25 02:20:19.248 INFO    Dispatcher (Main): precache units resources in slots
2023-01-25 02:20:19.302 INFO    LUA (Main): Lua CPU usage: metric: average mission loading: 14.6808 %
2023-01-25 02:20:19.302 INFO    Dispatcher (Main): loadMission Done: Сontrol passed to the player
2023-01-25 02:20:19.316 INFO    EDCORE (Main): try to write dump information
2023-01-25 02:20:19.318 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # -------------- 20230125-022019 --------------
2023-01-25 02:20:19.320 INFO    EDCORE (Main): DCS/2.8.1.34667 (x86_64; Windows NT 10.0.22621)
2023-01-25 02:20:19.322 INFO    EDCORE (Main): F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin\Visualizer.dll
2023-01-25 02:20:19.324 INFO    EDCORE (Main): # C0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION at 19230C3D 00:00000000
2023-01-25 02:20:19.329 INFO    EDCORE (Main): SymInit: Symbol-SearchPath: '.;F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld;F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32;SRV*C:\websymbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;', symOptions: 528, UserName: 'GayCavalier'
2023-01-25 02:20:19.331 INFO    EDCORE (Main): OS-Version: 10.0.22621 () 0x100-0x1
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000080C3D (Visualizer): delete_UI_VRScene + 0x388D
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000080DE4 (Visualizer): delete_UI_VRScene + 0x3A34
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000E3AC4 (Visualizer): smSceneManager::DestroySceneManager + 0x4F74
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000811713 (DCS): SW + 0x3D1AF3
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000008320B9 (DCS): SW + 0x3F2499
2023-01-25 02:20:19.978 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000007F16F4 (DCS): SW + 0x3B1AD4
2023-01-25 02:20:19.979 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000007F25C4 (DCS): SW + 0x3B29A4
2023-01-25 02:20:19.979 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000228469E (DCS): AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance + 0xF5769A
2023-01-25 02:20:19.979 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x0000000000BDFBA2 (DCS): SW + 0x79FF82
2023-01-25 02:20:19.979 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x00000000000126BD (KERNEL32): BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x1D
2023-01-25 02:20:19.979 INFO    EDCORE (Main): 0x000000000005DFB8 (ntdll): RtlUserThreadStart + 0x28
2023-01-25 02:20:20.280 INFO    EDCORE (Main): Minidump created.