82 replies to this topic

[Alexander Garden]

Hey everyone,

As mentioned in the Patch Notes for Tuesday’s patch, we were able to resolve two of the prime suspects for client crashes. One of these issues came in with our original TeamSpeak integration, and was a result of an issue with the TeamSpeak SDK. The other was a long-standing issue with Flash. As the primary receiver of user crash reports, I’m pretty happy to state with confidence that the overall number of crashes have been reduced dramatically since Tuesday.

As the forums (and ticketing systems) will attest however, we do still have some persistent issues.

Normally, when the client transitions from its windowed log-in screen to the Fullscreen client or from one resolution to another, the display device is re-created. This is standard behavior.
When Windows attempts to re-create the device, an issue with the client is causing that standard behavior to fail under DirectX 9. That failure is a result of the CryEngine Scaleform code attempting to allocate a memory pointer with a NULL value. This results in a client crash.

The issue has already been fixed, and is currently undergoing testing.
Until we can release the fix, there are some steps you can take to knock them out on your end.

This crash only occurs under DX9. If feasible, the surest way to avoid these crashes is by running MWO under DirectX 11.

If you are crashing at log-in, and are unable to switch the client to DX11 in-game, follow these steps:

How to force MWO to run under DirectX 11

• Head to the install location of MWO. By default, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online
  
• Copy the ‘systemoverride.cfg’ to your desktop (or anywhere on your hard drive not located in a system folder)
  
• Open the cfg file in a text editor, such as WordPad
  
• Change r_Driver="DX9" to r_Driver="DX11"
  
• Save the cfg file
  
• Copy that edited cfg file back to your MWO install folder, replacing the existing version

Your systemoverride.cfg should look like this:

; DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!
r_Driver="DX11"
d3d9_TripleBuffering=0
r_txaa=0
r_msaa=0
r_postaa=0

How to minimize the crashes if you are able to log-in while running under DirectX 9, or if you are unable to run DirectX 11

• Do not engage ALT+ENTER during a load screen.
  
• If running in Fullscreen, do not engage ALT+TAB during a load screen.
  
• Run MWO in Full Windowed or Windowed mode. The issue is more likely to occur when the client makes the switch from the windowed log-in screen to the fullscreen client.

How to force your MWO client into Full Windowed or Windowed mode

• Head to your profile folder. By default this is C:\Users\[Username]\Saved Games\MechWarrior Online\Profiles\[Pilot name]
  
• Open your attributes.xml in a text editor, such as WordPad
  
• Locate the line <Attr name="OptionCfg.ViewMode" value="2"/>
  
• Change the value to "1" for Full Windowed mode, or remove the line altogether for Windowed mode
  
• Save the file

[Alexander Garden]

If you are not comfortable performing the above workarounds, please submit a support ticket to technical@mwomercs.com with the following information:

• A copy of your attributes.xml file, located by default in C:\Users\[Username]\Saved Games\MechWarrior Online\Profiles\[Pilot name]
  
• A copy of your systemoverride.cfg from the MWO install folder, located by default in C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online

[Alexander Garden]

Quick summary because Wall Of Text^TM.

There is an issue in the current build that causes client crashes when running DirectX 9.
This issue occurs when the client switches resolution.
This issue often occurs when you engage ALT+ENTER or ALT+TAB during a load screen.
This issue occurs most often when transitioning from the log-in screen to the Home screen.

You can circumvent the crashes by running in DirectX 11.
You can minimize the crashes by running in Windowed or Full Windowed modes.
You can minimize the crashes by not engaging ALT+ENTER or ALT+TAB during a load screen.

A fix for these issues is currently in testing.

Hot fix for this issue is coming tomorrow morning at 10AM PST.

[627]

I'm not sure if anyone said it before but you're doing a very good job with all those informations and solutions, Alex.
Thank you

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

Reference the issue with Flash,

Is this the problem with screen flickering and flashing?
- Has it been resolved?

May not be related but every time I attempt to view a posted video link (on these forums) the image will play for a few seconds then start to flash or go blank. Would that be related to your 'fix' for the game also?
- If I open it in its youtube link, no problems. And can then change the quality and size.
- Something in my ie11 settings?

Thanks for the fix and workaround, I haven't had the crash's but hear it from others while playing.

9erRed

[Telmasa]

@9erRed

I'm no professional techie, but I can't see any way at all that issues contained within your web browser & the MWO game client could be connected.

Funnily enough I've had that same issue with videos - not any from youtube though, just one specific site. Using another web browser tends to fix it. (When in doubt, go firefox + pop up blocker add-on, can't go wrong, and noscript addon if you feel like being extra picky about what gets to run in your web browser)

[Ninjah]

Awesome work, thanks a lot!

[Kiiyor]

Thanks. As a serial alt-tabber, this is welcome news.

[ShinVector]

Hasn't this issue been around for a long time ?
Something changed recently ?

[Drake67]

Sending from mobile. ... the issues I am having now are mech shake after backing up. Workaround is hitting c stops it. And occasionally seeing red mech icons on my mini map.

Edited by Drake67, 06 March 2015 - 07:04 AM.

[Anais Opal]

I'm getting crashes under DX11 and random drops of FPS from 40+fps to a fixed 10fps. To fix the drops I have to ALT+ENTER TWICE to get the framerate up from 10 to a playable state. I have to say I have to do this a couple of times during a play session (1-5hours)

Ages ago when DX11 was first implemented, I sent a bug report with screen overscan issues when running in fullscreen (not full window). I run 3 monitors across two identical gfx cards (GTX460's, same manufacturer and same bios revision) with the secondary and tertiary monitors on card 2 leaving my primary display on card 1.

When I run in fullscreen the same overscan issue is present with MWO overscanning onto the secondary display so I run full window.

[Anais Opal]

Telmasa, on 06 March 2015 - 12:25 AM, said:

@9erRed

I'm no professional techie, but I can't see any way at all that issues contained within your web browser & the MWO game client could be connected.

Funnily enough I've had that same issue with videos - not any from youtube though, just one specific site. Using another web browser tends to fix it. (When in doubt, go firefox + pop up blocker add-on, can't go wrong, and noscript addon if you feel like being extra picky about what gets to run in your web browser)

Autodesk ScaleForm is a Flash based technology that is used to create all the UI elements in MWO, MechLab and cockpit.

This means the artists can create and code the UI outside of tools like Maya and 3DSMax or CryEngine then import them into the game when complete.

[Frozen Spirit Jac]

Love your work - are cookies provided at end of patch.... 1hour. Damn. Time to go to work 5am Saturday here

I hope my cookies for whatever it may be DX11 or 9 or up to choc flavour.

[Alexander Garden]

Some things to note after this hot-fix.


DirectX 9

Engaging ALT+ENTER during a load screen while running DX9 will not switch the window mode until after the loading is complete.
If you want to issue the command to switch your window mode during a load screen, hit ALT+ENTER only once. Hitting it twice during the load screen will issue the command a second time, which will revert your initial command and leave your window mode the way it is.


DirectX 11

Using ALT+ENTER to switch from Fullscreen mode to Windowed mode will cause the window frame to not appear around the MWO client. It may also cause any other windows on that display device to resize to match the resolution of your MWO client.
To restore the window frame around the client, you must enter the in-game video settings and manually set your window mode to Windowed.


If you're still getting client crashes after this hot-fix, please send a support ticket to technical@mwomercs.com with a copy of your crashdump.dmp file.
The file can be located in your C:\Users\[username]\Saved Games\MechWarrior Online folder.

[Bezerkah]

You continue to make the game I love better and better and I appreciate the communication and fixes you are working hard to push out. Keep up the great work!

[Bront]

I still get the Alt-Tab crash with the hot fix. Already emailed with my crashdump.

[Alexander Garden]

Bront, on 06 March 2015 - 02:29 PM, said:

I still get the Alt-Tab crash with the hot fix. Already emailed with my crashdump.

Hey Bront, I sent out my reply earlier today. Have you received it?

[Anais Opal]

Still crashing to desktop randomly, last one was while idling in MechLab (I was buying a new skirt on Amazon at the time had my browser open on another monitor.....)

[Bront]

Alexander Garden, on 06 March 2015 - 02:32 PM, said:

Hey Bront, I sent out my reply earlier today. Have you received it?

Just did. Will provide some feedback.

[Bront]

Alexander Garden, on 06 March 2015 - 02:32 PM, said:

Hey Bront, I sent out my reply earlier today. Have you received it?

It seems like it happens if I alt tab back into the game right when it goes from searching to the map loading screen. Hard to replicate on the testing grounds, so I've been unable to replicate it there. (Emailed you this as well)