In ProgressCrashes, corrupted game files and CPU - GPU usage to 100%

Aram_thehead · April 2019

Hello, I was playing a Clan Skryre campaign with no mods enabled and my game kept crashing since the update.
I experienced many different crashes:

1) Crash due to a screen of death "video_tdr_failure".

Before the patch this happened only during the AI turn
(reported here: https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/237171/screen-of-death-video-tdr-failure-during-ai-turn#latest )

After the patch this happened also right after loading a save-game.
( reported here: https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/240247/unable-to-continue-campaign-crashes-to-desktop-and-screens-of-death#latest )

2) Crash to desktop right after loading a campaign save-game.
After loading a save-game, when the screen of death didn't appear, I've noticed that the CPU and the GPU usage skyrocketed and the game crashed to desktop. Sometimes it was the GPU the one hitting 100% usage, sometimes it was the CPU. It is the reported in the second of the previous links.
I found a way around this crash: instead of pressing "continue campaign" from the launcher or from the main manu, I loaded a save-game of another campaign that I had started before the patch and when I was already into that pre-DLC campaign, I could load my Ikit campaign safely from the esc menu.

3) Crash to desktop when loading a battle.
This is what the files attached to this post are about. I have the save-file, but I can't load the campaign. The game seems unable to read it.

Build number:
v.1.6.0 Build 10563.1644458

Reproduction steps:
Try to load the save-game, then try to fight the battle. Sometimes it crashes, sometimes it doesn't.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

I've tried another campaign and the game crashed again right after I pressed "fight manually". The loading screen didn't appear. I'm attaching all the files related to this crash too in order to give anyone who is investigating as much info as possible. Hope it is useful somehow.

Reproduction steps: move thenhauin to the closest ruins and try to fight the battle manually. You don't have to actually fight the battle to reproduce the crash. It happens while the battle is loading.

Build number:
v.1.6.0 Build 10563.1644458

BillyRuffian · April 2019

I'm not sure what's wrong. I was able to fight the battle.

I've attached a save after looting and occupying the settlerment.

Have you tried the solutions in the FAQ? https://support.sega.co.uk/hc/en-us/sections/115001415649-Total-War-Warhammer-II

Edit: did you set the preferred graphics card in the end?

Aram_thehead · April 2019

Yes, I've set the "Nvidia high performance gpu" as my preferred graphics card. I did this before the crash happened. I've also changed some settings that should enhance performance over quality in that same nvidia device manager panel. I've loaded my cult of sotek save game after the crash and I was able to fight the battle too. These crashes that I've reported sometimes happen and sometimes don't. I've updated the Nvidia drivers. I also unistalled the GPU drivers and then re-installed them. I had another crash when I tried to load a save-game. I've now uninstalled the game and I'm installing it again. This is the only thing that I haven't tried yet.
Did you notice a sudden increase in GPU or CPU usage when loading a save-game or loading into a battle? Thank you for your time and patience.

BillyRuffian · April 2019

Those "sometimes they happen, sometimes they don't" crashes are the worst to diagnose; you may have to wait for CA to debug the crash dumps.

I can't say I noticed any particular increase in activity when loading, but then I wasn't particularly looking for it. Also, my PC is a museum piece so it always loads slowly anyway.

When you reinstall make sure to clean out your appdata folder as well, having backed up or moved your saves and replays first.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

You mean that I should delete the AppData folder that contains "Local", "LocalLow" and "Roaming" (which then leads to Creative Assembly and Warhammer)? Is that what I should do?

BillyRuffian · April 2019

No, just delete the Warhammer 2 sub-folder, but make sure to protect any saves and replays that you want to keep.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

Thank you, I did what you have suggested. I hope this battle crash has left me for good.

There is however one crash that happens 100% of the times that I try to reproduce it, no matter what I change. That crash is still there. This crash is related to the save-game that I'm attaching to this comment. When I press "continue campaign" from the launcher, the game tries to load the campaign and then it crashes when the loading bar is full, before any campaign image is displayed.

I have found a way around this crash though. Instead of loading the campaign from the "continue campaign" button on the launcher, I open the game, then hit "load campaign" and then select and load this campaign. If I load the game this way, the loading bar gets filled, then screen goes black for about 3-5 seconds, then the loading screen appears again for about 1 second and then the campaign is finally loaded and I can continue it. I can even fight the battle and finish it with no issues.

BillyRuffian · April 2019

Right. We know you can load the save via load campaign and I've just successfully launched it via continue campaign from the main game menu and also via continue campaign from the launcher. So it works normally for me, but you seem to have an issue with the launcher version.

If you go back to Appdata\Roaming\The Creative Assembly you should be able to find a folder called Launcher - try deleting that, it should clear any old or corrupt data in the launcher logs.

As a matter of interest, if you could launch it from within the game and continue the turn, why not just save or end turn there and carry on?

Edit: something that is always worth doing occasionally is clearing your Steam download cache - it just updates Steam and takes out any old or corrupted Steam files.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

BillyRuffian said:

As a matter of interest, if you could launch it from within the game and continue the turn, why not just save or end turn there and carry on?

.

This was the first time that the launcher issue happened. I thought the campaign was completely dead. I had saved an older save-file on another folder just in case something like this happened, so I carried on from there and did not repeat the same moves. Some turns later the "new" campaign crashed again and only then I discovered that loading from the main menu worked fine. That's why I didn't carry on from the save game that I attached a couple comments ago. I kept the save game anyway in order to be able to report the crash. The game crashed again several times, but I was able to re-load the campaign either from the main menu or from the esc menu after loading another campaign first. Then after what I thought was another "simply annoying but not deadly" crash I discovered that the game was unable to read the save file, which is why I originally started this post. The save file that the game can't read is attached to the first post, just in case you want to try that too. I admire your patience, thank you.

BillyRuffian · April 2019

I may give that a go in the morning, but it's a bit late tonight.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

Well, I cleared the steam cache and deleted the launcher folder. My crashes are still there and the battle crash happened again too. I think I'm waiting for the next patch before picking up the game again. I've tried everything at this point. I'm curious though: did you have any luck with that save file?

BillyRuffian · April 2019

My machine won't even recognise that save from the first post, so I think it's corrupted somehow. It's certainly very large, particularly considering you weren't that far into the campaign. I don't think there's any more I can do - it really is wait for CA to debug time.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

Thank you for all your time and support @BillyRuffian , really appreciate it

BillyRuffian · April 2019

Sorry ity didn't help more.

One last thing, if you haven't done it already:

Go to the following directory:

- C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War Warhammer2\redist Here you will find these files:

---vcredist_x86-80-sp1.exe

---vcredist_x86-90.exe

---vcredist_x86-100-sp1.exe

(These will show an option to reinstall or repair, although one of them 86-90 may not show anything, this is normal.) Use the repair option.

Then, go next door to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War Warhammer2\redist\directx

INSTALL DXSETUP.exe This will ensure your dxsetup is current.

Reboot.

Then restart Steam (it will update) and now verify cache files for Warhammer II again.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

It's strange. I've looked for the folder that you have mentioned and noticed that I don't have it in the Warhammer folder. Attila, Rome II and Shogun 2 have it, but Warhammer I and II don't.

BillyRuffian · April 2019

Ah, sorry - I just copied that from the SEGA FAQ which seems to have copied the paths from the older games.

The actual folder is called _CommonRedist and inside are vcredist and DirectX: however both folders are empty and I can't find the files anywhere else at the moment. I'll flag this with CA and see what's going on.

Thanks for raising the matter.

Edit: @Aram_thehead It seems the files were centralised after the game launched. They are now at ~Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist.

CA_Nate · April 2019

Hi Aram_thehead,

For the legendary campaign crash when you click continue game, does the save file have any mod data present ?

Also would you please be able to provide us with your Launcher_Logs:

DRIVE:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War WARHAMMER II\launcher

Kind Regards,

CA_Nate

Aram_thehead · April 2019

CA_Nate said:

For the legendary campaign crash when you click continue game, does the save file have any mod data present ?

I don't understand what you mean. I'm subscribed to many mods, but I was not using any of them during the Ikit legendary campaign. I've noticed yesterday that this crash is not exclusive to that campaign. I'm currently doing a Tehenhauin campaign and that crashes too if I try to load the game by using the launcher.
I'm attaching the launcher logs to this comment.

Aram_thehead · April 2019

@BillyRuffian So I went into Steam/steamapps/common/Steamworks_shared/CommondRedist. Here I found the vredist folder. Inside I didn't find exactly what you mentioned but something very similar. There are 3 folders called "2010" "2013" "2015". Inside each of these there is an "installscript.vdf" , "vc_redist.x86" and "vc_redist.x64". I clicked on all 6 of the "vc_redist" and did the repair or restore option. Some of them had repair, some had restore. I did all of them when possible. One of them (I think the 2015 x64 one) only had the "install" option. I tried to do that too but then it told me that it could not be installed because I already had another version of it, so I left it there without continuing the installation.
Then I went into the directx folder and found a folder called "jun2010". There are many files there, I clicked DXSETUP. When that was done, I restarted the PC. Then I verified Warhammer 2 game files from steam. Then I tried continuing the campaign from the launcher again but it crashed anyway, just like before. Did I do something wrong in the procedure? Maybe I had to ignore the 2010 and 2013 folder and do the "vc_redist" only in the 2015 one?

BillyRuffian · April 2019

No, you did everything correctly. It just that potentially outdated files in those folders were not the cause of the crashes. It's probably best to let CA_Nate deal from now on.

RogerDX9 · June 2019

Hello Aram_thehead

You can specify "gfx_gpu_select 1" as Launch Options for the game

Aram_thehead · June 2019

@RogerDX9 Hi, I did what you suggested. What does it do?

RogerDX9 · June 2019

From the attached DxDiag:
Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 630
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
No Monitor Connected

I would assume that the single Monitor is connected to integrated GPU(IntelHD630 in your case), which is considered as MAIN Adapter, the games will always select MAIN adapter, unless you specify "gfx_gpu_select 1" as start option. To be honest the best option for you would be to connect your Monitor to the discrete GPU(GTX1050) and restart Windows, note that the start up option(gfx_gpu_select 1) must be then removed.

@Aram_thehead Is it still crashing ?

Sorry gfx_gpu_select 1 will not help in your case

Aram_thehead · June 2019

@RogerDX9 I'm using a laptop, so it feels weird that it doesn't use the best GPU automatically. Anyway, I've started a new Norsca campaign and it didn't crash, however it felt a little bit laggy on the like it used to. However it felt a bit laggy. During a battle, I tried to lower the graphics settings and it crashes when O accepted the changes. The launcher problem is somewhat solved (not really): now, when I click "continue campaign", it brings me to the main menu instead of crashing like it used to. All in all, the fix that you suggested didn't solve all my problems, but it definitely improve the situation, so I thank you for that

Aram_thehead · June 2019

@RogerDX9 It just crashed again before entering a battle

I don't know, I had already kind of given up on this game, I just hope WH3 is more stable and optimized.

RogerDX9 · June 2019

@Aram_thehead The driver version for "Intel(R) HD Graphics 630" is 21.20.16.4599(01/02/2017).

I would try to update to the latest version from here:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/126790

Aram_thehead · June 2019

@RogerDX9 it's weird. On the Intel site that you mentioned, I donwloaded the drivers for the Intel HD Graphics 630 for windows 10 -64 bit and also the drivers for the intel 7700HQ for windows 64 bit. When I tried to install them, it told me that they are non compatible with my system. Then I downloaded the intel driver assistant tool from that site, but it only updated some other stuff, not the graphics nor the CPU drivers.

RogerDX9 · June 2019

@Aram_thehead , alternatively you can try to update via Device Manager:

Aram_thehead · June 2019

@RogerDX9 when I click on "search for drivers automatically", it tells me "the best drivers for this device are already installed".

BillyRuffian · June 2019

Aram_thehead said:
@RogerDX9 when I click on "search for drivers automatically", it tells me "the best drivers for this device are already installed".

Unfortunately MS only has new drivers when the manufacturer bothers to pass them on. The best check is to go to the card manufacturor's site and, if that doesn't have a compatible driver, visit your laptop manufacturer's site as it's likely that they customise drivers specifically for their machines.

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