Windows 10: Game startup causing PC to crash

Hi,I've recently upgraded my PSU and GPU on my PC, it ran fine for a couple of weeks and all of a sudden it crashed during a game. Now it crashes on every start up of the game. I've been getting 'gameinput service' errors but since fixed that, and also fixed 'secure boot update failed to update' errors. I now get these errors:- Critical - The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power

:)

 

What is causing my PC to crash?

System information (dxdiag):

Windows 11 64-bit (10.0, Build 22631)

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Vision D (BIOS version F11p)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

RAM: 32 GB

DirectX Version: DX12

I am troubleshooting issues with Baldur's Gate 3 causing my PC to crash. It has been doing so through several patches of the game and frequently for the past 4 months. I have already reached out to the developers (Larian Studios) and have received little to no support. I'm trying to gather data myself but so far it seems my CPU is hanging so quickly that crash dumps fail to generate. The game is the only application I have that causes any noticeable instability of my PC. The crashes are sometimes slow (2-3 seconds) that propagate from strange graphical glitches (animations stop but characters keep moving across the screen) to audio hangs and then a full shutdown. Sometimes I get a BSOD saying "Unexpected Store Exception". And sometimes the screen just freezes until I press the reset button.

I have tried a long list of troubleshooting steps, in rough order:

• Maintaining Windows and all other software (including the game) are fully up-to-date
  
• Follow developer recommended steps:
  
  • Reinstalling the game
    
  • Check the Resource Monitor for stressed hardware
    
    • CPU, RAM, and GPU are not saturated at any point during gameplay or the crash.
      
    • SSD1 is not saturated, however, during some crashes that last 2-3 seconds, the SSD read output appears to saturate just before the system fully hangs.
      
  • Decreasing performance settings anyway (made no difference)
    
  • Disable save synchronization between the local and cloud copies
    
• Reinstalling CPU and GPU drivers with AMD installer
  
• Check Event Viewer for bsod logs
  
  • Errors from the game itself (bg3dx11.exe and bg3.exe) (no longer seeing these today)
    
  • Errors from the AMDRyzenMasterDriverV20 service failing to start.
    
  • Errors from the volmgr saying "Dump file creation failed due to error during dump creation."
    
  • Errors from the ntdll.dll (no longer seeing these today)
    
• Move the game from SSD1 to SSD2 (Both on M.2 PCI-e ports)
  
• Reinstall all AMD software with the AMD Clean Up Tool (in Safe Mode) followed by the AMD installation wizard.
  

I have not yet tried creating a new user profile (would be easy but I don't know what that would help) or reinstalling Windows (I would really like to avoid that since it would not be easy).

I'm running out of ideas for things to troubleshoot. If I'm using Event Viewer correctly, it doesn't show any crashes related to the game anymore. I tried Windows Performance Recorder but it doesn't actually save anything until the recording is stopped, which doesn't help me when my whole system is hanging. I don't have any idea why my SSD Read is saturating. The game's crash logs don't reveal anything, and apparently my Windows crash logs are also failing to populate. A redditor with similar crashes upgraded their GPU from an older model to one similar to mine and that solved their problem. Unfortunately I don't have much room to upgrade.

Could anyone suggest further data gathering steps so that I could find out what is causing this problem?

 

all games crash!

I suggest you run rthdribl > http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/archives/rthdribl_1_2.zip
Increase the window size step by step and watch your vga temps permanently.
What happens?
If it crashes, run at stock speeds as suggested before and retry.

P.S.: When your system locks, does the display signal turn off after a time?
Stuttering sound or no sound at all when freezing?
What X1800XT model do you own exactly?

 

Kernel32, ntdll.dll, and msmpeg2vdec are causing game crashes

Hi

Welcome to Microsoft community.

It sounds like you've already taken several of the standard troubleshooting steps to resolve game crashes related to kernel32.dll, ntdll.dll and msmpeg2vdec.dll without success. These DLL files are crucial components of the Windows operating system, with kernel32.dll and ntdll.dll involved in many system-level operations and msmpeg2vdec.dll being a Windows Media MPEG video decoder. Issues with these files can be particularly challenging to resolve, but here are a few more steps you can consider:

Performing a clean boot for Windows can help you identify if background programs are causing conflicts.

• Press Windows Key + R type msconfig and press Enter.
  
• In the System Configuration window, on the Services tab, select the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox, and then click Disable all.
  
• On the Startup tab, click Open Task Manager. In Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then click Disable.
  
• Close Task Manager.
  
• On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, click OK, and then restart your computer.
  
  Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem.
  
  These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.
  

Since you've run a memory test, consider checking other components like your GPU and hard drive.

• Use a tool like HWMonitor to check for overheating issues.
  
• Use CrystalDiskInfo to check your hard drive's health.
  

You might try re-registering the problematic DLL files using the Command Prompt.

• Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
  
• To re-register a DLL file, type regsvr32 kernel32.dll press Enter, and then repeat this for the other DLL files ( ntdll.dll msmpeg2vdec.dll ). Note: This step might not work for certain system-critical DLLs like ntdll.dll and kernel32.dll due to their protected status but can be effective for others.
  

Sometimes malware can masquerade as legitimate DLL files, causing crashes and other issues.

• Run a full system scan with your antivirus program.
  
• Consider using an additional malware removal tool to check for any threats that might have been missed.
  

Corruption in your user profile can lead to various issues.

• Go to Settings > Accounts > Family & other users.
  
• Click Add someone else to this PC and follow the prompts to create a new account.
  
• Log in with the new account and check if the issue persists.
  

If all else fails, you might consider using System Restore to roll back to a point before the issues began, or Resetting your PC while keeping your files.

• For System Restore, search for "Create a restore point" in the Start menu, open it, go to the System Protection tab, and click System Restore.
  
• For Reset, go to Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC.
  

Please feel free to let me know how it goes.

Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist