Consistent crash on startup

[Killbot]

I've been playing the game for 80 hours. After a windows update yesterday, the game consistently crashed on main menu or when trying to load a save file. I tried everything already suggested:

updating drivers
directx
gpu driver rollback
deleting shader cache
uninstall and reinstall

I've managed to get it to fully compile shaders ONCE. Not it, refuses to even compile shaders, crashing at around 75% completion. Idk what's happening or what the ♥♥♥♥ when wrong.

I'm running on 32GB of RAM
RTX 3060
AMD Ryzen 5600x

I've had no issues apart from one or two crashes up until yesterday. I stopped counting after 5 crashes trying to get it fixed. I'm so lost, but most of all, saddened and disheartened.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Killbot:

Consistent crash on startup
I've been playing the game for 80 hours. After a windows update yesterday, the game consistently crashed on main menu or when trying to load a save file. I tried everything already suggested:

updating drivers
directx
gpu driver rollback
deleting shader cache
uninstall and reinstall

I've managed to get it to fully compile shaders ONCE. Not it, refuses to even compile shaders, crashing at around 75% completion. Idk what's happening or what the ♥♥♥♥ when wrong.

I'm running on 32GB of RAM
RTX 3060
AMD Ryzen 5600x

I've had no issues apart from one or two crashes up until yesterday. I stopped counting after 5 crashes trying to get it fixed. I'm so lost, but most of all, saddened and disheartened.

There might be no causality - it might be savegame corruption. Try that first.

[Killbot]

How do I fix save game corruption?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Killbot:

How do I fix save game corruption?

You cannot. You can only test that and do risk reduction by making daily backups and learning the behaviour of quitting without saving.

[Killbot]

What would you suggest I do then? I cannot get past shader compilation. Should I reinstall again?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Killbot:

What would you suggest I do then? I cannot get past shader compilation. Should I reinstall again?

No. That would be nonsense.

*sigh*

I hate sharing my guide for that, because people tend to downvote it after getting bad news.

So,

first you disable Steam Cloud for the game
Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library and select Properties
https://images.steamusercontent.com/ugc/33317948945365377/DB09B09B756F96F825DB30864289112ADBCC1B32/

Then you go to your savegame folder

The default savegame location is
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\YOURPERSONALSTEAMID\2246340
move the remote folder you can find in there, onto your desktop e.g. - so that savegame folder remains empty

That will force the game to load without a savegame.

If the issue is resolved, then it is most likely a savegame corruption issue and currently nothing can be done about that to fix it. I tried.

If the issue is not resolved, then you may rejoice, as it would be worth looking elsewhere.

For that you may share a DxDiag report.

But first, check the savegame corruption thing.

On a side note - disable bluetooth, as that too is known as a common issue. Good luck

[Killbot]

Removing the remote file did not work. So I suppose that's a silver lining.
However, the game crashed during shader compilation once again.
Here are the pastebins for both the CrashReport and the DxDiag found within:
https://pastebin.com/0PMR47zf

https://pastebin.com/TghUU6K1

As well as a DxDiag I ran manually. It mentions BEX64:
https://pastebin.com/gX47dxLC

A side note to your side note, I am using a wired controller. Would Bluetooth still be an issue? Logically it shouldn't?

I'm going to bed now, I appreciate you trying to help.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Killbot:

Removing the remote file did not work. So I suppose that's a silver lining.
However, the game crashed during shader compilation once again.
Here are the pastebins for both the CrashReport and the DxDiag found within:
https://pastebin.com/0PMR47zf

https://pastebin.com/TghUU6K1

As well as a DxDiag I ran manually. It mentions BEX64:
https://pastebin.com/gX47dxLC

A side note to your side note, I am using a wired controller. Would Bluetooth still be an issue? Logically it shouldn't?

I'm going to bed now, I appreciate you trying to help.

It is a hobby ~ helping fellow hunters. I love the game so much, I want as many people as possible to enjoy it.

And yeah, the silver lining is good - good enough for a beautiful sunrise when you are up, from the looks of it.

You ran out of memory. Mainly. That is it, eventually, resulting in all the other issues I am seeing in your DxDiag report.

The best course of action is that you start cleaning up your C: drive so that you got there nothing but Windows and Monster Hunter Wilds at maximum - without high resolution texture pack. Everything else: move.

You need a minimum of 150 GB free space on C:

Move your Steam Library if necessary, and consider a storage drive upgrade - seeing your other drives are filled to the brim as well. And something seems not right with D: too, but that is another story.

Once that is done, follow this guide with the tips #1, #2, #4, #6, #7, #16, #20
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3436896664
You can do the other tips as well, but that is for later once we have isolated and addressed your initial issue and can prevent your game from crashing <--- that comes first

Once you are done with the steps, and having given C: enough space run these commands via terminal as administrator to ensure your Windows is still okay

sfc /scannow
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /AnalyzeComponentStore
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /StartComponentCleanup
chkdsk /f /r

Overall it might be best if you consider a storage drive upgrade for C:, ideally something like the Samsung 990 Pro with 2 TB minimum, considering your overall usage.

All of your drives are lacking space, and that is causing all the issue you are having.

About the free space issue, here is an excerpt from another guide of mine

Originally posted by Troubleshooting Baldur's Gate 3 for Beginners:

How does this improve my game performance?

This tip can be considered old. From a time when smaller RAM sizes were the norm. Nowadays gaming PCs have 32 GB of RAM and more as standard, which makes people wonder if a pagefile is still necessary or not. Long story short: it is. And in general, Windows can handle it very well on its own without any manual intervention. But this is true for modern PCs. Older PCs, or those considered to be at the lower end of the market, still benefit greatly from adjusting the size of virtual memory.

At the moment I am writing this, my physical RAM is 30% used, at 7.3 GB, and my pagefile - the virtual memory holder - is at 9581 MB, or 9.6 GB. And I am not running a game. In fact, just this browser in which I am typing this text right now. Why is this, and why is the pagefile important when your physical RAM is theoretically more than enough?

The answer lies in how your operating system manages RAM, both virtual and physical, and how it is allocated to all the applications you use. System requirements are kept as simple as "you need 8GB to run this game", with no details about virtual RAM. But if you only use your physical RAM, do you really have that much to start with?

Here are a few things that will also use RAM when you start the game (example):

• Steam, and its functions like Steam Friends & Chat, Overlay, Cloud and Multiplayer Services
  
• GeForce Experience, gaming overlay and graphics optimisation
  
• Security application(s) to check your incoming and outgoing communications and what files the game might be creating
  
• Third party controller software for input devices
  
• Third party software for sound

And then you might also have (example):

• Voice chat application
  
• E-Mail application (running in background, but keeping giving you notifications)
  
• Cloud Services on standby
  
• Entertainment apps - I have heard people often have their music streaming app on
  
• Several background services you do not even know they exist but are constantly active in the background from the start, like auto-update software for Java, browser, mainboard, graphics drivers, printer, network and so on

Now you might ask: why does Windows not just put everything in physical RAM if you have a lot of RAM? This has to do with the fact that many applications by design need a stable source for their temporary files. Otherwise, they would not work properly because the physical RAM content would be in a constant state of flux and would need to be refreshed very often. "Out of Memory" issues and stuttering would be the common symptoms. In addition, applications tend to reserve physical RAM for their exclusive use, making the display of how much RAM is currently in use/available inaccurate to begin with.

Virtual memory is not just there to increase the total amount of memory available to your PC to meet the needs of each application. It is simply an integral part of what Windows needs to run properly. And if you use a lot of applications to begin with, you can quickly hit the limits. And sometimes, as mentioned above with overclocking, Windows' automatic management cannot keep up. For such cases, it is better to reserve a large amount in advance, as an extra buffer if you will.

So yeah - it is something which needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

The bluetooth can be ignored, as the cause for your issue is most likely guaranteed identified now. We will see to it later, once you shoveled some space free and we get your game working again.

Also, make a backup of your savegame. Just for the peace of mind, I recommend it daily.

[アンジェル]

And yeah... the amount of RAM you having - I recommend to double it at least as well.

[Killbot]

Wilds isn't installed on my C drive, it's on my F drive. But I will clear as much off of C as I can, reasonably, and remove other programs from other drives as well.

D is an old HDD and is what my OS used to be on before my PC upgrades. Now it's a storage drive for games I don't want to put on/ can't fit on my SSDs (C and F). I will try and clear files off of D but a lot of them have admin labels on them and I don't want to fool around with that and risk breaking something else.

I'm not currently in a situation where I can upgrade my RAM or Storage :(

I still don't quite understand why my RAM is an issue -- the game has been running flawlessly for 80 hours with the same hardware. I haven't changed anything. It only started after a recent Windows update on the 18th.

But I'll try cleaning my drives and see if it helps. It's long overdue anyway.

[Killbot]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...

Yeah, cleaning my C drive helped.

Unfortunately I am also a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ idiot and forgot I had my Steam Cloud turned off for the last month, and I hadn't made a backup of my save before reinstalling T_T (I did a reinstall before making this post).

Thank you for helping my incompetent ass. You are a true angel.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Killbot:

Wilds isn't installed on my C drive, it's on my F drive. But I will clear as much off of C as I can, reasonably, and remove other programs from other drives as well.

D is an old HDD and is what my OS used to be on before my PC upgrades. Now it's a storage drive for games I don't want to put on/ can't fit on my SSDs (C and F). I will try and clear files off of D but a lot of them have admin labels on them and I don't want to fool around with that and risk breaking something else.

I'm not currently in a situation where I can upgrade my RAM or Storage :(

I still don't quite understand why my RAM is an issue -- the game has been running flawlessly for 80 hours with the same hardware. I haven't changed anything. It only started after a recent Windows update on the 18th.

But I'll try cleaning my drives and see if it helps. It's long overdue anyway.

Originally posted by Killbot:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...

Yeah, cleaning my C drive helped.

Unfortunately I am also a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ idiot and forgot I had my Steam Cloud turned off for the last month, and I hadn't made a backup of my save before reinstalling T_T (I did a reinstall before making this post).

Thank you for helping my incompetent ass. You are a true angel.

Not sure if it gives you comfort: but you are not the only one who ran into that sort of issue. A surprising number of people did... But unlike a lot of others you heeded my advice, and I am happy it helped you.

If you checked my guide, you can see I understand how it is not being able to afford an upgrade - so here are a few additional tips:

consider using something like Google Drive or MEGA.nz e.g. which are free and come with generous amount of space - I am using Google Drive myself, and that way I store stuff elsewhere for a small price. 15 GB is free, and on MEGA you get even 20 GB. Mostly for stuff which "you want to keep, but not sure until when and you are not using it at the moment". (if you have -just hypothetically- multiple Google Accounts/email addresses -just hypothetically- you could have multiple accounts and store a generous amount of e.g. 100 GB for free on web -just hypothetically)

Alternatively, you sure have one or another USB drive which you are not using that often where you can store some stuff.

Ouch... formatted the C: drive? normally the savegame is untouched in Steam folder. But yeah, without Steam Cloud and without a backup, that is... not good.

Regarding the question why it works: mind the snippet of How does this improve my game performance? If something is unclear about that, feel free to ask. In short: apps do need free space to work. And your drive was with 3,8 GB awfully low...

On the bright side: now you know what was the issue, you can rest assured, the rest of your PC is still okay. And once you can afford a SSD / RAM upgrade, it can become even better at a low cost.

That nothing is broken and you can play again is what matters. Happy Hunting!

[Killbot]

Thank you once again for all the help, you are a true saint!

Happy hunting to you, and maybe you get all the decorations and gems you need!

[Jabroni]

Hello. I'm in a very similar situation. A couple days ago the game just started crashing immediately on start up. After about 55 hours of gameplay, and only a few crashes. I can't even get the game to boot without getting the crash report screen. Here are my specs

i7 9700 intel
32 gigs ram (dominator)
rtx 5070ti

I was reading through the discussion above. I travel quite a bit for work and bring a gaming laptop with me when I have some free time, and I'll play MHW. At home I have my PC with the specs listed above.. My laptop is a Asus nitro with a rtx 4060 GPU. CPU is i7 11000 -ish

I have been making sure to save the game after each session and also update the steam cloud.

I'm wondering if the consistent back and forth between 2 computers if whats messing me up. If I upload my crash reports, could you see whats causing this consistent crash on start up??

I've uninstalled several times, updated all my drivers, run with and without compatibility, verified the game files etc.

Thanks for the help!

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Jabroni:

Hello. I'm in a very similar situation. A couple days ago the game just started crashing immediately on start up. After about 55 hours of gameplay, and only a few crashes. I can't even get the game to boot without getting the crash report screen. Here are my specs

i7 9700 intel
32 gigs ram (dominator)
rtx 5070ti

I was reading through the discussion above. I travel quite a bit for work and bring a gaming laptop with me when I have some free time, and I'll play MHW. At home I have my PC with the specs listed above.. My laptop is a Asus nitro with a rtx 4060 GPU. CPU is i7 11000 -ish

I have been making sure to save the game after each session and also update the steam cloud.

I'm wondering if the consistent back and forth between 2 computers if whats messing me up. If I upload my crash reports, could you see whats causing this consistent crash on start up??

I've uninstalled several times, updated all my drivers, run with and without compatibility, verified the game files etc.

Thanks for the help!

DxDiag report is more important. Crash report helps. Did you try the mentioned above check whether you are affected by savegame corruption or not?

Did you disable bluetooth as there is a known issue regarding that? I also recommend you create your own thread for better visibility, so things do not get mixed up.

[Jabroni]

I have not tried it just yet. Once I get home I’ll give it a shot. I haven’t disabled blue tooth. I play with keyboard and mouse. Does that matter? Are your instructions for getting a DXdiag listed above. Sorry, kind of a pc noob. Never encountered a game with so many issues..