Game freezes but actually keeps running in the background (frozen screen, but playable and audio hearable)

[Slayer Seraph]

Happens very frequently. Game would freeze up at random occasions. Then after a few seconds, the music and audio will resume, but the screen will remain forzen. I can move, pause, jump, play but all I see is a frozen screen. ALT+TAB doesn't help. Only ending the task and starting over.

Happens in many Nvidia Drivers.
Please help!

[AlenL]

Have you tried playing in windowed mode (i.e. not full-screen)?

[Slayer Seraph]

Originally posted by AlenL:

Have you tried playing in windowed mode (i.e. not full-screen)?

Thanks for your reply. Good to know a developer steps in to help.
I'll try. Does Borderless count aswell?
And why would that be the issue?
(I play all my games on Fullscreen because it plays and looks better, without the window bar, of course)

By the way:
I've also notice that when the issue happens- if I do ALT+ENTER (which switches to Windowed) - the rectangular "The Talos Principle" loading window appear. It takes a long while, like a full minute, before the screen finally appears (albeit in Windowed mode) and the game resumes.

[Slayer Seraph]

Originally posted by AlenL:

Have you tried playing in windowed mode (i.e. not full-screen)?

UPDATE: Ok. so I left the game running for a very long time on Windowed Mode. I think the issue didn't reoccur.
I am going to try an actual session now, do some progress.

However, I will really appreciate a fix or a workaround - because I really don't want to play on Windowed Mode. What's casuing this issue? And is there any other way to prevent it?

Thanks!

[AlenL]

Well, it is hard to say why, but it from your OP it seemed as if it could be a driver problem. When running in full-screen mode, the driver does more things "hard core" and is more likely to lock up. (Sorry if this is a strange explanation, but I'm trying to keep it simple.) In windowed mode, the screen presentation is left to the windows compositor, so it can usually be more stable in some problematic corner cases.
The actual cause is either a driver bug, or some subtle hardware error. It could even be that in full-screen it can reach higher framerate than in windowed, so it perhaps triggers some problem like overheating or undervoltage.
Yes, you can try borderless, it is likely that it will work just as stable as windowed. It is essentially the same thing - it still runs in a window, just one that covers the entire screen. Which is different from fullscreen which goes directly to the hardware to take over the entire monitor.

[Slayer Seraph]

Originally posted by AlenL:

Well, it is hard to say why, but it from your OP it seemed as if it could be a driver problem. When running in full-screen mode, the driver does more things "hard core" and is more likely to lock up. (Sorry if this is a strange explanation, but I'm trying to keep it simple.) In windowed mode, the screen presentation is left to the windows compositor, so it can usually be more stable in some problematic corner cases.
The actual cause is either a driver bug, or some subtle hardware error. It could even be that in full-screen it can reach higher framerate than in windowed, so it perhaps triggers some problem like overheating or undervoltage.
Yes, you can try borderless, it is likely that it will work just as stable as windowed. It is essentially the same thing - it still runs in a window, just one that covers the entire screen. Which is different from fullscreen which goes directly to the hardware to take over the entire monitor.

UPDATE: Issue just happened to me in Borderless Mode!
Less than a minute from starting the game - Screen frozen, after about 10 seconds, the audio and game keeps running in the backgroud (I can pause, jump, walk - etc) - but the display is frozen.

Thing is, this sometimes happens after 50minutes of gameplay, sometimes after a few minutes. The game can run perfectly fine. GPU at good low temptures. But then - boom - frozen screen.

It seems the frozen display issue is not related to Windowed Mode afterall. Last night I played over 2-3 hours straight on Full Screen with zero issues. Today I had the issue happening 3 times in a 15 minutes.

I am running the latest Nvidia Driver, installed cleanly using DDU software. I can try to roll back into an older driver ,but I am not sure which one and whether it's worth the effort.
My GPU is GTX 670, and my screen is an old 1920 x 1200 DELL 24".

This really makes no sense. :(

[AlenL]

You may want to post a log file (Talos.log) from one such freeze.

[Slayer Seraph]

Here is the text from Talos.log:
**Fair warning, this is my older PC, but it runs TTP remarkably well. I play on ULTRA, with Shadow AA turned OFF. 1920 X 1200. X4 MSAA.**

Note: The bug happened to me TWICE - at the same session, and in the same level - just mere minutes ago. Once when I was on Borderless. The game froze entirely. After a long while, almost 1 minute it resumed but the screen was frozen. I pressed ALT+ENTER and after half a minute the screen came up in Windowed Mode and the game played. After a few more minutes - the game's screen frozen again, and I used ALT+ENTER to go back to borderless and resume play (after another long wait). I almost gave up and did an END TASK...

[Slayer Seraph]

OK, I couldn't post the log text as it was too long, so I've uploaded the Talos.log file to my Google Drive.
Here's the link, please investigate it:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_yNryh0bLKHX3lKaUQ4a25jMFk

Thank you for the help!
The 2 temporal-freezes occurred at around 17:15-17:20 more or less, if I recall right.
I really hope we can find a proper fix here! I'm loving this game.

[AlenL]

Well, this answers it:

17:13:22 ERR:   [Direct3D] Device hung!

This means that the GPU has locked up and afterwards the driver cannot recover it. This is usually caused by underpowering, overheating, bad connectors, or some other hardware problem. There's a whole section in the FAQ about it. Hope this helps.

[Slayer Seraph]

Originally posted by AlenL:

Well, this answers it:

17:13:22 ERR:   [Direct3D] Device hung!

This means that the GPU has locked up and afterwards the driver cannot recover it. This is usually caused by underpowering, overheating, bad connectors, or some other hardware problem. There's a whole section in the FAQ about it. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I deeply appreciate the help, but this just doesn't add up, in my opinion, and here's why:

1. I've never experienced this issue with any other game.

2. This is defintely NOT overheating:
I am checking with monitor programs and all my main hardware components are running very low, cool temps:
GPU: 62~ C degrees full load (30-42 idle)
CPU: 60 C full load (32 idle)
Motherboard 30-40 C full load (20 idle)

Following the FAQ suggestions, and past experience:
I have spent over 30-45 minutes today opening my case, totally dusting it off using a powerful air-dryer, wiping everything up with damp soft cloth and airing it up. It's as clean as a small old case can get, and the fans are all dust/dirt free.

I've also secured all the plugs and connectors.

3. The game keeps running in the background (after a frozen moment).

4. Nvidia doesn't pop up the "Driver Stopped Responding" and if I ALT+TAB I can see the desktop and run everything else.
Also, my GPU driver is the latest and installed cleanly.

5. ALT+ENTER Will get me back in the game (although after a longer time than usual).

I'm out of leads here, but I still think there's more to this issue than that.

This could be a mobo issue - perhaps something with the PCI-E slots or power circuit within, or something with the PSU - unfortunatelly I don't have any other power suppliers at home (why would I have?).

All in all, I still think it's too odd and specific to be it.
The game doesn't crash or perma-freeze. Task Manager doesn't detect the game as "not responding". The screen doesn't flicker or go black. etc,

-Please, is there anything else you can suggest, advice or do to help?

EDIT: If this is indeed GPU Hang like you say - what else can I do to hopefully solve it now? Given all the steps I've included above.

[Slayer Seraph]

Update: My next step is trying to Underclock my GPU using MSI Afterburner. Started with -25MHz to Core+Memory Clocks.
The issue happens at factory settings, however, the card is in fact factory OC (DC2T version of Asus, built in OC). (So, theoretically, perhaps TTP is more sensitive to OC, or maybe the card's OC wore down to the point it's not as stable).

[AlenL]

It is GPU Hang, definitely. We print it in the log when driver reports it. It's an error code returned from DirectX when ... well GPU hangs. :)
Overheating is not the only possible issue. Undervoltage/overclocking or bad/weak components that "leak"/crosstalk at some points, etc... anything could be the cause. The fact that other games work doesn't prove anything. Each game triggers different paths in the driver and often in the GPU.

[Slayer Seraph]

Originally posted by AlenL:

It is GPU Hang, definitely. We print it in the log when driver reports it. It's an error code returned from DirectX when ... well GPU hangs. :)
Overheating is not the only possible issue. Undervoltage/overclocking or bad/weak components that "leak"/crosstalk at some points, etc... anything could be the cause. The fact that other games work doesn't prove anything. Each game triggers different paths in the driver and often in the GPU.

I solved the issue!
You were right (not that I doubted it) - it was all about the GPU.
My own suggestion of underclocking my GPU proved effective and lead to increased stability. I applied a slight underclock of -25 MHz to both clocks, and I've played many hours since without a single freeze. Rejoice! ^^

I believe that - as the card and system got older - the factory OC wore down with age, and became less stable overall.
I am really happy with this solution and result.


I've also finished the game a moment ago, and I got to say, it has been a fantastic, fascinating journey. A masterpiece. Thanks!

And thank you for your help :)

[AlenL]

You are welcome. Glad that you enjoyed it. :)

[sc]

Thank you guys, you helped me a lot. THANK YOU :D i had the sam issue