Crash to desktop cause (dmp files show culprit)

[Milamber]

To begin with, it's essential to recognize that any advice suggesting you alter your system's configuration to facilitate a game's operation essentially points to the game itself as the root of the problem. This is particularly true when every other game runs smoothly, which is precisely my situation. In my efforts to pinpoint the cause of frequent crashes to the desktop while playing Helldivers 2, I have undertaken a thorough investigation. Despite taking measures such as whitelisting the game's directory, reverting my PC's settings to their original state without any overclocking, ensuring that all drivers and the BIOS are up to date, and even running the game with administrative privileges, the issue persisted. Finally, the source of the problem became apparent:

Below is a screenshot for further clarification, it appears to be the nprotect.

screenshot: https://i.postimg.cc/15kFZQbw/Screenshot-2024-03-20-214505.png

Note: The game crashes to desktop with no error, just prior to the crash the game will freeze.

[EpicBigWhale]

Sheesh... Might just try to use my steam deck to play this game.

[roflwaffles]

I can't see the screen shot...link won't load. What does the dump show?

[Naviture]

any fixes yet?

[Froschi]

You are saying nProtect GameGuard is responsible for these crashes.
Can you please tell me where in your screenshot of the crash dump analysis it mentions GameGuard?

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Froschkönig:

You are saying nProtect GameGuard is responsible for these crashes.
Can you please tell me where in your screenshot of the crash dump analysis it mentions GameGuard?

I mean it is a report on the NTdll.dll so it is possible that GG caused this, as it's the bridge between user and kernel on windows however this happens a lot without GG as well so much so I found a few potential solutions online worth checking out for the OP if this is still an issue regardless of what caused it.

The real question is why it happened? It's not a mass problem I have seen reports of, seems like a unique circumstance. Hopefully solutions:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/app-crash-with-ntdlldll/9aa59f80-99a1-4f3c-b2f0-7eb72df05b2a
This is a report of win 7 solved

Method 1: Update Windows

Click Start button, and look for Control Panel.
Click System and Security, and select Windows Update.
Click Check for updates and click Install updates.
If you are experiencing the same after performing Windows Update try reinstalling the DLL.

Method 2: Reinstall the DLL

Type cmd in the search box, and then right click Command prompt select Run as Administrator.
Type this in command prompt:
regsvr32.exe /u ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will uninstall the file)
regsvr32.exe ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will reinstall the file).

Or a video of solution in Win 10/11

https://youtu.be/BWqPjSg5IYM?si=fhAOBrJHKkKk0on0

Hope this may help overall!

[MagKel]

Same issue for me as well, along with substantial degradation of performance after the patch

[Milamber]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Originally posted by Froschkönig:

You are saying nProtect GameGuard is responsible for these crashes.
Can you please tell me where in your screenshot of the crash dump analysis it mentions GameGuard?

I mean it is a report on the NTdll.dll so it is possible that GG caused this, as it's the bridge between user and kernel on windows however this happens a lot without GG as well so much so I found a few potential solutions online worth checking out for the OP if this is still an issue regardless of what caused it.

The real question is why it happened? It's not a mass problem I have seen reports of, seems like a unique circumstance. Hopefully solutions:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/app-crash-with-ntdlldll/9aa59f80-99a1-4f3c-b2f0-7eb72df05b2a
This is a report of win 7 solved

Method 1: Update Windows

Click Start button, and look for Control Panel.
Click System and Security, and select Windows Update.
Click Check for updates and click Install updates.
If you are experiencing the same after performing Windows Update try reinstalling the DLL.

Method 2: Reinstall the DLL

Type cmd in the search box, and then right click Command prompt select Run as Administrator.
Type this in command prompt:
regsvr32.exe /u ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will uninstall the file)
regsvr32.exe ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will reinstall the file).

Or a video of solution in Win 10/11

https://youtu.be/BWqPjSg5IYM?si=fhAOBrJHKkKk0on0

Hope this may help overall!

A Windows Update has not resolved the issue because there were no updates available for Windows. Furthermore, it seems implausible that everyone affected by these crashes would have outdated Windows systems, especially considering that the Windows update process is typically automatic.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Milamber:

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

I mean it is a report on the NTdll.dll so it is possible that GG caused this, as it's the bridge between user and kernel on windows however this happens a lot without GG as well so much so I found a few potential solutions online worth checking out for the OP if this is still an issue regardless of what caused it.

The real question is why it happened? It's not a mass problem I have seen reports of, seems like a unique circumstance. Hopefully solutions:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/app-crash-with-ntdlldll/9aa59f80-99a1-4f3c-b2f0-7eb72df05b2a
This is a report of win 7 solved



Or a video of solution in Win 10/11

https://youtu.be/BWqPjSg5IYM?si=fhAOBrJHKkKk0on0

Hope this may help overall!

A Windows Update has not resolved the issue because there were no updates available for Windows. Furthermore, it seems implausible that everyone affected by these crashes would have outdated Windows systems, especially considering that the Windows update process is typically automatic.

Your statement reflects that you have no idea. There are a large amount of people who are using outdated Windows versions for specific reasons and why they cannot update.

Have you at least run DISM for your personal case yet? Cannot see any mention of that in this thread.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

You are correct in some ways, which is why the 2nd solution is also offered, checking and reinstalling the dll I can't say it will help of course but if I does would be neat to know for others.
Apparently some games have solved a similar issues by clearing the game cache? But that may be unique to those games, and rather irrelevant in my opinion but if you wanna see it here:

https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/c-Category_RocketLeague/c-RocketLeague_TechnicalSupport/how-do-i-fix-a-runtime-or-ntdll-error-when-starting-rocket-league-a000084301

[NukeDispenser]

Just fixed it for myself, that's what I did: turn off steam and discord overlays, turn off hardware acceleration for both and turn off steam input for helldivers just to be sure.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by NukeDispenser:

Just fixed it for myself, that's what I did: turn off steam and discord overlays, turn off hardware acceleration for both and turn off steam input for helldivers just to be sure.

Nice, glad someone got around it!

[DarthPotato]

I crash multiple times every hour. Memtest86 for 8 hours detects no problems, I have no issues looping 3Dmark CPU & GPU tests for hours. No other games crash. No thermal issues. No overclocking currently running. Tried a greenfield install of Win10 just to validate that it wasn't win11 or any corrupted drivers or program conflicts. Tried running on both wired and wifi. Tried assigning all Helldivers & GameGuard processes to P-Cores. Tried disabling Intel overclocking. No luck. I currently have the game set at medium quality, 60FPS limit. Still crashing.

Windows 11 & Windows 10, 4k resolution, Intel 14900KS, Nvidia 4090 newest drivers and firmware, still crashing multiple times an hour.

Here are my crashes from JUST THE PAST 2 DAYS:

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 11:17:10 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0055b7e6 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,644 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_f4cee1a442a9ac6fb639a6682b91994ebccba_b9480124_1c4237be-cdf2-4f4a-adc8-0594b8a41003\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 11:06:08 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0033b0ea helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,642 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_fe34a3bae730499fe3d8f5713391a6b3ab3297e9_b9480124_bb03b6ef-3f1f-426e-8b8c-79bb21787dc9\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 9:23:35 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0055b632 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,646 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_ac49be6876d41178b9dbd2453b8445a3b06c4cf_b9480124_060d01c6-8420-457e-8380-99bd17e07eb3\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 9:17:50 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x004a3d67 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,524 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_128ed9b6d8652b2e2860a1bb415b4e53e14693_b9480124_414f09e6-1485-4a29-8f2f-efacea0b5cbc\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 8:58:17 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x004a3de0 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,644 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_edb2d1e8f7c5e2db47d49f6253bd9a493239edb_b9480124_8c4da7a7-e1f2-4cdb-8079-3662e8254bbd\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 12:04:54 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation StackHash_2264 0.0.0.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,786 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_6f63c0f1edde1bb1769d3e7fdf4b4408d7dd5f_b9480124_ecf076f3-9256-4fea-a507-2c908f0605c0\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:35:31 PM All Users 0xc0000409 The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application. This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.
0x00eb67e1 nvwgf2umx.dll 31.0.15.5222 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,640 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_1b107aa32c1999dc726fe44253744552112233dd_b9480124_54379319-8784-4107-9863-30668548743d\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:34:18 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation StackHash_1e37 0.0.0.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,780 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_2244729d751c1ef5c4fd5c7d1aac2234f7c9c8a3_b9480124_3aebdb8f-8729-4de3-ad2c-a0dede739c3d\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:14:26 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0094318f nvwgf2umx.dll 31.0.15.5222 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,518 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_14ceded65270ec5d3df3fe43683442b6b2ce96b_b9480124_02cfb556-da1a-4b5c-a632-90e57e28527f\Report.wer

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by DarthPotato:

I crash multiple times every hour. Memtest86 for 8 hours detects no problems, I have no issues looping 3Dmark CPU & GPU tests for hours. No other games crash. No thermal issues. No overclocking currently running. Tried a greenfield install of Win10 just to validate that it wasn't win11 or any corrupted drivers or program conflicts. Tried running on both wired and wifi. Tried assigning all Helldivers & GameGuard processes to P-Cores. Tried disabling Intel overclocking. No luck. I currently have the game set at medium quality, 60FPS limit. Still crashing.

Windows 11 & Windows 10, 4k resolution, Intel 14900KS, Nvidia 4090 newest drivers and firmware, still crashing multiple times an hour.

Here are my crashes from JUST THE PAST 2 DAYS:

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 11:17:10 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0055b7e6 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,644 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_f4cee1a442a9ac6fb639a6682b91994ebccba_b9480124_1c4237be-cdf2-4f4a-adc8-0594b8a41003\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 11:06:08 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0033b0ea helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,642 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_fe34a3bae730499fe3d8f5713391a6b3ab3297e9_b9480124_bb03b6ef-3f1f-426e-8b8c-79bb21787dc9\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 9:23:35 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0055b632 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,646 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_ac49be6876d41178b9dbd2453b8445a3b06c4cf_b9480124_060d01c6-8420-457e-8380-99bd17e07eb3\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 9:17:50 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x004a3d67 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,524 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_128ed9b6d8652b2e2860a1bb415b4e53e14693_b9480124_414f09e6-1485-4a29-8f2f-efacea0b5cbc\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 8:58:17 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x004a3de0 helldivers2.exe 1.8.18735.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,644 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_edb2d1e8f7c5e2db47d49f6253bd9a493239edb_b9480124_8c4da7a7-e1f2-4cdb-8079-3662e8254bbd\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/30/2024 12:04:54 AM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation StackHash_2264 0.0.0.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,786 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_6f63c0f1edde1bb1769d3e7fdf4b4408d7dd5f_b9480124_ecf076f3-9256-4fea-a507-2c908f0605c0\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:35:31 PM All Users 0xc0000409 The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application. This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.
0x00eb67e1 nvwgf2umx.dll 31.0.15.5222 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,640 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_1b107aa32c1999dc726fe44253744552112233dd_b9480124_54379319-8784-4107-9863-30668548743d\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:34:18 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation StackHash_1e37 0.0.0.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,780 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_2244729d751c1ef5c4fd5c7d1aac2234f7c9c8a3_b9480124_3aebdb8f-8729-4de3-ad2c-a0dede739c3d\Report.wer

helldivers2.exe Stopped working 4/29/2024 9:14:26 PM All Users 0xc0000005 Access Violation 0x0094318f nvwgf2umx.dll 31.0.15.5222 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Helldivers 2\bin\helldivers2.exe 29,518 C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_helldivers2.exe_14ceded65270ec5d3df3fe43683442b6b2ce96b_b9480124_02cfb556-da1a-4b5c-a632-90e57e28527f\Report.wer

Based on what you shared two things you should do.

a) business as usual with DDU - as in, use the popular troubleshooting tool Display Driver Uninstaller for a fresh install of your GPU drivers

b) run this while playing
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3223025516

That might already do the trick. If not, then I recommend to look for the usual suspects in form of Nahimic, Process Lasso and such which could cause the described stack buffer overflow mentioned in your reports. Other than that your approaches seem solid. I would also try running the game -while troubleshooting until the culprit is identified- in 1080p and windowed mode. Additionally I recommend to make sure you have via Nvidia control panel shader cache set to 100GB, since you use 4k.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by DarthPotato:

I crash multiple times every hour. Memtest86 for 8 hours detects no problems, I have no issues looping 3Dmark CPU & GPU tests for hours. No other games crash. No thermal issues. No overclocking currently running. Tried a greenfield install of Win10 just to validate that it wasn't win11 or any corrupted drivers or program conflicts. Tried running on both wired and wifi. Tried assigning all Helldivers & GameGuard processes to P-Cores. Tried disabling Intel overclocking. No luck. I currently have the game set at medium quality, 60FPS limit. Still crashing.

Windows 11 & Windows 10, 4k resolution, Intel 14900KS, Nvidia 4090 newest drivers and firmware, still crashing multiple times an hour.

Here are my crashes from JUST THE PAST 2 DAYS:

Snip for size

What kind of crashes? Like BSOD, CTD, black screen?
This is good info to describe the kind of crashes. Might also be a good idea to start your own thread so people can see it instead of in another post.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Based on what you shared two things you should do.

a) business as usual with DDU - as in, use the popular troubleshooting tool Display Driver Uninstaller for a fresh install of your GPU drivers

b) run this while playing
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3223025516

That might already do the trick. If not, then I recommend to look for the usual suspects in form of Nahimic, Process Lasso and such which could cause the described stack buffer overflow mentioned in your reports. Other than that your approaches seem solid. I would also try running the game -while troubleshooting until the culprit is identified- in 1080p and windowed mode. Additionally I recommend to make sure you have via Nvidia control panel shader cache set to 100GB, since you use 4k.

Oh yeah odd end audio audio drivers I have a small list of them that seem to have caused issues before

Sonic studio virtual mixer
ASIO link pro drivers
Nahimic (the one you mentioned)

Are the 3 I have reports of conflict so if any of those 3 might be a culprit.