Unable to start Shadows Awakening (Game Crash)

[Neo82]

Since today it´s not possible to start Shadows: Awakening. Everytime i try to start the game an error report appears:

shadows.exe caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)
in module shadows.exe at 0033:ebe66767.

Error occurred at 2019-04-12_013054.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadows Awakening\shadows.exe, run by aphaz.
20% memory in use.
16305 MB physical memory [12946 MB free].
19121 MB paging file [12575 MB free].
134217728 MB user address space [134213282 MB free].
Read from location 0000000e caused an access violation.

I´ve played about 30 hours before without any Problems. Reinstalling the game didn`t worked.
I hope someone can help me solve this Problem.

[Kiss My Ax]

Verify game files if there are any problems with any of the game files this will fix it.
Good luck an have a awesome day

[Skybreaker]

Hi everybody,
@BungalowBill thanks for jumping in.

@Neo82
Has this worked for you already? If not, please check, if Steam and Shadows: Awakening is not being restricted/blocked by your Anti-Virus program (such as e.g. bitdefender, Windows Defender, Nortan, Avast, and any other).
Simply set exceptions for both applications.

• At own risk: Maybe even disabling them in order to test

Additonally, I would recommend running the game as an admin user.

• To do so, right-click on the game .exe (by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Tropico 6) and/or shortcut and select “run as administrator”.

-cheers

[Neo82]

Can you tell me how to verify the game files?

Running the game as admin didn´t work.
Disabling Win Defender didn´t work. Exceptions for the apps were already set before.

[Skybreaker]

Hi Neo82,
sure thing, here we go:

• Select Tropico 6 from your Steam library
  
• Right-click on your game
  
• Select 'Properties'
  
• Select 'Check Integrity of Game Cache' from the 'Local Files' tab (This might take several minutes)

[Neo82]

Check Integrity of Game Cache ended successfully but the game won´t start either :-(
I don´t get it, yesterday it was runnig without any problems. Since that there were no changes or updates on the system. I´m absolutely clueless ...

[Skybreaker]

Could you share more details on that though, starting with your system specs (OS+bit, CPU, GPU and RAM) in order to get this properly sorted?

-cheers

[wyrda65]

I am having exact same problem - fresh install of the game first time and it does not start. simple black screen all the time until you close it with alt+F4
I am running win10 build 18362
Intel i7-6700k
GeForce gtx 1070

[Skybreaker]

Hi wyrda65,
please try following:

Windows 10

We recommend running the game as an admin user.

• To do so, right-click on the game .exe (by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadows Awakening) and/or shortcut and select “run as administrator”.
  
• If this is still not working, we recommend to start the game in e.g. Windows 7 compatibility mode.
  To set the compatibility mode, do the following:
  
  • Right-click on “Shadows Awakening.exe” (by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadows Awakening) and select properties
    
  • Click the Compatibility tab and then tick the box labelled "Run this program in compatibility mode
    
  • Now you can select a Compatibility Mode and select e.g. “Windows 7”
    
  • Tick the box below "Run this program as administrator" (to always run the game as administrator, instead of running it manually each time you start the game)
    
  • Click on "OK" to apply the changes and start the game with double click on the game’s .exe.

Integrated Intel HD Graphics

When using a CPU (e.g. later i5-processors, as well as many i7-processors) or a laptop with an integrated graphic chip (e.g. Nividia GTX960M), it might be the case that by default this chip will be used, instead of the dedicated graphic cards, which may impact the performance of a game.
You can easily change this by doing the following:
- Update the graphic card driver from the link below.
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-us
- Then change the settings as described below:
1. Open your Nvidia Control Panel (right-click on desktop, select Nvidia Control Panel)
2. Select "Manage 3D settings"
3. Select "Global Settings". You will find the option "Preferred graphics processor". Please select "High-performance NVIDIA processor" and save the settings.
4. You will have to reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

Troubleshooting via Steam

• Select Tropico 6 from your Steam library
  
• Right-click on your game
  
• Select 'Properties'
  
• Select 'Check Integrity of Game Cache' from the 'Local Files' tab (This might take several minutes)

-cheers

[wyrda65]

Originally posted by Unerde:

Hi wyrda65,
please try following:

Windows 10

...

Integrated Intel HD Graphics

...

Troubleshooting via Steam

...
-cheers

I've tried all 3 options with no luck.
After digging a bit I found log file which has an error message "Initializing Microsoft Media Foundation failed. It seems that the Microsoft Media Foundation is not installed on this machine or a newer version of Microsoft Media Foundation is required."

[wyrda65]

Installing Microsoft Media pack has fixed the issue: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/mediafeaturepack

[Carthoris]

I'm having this same problem as well, just purchased the game today and it won't launch. Error logs show the same thing (shadows.exe caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)
in module shadows.exe at 0033:d4646767).

I tried everything listed in this thread and nothing worked. Notably, I'm not on Windows N so I can't even install the Media Pack. Has anyone found another solution to this?

[Skybreaker]

Hi everybody,
@Carthoris
Could you please share your system specs, including OS, meaning OS+bit, CPU, GPU and RAM to get this properly sorted.

@wyrda65
Thank you for updating this thread.

-cheers

[Carthoris]

Here's my specs:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 @ 3.70GHz 59 °C
Coffee Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1600MHz (16-18-18-36)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG MAXIMUS X HERO (WI-FI AC) (LGA1151) 32 °C
Graphics
ASUS VE278 (1920x1080@60Hz)
ASUS VE278 (1920x1080@60Hz)
40S325 (1920x1080@60Hz)
XenSource Citrix Indirect Display Adapter (Undefined)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (NVIDIA) 43 °C
ForceWare version: 436.15
SLI Disabled
Storage
931GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB (SATA (SSD)) 37 °C
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM001-1E6164 (SATA ) 36 °C
Optical Drives
ATAPI DVD A DH16A6L
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

[Skybreaker]

Hi Carthoris,
please try following:

Windows 10

We recommend running the game as an admin user.

• To do so, right-click on the game .exe (by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadows: Awakening) and/or shortcut and select “run as administrator”.
  
• If this is still not working, we recommend to start the game in e.g. Windows 7 compatibility mode.
  To set the compatibility mode, do the following:
  
  • Right-click on “Shadows: Awakening.exe” (by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadows: Awakening) and select properties
    
  • Click the Compatibility tab and then tick the box labelled "Run this program in compatibility mode
    
  • Now you can select a Compatibility Mode and select e.g. “Windows 7”
    
  • Tick the box below "Run this program as administrator" (to always run the game as administrator, instead of running it manually each time you start the game)
    
  • Click on "OK" to apply the changes and start the game with double click on the game’s .exe.

• Please check, if Steam and Shadows: Awakening is not being restricted/blocked by your Anti-Virus program (such as e.g. bitdefender, Windows Defender, Nortan, Avast, and any other).
  Simply set exceptions for both applications.
  
  • At own risk: Maybe even disabling them in order to test

-cheers

[retronout]

I just had the same problem with the game. The error has something to do with Citrix Receiver. After I uninstalled Citrix the game starts every time and works fine. Hope it helps.