[SOLVED] Memory leak/crash on Intel Iris Xe Graphics machines

[StepS]

We are aware of a problem affecting some machines running Intel Iris Xe Graphics.

SUMMARY

An Intel driver update was released recently which leads to excessive memory usage, followed by a crash, when running a game of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on machines with Intel Iris Xe Graphics cards. As far as we are aware, the issue has also impacted several other unrelated programs and games. If you have installed a Graphics Driver with release date between June and October 2022, there is a high chance that you are affected.

SOLUTIONS

Update 2022/11/28:
Intel has resolved the problem in the specialized "Intel® Arc™ & Iris® Xe" branch of their graphics driver. Please make sure to update your graphics drivers to 31.0.101.3802 or newer - available through the official Intel website[www.intel.com]. You can confirm your driver version by going to Win+X -> Device Manager -> Display adapters -> Intel Graphics -> "Driver" tab.

It is worth noting that the generic "Intel Graphics" driver has been discontinued (and its last version is the one with the bug), so you DO need to switch to the "Intel® Arc™ & Iris® Xe Graphics" branch of the driver now. (follow the link above, and check that your CPU/GPU is in the list of supported hardware)

If you are unable to update to the latest version, you may also try downgrading the driver to a version from May 2022 (30.0.101.1994), although this is no longer recommended.

[gdgerry1958]

I rolled back the Intel Iris driver to 12/2021 version and the problem seems to have gone away.

[Dark Horrorfice]

When will this be sorted?

[Dark Horrorfice]

Logging off for a few hours, its not worth hanging round. GAME DOESNT WORK

[Salamander]

gdgerry1958님이 먼저 게시:

I rolled back the Intel Iris driver to 12/2021 version and the problem seems to have gone away.

Not really a fix seeing as more and more people will come to play the game and realize their drivers need downgrading, and then not bother.

[santiccc]

aliplays님이 먼저 게시:

santiccc님이 먼저 게시:

Everything worked just fine until yesterday. Since yesterday everytime I start playing the game crashes after 15 or 20 minutes. The image stays still and then the game closes. I tried reinstalling the game and Steam, updating everything but the error still happens. Can anyone help me find a solution please?? Thanks!

Hi santiccc,

Thank you for reporting this issue! Could you please share what your setup looks like (graphic card, processor, RAM, OS)?

There are a few things to try that may resolve the issue:

1. Verify your files in the Steam Library -> Age of Empires II -> Right click -> Properties -> Local files -> Verify.

2. Disable your mods and restart the game after that.

3. Update your graphic drivers and check for pending Windows updates.

4. Add the whole game folder to your antivirus exception list. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\AoE2DE is the default, AoE2DE_s.exe is in there.

5. Close as many programs as possible before starting the game.

Please comment again, if these steps do not resolve the issue. Thanks!

Hi aliplays, none of that resolved the issue, but i was able to find another solution from other discussions, that I think you provided.
The problem was that the ram used by the game was scaling up till it reached maximum capacity and crashed. I installed a previous driver for the Intel graphics card and this solved the issue (dont ask me why)
Thanks!

[Triniels.-]

The Game will keep eating ram until it crashes

Hi guys. I can say I have tried almost everything I can think of and the game keeps eating my ram until it crashes. It goes up to 11gb (all the available ram).
I've managed to find out the ram only goes up when I'm looking at animations like villagers and stuff (if I stare into the dark abyss of unexplored areas, it stays the same).

I know the game is poorly optimized but this is clearly a memory leak. I would appreciate any help to find out if the problem is on my end.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/12/2022, 22:40:59
Machine name: DESKTOP-HJO6426
Machine Id: {96EF9B28-2158-460D-A374-61B24C647643}
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 19044) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
Language: Spanish (Regional Setting: Spanish)
System Manufacturer: LENOVO
System Model: 20X4S27200
BIOS: R1JET55W (1.55 ) (type: UEFI)
Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16038MB RAM
Page File: 6040MB used, 26036MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DirectX Database Version: 1.0.8
DxDiag Version: 10.00.19041.2075 64bit Unicode

[StepS]

Triniels.-님이 먼저 게시:

The Game will keep eating ram until it crashes

Hi guys. I can say I have tried almost everything I can think of and the game keeps eating my ram until it crashes. It goes up to 11gb (all the available ram).
I've managed to find out the ram only goes up when I'm looking at animations like villagers and stuff (if I stare into the dark abyss of unexplored areas, it stays the same).

I know the game is poorly optimized but this is clearly a memory leak. I would appreciate any help to find out if the problem is on my end.

Hi there,
Please try the stickied post in this thread to temporarily downgrade your Intel graphics driver. Note that you may have to first uninstall the current version of the driver through the Device Manager.

[On-The-Toilet-Bowl-With-Theviper]

to dev team just rollback the game before the last update to fix the problem

[StepS]

OnTheBowlWithTheviper님이 먼저 게시:

to dev team just rollback the game before the last update to fix the problem

Hi there,
As mentioned before in this thread, this issue is not specific to the game -- and, in fact, someone has tried rolling back their game which did not solve it. The problem is Intel drivers no longer properly supporting a critical optimization that the game uses.
We are aiming to provide a mitigation to this in an update, but are also hopeful that Intel will address the core issue causing this to happen, to avoid degraded performance for Intel Iris Xe users.

[King Derek]

Unfortunately, I have tried all the suggested actions with no success. I can't roll anything back. as this was a new computer purchased Sunday. The game is unplayable

[On-The-Toilet-Bowl-With-Theviper]

as I wrote in another post a friend of mine is with AMD and it still crashes in the game and this only happens with age of empire 2 DE and with no other games

[lalahsghost]

allplays님이 먼저 게시:

You can send those files to us devs via gofile.io (simply share the generated link in this thread). Thank you very much!

I did not have any recent mdmps files for this month despite the game crashing on me 3x today. Here are all the log files from today. https://gofile.io/d/aRzP8L

DXDIAG info: https://gofile.io/d/azWVwJ

[FE_ag]

OnTheBowlWithTheviper님이 먼저 게시:

as I wrote in another post a friend of mine is with AMD and it still crashes in the game and this only happens with age of empire 2 DE and with no other games

Hi, thank you for your comment! If your friend has an AMD graphics card, then their crash is unrelated to the crash caused by Intel's driver update. Please make a new thread for this issue, so we can offer support and find a solution. Thanks!

[Mahatmahasa]

For me it seems that the new driver version (31.0.101.3889) solves the issues again. However, as there is no official communication yet, this may not last...

[StepS]

Mahatmahasa님이 먼저 게시:

For me it seems that the new driver version (31.0.101.3889) solves the issues again. However, as there is no official communication yet, this may not last...

Thank you for the information. This driver version does not seem to be available on the Intel website right now, may I ask how this was obtained?
It would be helpful if others affected by the problem could try it as well.