PhysX: An Ideally Definitive Guide.

A guide that aims to resolve problems related to PhysX crashes on startup, and possibly other issues pertaining to it. (Use Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down to affect Guide Rating.)

Premise.

If you are like me, you have encountered an infuriating "PhysX was not installed correctly." crash on starting up Homefront that seemed impossible to overcome. Worse yet, you may not have found a conclusive solution to this problem whilst trawling the Discussions, as I had once done.

This guide aims to do both, in providing a complete repository of fixes for this issue and definitively resolving it for the time being.

Let us begin.

Step One: Repair NVIDIA PhysX (Only works for Legacy Driver; Current versions require Uninstall/Reinstall to Repair.)

This fix took a bit of self-discovery to find, but should be the main solution to the crash itself.

To repair the existing PhysX installation, one must do the following:

• Go to the Windows Control Panel. (Windows System folder in Windows 10's Start Menu, or otherwise search for it.)
  
• Click on Programs and Features, or Add or Remove Programs depending on naming.
  
• Scroll down to NVIDIA PhysX. Click on it once.
  
• Click the Repair prompt in Control Panel.
  
• In the PhysX Installation Tool, click on the Repair option when prompted to.

Homefront should now start up correctly.

Leave the Control Panel open, however, or go back to it if it was closed, for the next step involves updating PhysX.

Step Two: Update NVIDIA PhysX.

To make sure you are running the latest version of NVIDIA PhysX, you must update it through the following steps:

• Go to the official NVIDIA PhysX website, found here: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/physx-system-software/
  
• Click on PhysX System Software.
  
• Cross-reference the version number shown there with the version number of your existing PhysX software in the Control Panel. If the numbers do not match, you must update it via clicking on the Download Now element. Optionally, read the release notes before downloading to learn what this version release affects.
  
• Go to the PhysX System Software application in Downloads, and click on it.
  
• Follow the installation prompts.
  
• Repeat this process with the Legacy Driver version, found here: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/physx/physx-9-13-0604-legacy-driver/

You should now have the latest stable release of NVIDIA PhysX System Software, and see a minor performance increase on the main menu screen, or if you disabled the smoothed FPS cap in the config files.

Conclusion.

This guide should not only work for Homefront, but also affect any other game that uses PhysX and may have issues caused by the PhysX System Software installation.

Until another time.

—TS2.

[EliteOverlord1]

Credit when credit is due had to reset computer and that was the problem so thank you still works! 2025

[TS2]

Yep. It's what I do since it works for me.

[DielsAlder]

To confirm, I leave Enable Direct X 11 box checked?
BTW, thanks for the lesson!!! I always seem to learn more when installing new games.

[TS2]

Additionally, Homefront uses hardware detection to determine whether it should enable its additional PhysX effects. In its case, the effects are probably additional soft particles, and definitely fluid rippling physics in water. AMD GPU users can re-enable the PhysX Fluid Simulation via config file editing, even if they cannot force the game to render other effects.

[TS2]

Okay, that was a weird case of the redirect or something else just not rendering right. Dunno otherwise.

To answer the question about the DirectX 11 checkbox option, No, that option is different. In Homefront, Enabling DirectX 11 means that it will use that rendering API, and additonal shaders compiled for it. In Homefront's case, these would be Shader Model 4.0 shaders. Not the Shader Model DirectX 11 is usually known for (SM5), but it is there.

That option is not like the one seen in games where Enabling Hardware Physics, Hardware PhysX, or using PhysX GPU Acceleration exist. Those exist to manually enable additional effects (usually soft particles, destruction, and cloth simulation, as well as aome fluid physics simulation) intended to be rendered on the NVIDIA GPU's dedicated hardware for PhysX.

[DielsAlder]

Performed Classic fix: uninstalled-reinstalled, let sit, works fine, go figure

As to your questions: agree was for cookies, no change in page once agree was clicked, no agree and down load element, just download now, using firefox, gibberish not decipherable as text.

Seems to work fine now anyway but I have another question? How are nVidia PhysX and Direct X 11 related. Does enabling/checking Direct X disable nVidia PhysX? Do I uncheck it to use my Graphics Card (Geforce 770M).

Thanks for your help

[TS2]

What are you agreeing to there? Cookies?

Also, after clicking Download Now, what should happen as of now is that it redirects to another NVIDIA download page, where clicking on the Agree and Download element there Finally allows the corresponding .MSI file to be downloaded.

What Internet browser are you using? Alternatively, what about the gibberish is decipherable as text?

[DielsAlder]

1. clicked on your link 2.continue to external site 3. agree 4. download now

5. computer gibberish-no down load

[TS2]

Okay, well, I have yet to be able to replicate what you are currently describing. Please outline the steps taken in downloading and installing the Legacy Driver.

If you already have the current PhysX driver version, ignore every step before the downloading of the PhysX legacy driver from its corresponding link.

[DielsAlder]

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