3ds max 2017 directx shader crash

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Hey guys,

i'm having an issue:

First the viewport freezes (the menus are fine) then after a short while max crashes. It happens when I'm using a directx shader (nothing fancy) on more than 3-4 objects.

I was working on the same scenes in max 2016 and everything was fine so i dont think this is the shaders issue. The more objects use the shader the quicker the freeze occurs. It also happens on the same objects using StandardFX11.fx shader.

This is a big problem for us as my team has just switched to max 2017 and we need to use custom shaders.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

I split your post out of the thread it came from so you can get better help here.  I don't think your issue was the same as the other post.  I then edited the title of your post to match the content, thanks for your understanding there.

Ok, now to your post.  Is it possible to attach a scene with a couple of spheres or something that I can test on?  If not, I can setup a private folder and send you an invite if these shaders are in house coded or something.  Does this problem persist when you try a different display driver?

EDIT: I checked the crash logs, thanks for filling those out.  The two modules crashing are your display driver and DX11.  It may be worth trying a different display driver but if I can repro this on my end I'll fill out a bug report and submit this personally.  Some sort of test scene would really help.  

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

No problem 🙂

As for the issue:

i've attached the archived scene.

I tried changing to different rendering modes but our shaders are written for dx11 so they wouldn't compile. Though max wouldn't crash in Nitrous dx9.

EDIT: on my friends PC it crashes the whole system, not just max.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

Thanks so much for the file.  I can always setup a private box if you ever need it in the future, just an FYI.  That it totally crashes your friends machine is very odd and usually points toward a system error, but not always.  I figured DX9 wouldn't crash, but obviously that doesn't help you.  (Nice to be sure though.)

I was able to open it, apply the shader to all objects, duplicate them all about 10x and not have any lockups or crashes.  This leads me to believe that the problem is probably related to one of the following:

1) I'm on SP3... make sure you have the latest service pack.  

2) There are 2 missing plugin errors when I open the file.  Tensionmod.dlm and scripted plugin Normalize Vertex Color.  One of these two plugins may need to be updated.  I would remove them one at a time and see if that helps at all.

3) Maybe rollback a version or two on your graphics drivers.  

Please keep me posted!

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm also on SP3.

I dont think that plugin errors are related, tensionmod.dlm is a missing modifier back from max 2016. My 2017 doesnt have either of those missing files.

I'll try with the GPU drivers.

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

I've rolled back to the earliest that i could get from nvidia drivers page which is 368.81.

Still crashes. I've sent the report again.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

Interesting.  Can you please tell me your current OS and OS service pack? 

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Windows 10 Pro

version 1607

OS Build 14393.222

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

I've tested in on win 7 and win 10 on my end, with no issues.  However, one of the quirks of W10 is permissions and write access to certain folders can be spontaneously revoked.  I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but I don't know what it is.  I'd like to do some tests to make sure that's not your problem, and if they fail I will log this as a bug in the tracker.  

If you run 3ds Max as admin, do you continue to have these issues?  Can you verify that there is no block or 'read-only' set on your ENU folder located at: "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax"?  

I'm thinking that somewhere in these user settings that you don't have access to write, read, or something of that nature.  I think that Max might be trying to create a shader cache or temporary file and doesn't have permission to read or write.  Are you able to rename the ENU folder inside the 2017 folder in the path listed in the previous sentence?  If not... that's related to your problem.  If so, let's leave it renamed and restart 3ds Max to generate new user settings.  If that fails, you can close max and rename your old folder back.  

You might have to look at that ENU folder and subfolders and make sure they aren't set to "read-only".  The shader cache file is named "maxFxoCache.dat" and is located at: "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2017 - 64bit\ENU\plugcfg_ln", make sure that file isn't set to "read-only".

You may also want to try to turn off "Real-Time Protection" on Windows Defender.  This has caused issues with assemblies and .dlls in some cases, and though I have no proof it may interfere here as well.  Lastly, if you have an IT department, you may need to ask them if there is a group policy that may effect this, or if they are willing to make an environment variable for 3ds Max similar to what is in this article.  

If none of that works... I will log this as a bug.  Thanks for trying those things.  

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Thanks for the info!

Running as administrator doesnt help.

The ENU folder has partially read-only flag on, but i cannot change it permanently. Every time i do it goes back to read-only after i close and reopen the settings window. I can rename the folder and max creates a new one, but that doesn't help either.

The shader cache file is writable.

I've turned off RT protection but no luck there as well.

I've run a test with the Standard max dx11 shader file and it crashed as well.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

Thank you for the updated information.  If the ENU folder keeps going to read only, that's not necessarily a show stopper.  If you go into that folder and try it on the contents.. does it still do that?  (It shouldn't.)

In the meanwhile I'm going to make sure my virtual machine version of W10 is the exact same as your and do more testing.  I will report those results tomorrow.

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Great and thanks!

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

Thanks for your patience while I did some more testing on your file.  I duplicated your scene objects until there were about 500k polys, then I applied the shader to everything in the scene and started rotating around like a madman.  I taped my mouse button down and wedged a USB thumbstick on my keyboard so that the scene rotated all night and when I came in... it was still going.  I then tried this on tier 2 support tech Jon Bell's laptop for about an hour and half this morning with no crashes.  This was tested on SP1 in virtual machine, SP2 and SP3 on the laptop.  

That doesn't mean it's not a bug, and I will log it for you because you do have the same module crashing in all your crash reports.  But it might indicate that there is some sort of conflict on your machine.  (Especially if yours and your friends machine are the same build.)  If you'd like, I can also take a look at your event viewer logs and see if anything there might be contributing to this issue.  If you have privacy concerns about that, you can PM me a private link and I'll download them.  I know this is a major problem for you and if there is anything else you'd like me to do (beyond logging the bug and checking the reports) I am happy to do so.

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Thats Support at it's best! 🙂

as for the event log - no problem.

You want me to grab the event log on the crash? how does it work?

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

Thank you for the kind words.  

Since you've been putting your email address on the CER reports when you submit them, they are already collected and viewable and I've included your email address in the bug report so the devs can search those crash reports easily as well.  So, you don't need to do anything there.  

With the event viewer logs it's just the process described in the video linked there.  Then I think we've done just about all of the steps.  The only other question I have is which other plugins do you currently have installed that your friend/coworker also has installed.  Thank you very much for the information.

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

No plugins installed.

I've got the event logs. Can You please set up a private folder for them?

Thanks,

Jacek.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

I have set up a private folder for you if you'd like to upload your files there. You should get an email about it shortly, and if you don't see it please check your SPAM folder. These files are private and will not be shared with anyone but yourself and the support staff. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

[jacek.jerzy.maj]

Thanks Alfred. I've uploaded the file.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

I looked over your logs, and I'll summarize here.  First, App log. 

1) I see a lot of 2016 crashes with MSVCR110.dll - this is related to C++ runtime libraries that may have been corrupted.  This link apparently can fix this issue for some people.  Otherwise, the universal C++ runtimes might help to restore some broken libraries.  You are also getting a lot of errors for missing activation context with vcredist_arm.exe.  

2) For some errors relating to 2017... it's just freezing.  No crash message or anything, just sort of stops working.  This makes me think your windows install is damaged or 3ds Max is waiting for instructions and never getting them (access permissions?).  C++ runtimes might also fix this, or you may need to repair Windows.  It's hard to tell why it freezes, but the log says to "check the problem history in the Action Center control panel."  Can you take a look in there for me, please?  

3) For some errors relating to 2017 it's UCRTBASE.DLL.  This is related to.... C++ runtimes. This is an increasingly common problem, and currently I have no solution.  For what it's worth, the laptop I tried has this error but didn't crash with your scene.  The only thing I am unsure about is how this relates to the 10016 error, which my laptop didn't have.  (Below)

4) You do have a crashing NVIDIA module or two, unrelated to times when 3ds Max is crashing.  A clean install of graphics drivers might need to be repeated. 

5) I see an error that says "The GPU has been disconnected and this application may become unresponsive."  It's for Photoshop but... how does this happen?!  Maybe the card needs to be reseated into your motherboard, it may have become loose or something and that's causing the problems.  

Your system log shows the following:

1) Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered., this happens every couple minutes sometimes.  Also points toward driver issues with your current graphics drivers.  

2) DistributedCOM error 10016 shows up.  I've seen this before with other people having issues, and always with UCRTBASE.DLL.  It's not clear from hours of google searches how to correct it, or if it's worth worrying about.  You have a *ton* of these though.  

So that is the main items I saw that may cause some issues.  At this point I think there is some conflict or problem with your C++ libraries and that is the root of your issues.  That, or your graphics card has driver or seating issues.  (But, chance of your friend having that same issue seem slim to me so that's probably not it.)

I think we are looking at a Windows problem, likely related to C++.  I would do a windows repair, a C++ repair and see if that fixes the issue.  In the meanwhile, I'm just going to log this as a bug regardless.  Please let me know how it goes.

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @jacek.jerzy.maj,

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on your issue?   How goes?

Best Regards,