A fresh 1.3.1 Always crash on startup, graphic driver issue maybe ?

[Elemental_C]

So, i have tried at least 2 or 3 times uninstall - re-install the KSP, and with the same fresh install, it's always crashed
Upon looking at the error.log, i've found some lines that interest me

Unity Player [version: Unity 5.4.0p4_b15b5ae035b7]

nvd3dumx.dll caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)
  in module nvd3dumx.dll at 0033:ca9e6e14.

And my GeForce driver is currently the latest (at the time of the crash). So is there any "beef" or "bugs" between Unity and GeForce ? or it's just my Windows and my GeForce ?

Here is a link to all files related to that crash
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fuvvf7u14gh8byl/AACz1XCTImU5EceVfJNly0z-a?dl=0

Thank you

Edited March 4, 2018 by Elemental_C

[Elemental_C]

Update 1 :
After exploring the Forum for a while, turns out KSP can be forced to use OpenGL instead of DirectX. Giving a shot, and it works . . .
but changing the graphic setting from in-game, makes KSP display freeze (because the BGM still playing) and need a force close

But the question still persist, what happen with the DirectX - Unity relation here ?
(The point of my update is not an answer, but a workaround for those who also stumbled with the same problem)

 

Update 2 :

This whole problem happens on a laptop with GeForce 840M and Intel HD 5000, running the KSP with IntelHD, even without OpenGL is just fine

Edited March 5, 2018 by Elemental_C

[severedsolo]

Bit of a long shot, but might be worth reinstalling DX9: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=8109

It certainly sounds like an issue with your card/drivers (found a few other pages talking about this on other Unity games too, and it looks like GPU's with Optimus are a prime candidate for this issue).

Even longer shot, but it may be that it's trying to access a bit of your RAM that is actually corrupted. Might be worth trying Memtest too just in case you have a hardware fault.

[Elemental_C]

1 hour ago, severedsolo said:

Bit of a long shot, but might be worth reinstalling DX9: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=8109

It certainly sounds like an issue with your card/drivers (found a few other pages talking about this on other Unity games too, and it looks like GPU's with Optimus are a prime candidate for this issue).

Even longer shot, but it may be that it's trying to access a bit of your RAM that is actually corrupted. Might be worth trying Memtest too just in case you have a hardware fault.

I'm gonna give a shot for the memtest (Since i have tried to re-install my DirectX). And while might be impossible, is there anyway to Memtest-ing my graphic card VRAM ? because i also have suspicion that my VRAM also corrupted

[severedsolo]

27 minutes ago, Elemental_C said:

I'm gonna give a shot for the memtest (Since i have tried to re-install my DirectX). And while might be impossible, is there anyway to Memtest-ing my graphic card VRAM ? because i also have suspicion that my VRAM also corrupted

Quick google found this: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/memtestcl.html (disclaimer: I've never heard of it before so can't verify how good/bad it is, but it's hosted on MajorGeeks which is a site I trust).

My hunch is a driver issue or a RAM issue though, as it works on OpenGL - IIRC OpenGL loads everything into VRAM where it can, wheras normal DX9 mode doesn't.

Out of interest, have you tried going back to an older driver?

Edited March 6, 2018 by severedsolo

[LameLefty]

Lemme toss my tuppence into the mix (and it may be completely off-base here and inappropriate) but let me tell a quick little story:

Back in early January I updated my laptop BIOS per my manufacturer's recommendation. The very next time I tried to launch a full-screen 3D game several days later, within 2 minutes or so Windows crashed hard (who knew BSOD's were still a thing in Win10?) The reported error was with the Nvidia driver. I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, no change. I uninstalled drivers and manually deleted residual directories, rebooted and reinstalled the drivers. No change. I ran registry cleaner utilities, scanned my system with three different antivirus/anti-malware products (with zero results), then ultimately wiped my C: drive and reinstalled Win10 from scratch. No dice. Occasionally the BSOD's had different error messages but they nearly always pointed at the graphics hardware.

When I contacted my manufacturer's support forum, I found a rash of vaguely-similar posts from people having sudden crashes, failures to launch games, etc. all stemming from the BIOS updates. In the meantime, the manufacturer removed the offending update and replaced it with an earlier version from December. Reverting my BIOS to that prior version did not fix my problem. So I posted a thread asking for advice - my machine was 2 months out of warranty when this happened, by the way.

A support rep messaged me, got my info and details and tl;dr: within 5 days, they sent a service tech to my house to break my system down to parts and replace the motherboard/GPU (an Skylake i7 and Nvidia GTX1070 with 8GB of video memory). I'm not saying the BIOS update destroyed my GPU, but that was one heck of an expensive out-of-warranty repair they performed for me for free. Go figure.

So from now on, I'm blaming peoples sudden graphics-related issues to the crappy BIOS updates companies pushed out in the wake of the Intel Spectre/Meltdown bug revelations a couple months back.

[Elemental_C]

Thank you @severedsolo, @LameLefty for your inputs and suggestion

so, it seems nothing wrong with the KSP itself (since i can play it with my Integrated Graphic instead of using the discrete graphic).
Turns, there is a corruption on my Windows, not the graphic driver, but the part of Windows that work closely with the discrete graphic's driver.

Then, what do i do ? i'm re-installing my whole Windows, and installed a whole new fresh drivers. . . and now, my KSP run happily, buttery smooth rednered in my discrete graphic instead by the integrated (not that smooth, but yea, better)

In short, for those who might just came by or didn't get it
1. A fresh install of KSP 1.3.1 x64 always crash, won't run
2. Try to run it WITH integrated graphic instead of discrete -> Running fine
3. (ONLY) Reinstall the discrete graphic driver -> Won't work, KSP still crashing
4. Reinstall the Windows AND all drivers -> *KSP main menu theme song plays* It works