[SOLVED]Game keeps crashing (OpenGL fixed it!)

[DerGolgo]

edit: THE SOLUTION
As suggested elsewhere on this board, I had attempted starting the game in OpenGL mode by adding -force-opengl to the target field in the shortcut I use for starting the game.
I had also tried the same with -force-glcore, which is the command that the warning from Textures Unlimited suggests during startup.
Neither had made the warning go away, the game kept crashing, and I found a surprising affluence of "d3d" related errors in the log.
THE FIX: not using the shortcut. I used the command prompt to start the game, all manual like. Been playing for over an hour now, no problems, so I'm convinced this solved the problem.
Just in case anyone shares this problem, the inability to start the game in OpenGL mode, I will add a short description as the right answer.

To see whether your problem resembles mine, I will leave here the whole odyssey. Starting the game in OpenGL mode was pretty much the first thing I had tried, but not knowing how to build a command into a shortcut, I had done what I had thought a description elsewhere on this message board had described. I may have gotten that wrong, though the command that had been suggested there was not quite correct, it appears, either.
Regardless. If anyone loveed up, it was almost certainly me. Clumsy is a state of mind.

In a previous episode:

Problem: in the last few days, the game has started crashing for no apparent reason.
Over the past few days, I got system freezing up or BSOD a few times. I thought updating windows and graphics drivers had remedied that.

But that game just keeps on crashing. Even when it's just running in the background, after the prolonged startup my large number of mods require. Crash, while I do nothing to it.
Other than the VAB, I couldn't find anything the crashes appeared to have in common.
As it happened without my input, I thought "Maybe it's the Autosave!".
To test this out, I went into settings.cfg and changed the long and the short intervall, by hanging many, many zeroes at the end of either. I found the game translated the entry in the settings.cfg into 3E+23 after startup.
I got to play around in the VAB for about five to ten minutes. Crash.

I found in the log file that Janitor's Closet was throwing many NullReference errors. So I took it out. Game still crashed.

I've piled the log file, the crash dump, and all the .cfg files and such that lurk in the game directory into a zip file, hence: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-7VGvOb9sC5uLvza72vwtRP2099HV0z9
I've also copied the addon list AVC provides me, it is hence: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HofhzlRRj6SN_R1pHhk_yrH5BlS4EgxN
Note: This list is from before I removed Janitor's Closet.
While typing this, I started up the game once more, and it crashed again. This time, at the exact moment that I tried placing the base of a strut. Assemblage of log files zipped up hence: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WlP3SKnRzwoU-0gPYF4MwOT3AbgVtLjh

Then I thought "It's the VAB!"
So I started up the game, told QuickStart to take me to the Space Center. It finished loading and I busied myself with something else, waiting for it to crash or not. No crash message had appeared after what felt like 20 minutes, and I thought "yay!". Then I tried moving the mouse, and the cursor was stuck. Whole system frozen up. Couldn't even get to the CTRL+ALT+Del screen, that old combo did zilch.
No Crash Dump, obviously (I compared the folder names to earlier dumps I had already zipped up).
The output_log, though, is here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zWIf2XmRDjPNecw6oqHN1XqfY6oJ50Al

I would greatly appreciate any help in figuring this out. I suspect it's a mod. Actually, I'm fairly sure it's a mod. But as my wits weren't great in this to begin with, I've gone past their end a while ago.

I'm presently mostly stuck at home, being chronically ill. Playing KSP is a welcome relief, so I'd really be grateful to anyone who can help me figure this out.

Edited May 9, 2018 by DerGolgo
updatery

[Jammer-TD]

well lets ese,, I see KerbalJointReinforcement, modularFuelTanks as incompatible and fsfuelswitch also toolbar control have issues.

I would have to say lots of these mods just got updated.(IS fuelswitch..etc) also mm3.07 is out

try patching this install and retest

 

hope this helps

Jammer

[DerGolgo]

@Jammer-TD Thanks!

I keep updating mods, and I keep looking around, and I keep convincing myself it's all mostly up-to-date. Clumsy, it is a state of mind.
I just manually searched for every single mod on that list AVC made, my own addon spreadsheet evidently being insufficient. I found over a dozen mods that needed a bit of update.
Thanks for the heads up! I shall hope that did it, and I shall let you know. Thanks again!

 

[DerGolgo]

13 hours ago, Jammer-TD said:

well lets ese,, I see KerbalJointReinforcement, modularFuelTanks as incompatible and fsfuelswitch also toolbar control have issues.

I would have to say lots of these mods just got updated.(IS fuelswitch..etc) also mm3.07 is out

try patching this install and retest

 

hope this helps

Jammer

@Jammer-TD
So, after updating everything, and it still crashing, I removed KerbalJointReinforcement. And it crashed.
Then I took out ModularFuelTanks, started up, and got to play around for approximately 15 minutes or so.

And I got a BSOD.
Like previous BSODs, it had yet another error message, "SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED".
I'm quite sure this must be related to KSP, or to something KSP calls upon, because all the system freezes and BSOD's I got over the past few days came while KSP was either starting up or while I was playing actively.
There was, obviously, no Crash Dump, but I got the output_log: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mr6pC1KCopyk1RCjEQNEAGwiB6ZcHUgt

I will try reinstalling the game all fresh and new and hope that'll get me someplace.

Anyone has any ideas, still, please don't hesitate! Getting desperate here.

[DerGolgo]

Right. Fresh install of 1.4.3.
NO mods.
Just threw together a rocket, flew it. It exploded during staging, the flight-recorder dialogue window came up. I hit "revert to launch", and the game freezes up. No "Crash" telling me about the Crash Dump, just the warning from Windows that Ksp_x64 isn't responding.
No crash dump, obviously, but an output_log: https://drive.google.com/open?id=16VU6KHoQQkvAJ6zmby4XMVR6Uu8vJ-IJ

Obviously, it's quite possible that this was just a hickup, unrelated to the unending crashes I've been experiencing. Will try again.

 

And now it crashes upon reaching the start menu. log: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nqA_mKbtQtd4Didj0ewfmkeU-zAFrCEi

I've decided I will try and go back to 1.4.2. I do think it's the upgrade to 1.4.3 where the problems had started.

[DerGolgo]

So I've downgraded to 1.4.2, just to see where the problem might lie. I had gotten the idea into my head that, mayhaps, it was the upgrade to 1.4.3 that had been causing all the rucks.

It appears that it didn't.
Either the problem, whatever it is, is persisting at least since 1.4.2, or it's something in my computer. Since I played 1.4.2 for many an hour, with many mods, I suspect it's my computer.
I spent quite some time the other day checking for updates for every single entry in the device manager, and did updates for Windows and my graphics card, also. In response to the constant crashing. Hence, I suspect, the issue does not lie there.

How did I arrive at this conclusion?
After installing 1.4.2, I ran it unmodded. Built a rocket, put it no the launch-pad, and hit space. Just as the clamps had released and the rocket started to move, CRASH.
Then I started 1.4.2. again, unmodded again. Built a different rocket, but put that on the launchpad again. Hit space. Engines fire, clamps open, and CRASH.
Crash dump, output log, and configs from the 1st attempt: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dsWakgsWXjGlc3PlVYhlM_TFl9hygBWT
Crash dump, output log, and configs from the 2nd attempt: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NAtsRKyeCa56wNuC4aH9g40w51_RP_vy

Please, anyone! I'm desperate at this point. What could be causing the problem?



 

[DerGolgo]

So now Windows tells me it has some important updating to do.
Fine, I think, maybe KSP will behave then.
I start up the game, 1.4.2, unmodded, and I'm actually able to fly a mission.
Full of hope, I install my mods, play a little again ... and it crashes. See hence: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yyUNOIdpvsCnxQt_mM3gdAL6s4Th3plf
So I start it up again and go grocery shopping. When I return, Quickstart has taken me to the VAB, and it appears to have sat there for at least 90 minutes and hasn't crashed.
Once more hopeful, I play around again. Restoring my custom categories in the editor that, in this whole mess, had gotten lost. I even manage to save once. But right after I reenter the VAB after saving, the game just goes away.
Poof. Woosh. Window is closed. No crash message, no error message at all, just gone. I kept the output_log, of course: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bEI6IfwkhduT6DTmq9ww6Xl4eLgisISH

Help. Something here is deeply wrong, and I can't figure out the love what.

[JimTheDog]

I had something similar going on. I wound up doing two things, and in my case, that seems to have solved the problem. Might not work for you. I'm running an NVidia Card (1070), and updated my drivers for that. Secondly, I removed my old start up parameter to force starting KSP in directx11, to leave it to the default DX9. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help than that, but this has let me play around today with mods without weird inexplicable crashes, like I was getting yesterday.

[DerGolgo]

23 minutes ago, JimTheDog said:

I had something similar going on. I wound up doing two things, and in my case, that seems to have solved the problem. Might not work for you. I'm running an NVidia Card (1070), and updated my drivers for that. Secondly, I removed my old start up parameter to force starting KSP in directx11, to leave it to the default DX9. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help than that, but this has let me play around today with mods without weird inexplicable crashes, like I was getting yesterday. 

Thanks!
I made the grave error of getting an AMD Radeon after about a decade of happiness with Nvidia. I don't want to spend real money on a new video card yet again, and dang am I kicking myself for buying that ... "thing".
Drivers are up to date, though.
I hadn't even used and start parameters. Right now, I'm trying -force-opengl, as that was suggested elsewhere on this board. Neither -force-opengl nor the -force-glcore make the warning on startup about using OpenGL or having impaired game features go away, even though -force-glcore is specifically recommended. Well, here's hoping this'll fix it, been playing for almost 20 minutes now, so any crash/unannounced shutdown should be imminent.

EDIT: And there, not a minute after I had posted this, floop. Game just disappears.
I'm gonna try looking if there's any more OpenGL drivers or suchlike I should be installing and will give it another whack.
 

Edited May 8, 2018 by DerGolgo

[DerGolgo]

So 1.4.2 unmodded, after the last Windows update, seemed to run.

But I've now had two occasions when the game didn't even crash - but just "went away". Always with the mods. Once just starting the game, one starting it with the "-force-opengl" command. And when I tried starting it with "-force-glcore", as the little message from Textures Unlimited suggests, I get a BSOD. Error message there was yet a new one, none of the BSODs I've had since last week appeared to have the same error messages. This one was KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

I saved the output logs after each event and zipped them up hence: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ESJu-9MQjBCHvI0sKWgjNyqs3EkycUEA

I will now embark on trying to figure out just what the love this KMODE is and why it hates me.
And I will try launching the game without Textures Unlimited (though I think that some modes depend on it, I shall try it anyway).

ANY suggestions as to what could be going on would be much appreciated, still!



 

[DerGolgo]

And now I've tried launching the game sans Textures Unlimited, but with all my other mods.
As before. Maybe 10, 20 minutes of playing around, and then, WHOOP. Game just disappears. Not Crash Dump.

... help? Please?

output_log: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kvBw94F0tPb_UT9392hGzhBmU9WPnu-w
 

[DerGolgo]

And I put Textures Unlimited back in, start it up ... and  get maybe all of one minute. One minute.
This time, though, I get a crash dump: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tL4qIYUl_8jkk637JMCBnENSK6PqXxO3

[DerGolgo]

So I tried narrowing down a single mod that's causing the mischief. After another round of sudden game closures, crashes, and a bsod, I thought I had it narrowed down to RealScale Boosters.
Turns out that wasn't it.
I even downgraded to an older driver for my video card, suspecting a recent update to be at fault.
Nope.

So, slightly exasperated, I just put all my mods back in GameData, started up the game, and went out running errands for a few hours. When I came back, my computer was showing me a lot of my desktop, but no KSP. Conclusion: It evaporated inexplicably, as it had so often.
I look in output_log.txt, and I find a pile of these:
d3d: failed to create 2D texture id=2344 w=10 h=10 mips=4 d3dfmt=894720068 [invalid call] Click here for the logfile: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1duNQl_iqAdUE4KsHyCm518ad7RoOSf3w
So something is not right with Direct 3D?

Huh, I say. Let's try with OpenGL again.
I start the game with the command-line bit "-force-glcore", which that message from Textures Unlimited suggests upon startup. It is suggested once more during startup, so I now suspect I might be doing something wrong there.
However. The game comes up. For a few minutes, all seems well. Until DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. BSOD.

After I reboot, I look into this here log file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eOSIJOp8BxapDZ2wMx2VlnFZhmsIl4HW

And what do I find?
A lot of Module TweakScale threw during OnStart: System.Xml.XmlException: Document element did not appear. file:///C:/Kerbal Space Program/GameData/TweakScale/plugins/PluginData/Scale/config.xml Line 1, position 1.
and quite a few Material doesn't have a texture property '_BumpMap'

I checked the TweakScale version, it's the current one also found on SpaceDock, 2.3.12, released April 16, which appears to be current according to the forum thread, also.

I stand flummoxed. And confounded. Witless, certainly, and surely helpless.

EDIT: Witless as I am, I had been trying to start the game in OpenGL mode all wrong, it appears. Just now I tried it a different way from what was suggested elsewhere in this forum, starting the game via manual command prompt rather than with the -force-opengl added to the target line in the shortcut, as had been suggested. The latter approach, or the same with the -force-glcore command, had always resulted in the warning from Textures Unlimited. Just now, starting via the command prompt, with -force-glcore, I got no such warning. Huh. Fingers crossed this will do it.

Edited May 9, 2018 by DerGolgo

[DerGolgo]

Start the game in OpenGL mode.
Open the command prompt, go to the game directory, and enter the name of the game's .exe file, followed by a space, followed by -force-glcore
I use the 64bit Windows version, so for me, it looks like this: Ksp_x64 -force-glcore
This will start up the game, and all is happiness and flowers and yipee!

But you ask:
I didn't grow up with an 80286 running MS-DOS 3.1! I don't know how to command prompt! I never even wrote a new autoexec.bat so I could play Space Quest V!

Well, I have nothing better to do this exact minute, so here you go:

Step 1: hit windows-key + r

Step 2: in the little window that comes up, enter the following: cmd
Hit Enter.

Step 3: you should now see the black command prompt, it should say something like C:\users\yourname> with the cursor blinking on the right.
Enter the following: cd.. and hit enter. That is the letter c, letter d, and two periods, those ain't a typo.
Repeat until it says C:\> with the cursor blinking on the right.

Step 4: Now we go to the game directory. Just enter cd, followed by a space, followed by the folder name.
For me, that's cd Kerbal Space Program
Then hit enter.

Step 5: As explained above. For me, with the 64 bit version, I enter Ksp_x64 -force-glcore and hit enter, and puppies and candycakes 'n stuff.
That is, the game starts up in OpenGL mode, and stops crashing, disappearing, freezing the system, or raining down BSODs. Will, instead, behave as it should (in as much as a modded install has any way it "should" behave).

Postscript:
There is probably, no, definitely a simple, easy, elegant way to make a shortcut do it, start the game in OpenGL mode.
I, however, have not found that way, nor any complex, difficult, clumsy way of doing it. So I cannot speak to that.
Doing it with the command prompt as described here, however, works.

Edited May 9, 2018 by DerGolgo