Linux game freeze between main menu and start game menu.

[dany2410]

Hi!

I have a problem with a fresh install of a steam KSP on a fresh install of linux Xubuntu 14.04. It happens on both 32 bit and 64 bit install. The game loads fine to the main menu and in the options menu but when i click "start game'', the menu transitions about halfway and everything freezes, can't do anything and have to do a hard reset. The music keeps playing tho. My launch options are LC_ALL=C %command%_64 for 64 bit and LC_ALL=C %command% for 32 bit. I replicated this bug every single time i load the game. I tried different graphic drivers and it didn't solve anything.

My specs

AMD FX-8350 8 cores

AMD radeon 7950

12gig RAM

Xubuntu 14.04

ATI drivers beta 14.20

NO MODS INSTALLED

Log file http://pastebin.com/ENLTN2JW

No crash report.

Help me please

[dany2410]

Update : Player.log here : http://pastebin.com/XrMSKrN9

[sal_vager]

Taking a look

Edit:

Sounds a little like you have a corrupt save, which can cause weird things to happen, so it may help to delete the saves folder and make Steam redownload them (verify cache)

Another thing to try is to run the KSP.x86_64 directly instead of using Steam, and see if there is any difference.

It's also possible there's a hardware issue here, but it's really hard to tell at this point, let us know if you have no luck after trying the above and consider using the latest stable driver instead of the beta, don't forget to reboot.

Edited August 31, 2014 by sal_vager

[dany2410]

Thanks I'll look into that tomorrow. I will try to delete the save file and verify cache. Could it be possible that steam installed my windows save file on my linux partition ? Because if I never managed to start a new game it would be surprizing that I have already a saved game..

I tried the latest stable driver from AMD first but it did not install the 32 bit libraries giving me errors when launching steam and KSP 32 bit.. However, KSP 64 bit did the exact same thing (freezing before the new game menu) So i searched the web for a way of fixing this and supposedly it was an issue with AMD and the fix was to uninstall all AMD drivers and install the beta. Now I have the 32 bit libraries and steam doesnt give me errors anymore and I can launch the 32 bit ksp and it still does the same thing as the 64bit. I tried launching it with the launcher but I don't know how to give it the LC_ALL launch command thing so it freezed loading at the command module.

I'll try your fix and give you feedback tomorrow ! Thanks again !

[sal_vager]

You can start KSP using the KSP.x86 and KSP.x86_64 binary files with LC_ALL=C from a terminal.

What kind of file system is your Linux install on?

[dany2410]

Excuse me I'm new with Linux I installed it dual boot on my windows machine just to play KSP 64 bit because on windows it keeps crashing giving me memory errors with mods even if I have 12gb ram. I dont know how to use launch options with the console on linux.

By file system do you mean Ext4 partition ?

[dany2410]

I redownloaded the save folder (which did not have any saved game inside) and started with the terminal and now it worked. Then I tried launching it with steam and it worked too. Thanks ! It's bizarre but it worked !

[sal_vager]

Okay I think what happened is you got a bad file in the save folder somehow, I'm glad it's working

[Ruedii]

Yeah, ext4 is the file-system type.

Also, I see you are running the steam version (this could have been helpful information).

[DarkPhoton]

I have an exact same problem with the same video card except on linux mint 17 and ubuntu 14.04. I can however play the game on ubuntu if I'm not using vendor drivers, although the game runs rather poorly. The suggestions listed above did not solve the issue for me. Any other sugestions?

[Autochton]

I get this problem on a clean save, running Linux Mint 16. Mods, no mods, doesn't matter. I can still SSH to the machine when it happens (from e.g. my phone), but killing KSP does not make the window system come back to life. It remains frozen in mid-animation toward the 'start game' menu. The only thing I can do to get things back to working is a full reboot. Potentially killing X itself and restarting it could work - haven't tried that one yet, didn't want to bother with digging up the commands from my phone. My saves folder only contains the scenarios and training folders.

Edit to add: I'm running the non-Steam version. I launch it via a desktop shortcut that directly starts KSP.x86_64.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Autochton

[steve_v]

What GPU and driver do you have?

Taking down X is usually graphics card driver related...

Retrieving the system logs via SSH after a crash may shed some light.

[Autochton]

I run a Radeon HD 7850, on proprietary drivers, I think version 14.9 (I'll check when I get home). Last crash I had, syslog showed bupkis, absolutely nothing. Interestingly, rebooting my X server (by restarting mdm) does not actually work - the freeze persists, although sound is stopped. (Yeah, PulseAudio isn't bothered by the graphics and keyboard suddenly going inert.)

[steve_v]

In that case, I'd say it's almost certainly GPU or GPU drivers - sounds like it's the only thing that's actually dying & it's probably left in a state where X can't re-initialise it.

You *might* be able to unload and re-load the driver over SSH to get your screen back, but that won't stop it happening again.

As to what to do about it... dunno TBH. I don't have an AMD card to play with, but others appear to be having similar problems - all with AMDs binary driver...

I'd say blame AMD, but that doesn't really help much either.

I take it you've played with all the options in CCC? There may also be more (i.e. disabling features) in xorg.conf - see the docs for your driver.

Try the open source radeon driver - performance will probably suffer a bit though.

About the only other thing I can suggest is trying different versions of the AMD driver (or maybe Xorg, but that gets a mite complicated) - it may be a regression, stranger things have happened.

If nobody with a similar card has any ideas, it might be worth taking it to either the Mint or AMD support forums.

Edited November 24, 2014 by steve_v

[Autochton]

Sadly, you're likely right. Since I've had a similar kaboom occur playing, of all things, Assault Android Cactus. It even manifested many of the same symptoms. It does seem odd that KSP blows up consistently, in the exact same spot!

But I guess it's off to seek help there.

[steve_v]

It would seem AMDs Linux drivers are *still* a steaming pile - hence why I don't have an AMD card.

[Autochton]

For what it's worth, the failure remained with AMD proprietary errors removed, but is gone now that I've reinstalled to upgrade to Linux Mint 17 (Qiana). I can play again! :-)