Witcher 3 keeps crashing

[NuDCUO]

I have put over 99 hours into my latest play through of Witcher 3 on my PC. About three days ago out of no where, Witcher 3 loads in and then automatically crashes and closes app for no reason. I have tried virtually every method to remedy the situation; updating drivers, turning off overlays, reinstalling steam and The Witcher 3, etc. and nothing has worked. I found a crash log in my files and the reason is
"EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (3221225477), Error writing location 0x00000000". Does anyone know what is going on? My specs are all appropriate and I apologize if this has been posted elsewhere, but I do not know what to do at this point. I'm thinking something is just wrong with the game and nothing on my end since I am able to play other Steam games with zero issue.

Crash report here - file:///D:/Steam/steamapps/common/The%20Witcher%203/bin/x64/witcher3.exe_crash_20200500_120431249.crashinfo

 

[devivre]

I‘d still be interested in your specs.

Did you overclock your gpu, cpu or ram?
Are you using any mods?
Did you change anything on your PC? New drivers, or anything?
The game hasn‘t changed in years, so it might be related to a change on your PC.

You can also do this, if you havent tried that yet:

Verify integrity of game files — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

 

[PrincessMassacre]

access violation with location 0x0 is a null pointer (object doesn't exist) or possible oom (out of memory) error. make sure you haven't set page file size too small, let windows manage it. if it's not that then maybe genuine game bug, send logs, they point to a location on your D: drive. try loading a previous save, etc... try clearing out documents\the witcher 3 folder (backup first, just move the folder to desktop) if you haven't already.

 

[NuDCUO]

access violation with location 0x0 is a null pointer (object doesn't exist) or possible oom (out of memory) error. make sure you haven't set page file size too small, let windows manage it. if it's not that then maybe genuine game bug, send logs, they point to a location on your D: drive. try loading a previous save, etc... try clearing out documents\the witcher 3 folder (backup first, just move the folder to desktop) if you haven't already.

How do you set the file size?
Also, I use the Cloud to save my progress online. Should I delete the entire folder and just put it back into the Steam;SteamApps;Common folder?
Sorry for asking more questions, thank you!!

Post automatically merged: Jun 2, 2020

I‘d still be interested in your specs.

Did you overclock your gpu, cpu or ram?
Are you using any mods?
Did you change anything on your PC? New drivers, or anything?
The game hasn‘t changed in years, so it might be related to a change on your PC.

You can also do this, if you havent tried that yet:

Verify integrity of game files — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

My current specs are
Processor: Intel(R) CoreTM i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60 GHz
Installed Ram: 8:00 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

I've tried lowering my game's performance from Ultra to Medium, and I still crash. (I've put 99+ hours on Ultra)
I've verified the game integrity and every time I crash the message is either Error reading location or Error writing location.
I am not using any mods.
Stupid question here, how do I know if I am overclocking anything?

 

[devivre]

My current specs are
Processor: Intel(R) CoreTM i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60 GHz
Installed Ram: 8:00 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

I've tried lowering my game's performance from Ultra to Medium, and I still crash. (I've put 99+ hours on Ultra). I've verified the game integrity and every time I crash the message is either Error reading location or Error writing location.
I am not using any mods.
Stupid question here, how do I know if I am overclocking anything?

If you didn‘t do anything to overclock your hardware, it’s likely not overclocked.

I‘m not an expert on overclocking (there are a lot of threads online that can answer your question probably better than I can), but it‘s often causing problems with TW3, that‘s why I was asking.

You didn’t answer the question what changed on your PC. If it worked fine before, and now it doesn’t, the question is what changed on your PC ?

Also, you could try playing an earlier save game (from a time where the game user to work) and see if that issue occurs there too. If it does work, I’d continue to play with an older save game.

 

[NuDCUO]

If you didn‘t do anything to overclock your hardware, it’s likely not overclocked.

I‘m not an expert on overclocking (there are a lot of threads online that can answer your question probably better than I can), but it‘s often causing problems with TW3, that‘s why I was asking.

You didn’t answer the question what changed on your PC. If it worked fine before, and now it doesn’t, the question is what changed on your PC ?

Also, you could try playing an earlier save game (from a time where the game user to work) and see if that issue occurs there too. If it does work, I’d continue to play with an older save game.

Oh, I see. No, I have not overclocked my computer.
I apologize I did not answer the previous question. Nothing happened at all, just out of no where, the game started crashing. My drivers were the same as they were before because I updated them after I started crashing thinking I had outdated drivers. I will try to load a previous save and see if that helps, if it does not, I honestly might just restart my entire computer. Thank you very much!

 

[PrincessMassacre]

if your saves are saved online in steam, it could also cause problems, since i've noticed it sometimes copies the entire documents folder (including your settings files) back without notifying. you can backup/move the folder from documents, disable cloud for witcher 3 in steam, then try loading the game, or it will download it all again (config + saved games). they're stored both locally in that folder and in steam cloud. once you can confirm it works, then you can copy the files back and enable it again if you want. if it is indeed overwriting those files constantly, i previously found you can set them to read-only to prevent steam overwriting them, but that also prevents the game from modying them, so i didn't wanna deal with it and disabled cloud permanently.

the error reading/writing location is a memory location (address) 0x0, null pointer (object does not exist), specifically as the object is dereferenced or garbage collected.

in windows 10 and windows 7, access 'system properties' to change page file size (google it). if you don't know where though, it probably means you have it set to 'allow windows to manage my page file', which is fine. in any case it's a memory issue, or pagefile issue, or a coding issues which leads to an access violation 0x0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_pointer

need log files

 

[blackfuryfan]

I too am having a random crash.
Here are my system specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer HP
System Model HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop 690-0xxx
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 2400G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3600 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date AMI F.23, 4/19/2019
SMBIOS Version 3.2
Embedded Controller Version 10.23
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer HP
BaseBoard Product 8433
BaseBoard Version 11
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.18362.752"
User Name
Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 5.91 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.61 GB
Total Virtual Memory 14.3 GB
Available Virtual Memory 7.84 GB
Page File Space 8.39 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes






I have MSI Installed and have Core Clock set at 1010 MHz and power limit at -20% as I saw a thread on Steam direct others on a possible fix. I have Compatibility mode WIndows XP SP 2 and run as Admin. It is also running off 128GB SD-micro acting as a partition on my 250GB SSD.
Would someone be able to help me decode the crash report or show me the resources to do so please?
Sorry if this is a repeat question, Just really want to play this game to its fullest.
Thank you very much!

 

[PrincessMassacre]

hmmm, not much you can tell from these logs is there? the best i can tell is that it was in touissant. the rest are just a bunch of rendering and UI threads. the offending thread is a rendering thread.

location 0x10 is also a null pointer exception. if it's not a pagefile issue, then seems rather awkward, but there's nothing else you can discern from these logs apparently.

My crash logs look entirely different, location 0x9e6835b8, 0x632e9280, 0x75a92ad8, etc... in almost all cases, they occur when the game performs an auto-save, often involving a cut-scene. in your case it may be related to running it off an SD-micro card... although saved games location is in documents.

doubt it's anti-virus related, but could be anything with memory management. locations 0x0 and 0x10 are definitely either related to memory, page file, corrupted/missing assets (possibly SD-micro), bugs in the game code, corrupted saved games, defective mods, messing with the console, or some sort of driver issues/incompatibility. loading a save game before the issue occurred may help in some cases.

try running witcher3.exe with the parameter -debugscripts then if it crashes, check/upload the file "documents\The Witcher 3\scriptslog.txt". parameters -displayfps -net are also useful (-net if you use scriptstudio for debugging, from the modkit). there's a command-line reference here: https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/command-line-parameters.118483/

Post automatically merged: Jun 3, 2020

Alright, this wasn't while playing as Ciri was it? I just confirmed a bug in Vanilla which causes an access violation at location 0x80 (also a null pointer exception) while using Ciri's special attack multiple times in a row during the quest 'On Thin Ice'. To replicate, simply move to area past the hill, where the Wild Hunt spawn and keep using special attack continuously.

Bit of a developer tangent: The best lead I have is in scriptslog.txt in the function OnCombatActionStart... it seems to be related to when the key is released, as if the input handler is not being de-registered properly... found this by accident, I thought it was a bug in my mod/script, but apparently not. I haven't seen a null pointer exception in ages, event listener/handler are prime culprits...

Ah... it's not after 5-23 uses (actually tested it, lmao). It's after pressing a key to select a sign, then using Ciri's special attack, or something else, tracking it down. This is an obviously unrelated bug, except for the null pointer exception. Ok, I give up on it for now. Or... it could be the actual Ciri entity, due to a bug with the special attack skill?

scriptslog.txt doesn't actually output anything except scripts from mods. So if it's in the base game, you'd have to copy all the scripts into a mod. Ok, I'm no closer to solving this one, but it is in the base game...

to do that, simply copy 'the witcher 3\content\content0\scripts' to 'the witcher 3\mods\mod1234\content\scripts' (create the necessary folders), then run witcher3.exe -debugscripts and check 'documents\the witcher 3\scriptslog.txt' for debug information. although you will have to remove other mods (which will cause conflicts with saved games that use those mods in some cases).

 

[Felix_Marin]

[Post moved -- SigilFey]

Hello!

First of all, glad to join this forum ! I¡m Felix, from France

I am posting here because since I got my new MSI laptop I have a weird issue in the inventory (sometimes other 2D menus as well). Basically even if everything goes fine for a while, every now and then it just freezes and crashes to desktop. It seems to happen especially when I'm in a big city.

I run it with a i7 9750H and a GTX 1660 ti 6Gb, 16gb RAM. Also, I didn't install any mod.

I checked and temps seem okay (GPU under 80, CPU reaches 85 in big cities but I read it's normal for this particular configuratiom), and there is no OC going on.

The weird thing is that once it happens once, it seems to be happening systematically when I run the game again, right after opening the inventory menu.

Finally, it does't happen when I'm just selling / purchasing, only when I want to access my inventory.

Here are things I tried:
- Latest Nvidia driver, as well as some older ones
- Set the GPU to Preferred maximum performance in the Nvidia control panel, and change the Windows Power Plan to max perf as well
- Verify the game files with Steam
- Undervolting the CPU (I am actually going to keep that, it helps a lot with temperatures)
- Play on my laptop screen instead of my 60 Hz TV
- I disabled Vsync and played in fullscreen / unlimited FPS. I also tried caping those to 60.
- I tried with VSync on (then it crashes in-game too )
- I updated my BIOS (advice coming from the MSI support)
- Increased the page file size: Windows had it set to 1GB, I set it to 16-24Gb.

At this stage I am out of ideas and still I would love to be able to finish this game with a good experience. The weird thing is that when I played it with my previous laptop, I got only 20 FPS in average but I didn't experience a single crash And it was far from meeting for minimum requirements.

I join my last crash log too, any help would he gratefely appreciated

Thank you !

 

[SigilFey]

I too am having a random crash.

Radeon Vega Graphics

That's the first thing that caught my eye. I would expect to see the GPU listed separately. Is this a Radeon RX Vega 54 or 64? Or is it one of the older "APU" models? The way it's listed, it seems to be an integrated solution, which is not supported by the game.

If it's one of the Vega 8 or Vega 10 cards, for example, it will be waaay below required specs. I'm surprised the game would run playably at all, actually!

Core Clock set at 1010 MHz and power limit at -20%

Overclocking or underclocking can be used to tweak performance, but it is never a solution to an issue of stability. If this does have an effect, it's indicative of an issue at the hardware level. In general, whenever troubleshooting, always return all hardware to default clock speeds and voltage. Leaving tweaks like that running can misrepresent or complicate the actual issue.

I have Compatibility mode WIndows XP SP 2 and run as Admin.

"Run as administrator" is fine, but the compatibility mode is probably not. Using Windows 10, I'd recommend just running in native mode. You may benefit by running in Windows 7 mode, but Windows XP mode will very likely not be able to correctly handle the calls for APIs and such that the game will need.

My only other suggestion is to lower your resolution as far as it will go, then lock your FPS at 30. Try playing through the crash area again, and see if you can get by it.

 

[Felix_Marin]

Hello!
This is for all players who encounter frequent crashes in the game, especially in the inventory or other 2D menus.

I had the same issue and realized today that my GPU was going to idle clocks in those menus, which was not fixed by the Nvidia control panel performance parameters.



I used MSI Afterburner to force a fixed clock (my max GPU stock one) and since then I didn't encounter a single crash. It's a bit of a shame to have to set / unset this everyone I want to play, but at least it works perfectly and I can actually enjoy the game.

Worth a try if you have the same issues I had.
In MSI Afterburner, just do Ctrl + F, click on a dot that corresponds to your GPU stock clock or a bit under in my case, type L, then close the window and click the Apply button.

Let me know if it fixed it for you as well and don't forget to remove the lock after gaming since you won't need your full GPU power then!

 

[SigilFey]

Hello!
This is for all players who encounter frequent crashes in the game, especially in the inventory or other 2D menus.

I had the same issue and realized today that my GPU was going to idle clocks in those menus, which was not fixed by the Nvidia control panel performance parameters.

Interesting. Can you answer the following:

1.) Specs, OS, whether you're on a desktop or laptop.
2.) Your power configuration through both Windows and your GPU Control Panel.
3.) GPU driver version.
4.) General overclock settings if your using any for anything (CPU, GPU, RAM, VRAM...)
5.) Which version of the game, platform (Steam / GOG / Origin) and where it is installed (the directory path).

I used MSI Afterburner to force a fixed clock (my max GPU stock one) and since then I didn't encounter a single crash. It's a bit of a shame to have to set / unset this everyone I want to play, but at least it works perfectly and I can actually enjoy the game.

Worth a try if you have the same issues I had.
In MSI Afterburner, just do Ctrl + F, click on a dot that corresponds to your GPU stock clock or a bit under in my case, type L, then close the window and click the Apply button.

Let me know if it fixed it for you as well and don't forget to remove the lock after gaming since you won't need your full GPU power then!

Yikes, yikes, yikes...

What this does, if I'm following you, is leave your GPU running at one speed and voltage setting constantly. There's a reason that GPUs (along with all other processors) are designed to primarily idle. It is extremely straining for a PC component to operate under load for an extended period of time. This can greatly decrease the lifespan of your part, and if the frequency and voltage settings are high enough -- this can and will create an arc if the component fails / possibly start a fire.

Please, be sure you're taking precautions if you continue to do this. I would really recommend not. If there is a setting to enact a "minimum limit", I would use that, instead, as set it fairly low. Perhaps 15% or so.

And additional consideration is that if you have the GPU set to a fixed clock speed...it will wind up preventing it from spinning up past that point as well, costing performance for heavy areas. (Unless you have it fixed at 100%. In which case: )

 

[blackfuryfan]

blackfuryfan said:


I too am having a random crash.

Radeon Vega Graphics

That's the first thing that caught my eye. I would expect to see the GPU listed separately. Is this a Radeon RX Vega 54 or 64? Or is it one of the older "APU" models? The way it's listed, it seems to be an integrated solution, which is not supported by the game.

If it's one of the Vega 8 or Vega 10 cards, for example, it will be waaay below required specs. I'm surprised the game would run playably at all, actually!

Hey sorry been trying to get it to work okay and it did almost 14 hrs! whoo hoo!
I have an RX Vega 11 and Radeon RX 580.

I noticed my sliver sword is not showing up at times in the inventory menu and one of the errors is unknown symbol and unknown object. currently moving it back to SSD for now atm. Thank you for everyone's great help and input. I will upload the debug logs once it has finished migrating back to SSD. Cheers!

 

[devivre]

Hey sorry been trying to get it to work okay and it did almost 14 hrs! whoo hoo!
I have an RX Vega 11 and Radeon RX 580.

I noticed my sliver sword is not showing up at times in the inventory menu and one of the errors is unknown symbol and unknown object. currently moving it back to SSD for now atm. Thank you for everyone's great help and input. I will upload the debug logs once it has finished migrating back to SSD. Cheers!

If you are playing on the AMD Ryzen 5 2400G with the Vega 11 judging from benchmark tests the game is going to struggle. Make sure your computer only uses the rx580.

 

[ST4H]

That's the first thing that caught my eye. I would expect to see the GPU listed separately. Is this a Radeon RX Vega 54 or 64? Or is it one of the older "APU" models? The way it's listed, it seems to be an integrated solution, which is not supported by the game.

If it's one of the Vega 8 or Vega 10 cards, for example, it will be waaay below required specs. I'm surprised the game would run playably at all, actually!

Hey sorry been trying to get it to work okay and it did almost 14 hrs! whoo hoo!
I have an RX Vega 11 and Radeon RX 580.

I noticed my sliver sword is not showing up at times in the inventory menu and one of the errors is unknown symbol and unknown object. currently moving it back to SSD for now atm. Thank you for everyone's great help and input. I will upload the debug logs once it has finished migrating back to SSD. Cheers!

Never go for integrated graphics. IMO its always better to pick an option without it and for example with better'main' graphicscard or bigger storage.